I find they grow far better in module trays in the polytunnel than just pushing them into wet and very cold soil.
The rest of the veg plot is wet and muddy but the new raised beds are fine and their drainage means so much.
I think raised beds are the way to go especially if you have clay soil and live where it is always raining like we do.
It's been raining on and off here since last June. I heard yesterday one local farmer who housed his cattle in September and they have not been outside since. Farmers are running out of fodder and they can't put slurry and fym out on their land or even put the cattle out on pasture.
We have lived here over twenty years and the last two years have been the wettest I have ever known in my life . Then you get people saying climate change is not happening. I am fed up with the rain I bet you are?
The down side of having raised beds is that you bang your head on the lightshade!😀
I promise I will do a none veggie growing post tomorrow.
Raised beds are the only way in our heavy clay, and we gave up on our lawn, hubby chose plastic grass, which I thought I would hate, but amazingly I like it. There's a comment to divide people.
ReplyDeletePlastic grass does makes sense instead of us all having to listen to the sweet dulcet tones of a petrol lawnmower Marlene. I recently collected some Jerusalem Artichokes from a house in Kerry and they had built raised beds where the lawn was. I have seen artificial grass in the Algarve and it worked very well with the very hot weather. Some people let their grass areas grow and just mow a path through it. It certainly helps to create natural habitats and the chore of buying petrol and grass cutting. I just strim my lawn now and again. We even have a rabbit run on it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIn very hot weather and the heatwaves we have here in Australia, the fake grass gets hotter than the bitumen on roads, kids can't run barefoot or sit on it, dogs and cats burn their paws. I hate the stuff.
DeleteI never thought of that River. We use to play with bubbling tarmac during heatwaves. They don't happen much these days.
DeleteHaving been raised with extensive lawns and a family that made a living at one stage growing turf for other people's lawns I never expected to reach a stage in my life where my objective would be to have plenty of land and NO LAWN - but that is where I have arrived. Tussocks I reckon and lots of paths through low scrubby stuff....
DeleteThanks Tigger's Mum for that. I also have a gardening and golf course maintenance background. Now I question what need is there for lawns that we constantly need to mow? Landscape designer Capability Brown used sheep to maintain his projects. It's livestock that makes it look like we know it.
DeleteRaised beds also mean less bending!!
ReplyDeleteI agree about the rain. It has seemed never ending. We should all move to the Sahara. Lots of sandy soil there.
ReplyDeleteExactly GZ. I have often wondered why we don't have a third hand and why the ground is at our feet? You can build some or brick raised beds with seats on the top. Even people in wheelchairs can garden with raised beds and laid paths that allow access. Raised beds also warm up quickly and people in their old age can still cultivate their crops and vegetables.
ReplyDeleteCarrots and parsnips would love the sandy soil JayCee. I read somewhere that it rained for twenty years during the Black Death. I hope we are not having a repeat of it? It's dry at the moment.
ReplyDeleteBut I like your veggie growing posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks River. They will soon be back.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that here in South Yorkshire we receive far less rain than you do. A lot of places in the east of England receive less than half the average rainfall of the south west of Ireland. Have you and your family developed webbed feet? Quack-quack!
ReplyDeleteWet in the West and dry in the East YP. Our ducks have webbed feet.
ReplyDelete"I bought a duck do last week". "What's a duck do?" "Quack-quack!"
I am here all week. It's not raining this morning.
Praise The Lord! Cue News theme music..."It is not raining in south west Cork. I repeat, it is NOT raining. Now let's go over to our roving reporter Seamus O'Toole who is about to interview a smallholder on The Sheep's Head Peninsula. Seamus..."
DeleteSEAMUS:
ReplyDelete"How's Tings?"
ME:
"Alreet. Do you want to buy summat?"
SEAMUS: Oh begorrah! Have ye got ony o dem shastia daisies for me owd ma?
ReplyDeleteME: They're named after Shasta Mountains in California. I can spare some for 2.50 each?"
ReplyDeleteSEAMUS Two fifty? Ye must be related to Michael O'Leary - that arrogant fecker from Royun-Air!
DeleteGo to a garden centre and pay seven Euros for one.
DeleteCan ye buy plants in garden centres? I taught they were all about the cafes and the gifts.
DeleteYes they are like Conservatory's where people can watch you eating your tea.
DeleteEveryone's talking about planting tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines. And a few zucchini. I think we need a little more rain. Not as much as you get though. Temperatures are high and no frosts here.
ReplyDeleteWe will give you rain for free Linda. We should be exporting it along with Guinness. In England they call Zucchini Courgettes. Apparently it's an Italian word used by the Americans. Also people from Poros?
ReplyDeleteCourgettes is French.
ReplyDeleteIs it River? Thanks.
ReplyDelete