Take a look at Karen's radishes on Exmouth Allotments' Facebook page.

Lots to plant this week.

Plant under fleece on Plot 250 ...

• Pea gutter
• Broad beans - lots of spares but leave some (root trainers) for Hannah.
• Modules of Little Gem (green) lettuce - 6 lettuces, 20cm apart, in one 120cm row across your plot.
• Modules of Oakleaf lettuce - as above, 20cm from Little Gem row.
• Modules of Greyhound Cabbage - you could fit in 2-3 across the bed 45cm apart in both directions. Three cabbages are enough unless you are a big fan!
• 5 trays of spare plants; help yourself if you have your own plot or save some in case of slug damage. Try some of the soil block lettuce.
• Modules of Beetroot - they look small but are well rooted - 8 modules each - 30cm apart in all directions so 2 rows. 

Don't be tempted to plant everything that is spare. Do you really want a dozen cabbages all coming at the same time?

All the modules can be planted as we did for broad beans - slightly deep.

How far apart from other plantings? Plants that grow tall, like peas, or wide, like cabbages, need 45-60cm between rows but small plants like lettuces and beetroots can be 20-30cm between rows.  There is no need to leave wide paths between rows as all parts of the bed can be accessed from the wood-chip paths. 

It is best to water all plants in after planting and then extend your fleece cover.  You may not have room for all on the fleeced row so plant some at the opposite end of your potato row.  At the back of Plot 250 there is a bag of fleece and some bits for holding it down - a few logs, metal frames and pots that could be filled with stones - you may need to be creative!

Weeding

Good growing weather favours weeds as well as crops. Hoe any bare soil weekly, even if no weeds are to be seen - it takes only a minute.  Hand weed among your crops and be particularly careful about grasses growing in from the main grass paths.  Little and often is the mantra.

Watering

Modules should be well watered after planting with a second watering 3 or 4 days later.  Thereafter only water if it remains dry.  Weekly soaking at the base of each plant, without the watering can rose, is better than a light spray every day.  We want to encourage the plants to get their moisture from the damp soil below.

Plot allocation

As Paul, Hannah and Vicky have lots of space to grow I have reallocated some of the space so that Karen and Tony have extra land on Plot 251.