19th May

Another week of roasting weather, and the plants in the field are coming on great.

This weather let us get the last of the fifty thousand leeks planted.

We then planted a thousand dwarf French beans, a trial this year for the field.

We bought them on in the seed trays so we could plant full plants in the field.

We could have direct sown them straight into th9e field, but this way they have a huge head start over the weeds.

We then went onto planting the squash plants, but with a different approach from previous years.

We always lay mulch film down first then plant the squash plants through that and finally cover with fleece otherwise the crows would pull them all out, and they hate cold nights and wind.

The mulch film helps with not having to weed them.

But we have been losing some plants over the last few years with weather like we have had this week.

When we plant through the mulch film it is hard to get the plants deep and covered.

If we get rain straight away or soon after planting, it is fine.

But if we don’t get the rain the plants are really drying out, especially with the extra heat the mulch film creates plus the fleece.

The forecast is for the same hot sunny weather for next week to.

So, I decided not to lay mulch film and use a trowel to make a good hole for each plant and then we could cover them with soil.

This should help the plants out with no rain forecasted any time soon.

So, we took all the five thousand squash plants out and we got them planted in two afternoons each plant trowelled in and covered with soil.

But the job is made easier than just walking along and using a trowel to make and plant five thousand plants.  

For years we did walk through the field hand planting each squash plant, this took around a week.

So, I decided to weld up a planting machine that would make the job easier and quicker.

We can now plant them all in around eight hrs, one planting and one keeping the planter supplied with plants.                                                                                                                                                  I had a roller on a frame, so I welded up a larger frame that could hold a lot of trays that the plants are in, Then I made a bed like the bed weeder that we can lie down on to plant, no need to be on hands and knees, this gets pulled with the tractor, the roller I welded two 4 inch tubing on it which punches holes as we go, we only have to use the rowel to make the hole better and we can then cover the plant, plus we are lying down with the plants right at hand level.

Planting squash plants is now not a back breaking job that takes all week.

This week coming we are going to plant two thousand dwarf peas in the field.

Another field trial, again we have brought them on in the tunnels, so they will also have a head start over the weeds.

We have always planted them in the tunnels, but there is never enough for all our customers.

And then I will get over all the field with the weeding machine, before the forecasted rain arrives on Friday.