On the day my grandson's namesake Oscar Time couldn't quite win me £130 in the Grand National (should've gone each way!) it was good to make the first planting of the season. My shallots went into my raised allium beds towards the edge (to make thinning easier in May) where I'd given a top dressing of blood, fish and bone plus ammonia sulphate (for nitrogen) a week ago. I also planted a few bulbs for the pickling class along the right of the shot. Leeks will eventually go down the middle of the bed.
My parsnips 'Polar' are nearly all through having sown pre-chitted seeds just over a week ago. It's important to keep the top of the drums moist until they're all up and growing away well. Even though I prepared my drums in January and kept topping up with sand as you can see the surface is now a couple of inches below the top of the drum. In the past when I'd filled my drums one weekend and sown the next the surface can end up as much as 8" below where you'd started.
5 comments:
wifes been to sea side to get me some fresh seaweed and im sure she say oscar the donkey there ps youll have to tell me how to split shallots when it comes time
Hi Simon,
I recall you mentioned watering with a half strength nitrogen feed after thinning the shallot clumps. I have now thinned my shallots (a nerve wracking experience), but realised I have no idea of the best nitrogen feed to give at half strength. A visit to B&Q did not help as all the feeds have normal names, none of which seem to include any reference to nitrogen... help!!. What feed do you use at half strength?
PS. Those pickling shallots look like miniature daffodils to me, hope this isn't too much of a shock to you!!
:)
weeds growing well
Chris....full details in May but you could always look back at previous years. It's easy enough.
Misty.....only feed with N if they really need it. Strong tops should mean bigger bulbs but you don't want them too lush and risk bulbs prone to fungal attack during ripening/storage.
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