I THINK THIS MIGHT BE A MISTAKE! / ALLOTMENT GARDENING UK

Good morning guys. Welcome back to my Lockman Diaries. My name is Emma. These are the Lockman Diaries. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope I can keep you entertained in the next 20 minutes or so. I forgot completely that I put hay down in here. So when I walked in my greenhouse this morning I was like what on earth is all that on the floor? I put hay around my brassicas just to try and stop slugs and snails. I don't know if it's gonna work or not but it does look it does look nice. It looks neat. It looks a lot neater with the hay down so that's you know a good start. I don't know if it's gonna deter them from munching on the leaves. I don't know if I can get over this or not but it was sort of all I had to put down. Thing is I know that there is some there is some slime on there. Fresh slime. So I don't think it is working. It is that time of year where when you get a couple of nice days and the sun comes out all of a sudden all the slugs and snails will come out and they will just munch everything. So this is the time of year really. Oh my gosh I'm actually getting a broccoli there. Oh my gosh I can't believe it. I'm already getting a broccoli. Is that too early? Look at that in the middle. A teeny tiny broccoli. The plant feels too small to be developing a broccoli but there we go. What do I know? What do I know about plants? This one isn't. Maybe he's panicking and he's throwing up his crop now. Maybe he thinks he's gonna die. Look mate come on I'm doing my best. Have a little bit of faith in me eh? Yeah it is that time of year where you need to start thinking about slug and snail protection before they appear. Before. Because once they're out they're out. Like there's no stopping them. So now is the time to start thinking about slug and snail defense if you've got anything growing or if you're putting anything outside. Which I will be very soon. Right I've got some things to do today. I'm going to sow out some seeds which is very exciting. I'm first seeds of the year going directly outside and I'll show you how I do that because obviously it's still quite early. We're also going to fix up a sweet pea teepee. A teepee sort of structure. We're going to put some netting over it because these guys need to go out this week and so this week these will be going out which is very exciting. These are sweet pea flowers if you didn't guess. But first we're going to start by feeding the bird because I think the last few days I've been here I've fed him but he's been busy but I can see him. He's sitting there in the archway waiting for me so we'll feed him now so that we can hopefully capture him because we like to film him on camera. Know what he's up to, keep an eye on him. He's always very busy and someone needs to be keeping an eye on these birdies so let's go feed him. I'm coming. If I go through the archway he'll fly away but can you see him just sit in there. Oh there's another one. They're surrounding me. There you are. There you are. Sitting right behind you. I was talking to his mate. He's saying grub's up guys. Yeah. Somebody said I'll be able to do this now. Come on then. I promise I won't grab you and eat you. I promise. No. Okay. Alright. Fine. Not really sure I wanted him to eat out of my hand anyway to be fair. Not sure I'm quite ready for that level yet with the birds. Never forget that they came from dinosaurs. Dinosaurs evolved into birds. Never forget that because it's something that I don't forget and I don't think you should forget it either so though we feed them and we're very nice to them and they're very pretty, never forget that they did come from dinosaurs and that's all I'll say on the matter. Right we need to fix up this structure because though the twine looked very beautiful the birds have been pecking at it and have snapped it all so what I need to do is take this twine off the twine that I've literally just put on and then we're going to try and net it because the sweet peas need to go out very very soon. There are many many reasons why I don't really like using nets on the allotment mainly because animals get stuck in them a lot which is quite sad and annoying and I'm not entirely sure how to stop them from flying into the net. Also they're quite fiddly, they break easily, they're obviously made of plastic which I don't really like and I just don't think they look as nice to be honest as putting twine across but they are slightly more practical than twine or anything else that I've found and for that reason we're going to use it. I also get quite nervous of using a net and it makes me think that maybe in a previous life I was a fish and my demise was being caught in a net because I can't understand where this fear of nets comes from but I do get quite nervous of using nets. I don't know, disgust, disgust. But yeah, it's just a weird thing, it's just a weird fear to have isn't it of a net but that, that terrifies me. Putting that in front of my eyes that is really scary to me and I don't know why it makes my heart rate go up. I can only think that I must have been a fish. I am an Aquarius so maybe I was. Unfortunately I appear to have cut this net at some point to size and the thing is I don't like to cut things like nets to size I like to use them bigger and just roll up the end because this is exactly what happens when you cut it, you can't reuse it for anything else because it becomes a specific size for a specific thing whereas if you leave it and then roll it on the end and peg it down or something you can sort of reuse it for stuff, does that make sense? Another reason why I don't really like nets, there are many reasons why I don't like nets I could write a book on the reasons why I don't like nets, I think I've got another one over there Another reason why I don't like nets, because anything that grows up a net so this was my old sweet peas, it's really hard to get off the net again when you've sort of finished it, when it's finished so I get frustrated and annoyed and I end up taking the net off with everything on it and then I'm sort of left with that, which is so annoying but I am going to try and get all this off because this is a lot of net here and it's plastic and I want to reuse it if I can I mean look, oh my god Right I will try and get all of the dead sweet peas off because I don't think the new sweet peas are really going to want to grow up the carcasses of their dead ancestors I don't think that's going to be very motivating for them I will get all of that stuff off, I'm just going to try and tighten this net and I think it will be easier to get it all off when it's tightened I think At least it reaches the ground this time, that's very good Maybe it will be ok with me leaving just a few bits of its dead ancestors on Maybe I don't have to get all of it off Maybe the dead ones will sort of give wisdom and advice to the new sweet peas a bit like Mulan, you know You know, if it worked for Mulan why not for us Now that that structure is made and it's looking pretty snazzy I'm wondering if it's crazy to think about getting the sweet peas out now today, right now What would happen? I just feel like they're going to be ok I just feel like they're going to be alright, I don't know why I feel that way but I just do I think I'll give them a bit of a mulch, I'll give it a mulch down here I think we're going to get them out, I think we're just going to do it guys, why not If it was to lose all the sweet peas, I don't know Hopefully not I just want to mulch it I don't want to use all of the compost up Also this bed has been mulched a couple of times over autumn I don't think there's any harm in just getting another little layer of mulch out This could be a huge mistake, but then what couldn't But you know what, what if it's not a mistake and what if it works really well and I get really early sweet peas We're just going to go with that, and also the sun's coming out and I feel like it's a sign And I feel like that's all the sign that I need to get these out today Come on guys If anything it's an experiment to see how hardy sweet peas really are, it's the last week of February and they are going out I mean looking at them right now, they do look like they are suffering a little bit They look like they don't have enough nutrients And I'm not surprised because I've got multiples of them growing in these little tiny squares And their roots are coming through the bottom and they just don't look very healthy anyway So I think their time is probably numbered growing in here anyway So let's just whack them out and see what happens Look at the way the roots of this sweet pea have just gone around and around That is a sign that it's becoming Is it called pot bound? I think it's called pot bound And it's when there's nowhere for the roots to grow but the roots want to keep growing bigger So they just wrap themselves around and around and around Because there's nowhere else for it to go So I'm sort of teasing it out ever so slightly to try and encourage it to sort of grow out when it gets into the ground Because otherwise it might not know It might not know that it can grow any other way other than around Because that's all it's sort of known And if you get a pot that's really root bound it's a good idea just to break some of the roots on the side So that it just encourages it to spread out a little bit But this might be completely pointless because they might just die anyway But we're giving it a good go I have quite a good feeling about them Whether or not that is completely naive of me I just have a really good feeling I often get crops out far too early And they actually do surprise me and do quite well And they don't just keel over and die Because you know plants do want to survive, they are natural born survivors They want to grow So I just have a really good feeling, I think they're just going to do okay I hope they do anyway Also I'm planting them out within the clumps that they've been sown in So I've sown three or four seeds per module And I'm not splitting them up I'm keeping them all together, I'm keeping them all with their mates Because I don't think they need to be split up, I think they will be fine And also I just feel like there's safety in numbers as well I don't know if that applies to plants but I feel like it should Because I don't think all of them will survive, but don't tell them that They don't need to know that kind of information Right, that's looking good on this side, let's move on to the next side I'm starting to think these things might have a chance Because some of them are already starting to hook on with their tendrils Can you see that? I haven't even done any support or anything for them And they already look clinging on, some of them are massive They're so tall already, this one's already clinging on I haven't done anything to him, look at that Literally just planted, I feel like they're going to be okay I will just add here though, if you are going to copy me, be cautious Because they very well might all just cool over and die I think we are due some warmer weather over the next few days And a lot of rain, which will help them out a little bit But when the weather drops back down again, they very well might not make it So maybe just show a little bit of caution if you're going to copy what I'm doing Because technically these should go out first or second week of March It's the last week of February, I'm a tiny bit early, I just get a good feeling, I don't know why Just coming in here to warm up for a minute, because it is actually a little bit chilly When the sun's gone in, but we have seen the sun today Which is an excellent start to a Monday, isn't it? Oh my gosh, we've seen the sun, guys, it's actually come out, I can't believe it It is a lot warmer in here than it is out there, so maybe the sweet peas will suffer, I don't know Now I did have a plan today to sow some parsnips I always sow my parsnips in February, and they've always done really really well However, I didn't order any parsnip seeds this year I've got my planner, I filled it all out, for some reason I've forgotten to order parsnip seeds So I'm going to have to do that when I get home The parsnips I always get are Gladiator F1s, they are just my favourite They're the first one that I grew, and they have done amazingly every year Absolutely no fail, no fail at all Every time I sow them, I get full germination, pretty much full germination And I get really great parsnips I did think though, I have got carrot seeds, early Nance 2 Again, these should really be sown in March, but I have a plan for them And I think the plan might work, but Nance are supposed to be a beginner-friendly carrot So I've gone back to Nance, and these are early Nance 2 A little bit shorter, a little bit stubblier But I think easier to grow, so I'm going to sow these out today In my special little magic box I've turned into a children's TV presenter again, I do apologise This is my special carrot box that I made last year It's got some weeds in it now, which I'm not surprised, I haven't really used it since It is a weird bottomless box thing that I found on my plot And I filled it up like a mini raised bed within a raised bed And it's got lots of sandy soil in here Which I'm going to top up today with some compost Carrots love sandy soil, it's also got no stones or lumps in here that could split the carrot So it's sort of like a perfect carrot bed Very well draining, sandy soil This is where we're going to put our carrots in, and what we're going to do to protect them from the cold Is put that glass panel over it, so it's sort of a mini greenhouse And we'll see how they go OK, that's a good thing They don't look like carrot seeds Pelleted seeds, oh, pelleted seeds OK, something I've never seen before, these are pelleted seeds So I'm guessing they're kind of enclosed in something to protect the carrot seed I've never seen that before, that's going to be a lot easier to sow though, so I'm happy with those Make sure they're all covered Right, I feel like I've come into my greenhouse many times today because I get so cold I've got to come in here and warm up, thank goodness for my greenhouse What did I do before I had it? I really just don't know Right, I feel like we've done many things today that we were not supposed to do but we ended up doing Because we are reckless and we are fearless We'll just have to see how all that does and how it goes, but it's out And it's in the ground, and we are, like I said, due a few days where it's a little bit milder So I'm hoping it kind of gives it a chance Right, I'm going to leave the vlog there, I hope you've enjoyed it today I will be back again on Wednesday with another one, thank you so much for watching And good luck with your allotment plots this year, see you next time guys, bye