2008 / A happy start / First sowing
We are approaching end February, the daily temperature is above 10C already for a few days, the sun is shining, my sandy soil is dry and warm, and everything looks right! The temptation to sow is too strong to resist. I went out and sowed 2 varieties of peas in my raised beds (raised bed 2 + raised bed A): The Sugar peas ‘Norli’: is a dwarf pea grown for sweet and crispy sugar peas. This variety was proven to be a star performer last year, very productive, producing good quality fruits throughout the spring. The other variety was seeds brought back from my trip to Kunming last December. This variety of seeds is developed specially for producing pea shouts. They should produce fatty tender pea shouts ready for pick in a few weeks time. The seeds were soaked in warm water overnight. The raised beds had been well prepared in the past few weeks with lime, self-made compost and dried cow + chicken manure added. I sowed the peas 2 cm deep in shallow trenches. After sowing, I’ve placed 2 long lines of ribbons across my raised beds as a kind of scarecrow. This is a trick I learned from a neighbour of mine to expel birds once the seeds begin to germinate.
After more than a week of dry weather, it rained last night, the night right after my sowing! A sign of happy start for 2008!
2008年2月25日星期一
2008年2月10日星期日
Plan Ahead
31/1/2008
At this time of the year, nights fall early, at 16.30h, it is already very dark outside. With that much rain lingering on already for days, there is not much garden job I can do outside. Sitting down relaxed, it is time to plan ahead for this year’s vegetable garden.
The main focus is on the 4 evenly divided raised beds I’ve built myself last year for the sake of easy crop rotation. I intend to rotate the beds each year in sequence so that build-up of pests and diseases in soil is reduced and that the life cycles of the crops are broken. Other advantages of crop rotation include weed suppressing, soil structure improving, and soil replenishing. Last year’s 4 plots were planted as follows:
Plot 1: legumes – half plot for beans and the other half for peas (mixed salad as intercrop)
Plot 2: brassica – Chinese cabbages, pak choi, amaranth
Plot 3: fruit crop – courgettes and pumpkins
Plot 4: roots + tomato – carrots and tomatoes
For 2008, last year’s beds will be moved each bed back one space:
Plot 1: roots + tomato – root crops break up soil structure
Plot 2: legumes – fix nitrogen for future crops
Plot 3: brassica – need need nitrogen-rich soil, need liming
Plot 4: fruit crop – need manure, need liming
The 4 beds should look like this:
At this time of the year, nights fall early, at 16.30h, it is already very dark outside. With that much rain lingering on already for days, there is not much garden job I can do outside. Sitting down relaxed, it is time to plan ahead for this year’s vegetable garden.
The main focus is on the 4 evenly divided raised beds I’ve built myself last year for the sake of easy crop rotation. I intend to rotate the beds each year in sequence so that build-up of pests and diseases in soil is reduced and that the life cycles of the crops are broken. Other advantages of crop rotation include weed suppressing, soil structure improving, and soil replenishing. Last year’s 4 plots were planted as follows:
Plot 1: legumes – half plot for beans and the other half for peas (mixed salad as intercrop)
Plot 2: brassica – Chinese cabbages, pak choi, amaranth
Plot 3: fruit crop – courgettes and pumpkins
Plot 4: roots + tomato – carrots and tomatoes
For 2008, last year’s beds will be moved each bed back one space:
Plot 1: roots + tomato – root crops break up soil structure
Plot 2: legumes – fix nitrogen for future crops
Plot 3: brassica – need need nitrogen-rich soil, need liming
Plot 4: fruit crop – need manure, need liming
The 4 beds should look like this:
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