Been busy!

[Nicola_D]

Had a really busy weekend so far.

yesterday we went to B&Q and bought some bits and pieces to build a raised bed. The I dug out grass, turned the soil over while the other half did the sawing and hammering part. Got the frame in place yesterday and starting tacking a polythene lining to the sides but then it got too dark to do anymore.

This morning it was raining so I planted some leek seeds two types of tomato, courgette, basil, rosemary, mange tout and spring onion seeds all into a large heated propagator.

I planted 8 chilli seeds two weekends agointo a heated propagator and 4 have germinated.

I'm all fired up now - hope we have a good season!
Nicola

[vegetable-gardener]

Having a raised bed is a great way to start gardening. Happy gardening.

[GMB27]

My first year with raised beds too! looking forward to it alot!

[tomterm8]

That sounds very exciting. I really like chilli plants, the flowers are really nice to look at. I actually used them as a house plant for a while. Anyway, I hope everything goes all right!

[Nicola_D]

Thanks guys, got onions, garlic and radishes in the bed now

[johntheeng]

I have had raised beds for three years now and find them to be excellent.

[Hammer]

Nicolo D,
Just a Tip, if you are turning over grass for your raised bed, be careful of Leatherjackets - The larval stage of the Crane Fly feeds on the roots of grass causing yellow patches; they will also attack potatoes, strawberries, cabbages and lettuce if they are planted in newly cultivated grassland. Pot plants can also be attacked and can be greatly reduced in vigour or even killed - bulbs may never emerge if the young shoots are eaten away.
A quick cure, you say it rained this morning - cover the bed with black plasic overnight and the Larvae will come to the surface - if you are blessed with birds they will eat them up when you remove the plastic in the morning or you can sweep them up. Regards Hammer.

[Kimby]

Also be careful of wireworms! Mine have come from turning over grass (wish I'd known!)

[Nicola_D]

Thanks for the tip hammer, I did see some kind of lavae under the grass, and I did a search, they didn't look like leatherjacks, I thought they might be beetle lavae as we had a few beetles in the garden last year. The bed is quite deep so I'll see what happens. Didn't see any wireworms, lots of earth worms though.

[Thomas W]

Originally Posted by Kimby

Also be careful of wireworms! Mine have come from turning over grass (wish I'd known!)

Yep. Bastards!:



chewing away on my poor Asparagus potatoes...