Hi GWRS BFB is fine as long as it has 'suitable for organic gardening'on the packet. If it hasn't no harm done..Just check countries of origin if you can. I have never saved seed from Broad Beans (probably because we're too greedy and have eaten them all!!) But I have heard that the success rate is small. I always buy new stock in and make sure I sow the lot..but I still lose some sown outside even from an October sowing. That's why it was so successful backing up with a sowing in the polytunnel. Obelixx your chooks have really settled in haven't they😊😊 Boots has found his inner Bengal and attacks Thomas at every opportunity!! Thomas couldn't care less and just rolls over in submission and purrs which totally confuses the Boot as other cats normally run away. Birding and Mousing are not on the list of things to do at the moment.. Snoozing is😊😊
I sowed local broad beans in December and have about 95% germination so lots of beans to come. The previous year I sowed Aquadulce and found them a bit floury so I'm hoping this variety will do better if we get another heatwave and drought come April.
This morning I've been watering all the pots of stuff down in the potager and I think I'll plant out a clematis or two and the camellia this pm. Lots of PSB ready to harvest so we'll have that for dinner. Have watered the pots in the polytunnel too and there' are a few teeny weeny buds showing on the dahlia tubers I potted up last week. Time to work on a barrier to keep the chooks out then.
Our cats have ben sunbathing and dustbathing @biofreak and the huntress has started on the annual mouse fest.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Well, I got the two clematis planted, with help from the chooks who love to dive in planting holes and inspect every spadeful of soil too. Camellia will have to wait as OH needed my spade to dig the soil for a new lawn for the rose garden.
I've cleared over-wintering plants out of the polytunnel and potted up a couple of freesias to bring into the house and then the chooks helped me clear and rake the area behind the PT so I can get the door open when we need to start ventilating.
The wind is dropping and I actually got warm enough to take off my fleece! No wind chill expected tomorrow as the wind is swinging round so I might get down to a t-shirt!
You must be worn out!! I planted out Robunda Strawberries in orange boxes. Dug over and widened flower bed (3 more to go!) Put compost on raised beds and aired polytunnel.😊oh also put up Runner Bean Sticks as new bamboo canes arrived with terreau and ground nice and moist to stick them in as 7ft canes!!
I use 19 x 38 tile battens for my beans, erected into a frame and last year put up a arch down the middle of two of my plots - can't find photos of them further on but you get the idea. As beans don't suffer from carry over pests I've retained the frame in the same position this year but it will a good few weeks yet before I think of putting the seeds in.
Aqua Dulce broad beans used to be as tough as old boots and would stand terrible winters with minimum protection but I think a few rogue genes have crept in and weakened them. If some growers also think their taste has changed too - that's another factor pointing in the same direction.
SporophyteBoy your Bean Arch looks splendid. How big is your plot? I am all set to put in 2 more Raised Beds this year as have made a Herb Bed out of an old one, and saved another for Asparagus that should arrive any day now. That means I have no Beds for Peas as they should not be mixed with Beans according to BioD advice. Tried them in open ground but they really were not happy preferring the protection of wooden frames with our winds. Talking of wind. Have you noticed a chilly breeze every day?. I hope it doesn't last as the wind chill factor at the moment makes a huge difference to the progress of seedlings and knocks the stuffing out of Broad Beans. Here is The Lunar Weather Calender Prediction for April. (Source Michel Gros). The beginning of the month will be fresh and prone to rain. After the 7th it gets warmer again and from the 11th-17th despite some rain the heat will increase. From 27-30th Variable wet and windy.
I have dug out and spread one compost heap that was 8mths old. Absolurely superb dark crumbly soil. Very proud of myself!! Taking turfs off the lawn when widening flower beds annually and popping them on compost heap upside down over finished heap of layers of Veg/shredded Cardboard (not coloured) and Wood ash has certainly done the trick. The primroses are spectacular on the banks of our country lanes this year. Normally I would crystallise some flowers to decorate my cakes for the Garden Fairs, but not bothering as no Fairs in the foreseeable future. Even the June one is in doubt now, as that region has just been put in Lockdown. We are inundated with Parisians who have escaped from Paris to their second homes for a month. Great for business, but worrying for health.
Off to vet with dog this afternoon to sort out his gammy knee. May have to take Thomas as well. Socked in the eye by Boots the Bengal this morning. Opened the French doors to air the house yesterday and cats arrived with live mice almost immediately 'to play' in the lounge. Great rescue operation. Three down..two to go, lovely harvest mice tucked in behind television. I'll swap my cats for your chooks Obelixx!!
Only one of our cats is a good mouser @biofreak. The other is just hopeful tho he's quite good at "killing" my elastic hairbands.
OH has been piling stuff up loosely at the back of the polytunnel and the chooks spend ages in there every day re-arranging it. Since it has been warm enough to start opening the rear PT door I raked it all up so we could and they promptly spread it all again so OH has used pallets to confine it. Persistent blighters now fly up and drop in!
Meanwhile, the new mower has arrived and OH is busy cutting grass and dumping it in strips in the potager where we'll have new beds. He's planning to cover it with cardboard the pile on cheap MPC so I can plant stuff later on.
I sowed 24 chillies using bottom heat on the 17th. 6 days later 4 had popped and 2 days later one more. Only one since then. Sowed tomatoes on the 25th. Hope they come up faster. Carrots sown in a pot the other day and some beetroot in trays. Planning to sow flowers today but not the edible kind.
I'll be happy for some cooler, wetter weather to help with weeding in the sunny beds.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
This morning I've been watering all the pots of stuff down in the potager and I think I'll plant out a clematis or two and the camellia this pm. Lots of PSB ready to harvest so we'll have that for dinner. Have watered the pots in the polytunnel too and there' are a few teeny weeny buds showing on the dahlia tubers I potted up last week. Time to work on a barrier to keep the chooks out then.
Our cats have ben sunbathing and dustbathing @biofreak and the huntress has started on the annual mouse fest.
Spent day at plot yesterday , o/h re-stained original shed , I replaced 2 broken fence post and a few other jobs
Weathers improving slightly
I've cleared over-wintering plants out of the polytunnel and potted up a couple of freesias to bring into the house and then the chooks helped me clear and rake the area behind the PT so I can get the door open when we need to start ventilating.
The wind is dropping and I actually got warm enough to take off my fleece! No wind chill expected tomorrow as the wind is swinging round so I might get down to a t-shirt!
Good to get a few jobs done @GWRS
I use 19 x 38 tile battens for my beans, erected into a frame and last year put up a arch down the middle of two of my plots - can't find photos of them further on but you get the idea. As beans don't suffer from carry over pests I've retained the frame in the same position this year but it will a good few weeks yet before I think of putting the seeds in.
Aqua Dulce broad beans used to be as tough as old boots and would stand terrible winters with minimum protection but I think a few rogue genes have crept in and weakened them. If some growers also think their taste has changed too - that's another factor pointing in the same direction.
OH has been piling stuff up loosely at the back of the polytunnel and the chooks spend ages in there every day re-arranging it. Since it has been warm enough to start opening the rear PT door I raked it all up so we could and they promptly spread it all again so OH has used pallets to confine it. Persistent blighters now fly up and drop in!
Meanwhile, the new mower has arrived and OH is busy cutting grass and dumping it in strips in the potager where we'll have new beds. He's planning to cover it with cardboard the pile on cheap MPC so I can plant stuff later on.
I sowed 24 chillies using bottom heat on the 17th. 6 days later 4 had popped and 2 days later one more. Only one since then. Sowed tomatoes on the 25th. Hope they come up faster. Carrots sown in a pot the other day and some beetroot in trays. Planning to sow flowers today but not the edible kind.
I'll be happy for some cooler, wetter weather to help with weeding in the sunny beds.