Dig and no dig

Authored September 2, 2023

I've mostly cleared the sad, dead, blight-ridden tomatoes. I dug them a shallow grave toward the back of the plot, where I'm unlikely to grow nightshade family plants, such as tomato or potatoes, in the future. I believe the fungus to blame will persist in the soil but have read conflicting messages on how long.

A muddy patch with slender stick, a recently dug, round grave, surrounded by weeds. — A shallow tomato grave (RIP).

In brighter news, I've been converting the (very dug) potato bed into a (not very dug) no-dig bed. I applied something like 6 bags of compost to a roughly 2x1.5m bed which wasn't cheap, but I'll need less to top up in the future. I've struggled to grow in it though, as I didn't compact it much. I found the compost I bought keeps the soil moist but itself dries out quickly, which young seedlings with shallow roots struggled with. After some trial and error I'm getting somewhere. The bed includes rocket, leeks, spring cabbage, and now young strawberries.

A neat vegetable bed, with even rows of young strawberries, followed by a row of spring cabbage, leaks, and rocket. The bed ahead is more roughly cleared, this is where peas were, two large nasturtiums dominate the corners and are full of flower. — The new, no-dig bed with strawberries and friends.

It's here! It's here! And it's magnificent. My sunflower.

A nice big, sunflower head. As big as your head, but more brown. Yellow/orange petals contrast pleasantly against a rich, deep brown centre. It reminds me of a bee. — Sunflower 🌞