Spring is just about here and things are starting to stir! There is a lovely purply head peeping out of the asparagus bed.
All winter we have had a dozen cauliflower in one of the beds in the poly tunnel and another dozen under nets in the veg garden. In the tunnel they got big, floppy, had lots of caterpillars and generally looked unhappy. We cursed them, watered them, spoke badly about them - until today when we found two lovely white heads nestled in there! A quick feel of all the others and there are probably half a dozen heads forming!
My husband swears the last time he grew cauliflower successfully was in 1976. So there was a lot of cheering and running round with our hands in the air. You'd have thought our team had won the FA cup. Mind you, in was 1976 when our home team of Southampton did win the Cup!
While I have been laid up my husband has been preparing his gardening watering systems. He installed two water butts, linked together, behind the big workshop. These have been bedded on a square of yet more re-cycled bricks. They are nice and high on their stands so we should be able to get hoses and cans on to the taps easily.
Over the fence in the poly tunnel he extended the seep hose in middle bed in the tunnel this will be good for the tomatoes later, and re installed the ground hose with its spurs of sprays in the two side beds. Taking days off in the summer will mean we can leave the watering on a solar pump and a timer and it should look after itself.
One side has the cauliflower. Other side has some early lettuce, strawberries which are doing well and spinach which is having a spring flush. So every meal has handfuls of spinach included. Omelettes, with smoky bacon, and spinach stirred in are very nice.
Hopefully spinach will help build up my strength - Popeye style.
Congrats on the caluis - they really are so-and-sos to grow! I had my first success ever last year and am wondering whether to try again this year or just rest on my laurels.
ReplyDeleteHe now thinks he is the "cauli wisperer" and is planting more seeds. Hope he is not disappointed.
DeleteGlad you're on the mend. Poor hubby, lets hope his cough dispels soon. Congratulations on the cauli, I'm going to try a few this year.
ReplyDeleteMan cough, always worse! They take up a lot of room and had to have my old bread knife sharpened to cut it off!
DeleteGlad you are starting to feel better. Cauliflower over here in Canada is running about $7-8 Canadian. As there has been so many strange weather patterns over the last few years, the farmers here are starting to revert back to planting fields of vegetables rather than grain. Hopefully that will bring the price down. People are starting gardens also. Wonderful to see. How we protect our heads of cauliflower over here is to first tie the leaves up over the head then we add a old stocking (pantyhose) over top. The sun gets through, the bugs stay out and the stocking expands as the head frowns.
ReplyDeleteI had heard of bending the leaves over but not the panty hose! Does it work on green broccoli? Last summer something laid eggs in our best heads. Will save some tights to try it!
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