Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

Our plants in the polytunnel have come on leaps and bounds since we last mentioned them in the blog (see 18th April) - the pumpkin, peas and broad beans (left, middle and right photos) are now ready for planting out into the main polytunnel beds.
The gardeners amongst you will have many ways of growing vegetables (we don't do flowers!) and our way may not be the same as yours. Reading gardening books, listening to programmes about growing vegetables and learning from seasoned gardeners will inform you of good practice, and then it is time to develop ways to suit you, and the soil you are growing your crops in. The three sets of seeds were planted on the 8th April and they are now strong enough to cope with the 'heavier' soil in the main beds - planting in pots with a fine seed compost and regular light watering gives the seeds a good chance of germinating and producing strong roots and foliage. However, the pot restricts the growth of the roots and the plants now need to be transplanted to the main beds where they can really start to grow, developing a healthy root system which will bring water and nutrients to the leaves and eventually the vegetables that we need to keep our larder well stocked...
The question we have to ask ourselves at this point is how many plants we grow on for each type of vegetable. With a limited amount of space we have to look to a variety of vegetables for our meals, we need to plan ahead to when we are picking ready for the table or the freezer - too few plants and we may run out, too many and we may be overrun! Last year we managed to have enough butternut squash to provide many roast dinners together with two gallons of soup bagged up in meal sized potions and frozen for later in the year...