Adventures of a Trombonist: Losing the plot year 2

Purple Early First weeny Carrots

July has arrived and with a much more relaxed attitude to planting than last year my efforts have started to produce some early veg. Last year it was all consuming but with the harsh winter, and all the beds completed last year, I was not in as much of a rush to get going. I felt the spring was too cold to risk planting out anything early and the schoolboy errors of last year had thought me that patience is the key.

Little Gem Onion bed

Too much Garlic

I got a present of Vegetables For the Irish Garden by Klaus Laitenberger and although I have other allotment focused books the majority are British based and the climate is too different to ours to rely on these for planting times. Klaus has set my mind at ease with regards when to sow and plant out in Ireland. He also has some interesting views on weeding which I also have taken on board. All this leads to a more relaxed experience as there is a bit more harmony to the plot.

So instead of going completely bananas with too many varieties of vegetables I instead went bananas with the volume of less. I planted around 60 garlic bulbs of 3 varieties, 3lbs of onions with again 3 varieties, 2 types of peas, 3 types of beans, 3 varieties of potato, 2 varieties of beetroot, 2 varieties of leek, 3 varieties of carrot not to mention the lettuce, courgettes and broccoli.

I'll have a Pea please Bob

The second year has brought it's own problems and my laid back approach is in danger of backfiring rather dramatically. During the winter snow a drift formed at the corner of our field and deer got in and did a fair amount of damage, eating foliage and trampling winter crops. Not much can be done about that but the summer has arrived now and so too the local rabbit population. Not seen last year, the rabbits seem to be causing havoc. They milled my lettuce and broccoli seedlings so I had to go back to basics and put down the netting.