Cavelo Death

The Cavelo Nero has come to the end of it's life and is dieing a failry undignified death. It has been completely savaged by cabbage moth caterpillers. I was going to pull them out and dump them in the compost, but I've noticed that they are always surrounded but wasps, hoverflies and ladybugs and the rest of the garden remains pretty much unscathed. They can stay there now as sacrificial plants while bringing in those other beneficial insects.



Garlic

I've had some garlic in pots since April and I pulled them up today. These have been grown for a few generations now from a head of purple garlic I bought from a local fresh veg market. I think this season has been the best yet. Maybe I've finally got the soil mix and ph correct. The method used was to fill most of the pot with a combination of potting mix, compost and old sheep poo. The top 80mm or so is just filled with potting mix and a handful of dolomite lime. If you have compost or poo touching the bulbs as they develop there's a good chance that rot will set in.
If I leave the stalks attached to the bulbs and they will keep fresh until I'm ready to plant at the beginning of April next year and behond. This abilty to store for so long makes garlic a must for the back garden veggie patch. I might find a place in the garden next year rather than in pots.



The Last Beans

The broad beans gave up their last pods this week and today I cut them down, covered the stalks in chook poo and straw the same as I did witht the peas. I think these did pretty well, and were delicious, so they will definatley be going in next year. I might plant them a bit later, end of June/early July, with the plants a bit further apart in an attmpt to increase the crop.