Double Experiment

It was dry all day on Friday. The bright sunny start didn't last and it soon clouded over but it was a mild day with very little breeze.

We made the most of the fine weather to get our winter brassicas planted out on the plot. Besides experimenting on growing our own plants from seed this year we’ve decided to try planting through weed suppressant membrane to cut down on weeding and give the plants less growing competition. Part one of the experiment to grow some better plants than the ones we bought last year has gone well. Our experiment to use weed suppressant membrane to reduce weeding around our carrots seems to have gone well although we’ve still to harvest some carrots. The carrot tops look good though. So part two of the brassica experiment is under way.

As these plants will be in the ground through until spring next year there is a tendency for weeds to take over through the winter months when we generally make less visits to the plot. Hopefully this method will keep the weeding required down to a minimum.

This is how last years bed looked at the beginning of May this year. Most plants had seeded rather than produce any useful crops and they were inundated with weeds.

I’m looking to be able to re-use the membrane for several years to make the cost of using it more acceptable. Should it prove impossible to make use of this material over several years then I guess it will be back to conventional weeding.