Well this is it. A long, long time since I updated this blog. Even longer since I had the time to do any proper vegetable gardening.
In the circs (the utter lack of time for, like, anything) I’m reasonably pleased. I mean, I’m getting crops and the plot isn’t ALL weeds – just mostly weeds.
I’m working longer hours these days than in the past, and the commuting takes up what little is left, so I’ve had to cut back on what I can grow. Nothing difficult makes the cut any more (bye bye cauliflowers). It’s the basics, plus whatever I can make the time for if I really, really try.
Having said that, it turns out you can grow a fair bit on only two hours a week. You do have to put up with a lot of imperfection (which means weeds), but you can get carrots, beetroot, French beans, potatoes, onions and asparagus without too much difficulty. The asparagus has been, as ever, a joy: you do pretty much bugger-all, and get a delicious and rather valuable crop.
So the new direction of this blog is to document the results of vegetable gardening on no more (and often much less) than 2 hrs a week. I’ll be letting you know.
Good to hear from you Sm, glad to see you have managed to adapt growing around your new job. It may be fewer crop varities but they will still taste great anyway!!
May 31st, 2015 at 11:30 pm
Great to see you again Soilman. I’ve adopted a similar approach so quite a bit of my allotment has perennial crops and raised beds. On my clay soil, raised beds make weeding a breeze.
June 1st, 2015 at 11:45 am
Your allotment looks very good for less than 2 hours per week. Knowing how much you love to grow cauliflower, could you grow a few caulis at home rather than the allotment?
To enjoy free shipping on my seed order this year I needed to order one additional packet of seed. On a whim, I chose cauliflower. I’ve always avoided it because of its reputation for being difficult. I didn’t really have space for it, so I only planted two seeds — thinking only one would germinate. Both germinated and I couldn’t bear to murder a healthy seedling. Both were planted out in April, following your planting advice, and they grew well. Imagine my surprise when I got two absolutely beautiful 8 inch heads! They were delicious! I’m planning on finding room for more for an autumn harvest. Anyway, I planted the caulis in the backyard where it was very quick and easy to water, fertilize and check for pests.
June 2nd, 2015 at 1:27 pm
Absolutely delighted to hear you’ve had cauliflower success, Deb. Anybody who grows an 8-inch cauliflower is automatically enrolled in the pantheon of veg growing greats. Well done!
June 3rd, 2015 at 6:19 pm
So good to see you back in the soil. Looking forward to your insight on gardening on a time budget.
June 28th, 2015 at 6:52 pm
Good to see you’re still getting good stuff off your plot even with limited time.
July 30th, 2015 at 10:05 pm