Next batch of catalogues and first order placed

Well the next two catalogues have arrived;
The Real Seed Catalogue is a 28 page A5 tome. No pictures, but excellent descriptions enable you to create your own picture of what the seeds will grow into. Also lots of other information is provided. Most of their seeds are 'heirlooms' and none are hybrid (F1) so plenty of seeds to collect at the end of the growing season.
Thomson & Morgans catalogue is a full colour A5 volume, plenty of pictures so you can pick just what you are after. Unfortunately this did not arrive as a result of my request, but was sent to my old address as I had ordered previously. I've never been impressed with T&M's customer service, and it's not getting any better.

So I have now placed my first order for next year from The Real Seed Catalogue. I've really got into Chillis over the past few years so i've ordered a few different varieties (Iranian Round, Alberto's Locoto, Rote Keile and Yellow Aji) along with a few tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper and other varieties (Dedo de Mocha sweet Aji Pepper, Sunnybrook sweet pepper, Latah Tomato, Lettuce Leaf Tomato, Bleu de Solaise leek, Exploding Cucumber, Miniature White Cucumber, Tondo di Piacenza Courgette, Seven Hills Brussels Sprout and Double Standard Sweetcorn). That lot will keep me busy for a while.

Dig for Britain!

Or something like that anyway. I have roped a friend in to spend a couple of days here in sunny (at the moment) Oxford and help me dig over the plot. Fortunately the planned weekend is also that of the Camra Oxford Beer Festival, so the evenings will be spent there attempting to drink the place dry.

I'm not entirely sure how much of the plot we will be able to sort out, but it should give me a good head start for next year.

First catalogues have arrived

A little over a week has passed since I sent off my requests and the first two catalogues have arrived. So congratulations are due to Deacon's Nursery on the Isle of Wight and Heritage Bulbs in Ireland.

Green manure

As almost half of the plot has been covered in either cardboard or weeb supressing fabric this year I have decided it's tme to plant green maure. So tomorrow (friday) it's off to the plot to get on with it!

Catalogue Requests

I've carried out a bit of an experiment tonight. Whilst sitting in the pub (Folly Bridge Inn, Oxford) I have sent e-mail requests for catalogues to several companies, both mainstream and a bit more obscure. I wait with baited breath to see which arrive and how long they take.

Plot disaster

You might have noticed that there haven't been any updates recently. This is for 2 reasons; firstly this is my busiest time of the year and my paying job has to take priority and secondly because the plot was completely wiped out in the recent floods.

When the water started to rise in Oxford one of the first places to be submerged was our site in the southwest of the city. At one stage the plot was under a couple of feet of contaminated brown water. A few days ago I made my first trip down since the waters had receded to see what was left and if anything could be saved.

Anything which had ripened but not been picked before the water came has had to be cut down and either dug in or composted. It is certainly not safe to consume any of it as we have no way of know what was in the water. The shed floated away, but at least stayed in one piece this time. The asparagus looks like it may have survived and the 'forget me nots' which were growing around it have been killed off along with most of the remaining weeds on the plot.

So there is one good thing which has come of this - I have an almost clear plot to start work on for next year. The whole site has been covered in weed suppressing fabric and cardboard boxes. The boxes can be dug in later in the autumn along with some well rotted manure. I think this may be a good time to build some raised beds to try to stop this happening again. At the moment the plot is almost 12 inches below the site access tracks and it needs building up.