Spring Cabbage and Garlic

Andrew planted some Spring Cabbage seeds in a seeds tray a good while ago (July), and on Saturday their big day came - they graduated from the cold frame to the plot proper. They're looking good, although Cabbage is not one of my favourite things. Again, we have the same problem with the variety name, but I'll find out and update this blog when I do. They've been planted in the bed that had the carrots in, and looking at the background you will be able to see the Strawberry plants that were recently moved into the permenant bed. Hopefully we'll get some fruit off them next year!

As well as the cabbage, Andrew planted out his beloved Garlic cloves 'Solent Wight', which I spoke of a few weeks back as being the first crop we bought off the internet. The bulbs were huge and the individual cloves, plump, firm and large in themselves. They were planted in 2 rows about 15cm apart and each clove was planted (shallowly) about 10cm apart, or the width of the trowel. We have cats on the allotment quite often, 2 in particular, and not being a cat fan at the best of times, I get rather annoyed when I see them - and even more annoyed when I see their pesky paw prints in our soil. So, as a perventative measure I cut some of the overgrown bramble stems by our plot and laid them across the garlic rows. I know from experience that they are mighty prickily and therefore no cat will want to be anywhere near OUR garlic cloves. They should be safe til harvest time now, which I think is around July.

(My next 'Focus on...' will be on the humble Garlic. I'll write it up later this week.)