Own Grown Gardening

I'm working a new allotment plot this season and, as I normally do, I planted broad beans. I watched the little seedlings grow, but my glee quickly turned to concern when I noticed a curious problem develop. All the young leaves acquired these little notches along their edges. Below, you can see what I mean, like little peck marks, but they seemed too uniform and neat for pigeon damage... I felt puzzled. So, as I do, I commenced some research and RHS quickly offered the answer: pea and bean weevils ( Sitona lineatus). The leaf damage is caused by adult weevils. They overwinter in field margins and then fly in spring seeking out legumes, preferably beans and peas, on which to feed. Once fed, they lay their eggs in the soil around these same plants. Their larvae then feed on the plant's nitrogen fixing root nodules (housing rhizobia ). To quench your curiosity, you can see clusters of rhizobia filled root nodules growing on the broad bean roots below. My natural next question wa...

I'm thinking, why not carry on the same general theme from my last post and continue discussing wonderous mulch. I've got to be honest, when I'm gardening, the mantra that plays through my head on repeat is, "Protect the Soil! Protect the Soil!" This year, to achieve this, I'm experimenting with a new living mulch, bird's-foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus ). I already have little seedlings coming up between my broad beans. They are growing nicely under a glass garden cloche, which is also something I'm trying for the first time this year. I'm very impressed so far. Considering we are only just into March, look how well both the beans and trefoil are doing. It'll be interesting to see how they progress. Why did I choose bird's-foot trefoil? There are several reasons. Like clover, trefoils are nitrogen fixers . By the way, broad beans fix nitrogen too, so this little patch of ground will be lushiously fertile after this crop. Additionally, b...