Kitchen garden planning

It’s already getting half way February and high time to plan for the summer season! In fact tomatoes and pepper should be sown by now! But better late than never. Last year I was even later with my sowing plans and still had enough crops. So, it’s not too bad.

This year I started with a seed inventory. And was amazed how many different veggie varieties I still have. So, my challenge for the summer is to try and fit all varieties in my kitchen garden plots! At the moment that is: The Greenhouse that fits about 20 big tubs (70-90 litres each), The raised bed of 1m x 4 m x 30cm, and the The Hotbed that I constructed last year (in a frame of 1 m x 4 m x 15 cm). In addition I have the garlic and air-onion bed already planted.

Talking about garlic… Last year was my first failure with them! All the years I grew them in Scotland I never failed with them. And now, here in Sweden… yes, they died on me! I analysed the situation later on, and thought that first of all, the soil must have still been too heavy – even though I added in plenty of sand. And secondly, I planted them too early (sometime Sept-Oct), they grew and then died from the frost. Although it never was a problem in Scotland… Well, wizened from that I decided to wait and wait until I see the frost coming in the weather forecast. So I waited. November came and went… And then I missed my chance, was away, and the snow came. Oh blast, I thought that that was it, we would just have to buy garlic next year as well. However, after it seemed that the winter had come, it went! Yes, warm temperatures and rain… flushed away all snow… And there I was planting garlic around New Year! Well, I never! That was the strangest thing ever to be gardening and planting things in the middle of the winter!

Due to the very unusually warm winter some plants started to grow as well. I felt a bit of a panic to set in when I saw my Loniceras starting to push leaves and the tulips etc. coming up… Before the frosts came back (and went again) I scooped quite some straw-manure over everything I thought vulnerable. Fingers crossed that nothing will die because of this ‘freak’ winter.

Well, back to my kitchen garden planning.

I have decided to go with the same layout than last year in the greenhouse. That is, half of the tubs will contain different varieties of tomatoes and the other half will consist of cucumbers, peppers, aubergines, chilli and some pumpkin or two. Pumpkins are my challenge; in fact I have never succeeded with them yet! Main trouble has been germination… and then when they did germinate in Scotland, the weather did not cooperate over there on the hillside… and the poor wee plants staid wee… But now I’m hoping for a better luck.

Last two years I have had beans (runner beans, climbing French beans and French dwarf beans) in my raised bed, so this year it is high time to plant them elsewhere. I love verts haricots, and they are very difficult to buy over here – that is, you can buy them, but they are shipped in from Kenya. Nothing against Kenyans, but I’d like local food, if it is at all possible. So, this year they are going to line my hotbed’s northern half (the bed is lined east-west, so that the long sides are subjected to as much sunshine as possible).

I regret that I didn’t put the beans elsewhere already last year, since now I have a problem with the placing of my peas!

Peas and beans do not go well together. Neither side by side nor successively after each other. That is, the peas cannot go in the raised bed. And I have nowhere else to put them. Garlic and air-onion bed has some space, but peas hate garlic as well! All my tubs are also taken by the greenhouse plants, so either I’ll buy a couple more tubs or I’ll make a new bed!

I think I may go for the latter, since I’ll have the same problem next year anyways. And then next thing is to make an order to get some Link-a-Bord sets. I’m so happy with those, that I just cannot think of using anything else to make raised beds. My sets have lasted … well, close to 10 years now the oldest! And you can leave them happily out during winters as well. I love them! Easy to assemble, lightweight, non-rotting, good value for money since they will last a lifetime. Made from recycled plastic and of course also recyclable. If you for some very weird reason will want to get rid of them.

So, raised bed will get veggies that don’t mind beans having been there previously: cabbages, pumpkins, courgettes, roots.

Hotbed will get the beans on north side and then in front of them on the south side: cabbages, pumpkins and courgettes. I think the hotbed is still too much for any roots, they will go in maybe in a year or two. Raised bed is quite nutritious as well, but doesn’t have the half rotten compost etc. that the hotbed has.

New bed to be constructed will then have peas and some roots. Peas like roots (carrots and red beet at least) so that is very fitting. And then not to forget all the herbs and lettuce seeds I have as well!

Three 1 m x 4 m beds plus a greenhouse I think will do for the foreseeable future!

That’s my plan! Next it is shopping then!