Vegetable and Fruit Growing on an Allotment in Edinburgh
Thursday 4 April 2019
In Cold Storage
After my protracted excursion into the wild you might think I have given up raising vegetables. Fear not. I did get carried away with the warm patch at the end of February and sowed lots of things. Then of course the weather turned cold. Today for instance the thermometer has peaked at a balmy 7C as the sun has made an appearance. The night time temperatures have hovered perilously close to freezing. I have the paraffin heater at the ready because the greenhouse is bursting at the seams. Under the circumstances the production line from propagator to indoor lights to greenhouse to outdoors, has well and truly come to a grinding, if temporary, halt. I've taken a snapshot of the situation with the benefit of the aforementioned sunny interval:
Propagator
Indoor lights
Greenhouse Right
Greenhouse Left
Greenhouse centre
Hardy outdoors
Shed
I do have two rows of early potatoes already planted at the plot
But the rest are waiting for the Good Friday day of planting.
It has been a nervous week of watching the temperature forecasts and I am so looking forward to a change in the wind direction and a jump in the temperature so that I can get the production line going again. After all it is April and according to the seed packets it is the ideal time to sow just about ANYTHING you may care to grow.
As I write the sun has disappeared and a shower of hailstones is pelting down.
One is that it was too cold and too wet here to plant the usual things so we skipped spring and now are ready to plant summer things.
Second is that you have given me an idea. I bet I could hang that wire basket thing over the 5-ft stucco wall and fill it with various pots. I'd need to find some big S-hooks.
Someone at the plot planted some potatoes in that February warmth. They had all come through but have been badly frosted this week. Only sown leeks and sweet peas so far and like you some early potatoes. Waiting for this cold spell of April weather to end - looks like the middle of the month. Noticed today that high's for next Wednesday are 6°C. Maybe they will be wrong!
My potatoes have yet to emerge - and they are Epicure which is the hardiest new potato I know of. On a bright note - The sun has appeared today and is due to stay unobscured until sunset. But yes, this is the exception.
Two things
ReplyDeleteOne is that it was too cold and too wet here to plant the usual things so we skipped spring and now are ready to plant summer things.
Second is that you have given me an idea. I bet I could hang that wire basket thing over the 5-ft stucco wall and fill it with various pots. I'd need to find some big S-hooks.
Now that's upcycling!
DeleteYou have started loads of things, beating us hands down. Today we went to do,some allotment jobs and it was perishing.
ReplyDeleteAs is often said: Fools rush in. I still hope to get away with it.
DeleteSomeone at the plot planted some potatoes in that February warmth. They had all come through but have been badly frosted this week. Only sown leeks and sweet peas so far and like you some early potatoes. Waiting for this cold spell of April weather to end - looks like the middle of the month. Noticed today that high's for next Wednesday are 6°C. Maybe they will be wrong!
ReplyDeleteMy potatoes have yet to emerge - and they are Epicure which is the hardiest new potato I know of. On a bright note - The sun has appeared today and is due to stay unobscured until sunset. But yes, this is the exception.
ReplyDelete