This year's plans

I know it may seem a bit late to be talking about plans for the year, but I thought I would note what I'm growing or intending to do this year.







Last year we had 2 big tubs with potatoes (can't remember which type!), a tub with some broad beans my daughter had planted at Easter, and 3 courgette plants I'd bought on a whim and was surprised at how well they did! I also had 2 strawberry plants which gave us a handful of strawberries - hoping to do better this year, and we now have 3 as one runner moved into the tomato plant's pot next door!







Potatoes
This year I intend to have 4 tubs of potatoes - I already planted the 1st two tubs with early potatoes (Orla) on 29th April (3 seeds in each tub - I'm hoping this will be ok, the tubs are about 45cm diameter). I have the main crop potatoes (Robinta) chitting away on the windowsill and think they can maybe go in next week.







Peas
I cheated with the peas and bought some plugs from Organic Plants . Unfortunately only 3 have survived so they will go in another big tub.





Broad Beans

Last year we planted the broad beans at Easter (so mid April if I remember correctly). I'd really only bought the packet to show my 4 year old daughter what seeds were and how they grow etc, but they did so well we planted them out properly and got a great harvest from 4 plants. This year I forgot and only planted them the other day, so hopefully they will germinate ok and catch up!





Carrots

I also got a bit carried away when buying carrot seeds - I picked Paris Market, Chantenay and Rainbow Mix! I have 3 tubs planned for these (think the garden is going to be over-run with these huge black tubs now!), but still a bit undecided as to when to sow them.

Courgettes
I've ordered 3 courgette plants from Organic Plants again - I found them really easy to grow last year so hoping we do as well this year!



Tomatoes etc

Also from Organic Plants I bought some cherry tomatoes (Tumbler and Sweet Million), sweet pepper (Bell Boy) and slightly optimistic with the aubergine (Ophelia)! I also got this great mini greenhouse for them to live in at the moment! I'm hoping they do ok, but think I will need a lot of luck with these ones!


I'm also planting some lettuce and spring onion in amongst the flowerbed we have - it's something I always wish I had to hand, but in typical fashion, if I buy a whole lettuce at the shops, most of it goes to waste then the next day I'm looking for some!


Fruit - we have the aforementioned strawberries, plus a rather large rhubarb I got last year from my mum & dad's garden. I actually thought it had died & rotted away during the winter, but it came back with a flourish. I had to snap a few flower stalks off it last week. I haven't actually harvested from it yet - I may pick a few stalks from it in the next week or two!

I have also ordered some soft fruits in pots - autumn raspberries (Autumn Bliss and Fall Gold) and a blackberry (Loch Ness). I have no idea if these will do ok in large tubs (50 ltr) or if I should dig a spot for them at the bottom of the garden. I'd rather not do that as a) we rent and I don't want to dig up any more of the turf and b) the soil is awful - heavy clay - and I'd spend ages trying to dig it all out and replace it with decent stuff (as I know from experience when digging out the flower bed a few years ago!).


So that's it - apart from the herbs, but that will be another post!