They came in the post Friday pm (variety: Cambridge Favourite), so today I hoiked ’em in. God knows if I’ve done it right. Never even seen a bare-root strawberry before. I just buried the roots and left the crown above the soil, then gave them a good watering.
This will work… right?
In other news, the onion sets are now planted as well (click the thumbnail to enlarge). I had to water them in, incredibly. The ground is so dry – already – that clouds of dust fly up the moment you put a spade in.
God knows what it will be like come July. But obviously, being me, I fear the worst.
Posted on 1st April 2012
Under: Alliums, Fruit | 15 Comments »
I ordered some strawberries today.
This is a big deal. One of my growing mantras has always been: “No soft fruit.” Why? Because it’s a pain in the arse. All that bird protection and slug warfare is depressing.
But here’s the thing: I planted raspberries the year before last, in defiance of my own dictum. And they’ve not been TOO onerous to care for (although it’s true that the bloody birds eat more than I do).
So now I’m thinking: In for a penny, in for a pound. Fuck it. Let’s have four slug-eaten strawberries to show for months of massive effort and arse-ache. Yeah, baby.
Oddly – as you can tell – I feel very jolly about this decision. I shouldn’t, of course. I should be concerned for my mental health.
Perhaps I am, in fact, losing it completely? Is this how madness creeps over you? One slug-eaten strawberry at a time?
Posted on 10th March 2012
Under: Fruit | 9 Comments »
I’m rather excited. I’m growing raspberries. Never done it before.
I had no plans to, but a friend of my mother’s was giving away raspberry canes. It’s a sad tale: she’s a fruit farmer, and her poly tunnels collapsed under the winter snows. For various reasons, she can’t afford to replace them… so the raspberries were up for grabs.
I feel guilty profiting from another’s misfortune. But I guess they’d have been thrown on the compost otherwise.
End result: I have a row of Glen Ample raspberries. They’re in, but now I have to stake and support them. Is this going to be much harder work than I could ever imagine?!?
Posted on 29th March 2010
Under: Fruit | 17 Comments »
Right, it’s all change. No more non-gardening, non-blogging and non-doing.
This weekend, a multitude of jobs WILL get done:
- Planting raspberries (maybe even staking them and rigging wiring for support)
- Planting First Early potatoes
- Planting onion sets
- Digging up remaining Jerusalem artichokes and replanting a new row
- Digging over roots bed
- Weeding
- Hoeing
- Saving the planet and getting the girl
All in a day’s work for New Soilman (it’s like New Labour: full of promises and relaunches, but always the same old bollocks).
Posted on 19th March 2010
Under: Alliums, Fruit, Potatoes | 14 Comments »
Apologies for lack of service of late. I was having so much Yuletide ‘fun’ that doing anything productive became impossible. Harrumph.
Thought I’d look back, as one does in early January, and think about what I’ve achieved – in allotment terms – over the last 12 months. The startling, but not unexpected answer: not a lot.
One thing, I guess, that IS different: the patch of new land I acquired in Jan 2009 has finally been brought fully under cultivation. (just visible here towards the back), plus the new globe artichokes. Also dug it all over during the Christmas break so it can be properly planted in April.
Just one question: Planted with what? I had planned to bung in some raspberries, but I’m guessing it’s too late for that now… or is it?
Posted on 4th January 2010
Under: Fruit | 8 Comments »