Damn this was not an attractive season to start in an allotment to grow your own food. Luckily I had already had a season before this year, so I know how it also could be.
This year was more of the question is actually this year was more representable in terms of how it normally goes, or if last year was. Last year the spring was nice and dry with friendly temperatures, as that this year was moisty and wet and it was infected with slugs.
Here in this post you could already see on what the slugs did to my beans and peas plants and here in this post you can see on what I was trying to all do about it, with lots of mixed success.
After all kinds of plants that have been eaten by the slugs, I had decided to keep some more of the small ones longer inside. But taking them out was also a hassle bcause it was still very windy and it still felt humid.
As you can see here on the picture above the cucumber has survived as well. Half of it was eaten, and the other half was snapped by the wind. A new problem that I hadn't realised so much it was also there
But also some winners!
Luckily it seems now that the temperature seems to be rising and the sun is out more which means the slugs don't like being in the dry ground a lot anymore. Also the plants has gotten a lot bigger now, and we might be at the moment where the plant finally is safe for just easy growing.
This means I also water in the morning instead of in the evening because that would create the new entrance for the slugs.
That means now finally the stage has reached on looking on how it works on pollination of the flowers once they have reached. Luckily instagram has all kinds of small videos showing you how to do this. By now the internet is full of resources everywhere which tell you quit decent on how that all works.
A friend of mine had a zucchini plant in the garden which he had ignored for a couple of weeks and all of a sudden it was growing over his lawn meters and meters long with small zucchinis everywhere. And that in Dutch climate. This is like my dream that after I ignore it for a bit that I also run into this.
Time for more action
To keep the allotment flowing in all kinds of phases it is time to think about what I want to start putting in the ground for the next couple of weeks. As now the cucumber and the tomato is doing a really good job, also the herbs like the oregano and the rosemary are doing a good job. To me that also would be the moment to cut some branches from those to start forming new plants with new roots. You literally can never have enough herbs on the side.
Here you can see it with this spring onion. They are just old and cut off and while putting them in water it starts to grow again. I have been doing it with basil as well and havent bought and basil in months. Yay!
But it all starts with a small sprout and you have to give those a lot of love.
It all starts with a little seed and a little plant!
