7/10/25 - The Bed Update
Evening all! A quick few notes for the diary on the latest. Let's dig in!
General Sit Rep
The plot itself is looking really good. A few of the beds have been wound down for the winter, and some have had digestate put them, but will be used again soon enough. The winter veg are coming on really well, and the late plantings and transplants into the tunnels are also doing really well. Hopefully we will be a little while before we get into the lower overnight temperatures so they can continue in the warmth of the day. Polytunnel internal temperatures seem to be holding reasonably well, up into the high 30's during the day, but occasionally, dipping as low as 2.5 degrees on a handful of nights in recent weeks.
Bed 1.
This is where the red cabbage are living. They've come on really well and are also being kept company by some impromptu winter lettuce. We're aiming to get some red cabbage heads ready for the winter, and especially Christmas dinner!
Currently empty with no plans for anything until next season. It's had a layer of digestate spread on it and is now under weed membrane for the winter.
Bed 3.
I can't remember if it is sprouting broccoli or calabrese in this bed, but hey - it's pretty similar! Nevertheless, it's come on strong over the last 6 weeks especially, and is already touching the nets surrounding it. Fortunately, I think the butterfly season is now mostly over, so hopefully that will be it for the caterpillar problems for this year!
Bed 4.
Half a bed of parsnip which we've started to harvest, and once again, they have done very well, despite some other plot holders struggling to get germination earlier in the year. The other half of the bed has been given over to swede, but the foliage has started to die back, but with little in the way of growth around the root. I'll leave them in the ground for a while though as other swede crops on other plots seem to have started regrowing more foliage. Perhaps they'll catch up by late winter?
Bed 5.
Originally containing the tomato crop, this bed has been turned around quickly. It's had a layer of digestate, and usually I would say to leave it at least a month or so before even considering planting anything into it. However, I messed up a bit and I hadn't intended on adding digestate to the bed, instead originally I was supposed to add some well rotted manure as a mulch over winter. This bed is now home to 33 cloves of garlic in 3 rows. To try and reduce the impact of the raw digestate, I pushed 3 rows of it back to reveal the soil underneath, and then dig down a few inches to drop the seed garlic in. Then, topped it off with normal garden compost. Hopefully this will be enough to protect the seed garlic from the digestate and by the time it ruptures in the next couple of months, the digestate won't be so potent.
Bed 6.
At the moment, this is empty, has a layer of digestate and is also covered with weed membrane. But, in the coming couple of weeks, half of the bed will be given over to a planting of broad beans. Until then, the worms can do their thing.
Bed 7.
A solitary cauliflower plant is all that remains in this bed. Yet to produce a head, since the weather has cooled off and the rain has returned the leaf growth has been really healthy. Hopefully in the next month before it gets too cold, it will produce something, and then this bed will also be able to have a layer of digestate added to it.
Bed 8.
The chard which we bought as plug plants from Castrees garden centre have come on well and are now about ready to be harvested from their half of the bed. In the other half of the bed, some very late leeks are getting their feet in. I've never grown leeks this late in the year, and we will see if they produce anything by the end of next winter. This bed will probably not get any digestate this winter, but I will be able to add some manure in the spring before the next crop is ready to be planted.
Bed 9.
Empty, digestate added and under weed membrane for the winter. See you in the spring!
Bed 10 - The Bathtub.
It's been another very successful year growing carrots in the bath. Through the season, I have been sowing seeds in halves. The first sowing for half the bath at the start of the year came on great. A couple of months later, it was followed by a sowing in the other half of the bath. As they germinated, the first harvest was being taken and eventually, complete. The second sowing was done and harvest started on the other half. We have just finished harvesting the second half of the bath, and the 3rd sowing will be ready to harvest by the end of autumn. Once everything is harvested, I'll add some fresh sieved compost and then leave it for the winter.
Bed 11.
This had our first crop of ground sown potatoes, all now harvested. A layer of digestate and some weed membrane means that this bed can also rest up until next year.
Bed 12.
The cucumber trellis has been lifted out the ground and in storage for the winter. Later this winter, I will be planting some bare root raspberry canes in this bed. It's been layered with digestate and has a strip of weed membrane on it. When it comes to planting, the weed membrane will stay in place, and I'll be cutting holes for the canes to be planted in.
Bed 13.
Empty, digestate added and under weed membrane for the winter. See you in the spring!
Bed 14.
One solitary kale plant is all that remains in this bed, after the other kale plants struggled and were infested with white fly. Though this single plant did have white fly on it, it didn't seem to get affected so badly. It should stand up well to the colder weather, and I'll take some pickings of it over the winter period. I'll mulch it down with digestate in the coming weeks.
Bed 15.
Another bed that got freed up earlier than anticipated after the sprout plants got obliterated by whitefly and caterpillars, despite being under nets. I've planted some beetroot, hoping for a late year crop. Progress is a little bit slow though, and the roots are only now starting the bulge out. Hopefully they will continue to do so in the coming weeks before the cold weather kicks in. The other half of the bed has more winter leeks in place. It'll be spring time before this bed is mulched or fed, so we'll see what happens.
Mini Polytunnel.
I think this will prove to be the star of the show going into winter. Only a couple of weeks ago, we harvested the watermelon and last of the carrots and already, it is teaming with new growth again already. The first planting was a couple of rows of pak choi, This has come on well and is about ready to harvest. It's been followed by a couple of rows of winter lettuce, which itself has taken well and is starting to grow nicely. Then, the Chinese cabbage has gone in. It's grown really quickly with some very vibrant green growth. Who know how long it will take to grow until ready, but it should be quite good under cover. Finally, a couple of rows of kohlrabi finishes off the planting. I've grown kohlrabi once before, and it was OK, but not great. Only a couple of plants came to crop, but that was grown outside in summer. Let's see if under cover in the autumn does it any better.
Polytunnel.
Finally, the main polytunnel. All the quad grows have been moved or removed. 4 tubs of sweet pepper plants remain, and are fruiting well, although ripening the peppers seems to be taking a long time. The carrots in the raised bed are bursting, ready to be harvested. We'll use these in the coming weeks/months and then add more compost ready for an early season sowing of more carrots next year. The cauli and broccoli plants are really getting to grips with their new home and are growing well. I'm looking forward to seeing how they do over the winter. Hopefully we'll get some sort of crop out of them by Christmas. Unless of course they go into winter hibernation until the spring!
That's where we are at the moment! More news soon. Thanks for reading :-)
