I posted pictures in a comment yesterday and last night, it rained a little. This morning, it rained a lot and we've been out planting!
Yesterday, after I posted the blog, We went out and finished the preparation. The wood ash we spread on top of the bed was thoroughly wetted and left to drain so the nutrients can start to permeate through the bed.
I prepped the carrot seeds in the winter when I had nothing much to do. I space the seeds out onto toilet paper, slightly damp, so the paper will stick to itself once the seeds are in place and the paper is folded over.
When it's time to plant out the seeds, they are the optimum spacing and there will be no need to thin the seedlings out to give them space to grow.
The only thing left to do once the seeds germinate and start to grow is to remove the boards, water regularly (unless it rains and saves me the job) and to keep the weeds out.
I hope we'll have carrots and broccoli in time for Christmas!
We can't plant the peas yet. We need protection from the mice. There's room to plant both peas and beans and the peas will still have time to grow. They are a cool weather crop and don't do well in the heat of summer. We already have beans that we kept alive through the summer, so there should be no need to plant the beans. We are picking them at the moment and they will freeze well, so we definitely have beans for our Christmas dinner! Later this week, we'll make three frames that will either sit on top of the bed, or be hinged at one side. That way, the peas will have time to germinate, grow and produce peas!
Wood ash spread on top - remember, only ash and charcoal should go into beds where you are growing food
After the wetting process
We sifted four buckets of topsoil to go onto the bed for planting
Topsoil isn't vital for planting, but it does help
One
Two
Three
The last bucket of topsoil to go onto the bed
All done!
First row of winter carrots!
Cover the row with topsoil and then a board until the carrots germinate
2 rows of Bok Choi
I'm not entirely sure what to do with these, so I'm following the method for the carrots.
Last to be planted, a clump of broccoli
There were a few apple trees on the property when we arrived, they are old and in need of TLC. The apples from this tree are being eaten by wasps, but the few we can find will go to the horses.
Maple
Sycamore
This is another confused plant
Photinia (I think that's how to spell it. Another name is 'Red Robin'