30th May

Last week we did get the onions planted.

One problem we were having, was getting three people to go on the planting machine, it was getting a bit worrying.

But right at the last minute we had three looking for a job.

So Tuesday morning the planter was full of leeks and we were off.

Usually it takes a wee while for new people to get used to the planter, and some can’t even manage.

But these three are like seasoned pros, we got fifty thousand leeks planted in one day.

So with the onions planted at lightning speed, Wednesday was the job of weeding the seven hundred seed trays the leeks are in.

The trays the leeks and onions get blocked in, always need weeded before we can plant them,

The leeks and onions are in the trays for almost three months before they are ready to get planted, and the weed in the compost gets of to a great start.

The plan was to start planting the leeks on Thursday, but I thought they might be too small.

We did go out on Thursday and tried to plant, but yes, they were still too small.

The weather in April and May has been a wee bit chillier than it usually is, and has slowed up the growing,  we usually we need to water the tunnel that the blocked seeds are in, three times a day, the heat in the tunnels really tries them up, but this season usually a morning water has been enough.

This week I hope the early leeks will be ready to plant, if not we will go onto the brassicas.

Unfortunately there is rain forecast for this week, if it does get too wet for the planter, we will get onto planting the courgettes.

On Monday last week the farm sales rep that we bought the new weeder from, came in for a visit and to help set up and calibrate the computer screen to the machine.

With that done we went into the broad beans for a wee shot, and all I can say is that it is amazing.

You just line the tractor up in the bed, set down the weeder and go, the camera detects the plants and the computer moves the machine left or right making sure no plants are pulled out.

I eventually I went out and went through the swede and beetroot seeds that are just coming through, usually we need to use the brush weeder, this machine takes two people and usually all morning.

I done it on my own in just over one hour.