I have always repeated the advice 'hoe before the weeds appear', but have not done it myself. So now I am suffering the consequences!
I spent a couple of hours digging out huge weeds in various sections of my plot where I had allowed them to grow. I was conscious that the groundsel in particular was about to seed but the clumps of grass were getting huge!
On my previous visit I had had to clear the weeds in my Brassica tunnel just to plant out the summer and red cabbage plants I got from the Trading Hut. (I had to pay for them on Sunday as I did not have the change to post in the letter box in the front of the Trading Hut!)
I started weeding my onion sets. Onions are very susceptible to the competition from weeds so I was keen to clear them. Then I looked at my strawberries! I could hardly make them out in the bed full of weeds. I managed to use the hoe in the front half of the bed to uproot most weeds as the plants are in rows, but the other half is not so regimented and will have to be hand weeded on my hands and knees!
I spent a couple of hours digging out huge weeds in various sections of my plot where I had allowed them to grow. I was conscious that the groundsel in particular was about to seed but the clumps of grass were getting huge!
On my previous visit I had had to clear the weeds in my Brassica tunnel just to plant out the summer and red cabbage plants I got from the Trading Hut. (I had to pay for them on Sunday as I did not have the change to post in the letter box in the front of the Trading Hut!)
I started weeding my onion sets. Onions are very susceptible to the competition from weeds so I was keen to clear them. Then I looked at my strawberries! I could hardly make them out in the bed full of weeds. I managed to use the hoe in the front half of the bed to uproot most weeds as the plants are in rows, but the other half is not so regimented and will have to be hand weeded on my hands and knees!
The strawberry bed part weeded! Hard going. Much easier to hoe before the weeds get big!
The amount of top growth (I separate out the deep rooted weeds) made a huge contribution to my compost bin.
Someone said recently you should hoe a bit every time you visit the plot. Good advice which I shall endeavour to follow in future!
By way of a break from bending double weeding, I dug over part of my roots bed so I can sow my first crop of carrots and beetroot, and perhaps a row of Swiss Chard if I can fit it in the space. As usual I am late as I planned to sow earlier in the month but had not cleared the ground.
Before leaving I cut another huge cauliflower from my last row planted out last year. This is the first of the four plants left (one died during the winter) but the remaining three look very healthy and one is just beginning to show a white head.
I have done exceedingly well with the cauliflower plants I bought from the Trading Hut. I got 5 strips, each of 5 plants, giving a succession of crops from last autumn through to now. I can recommend them!
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