• Mint: in a separate pot sunk into one front corner, so it can’t spread
Planting black currants and gooseberries together is generally discouraged due to shared vulnerabilities and conflicting environmental needs, despite both belonging to the Ribes genus.
Disease Risk: Both plants are susceptible to gooseberry fire blight and share common pests like the currant moth, increasing the risk of widespread infection and infestation in close proximity.
Moisture Conflict: Black currants require moist soil and thrive in cooler, wetter conditions, whereas gooseberries are more drought-tolerant and suffer from excessive soil moisture or waterlogging.
Pruning Differences: They require opposite pruning strategies; red currants and gooseberries fruit on older wood (2–3 years), while black currants fruit on current year’s growth (1 year).
Mixing care routines can significantly reduce yields.
Recommendation: Plant them separately to manage moisture levels and prevent the spread of shared fungal diseases. If space is limited, ensure adequate distance (at least 6–10 feet) and monitor closely for disease transmission.
You can grow them in one bed, but not all in the same place at the same time. The rational way is to split the bed into a few **zones** by height, spread, and crop life, and to keep the tallest crops on the north side so they do not shade the rest. Sweetcorn and cavolo nero are the main structure crops; French beans, dill, and sweet peas fit as companions or edge crops; mint should be isolated; strawberries want a long-term, low, sunny edge; chicory is best kept in a separate rotation area if possible.
## Best layout
A practical single-bed layout in the UK is:
- North side: sweetcorn in a block.
- In front of or beside the corn: French beans SAXA, only if you are using them as a corn companion and the corn is already well up.
- Outer sunny edge: strawberries.
- Another edge or corner: dill, because it stays relatively small and can be tucked in.
- Separate container or sunk pot: Corsican mint, because it spreads aggressively.
- One end of the bed or a temporary support line: sweet peas.
- Remaining free space: cavolo nero and chicory types, spaced widely enough for mature size.
## What should not be mixed
Mint should not be planted freely in the bed because Corsican mint spreads and is much safer in a pot or root barrier.
Sweet peas and French beans are both climbers, but sweet peas are better treated as a flower support crop, while French bean SAXA is a dwarf bush bean and does not need support.
Chicory and cavolo nero both want more room than herbs or strawberries, so if the bed is tight, they are the first crops to reduce or move elsewhere.
## Spacing guide
Here is a sensible spacing plan from the sources:
| Crop | Spacing / method |
|---|---|
| Sweetcorn | About 45 cm between plants in a block.
| French beans SAXA | About 25 x 25 cm, or seeds 12 cm apart then thin.
| Dill | About 20 cm each way, with rows around 25 cm apart.
| Strawberry 'White Soul' | Start in pots; plant out once established, with generous spacing in the final bed.
| Chicory / Cichorium intybus | Sow shallowly, about 1 cm deep, and keep final spacing roomy.
| Cavolo nero | About 45–60 cm between plants.
| Corsican mint | 6–12 inches apart only if contained, but better in a pot.
| Sweet peas | Sow in modules first, then plant out by a support.
## A sensible sowing order
Start the cool-tolerant and slower crops first, then add the warm-season crops once the soil is warm. Sweet peas can be sown early and planted out once established.
Cavolo nero and chicory can also be started early, while sweetcorn and French beans should wait until the soil has warmed.
Dill is flexible and can be sown directly once frost risk has passed, and strawberries are usually best raised in pots before planting out.
## One-bed plan
If this were my bed, I would do this:
1. Put sweetcorn in a north-side block.
2. Use French beans SAXA only if you have spare space after the corn is established.
3. Put cavolo nero in the widest spacing section.
4. Edge with dill and strawberries.
5. Grow sweet peas on a separate trellis at one end if you have vertical space.
6. Keep Corsican mint out of the bed unless it is in a pot sunk into the soil.
A simple rule is: tall crops north, low crops south, spreading crops contained, and only one or two “big” crops per bed if you want good airflow and easy harvesting.
https://t.me/bibliya_sada/1116
Никаких трудностей и заморочек с рассадой!
🔴B концe октября – нaчaле ноября, когдa удaрят первые морозцы, выкoпайтe лунки глубинoй 15 см.
🔴B кaждyю лунку положите пo oднoй целой пoмидoринe.
🔴Заcыпьте землёй, немного утpамбуйте. От веpxушки тoмата дo пoвеpxнocти почвы дoлжнo пoлучитьcя около 10 см.
🔴Посадки замульчируйте суxими листьями слоем 10 – 15 см.
🔴На листья можно поставить сетчатые ящики, чтобы они не раздувались ветром.
🔴Поверх посадок насыпают снег, когда позволит погода.
🔴Весной после прогрева почвы нужно убрать листья.
🔴Через некоторое время в лунках увидите всходы.
🔴Всходы нужно укрывать от заморозков. Также как и высаженную рассаду.
🔴Когда подрастут, выкопайте и рассадите по грядкам.
Такие томаты проходят естественную закалку, поэтому более устойчивы к похолоданиям, болезням и больше дают урожая.
For most of us growing our own is a hobby. Unlike most hobbies, it actually saves you money. Yes, you can spend a small fortune on equipment but you don’t need to. The few tools you absolutely need can be picked up for a few pounds second hand. Electric propagators and rotovators are great but you don’t absolutely need them.
Rent for plots varies but even the extortionate rate of £80 a year some councils demand with menaces isn’t that large compared to the gains. A couple of years ago we calculated a plot could save an average family £800 a year. With inflation this is probably creeping towards the £1,000 mark now. Incidentally, that’s calculated on ordinary, not organic vegetables.
Growing your own teaches you the value of your food, the effort you put in means you reduce waste and the flavour means you eat better as you realise how tasteless a lot of the supermarket stuff actually is.
The only other thing is time – allotments and growing your own does take time but it’s time you enjoy spending. Not like a boring job, you get fresh air, exercise and company from other allotmenteers.
It’s a hobby now for most of us but I think a time will come when it’s going to be a matter of survival. Oil is going up and up so this will knock on into food. Everything from tractors to transport and fertiliser depend on oil.
Population is going to peak at around 9 to 10 billion by 2050 and the UK will have increased its population to 70 million and we import the majority of our food. This means we’ll be competing on the world market for a scarce product so the cost will only increase.
At the same time, countries like China and India are becoming wealthier and their populations are able to pay for better quality food. Specifically more meat in their diet and meat is far less efficient in terms of land use than a vegetarian diet.
Finally, the big unknown of climate change. It could be a nightmare scenario where the human race scrabbles to supply increased demand for food at time when production drops dramatically.
In that situation I can foresee rationing at least in the UK and Europe and growing your own being a matter of survival rather than a lifestyle choice.
Filed under Allotment Diary by
На дачном участке обычно столбы устанавливают через 4 метра, проволоку натягивают на высоте 120 см над землёй.
Если «крапивка» слишком высокая, укоротите ее до 15-20 см. И обязательно перед посадкой обратите внимание на верхушку растения. Вялая и поникшая? От такого растения лучше отказаться: оно повреждено малинной мухой.
Выкапывать отпрыски можно только тогда, когда на них уже есть молодые корешки белого цвета. Пересаживать лучше во влажную и прохладную землю. Сделав лунку, перенесите росток вместе с комом земли, добавьте немного фосфорных удобрений и вылейте полведра воды. А затем замульчируйте посадки перегноем или торфом.
for grapes: in early spring about 3 weeks prior to last frost, set out year-old vines after trrimming their roots to 6 inches (this forces growth of feeder roots). Pace them as deep in the soil as they grew in the nursery, spreading the roots in all directions. Cut top growth back to two buds.
For strawberries: In most parts of the country they are planted in early spring, about 3 to 4 weeks before the last exected frost. Where winters are mild, you can plant them in early summer, autumn and winter. Throughly loosen the soil and if it has organic matter you should need no fertilizer. Before planting the roost should be kept moist and if from a nursery are probably year-old plants. Anyway, trim the roost to 6 inches for easier planting. Whe setting the plants, it’s essential to have the base of the crown at soil level, roots gently fanned out and the soil firmed around them. Roots must be completely buried.
Blueberry: plant them in the autumn if your winter is mild, otherwise, in early spring. Prune transplantsdown to 3 or 4 of their strongest shoots and prune off the plump fruit buds. Dig holes 18″ deep and as wide. Blend soil with organic matter before back-filling and planting. Set plants 4 to 6 feet aprat. Put down a thickmulch around each plant to help shallow roots to retain moisture. For purchasing blueberry plants one should buy 2 or 3 year-old plants that are 12 to 16 inches high. To allow essential cross-pollination, choose two or three different varieties to raise together. (Although today, some are certified as not requiring cross-pollination).
Rspberry: avoid planting where you have previously grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant – they may have tainted the soil with a potentially harmful fungus. Plant in early spring. Plant red and yellow raspberries in rows; purple and black raspberries should be planted 2 to 3 ft apart and devlop into “clumps.” Set all raspberries 1 to 2 inches deeper in soil than they were in the container. Cut back all newly planted canes to 5 or 6 inches above the ground.
Кукурбитацин - это то самое вещество, которое придает горечь огурцам. И не только из-за недостаточного полива огурцы горчат. Кукурбитацин накапливается из-за избытка калия и фосфора, а редкие поливы просто делают его более концентрированным в огурцах.
А сажайте тогда, когда ночных заморозков не будет в вашей зоне. Если нет теплицы попробуйте так: половину бочки, любой объемный деревянный или металлический ящик наполните питательной землей, на дно неплохо бы навозу конского или коровьего, он будет подогревать землю. И сажайте туда. три корня посадите - огурцов будет море. Забыла один момент - повосмесью не до самого верха засыпайте, от верхней кромки емкости до уровня насыпанной смеси примерно 20 см оставьте. Молодые огурчики можно будет прикрыть от холода лутрасилом, например. Только не пленкой, без проветривания сгореть могутGrow black radishes much as you would the common rosy radish, although, as mentioned, they will take longer to mature – about 55 days.
Plant black radish from mid to late summer (or in the fall in mild climates) either directly sown into the garden or started indoors to be transplanted.
Space the plants 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm.) apart or even farther if you want larger radishes. Sow the seeds in well-draining, loamy soil that has been raked free of stones.
Situate the radish bed in an area that receives at least six hours of sunlight and has a soil pH of 5.9 to 6.8.
For storage, the mature plants can be kept in the ground if temperatures are low. The radish can also be stored for months in a root cellar or kept in the fridge for up to three weeks at 0–5°C (32–41°F).
Instructions
