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May is a time when the garden starts to wake up, the lawns start to grow and the borders start to fill up. May is without doubt one of the busiest times of the year in the garden. There are many gardening tasks to carry out during May. Let's continue where we left off from part 1
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During March and April, we sowed a number of tomato plants. The Keder Greenhouse is crammed at the moment.
The tomatoes will be planted up into the various systems that we are using. We will be growing one in a 30 litre container filled with Dalefoot’s Sheepswool Compost. This bag should grow a tomato in without any supplementary feeding. Another Tomato plant will be growing in the Vivigrow, hydroponic system and this will have 24/7 water and nutrient running over the roots. It’s a really simple system to use. We will be sowing our Giant Tomatoes in the next week and look forward to seeing some large fruits in the coming months. The World’s largest is almost 10 pounds and we have a few seeds to germinate from this tomato.
The cabbages planted out in April have been covered with a cloche to protect the young plants from the elements. We used cabbage collars on the young plants to help prevent cabbage root-fly from entering the roots. They work well and are biodegradable too. In amongst the cabbage, we have planted out sweetcorn which will carry on growing once the cabbage have been harvested. Hopefully, this theory works. Gardening is about learning and trialing new ways of growing and I am always up for the challenge.
Most plants will need to be supported. Last year we used a sustainable string called Twool and this helped to support a number of Giant and Kitchen Garden fruits and veg. If you’d like to grow Runner Beans, May is the month to start to prepare the bean canes. Pop along to your local allotment shop and pick up some bean canes. Remember to add feed to the soil prior to planting out. We would recommend Vitax Q4 as a base fertiliser to give the plants the very best start.
If you are thinking of attempting to grow a Giant Marrow, May is the month to start off the seeds. You’ll need a bit of space to grow an oversized fruit. During the Winter we sowed Green Manure. We used Winter Field Bean and Hairy Vetch, which are nitrogen fixers. Green manures provide stability for the soil during the Winter months and also help to provide rich organic matter for soil conditioning, as well as providing stability for the soil.
We have just started to prepare the ground and strim the green manure down. We recently rotovated the ground using the Stiga SRC 775RG Rotary tiller. This is an incredibly powerful machine with a 182cc petrol engine, 75 cm operating width, 26 cm operating depth, six metallic rotors and one front wheel. It churned through the soil with ease. It was a good workout.
The Giant Cabbages are growing away inside the greenhouse and will be planted out into their raised bed in the middle of the month. Each week, these plants have been watered with Giant Veg Instant Compost Tea and the plants are very healthy. The plants grow very fast and hopefully by September, they can reach a weight of around 60-80 pounds. They’ll feed a fair few people.
May is definitely a busy period in the garden. You certainly do reap what you sow and hopefully this month our hints, tips and updates will inspire you to get out into the great outdoors and to start growing your own! The next few months will be about growth and harvest.
Don’t miss our June blog for more ‘grow your own’ gardening know-how with our friends @Giant Veg.
