Sunday, December 21, 2003

Well what a long time since my last post!
BIL sent us loads of garlic in with Millie's birthday present so i planted it today. Goodness knows whether or not it will survive. The planting conditions were less than perfect (ie it wasn't quite sub-zero but not far off) TBH, for all i know that may be ideal, i have never planted it this time of year before. I planted 49 cloves in total so now we will just have to wait and see.

Quick update on the pond...
Well after several weeks of it looking rather dodgy, loads of algae etc the water is now crystal clear. Can't wait for the tadpoles in spring, we will get a much better view than last time.

the rest of the garden is a complete mess still. I haven't even planted a single bulb and time is running out!

Sunday, September 28, 2003


Finished

Ok so it may not look that impressive but once the plants become established it will be fine...we hope.


Frogs seem to be quite happy though



Saturday, September 27, 2003

Yay! Yay! Yay! We got the pond cleared. i say *we* but actually DP did most of it as it was REALLY hard work and i have weedy arms.


Hard at work


I don't think the Irises could ever have been thinned out before as they had taken over the majority of the pond. Their root system alone was about 15cm deep and had formed a thick matt over the base. Beneath that was a layer of stinky sludge, so the pond turned out to be a good foot deeper than we thought! We decided to remove all the irises (as it was easier) and we have hacked a few off to put back in. We will also get a few other plants now that we have the space - it looks about 3 times the size now!!! DP had to be very careful as there were so many frogs in there and we saw at least 3 baby ones.


Difficult to tell i know, but the baby frog above it is about 2-3cm long


We created a "beach" area, so the frogs can get in and out, with some pebbles as there wasn't one before (well they didn't need one as the roots made it much more shallow.) and we replaced the "frog house" so they have some shelter. Now we just need to replace the vegetation as soon as we can and put the water snails back and it will all be lovely :o)

Thursday, September 25, 2003

Eeek! *How* long since i last posted.........

Well the garden (general) is in a real state ATM. I have started the pruning/clearing process but it is S-L-O-W. In the veg garden we are still harvesting lots of runner beans and tomatoes. Not as many as a few weeks ago but still a basketful every 2/3 days. The peas are in full swing but look vert insignificant compared to the ones i planted in the spring. They were "Alderman" and grew to be about 6ft tall whereas these "Kelvedon Wonder" are only about a foot high. They are nice but i don't think they are as sweet as Alderman.
We had our first sweetcorn a couple of weeks ago and very nice it was too - far superior to anything in the shops. There are about 3 more to come but not sure if they will reach maturity as it has become quite cool now. Ditto the squash. We have loads on the vine (is it a vine???) but i don't know how long they take to form. I really hope we get at least one as i love butternut squash.

I have been thinking ahead to next year. I definitely need to dig in more organic matter before next years effort as the soil does not hold onto water that well. However before all that i need to get DP to repair the crumbling beds. They have been built with regular house bricks, i think, and the years of frost damage they have endured has meant that some of the walls are just crumbling away :o( Have thought about Link-a-Bordbut not sure how strong they are and how long they'd last. Would prefer brick again really but time is a problem....unless we get someone else to do it.

As for crops next year i will definitely do:

Tomatoes - Though i'd like to try a different variety(ies)
Courgettes - Perhaps not soooo many as this year!
French Beans - These were so delishious i think i would even go for the same variety
Lettuce - maybe a few different types instead of just the one
Onions and Garlic - Would like to do double the amount if i have space. Not sure if i would do Salad Onions again as they take so long to grow.
Sweetcorn - i would plant more if possible to try and eliminate what happened this year.
Peas - Will try and do an early row too

Won't bother with:
Calabrese - too many caterpillars. Wasn't sucessful at all this year!
Wild Rocket - Always bolts very quickly.
Cucumber - unless i have a greenhouse.
Leaf Beet - Only like it as a salad ingrediant and it soon seems to go "woody" so it's lifespan for this is short.

Potentials:
Butternut Squash - though i'd like to taste my crop form this year first.
Runner Beans - not sure....i like them but DP prefers French Beans so not sure if better just to do double of those.
Potatoes - Never tired these before so would like to have a go.

Not sure what else yet. If i have a green house i'd like another bash at growing peppers and chillies.

Task for this weekend.....clearing out the pond.

Friday, August 29, 2003

I'm starting to feel like everything is drawing to a close in the veg garden. I have dug up all the onions, shallots and garlic and i pulled my last spring onion this evening. The courgettes look like they are slowing down (finally!) and the tomato plants near the house are also looking rather thin now. However, i am still enjoying plenty of beans and the second wave of tomatoes and peas are just getting into full swing so i shouldn't feel too "doom and gloom" about winter approching - it is still August after all (just). I also picked my first marrow tonight, not quite sure what i am going to do with it though. Seems rather a waste to just chop it up for chutney but other than that my experience of marrows goes no further than stuffing them.

Oh, and i was very cross to discover that the one and only cucumber that has survived on my cucumber plant has been well and truly munched by a slug. Grrr not happy at all!

Chutney day tomorrow as i still have 6 courgettes in the fridge that need using ASAP. The yummy recipe i finally chose is in the River Cottage Cookbook. Well it sounds nice anyway, we'll have to wait and see. Didn't manage to find any wide neck bottles for ketchup so made tomato sauce instead which i have frozen for emergencies :o)

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

Ohh have just found this with lots of yummy recipes! Think i might have a go at making tomato ketchup if i can find some suitable bottles to put it in.
Courgettes in fridge:6
Courgettes consumed today:0

I saw one of my neighbours before the weekend and gave her 2 carriers full of courgettes and with what's left i plan to make some chutney. Going to the library this afternoon to look for a chutney recipe book as i can't find a suitable one in my cookbook collection. I have a few preserving jars and DP's mum has given me a load of jam jars so hopefully i will have enough. I also have a huge amount of tomatoes which i plan to turn into sauce.

The sweetcorn is looking good i am pleased to say. Only two cobs so far but that is two more than i expected so i am quite pleased. The squash plants are just starting to flower so hopefully they will fruit even though they were planted so late.

When we arrived home after our weekend at Grandma's we were greeted with the sunny face of one of Emily's sunflowers. She was highly delighted as you can imagine. Looks like 2 of the others will be flowering soon too. I will try and take a pic to show you.

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

Courgettes in the fridge: 10
Courgettes consumed today: 1


Well the heatwave is well and truly over now, i even had to wear a cardigan outside today!! We had the first lot of rain for....oh... ages and ages yesterday. The garden was desparate for it even though i have been watering nightly.

I haven't been in the garden for a few days so there was plently needing picking. The "goldrush" courgette plant has 3 more coming on it. They grow REALLY slowly compared to the green varieties. We also have 2 marrows on their way. The butternut squash plants have gone mad, they are trailing about 6ft! I just read that i was supposed to pinch the growing tips out when they reached 2ft long [sigh].
The sweetcorn are still a mystery to me. The last two rows to geminate are now huge and starting to grow the cobs but the other two rows are between 1 and 2ft tall. I'm not sure how this will effect the fertilisation of the fruits???

I don't think the heatwave did my runner beans much good. They seemed to run to seed before they were fully formed - big and fat one end and tiny immature beans the other. At first i thought i was the variety as it is not one i have grown before (Butler) but since things started cooling down we have seen some more normal looking beans. Oddly it didn't seem to have any affect on the French beans which have been wonderful, really tasty. I will definitely grow them again next year.



Another "basket of veg" shot [yawn] Sorry i couldn't resist, they looked so nice!

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

This little froggie had a lucky escape earlier as i nearly put my foot on him.






We find lots of frogs all over the garden at this time of year. They usually jump out at me whilst i'm gardening and frighten me half to death, like the one that landed on my (bare) foot yesterday while picking tomatoes!

Not quite sure why the comments thingy isn't working. I'll have to have another look at it. I'm hoping that when i do get it working anyone reading this will be able to pass on any gardening tips they may have:o).... Particularly about growing sweetcorn, more about that later.

Monday, August 11, 2003

We waved goodbye to our last butterfly this morning. The first changed on Friday, just a week since it became a chrysalis. I thought they took about two weeks, maybe the hot weather speeded things up??? And BOY is it hot! Too hot for gardening. Too hot for doing anything!



last butterfly

The last butterfly just before it flew off



We are picking loads of beans at the moment. I am freezing most of them as no-one seems hungry due to the extreem heat. We also have quite a few tomatoes and the courgettes are growing faster than i can pick them. We had 22 in the fridge the other day! Decided it was time to do a run around the neighbours and got rid of over half which is good because the would have just gone to waste otherwise.



Mmmm yum!



Monday, August 04, 2003




This was yesterdays harvest



Another giant courgette that had been left too long. Looks more like a small marrow. Speaking of which, the marrow and squash plants that i transplanted to growbags have been eaten by slugs. Very annoyed about that as they were doing well. However, all is not lost as i have another two butternut squash plants and another marrow plant doing well in bed 4.

Also yesterday we picked our first tomato :o) They seem to all be ripening at once now, after waiting for what seems like months since i spotted the first green one.

By Saturday the third caterpillar had become a chrysalis. We are still waiting for the forth and final one to change. It has stopped eating and moved up to the top of the jar and has got fuzzy round things surrounding it??? Look like fluffy eggs - v bizarre, will keep a close watch!





***Update***

Unfortunately the forth one died. Not sure why but possibly the fuzzy little things were some kind of parasite??

Friday, August 01, 2003

Since the last post the caterpillar that is bottom right in the pic has changed too. Wow- i can't believe how quick it happens!!!


We had a surprise today, one of the caterpillars (Small Cabbage White) has become a chrysalis!! It looks like two of the Large Whites are not far off either.





Hopefully you can make out the chrysalis on the left.

Now i've managed to get the archives working again i can see i have not been very consistant in the labelling of beds! So for future reference here is a plan:



Plan of Vegetable Garden (not to scale)



Bed 1
Currently has:
Spring Onions
Rocket
Radishes
Leaf Beet
Cos Lettuce
Red Onions
White Onions
Garlic
and i have just dug up the shallots from this bed.


Bed 2
Currently has:
Courgette (Defender)
x2 Courgette (Tando da Nizza)
Sweetcorn
Calabrese



Bed 3
Currently has:
Runner Beans
French Beans
Leaf Beet
and i have just dug up the 1st pea row from this bed.


Bed 4
Currently has:
x2 Butternut Squash
Marrow
Pea row (Late crop)



The Greenhouse plot has various grobags on it containing tomato, courgette and cucumber plants and i have a trough of tomato plants near the house. That's about it!

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

I *think* i have fixed the archive problem i was having. Fingers crossed.

Very Hungry Caterpillars
When Millie and i were in the garden on Sunday i found my Calabrese plants had been munched to death by literally hundreds of caterpillars. Some of the plants were just stems!!! I consulted my books and it said to pick them off and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. Now call me an old softy but i couldn't really bring myself to do this (most were just babies!). So i selected 4 for us to observe and put them in a jar, and the rest i distributed about the garden (ok, secretly hoping they would be eaten by birds, frogs, hedgehogs.....).


Browsing Merry's Blog the other day i discovered she was having the same problems (see Sat 26th July) Merry's caterpillars look just like ours.

and The Enormous....courgette!

Been in the garden this morning and found this!!!!



It is obviously one i missed when i checked on Sunday - i can't believe the size of it!




Dd found it highly amusing too!

Yesterday we picked our first lot of beans, runner and French. We had them for lunch and they were yummy. I've never thought much of french beans in the past - always seemed a bit tasteless- so i was pleasently surprised by our crop as they were lovely, sweet and crisp.
The peas that i planted the other day are starting to emerge :o) We have taken the other lot down now as they were making the whole row unstable and also i think the had powdery mildew on them???? Or something like that anyway.


Friday, July 25, 2003

It has been very windy here today. I just popped up to the veg garden to make sure everything was ok and disaster....one of the canes in my pea row has snapped in two! This wouldn't be too much of a problem (as the peas are all but finished) except for the fact that the row is lashed to the bean row :~((( I have had a little look, but i tied it on so well that i can't undo them. I am awaiting DP's help - hopefully it will survive that long.

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

I planted a row of autumn peas (Kevledon Glory i think??) yesterday evening. A bit late but hopefully not *too* late. The Alderman peas are just about finished now. I also planted another row of leaf beet and radishes.

I saw our neighbour whilst i was doing the watering and gave her some courgettes (only about a kilo left now, lol) and in return she gave me some of her tomatoes and some beans, which is great as mine are no where near ready yet!





The round ones are "Tando da Nizza", the yellow "gold bush" and the regular ones are "defender" all recipes greatfully received!!!

Monday, July 21, 2003

Now, because i finally know how ...some pictures.




This picture of the herb garden was taken at the beginning of last month






...and this was taken today.



The coriander has run to seed now, always seems to happen so quickly. The dill has also gone to seed. The parsley that i fretted over all those weeks ago is now flourishing as you can see (bottom left bed). The basil (bottom right) is just about to flower so i think i will nip some leaves off and freeze them.





This is the pea and bean row (bed 3).


This was also taken at the beginning of June. The peas were starting to climb but there were no beans to be seen. In fact they maynot even have been planted at this stage - can't remember!




Today!


The peas (Alderman) are just about finished now. I'm thinking about planting an autumn crop but not sure if i've left it too late. The first lot of runner beans are starting to form and the second batch (bottom right) are just starting to climb. On the other side of the supports are two lots of climbing French bean (Neckar Queen). The first lot of these are now in flower.




This is bed 2.


There is Calabrese (at the bottom of the photo), then my block of sweetcorn, then three mammoth courgette plants. The huge plants you can see against the fence at the back are Jerusalem Artichokes. We have loads of them and don't even like the bloomin things that much. They are impossible to get rid of!! The sweetcorn is doing ok. the top two rows don't seem to be doing as well as the other two though, and i have no idea why.



Thursday, July 17, 2003

Well i have succeeded (i hope) in changing the skin AND adding photos!!! I will feel quite chuffed with myself if this actually works!

Will not post much more now as must go to bed but things have grown SO much in the past month. Will try and write a bit of an update and post some "before" and "after" type shots tomorrow.

Saturday, June 28, 2003

My parents are staying for the weekend. My mum did lots of work in the garden this morning. She has planted the climbing rose that I bought when we visited them last. She planted the remaining seedlings that were still hanging around, some lavender and some cineraria. She also planted up another tub for the sun deck which DP bought this morning - looks lovely.

I staked some of the tomato plants and noticed that the ones near the house have baby tomatoes on! I counted twenty in total. I hadn't noticed as they were all trailing all over the floor, so that was a nice surprise.

In the afternoon DP's sister, husband and dd came. They are the ones with the allotment so I was keen to pick their brains. Apparently the courgettes that seemed to be rather stunted are supposed to be like that - they are a round variety, lol!
We had a BBQ and while we were all sat around the table eating we kept getting bothered by a bee. I joked that it must be making a nest under the table. Well when we investigated further it seems that is exactly what it was doing - well, laying eggs in the screw holes and then covering them with a perfectly round piece of leaf. Quite amazing!

We are starting to get quite a few peas now but I very much doubt whether any of them will get cooked, they are too yummy and much nicer to eat raw.


This is what I did last Tuesday 24/06/03:

I finally planted out the calabrese. There are ten in total. I've put them next to the sweetcorn - hopefully it will be ok. So much for my plan, I don't think anything has ended up where it was supposed to!!

I sowed new rows of radish, lettuce and rocket (think this is our 4th row of each) but since then the fox has visited and dug up where I planted the lettuce and so I don't know how many will germinate. The rocket and radishes have already germinated and seem relatively unharmed.

I planted dd's sunflowers. There are five altogether I think.

We are now getting loads of strawberries and raspberries.






Millie and her basket of Strawberries, Raspberries, lettuce and spring onions

Monday, June 23, 2003

Last night it rained...lots - i am sooo pleased :o) It hasn't rained for weeks and now the water butt is full once more.

Millie and i spent the afternoon picking strawberries and raspberries. We got a big tub of each - yum! We also pulled a nice lettuce, a few radishes and a few spring onions (the first!) for our tea. Also...very exciting....some peas. Only 3 pods but totally yummy. Millie was kept entertained by a couple of snails whilst i did a bit of weeding.

Out of the 15 sweetcorn seeds i planted, ten have germinated so far. I guess there is still time for a few more to pop up as there were two new ones today. The second lot of French beans have germinated (all but one) and the first lot have nearly reached the top of their supports. As have the runners. No sign yet of the butternut squash and marrow that i planted last wednesday. Have just realised that i haven't labled which is which, lol, and i have no idea!! Need to finish tidying the rest of that bed (bed4) so that i can plant another cucumber if not too late???Will have to check my books.

The tomato plants look much healthier since i planted them out but even though some have flowers there is no sign of fruit yet. I am SO impatient.

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Eeeek! Just created a link!!! No photos yet though...must walk before i can run ;o)

Well i was out in the garden until 10pm last night! I was tiding up the front. The soil is awful, thick, clay like and sets like rock in this dry weather. I dug in some compost and planted out the Delphinium seedlings. I don't know if they will do any good. I found five lavender seedlings - am quite surprised as i thought only one had germinated when i was looking a few weeks ago. There are loads of wild strawberry plants growing under some of the shubs i decided to leave them.

I picked loads more raspberries with Millie before she went off to bed, enough for a small bowl full. At least there would have been if millie hadn't eaten most of them. Amazing!!If i had bought them from a shop she wouldn't have touched them with a barge pole. We also had a strawberry each!

Tonight it was really windy. Had to re-inforce the pea row as it was getting very wobbly. Forgot to mention before about our mystery pea plant in the herb garden. I noticed it a while ago, i guess the seed must have been dropped by a bird?? Anyway, it now has really pretty flowers on it, lilac/purple ones and there are two pods forming.

Monday, June 16, 2003

Well i haven't had much opportunity to post of late but i have been getting on with a few things in the garden.

I finally sowed the sweetcorn the other day. It really is late as you are supposed to start it off indoors to give it a head start, but I decided I didn't have the room. I am hoping that we will have an Indian summer like last year so that the growing season will be long enough - fingers crossed. However, I went up the garden the day following planting and the fox had paid a visit and dug right where I had sowed the sweetcorn...I hope it will be ok.

The leaf beet I planted a few weeks ago is coming along nicely as are the peas, we have not just flowers but little pea pods, very exciting! The courgettes in bed 2 are coming on a storm. One plant has four courgettes growing on it another has two, Will soon be harvesting them. The courgette plants in the grow bags are doing less well, as expected, but I noticed this morning that one has a courgette developing on it so perhaps all is not lost just yet.

I have finished planting out all of the tomatoes. They really should have been out ages ago, (and have taken a check in growth because of this) but with one thing and another I never got around to it. So as well as the four I planted 2 weeks ago (they are now flowering) I have eight in grow bags and the remaining eleven in the large south facing bed (with the strawberries that I relocated). They are not the healthiest looking of plants BUT I said that about the first lot of courgettes I planted out and they are now thriving! Hopefully now they are in their permanent positions they will be happier.

The beans (French Climbing and Runner) are now climbing and I have sown a few more alongside them.

I picked my first raspberries today!!! Only two, lol, but I was excited. Strawberries are still quite green.

The Night Scented Stock is coming along well but think I may have sowed it too thickly - we'll see. I bought an Acer last week when I was at my parents and an Olive Tree to go with other pots on the sun deck. I wonder if we will have some olives...somehow I doubt it as the tree is tiny!

Quick update on frogs/tadpoles:

A terrible disaster occured whilst we we away at my parents....we left the hose on in the pond! Luckily our neighbour noticed (but only after it flooded his garden - no damage done thank goodness!) and turned it off. I hope we didn't lose too many tadpoles. There still seems to be a few but is difficult to see as the irises are now taking up most of the pond. I know i reported ages ago that i thought i had seen tadpoles that were starting to form legs but i think i must have been seeing things! None of the ones i have seen since look like they have legs yet???

Millie and i were counting frogs the other day and we saw ten, i am amazed! Makes you wonder how many there are altogether.

Friday, May 30, 2003

Planted out four of my tomato plants yesterday. They are not yet in flower, as is recommended, but as i have 24 plants in total (thanks to them all germinating) i thought it was worth the risk. I have planted them in a container and i am going to plant the rest in grow bags as there are so many and i can't find room in the raised beds.

The courgettes that i planted on monday(?) are doing well apart from one which has been demolished by slugs. There is nothing but a very wilted stem left :o(
Anyway....very exciting news....one of the courgettes has a flower already!! More exciting news... there are 5 french beans visable and 3 runner bean plants. Also, the radishes that i planted Monday have come up. It amazes me how quick these things grow.

Really should get out more. Ho Hum.

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Had a good day in the garden yesterday. I planted out my 6 remaining courgette plants which i have been hardening off during the past week. A bit soon perhaps as you are supposed to harden off over 2 weeks or so, but they were taking up so much room in the house and Millie kept trampling over them so i thought that the risk was probably worth it. I have planted one in bed 3 with the two i planted out a few weeks ago and the remaining ones are in growbags as they need a square metre of space per plant! i have also planted out one of the cucumber seedings - the only one of the three to germinate. Haven't decided if i will sow any more yet.

I have planted some leaf beet (Bright Lights) alongside the pea row in bed 2. I've never eaten this stuff before, let along grown it so should be interesting.

I was weeding the veggie garden during the week and Millie was "helping". I had foolishly been sitting with my back to her and when i turned round she had pulled up an entire row of cos lettuce!!! I was not pleased. I shoved the smaller ones back in the ground asap and they seem to be ok though they do look a little bit limp. I planted another row of lettuce alongside them, some more radishes (Cherry Belle again as i have decided i prefer these to the Saxa II) and a third row of spring onions. So that is Bed 1 full now.

Need to start getting Bed 4 under control so that i can sow the marrows and butternut squash.

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

I will try and suss out how to add photos to this blog to jazz it up a bit (will have to sort through those old messages on MudPud), but sadly i think changing the skin is stretching my limited skills somewhat so you are stuck with blue i'm afraid.
Just got back from holiday and WOW i can't believe how plants can grow so much in a week!!! The garden survived well thanks to copious amounts of rain while we were away (unfortuately this also meant that the weeds had gone into overdrive) The seedlings in the house coped less well. In the absence of me turning them they had grown toward the patio doors and are looking rather spindly. I wish now that i had just chanced it and planted everything out before the holiday. Oh well, they may recover yet i suppose.

On Monday i sowed the first batch of runner beans (Butler) and climbing french beans (Neckar Queen - i think) the peas are coming along well now and are clinging on tightly to the netting.

All the strawberries are in flower now and the raspberries are now weighed down with foliage and immature fruit so i have stuck some more canes in this morning to support them.

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

Oh and we harvested our first lot of radishes last weekend. They are still a bit small but nice all the same :o)
Last Sunday i planted out the peas that had been growing in the guttering. So much for them "simply" sliding out. I had to hack them into chunks but thankfully none seem to have sustained lasting damage as they are coming along well and anchoring themselves to the netting. I also erected the bean row. Doing it slightly different this year. I got some of those little connecter balls from Lakeland and have used them to join the bamboo canes, it meant that i was able to to it myself, well mostly. I have strung up "dead" CD's to act as bird scarers along the bean row and amongst the raspberry canes. I'm not sure how necessary they are but they look beautiful, even our neighbour commented on how pretty they looked with the sun shining on them! I have also surrounded each bed with twine to deter Mr Fox from Pooing all over them....seems to have done the trick so far.

The Rhubarb seems to have died, not sure why though. It just sort of shrivelled up. However, the strawberries that i moved seem to have survived the transplant really well and are all in flower. One of the courgette plates has also shrivelled up. It was the one that had been munched by the slugs the most.

The parsley i planted ages ago is finally showing itself, (it's actually been visible for some time but i can only now distinguish it from the weeds as it has its "proper" leaves).
I planted some cucumber seeds in pots, the first of which is just poking through the compost.

Sunday, April 27, 2003

Planted some dill and another coriander plant in the herb garden. Finally planted out the pea seedings and also some Sweet Pea seedlings. Decided to be daring and plant three of the courgettes out (one of each variety) in bed 3, as all of them germinated so have plenty spare. I bought some garden fleece to protect them incase the weather turns nippy. They are pretty ropey looking specimens as the slugs have had a good old munch on them during their hardening off period. One has been so badly munched that the main stem is almost in two, but somehow it is managing to survive. I had wondered if it was worth planting it at all but though it would make a good test run if nothing else. Millie helped me plant some nasturtiums around the perimeter of this bed as they are supposed to be a good companium to courgettes. I also read today that you can plant runner beans or sweetcorn over the top of courgette plants, so that might solve my problem of where to site those two when the time comes.

Saturday, April 26, 2003

Forgot to say before...we harvested our first asparagus spears last weekend, all 3 of them!! I noticed this morning that there are 2 more ready for cutting. Could take a while before we have enough to make a meal!

Well the peas didn't get planted yesterday as it poured with rain all afternoon, still we needed it i guess!

Friday, April 25, 2003

Aaarrrgggh! Those darn pesky slugs!!!!! My rocket was coming along beautifully, almost ready for picking. Then i went out there yesterday and it has ALL been eaten, just stalks left! I don't remember it being nibbled last year.
I have been stockpiling empty milk cartons to use as cloches. Have got six so far, so have put these over the pathetic remains. Once that was done i spent the rest of the afternoon removing fox poo from beds 2 and 3, lovely. Millie busied herself splashing around in all the puddles and looking for "woodlices" under stones. I also took the "cage" off the onions/garlic/shallots as most of them are a fair size now.
In the evening DP helped me put the "tennis net" up for the peas so i should, weather permitting, get them planted this afternoon. It was late when we had finished, twilight, and just as we were about to go in one of our friendly neighbourhood hedgehogs came out on patrol! Has obviously been neglecting bed number 4 though, will have to have words!!!

The peas that i planted in the guttering are just beginning to emerge as are the seeds that Millie planted a couple of weeks ago...not sure if i mentioned them. She has Sunflowers, Cornflowers, Nasturtiums and Clarkia in her own section of the garden.

Indoors, the tomato plants are ready for hardening off but not sure if to hold off until we come back from our week away. The Calabrese is coming along, although it snaps REALLY easily. I have broken about 3 of them, but amazingly they appear to still be surviving.

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Bit behind with things....here's what i did on Sunday.

I planted out my pea row in some guttering. The idea being that you can hoist it up in the air to prevent rodents etc from stealing the seeds. My personal thought was that they would be safer from Millie's size 6's this way. I've no idea if this works but it is supposed to just slide out into the bed when the time comes, we'll see! If it all goes horribly wrong i have the seedlings that i planted indoors a few weeks ago. They are ready to be planted out but i am in the process of "hardening them off". I haven't a clue how to do this. I just keep sticking them outside (when i remember!) and leaving them a bit longer each day. If anyone has any advice about this (that is assuming anyone is reading this, lol) please enlighten me!

I repotted all my tomato plants into bigger pots. There are about 20 of them in total, the majority of them germinated. Still haven't decided if to plant them in growbags or in the ground. Bob Flowerdew reckons in the ground is better (they are a bush variety so would be fairly easy) problem is...space. I only have one of the raised beds occupied at the moment but i have all my peas and beans to go in one bed and then calabrese, sweetcorn and squashes to go in the remaining two - eek. Should really have thought about this a LOT more. I could always give some away, can't imagine i am going to need all 20 plants.

I also planted out the Allium (Purple Sensation) plant that we bought last week. Apparently the flower heads grow up to a metre tall, so i planted it near the back of the bed. The flowers should look nice with the green fence behind. I dug up the Dog Daisies (or Poo daisies as they came to be known) and planted some Echinacea plants instead. Similar size blooms i think but hopefully a lot less stinky.

Tuesday, April 08, 2003

Another fine day, so out in the garden again this afternoon :o)

Millie helped me plant the red and white onion sets we received yesterday. I then had lots of fun trying to re-create the elaborate "cage" i had constructed out of netting and some old bricks, to keep the birds off. I really must get some of those cane connector things - will save no end of time and my patience from being frayed.

Thats about all i got done, apart from tidying the flower beds a little. Not a very productive afternoon. Millie was tired and thought a great way to attract my attention was to rake over our seed beds - Aaarrrggghh! Was time to call it a day. Hopefully we will have a better day tomorrow.
Yesterday morning i received a mysterious parcel in the mornings post. Turned out to be some more onion sets (red & white) and some Rhubarb from BIL. Rhubarb was looking a bit worse for ware so thought i'd better plant it ASAP. I chose a nice sunny spot near the fence. Not sure i have had rhubarb since i had school dinners - not the most pleasent of exeriences, but i am confident that as with most things "home grown" it will be far superior to anything i've tasted previously ;o)

I also made second sowings of spring onions, rocket, lettuce and radishes (Cherry Belle this time) and thinned out the rocket seedlings. While i was busy dd had lots of fun squirting me with the hose, how i laughed!

I am all of a dither as to what to do next. The tomatoes are ready for transplanting but i need to buy some more pots. The courgettes are huge but there is no point hardening them off yet, (we have had frost 2 nights in a row - yikes!) The calabrese is probably ready for planting out, must check my books and i keep forgetting to plant my leaf beet! Must get more organised.

Oh and we finally have some delphinium seeds come through, had just about given up hope. The Sweet Peas are looking good too.

Sunday, April 06, 2003

Daddy cut the grass with our new mower, while Millie and i went to the Farmer's Market this morning. We bought a lovely Allium plant for £3.50 - bargain!

I was hoping to get out and do lots in the garden today but it's cold and i'm feeling a bit of a wimp!

I did transplant some of my seedlings though. The courgettes, peas and calabrese were all getting too big for their pots so i've moved them to bigger ones. The calabrese and peas could really have gone into their beds but as they were in trays with less hardy seedlings (in the house) i haven't been able to harden them off yet, so that is my plan for this week.

I still haven't quite decided what to do with my (mistakenly planted!) courgettes yet. I have been thinking that i could get a garden fleece tunnel to protect them until the better weather arrives (although until today it has been glorious). If the worst comes and they do not survive i still have half of the seeds left to plant in May.

The seedlings in the veggie garden are coming on a treat. The radishes, lettuce and rocket have all appeared and it's probably about time i planted a couple more rows of each. There are also little shoots of garlic, onion and shallots but no sign of the spring onions yet.

Oh, and the tadpoles are starting to get legs!

Sunday, March 30, 2003

Suddenly realised i hadn't checked my seeds for a few days and was thrown into panic incase i'd killed them all. Thankfully they were still damp and a few seedlings were poking out of the compost - very exciting! I showed Millie but she was less than impressed.

Sowed a few more seeds this afternoon including peas (Alderman) and Calabrese. Also prepared bed number 2 - again ( Millie and our resident fox have been trampling all over it).

Checked my veg garden planner (which i had mislaid) and discovered that a few of the things i planted last week should have been planted in different beds, so bang goes my planned crop rotation.

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Yesterday planted my tomato (Red Alert), basil and courgette seeds (Defender, Gold Rush and Tando Da Nizza). Plus, some delphinium and cineraria seeds which will eventually go in the front garden. I didn't mean to plant the courgettes yet but i got carried away!! Millie and i were having such a lovely time filling the pots, (me making holes and her putting the seeds in). Lets just hope this warm weather stays with us. Pond is FULL of tadpoles :o)

Monday, March 24, 2003

This weekend was extremely busy in our garden. My parents were down for the weekend so they got roped in too - tee hee!

Saturday - Daddy and Grandad spent the day fence building, fence staining and making the pond safe for Millie, or should that be protecting the frogspawn from Millie??? While this was going on the rest of us got busy in the vegetable garden. I have been waiting for the beds to dry out as they were quite wet and after last weeks fine weather we were given the green light for planting - yay! We planted radishes (Saxa 2), wild rocket, lettuce (Remus RZ), spring onions (White Lisbon), garlic, shallots and onion sets. I had prepared the ground for the onions last week by digging in some organic fertiliser and once planted they were covered with netting to stop the birds pulling them up, which can apparently happen. Funny because you wouldn't imagine birds to be partial to onions and garlic!

Sunday - Today was a flower gardening day. We started the day off with a trip to the garden centre. Our front garden has been practically empty since we moved in almost a year ago so i was determined to make it ours. I am sticking to (at least attempting ) a blues/pinks/purples colour scheme with white accents. We dug out a boring old shrub and planted a lovely Spirea in it's place, next to that a blue Hydrangea. There was some Agapanthus, a few little alpines and a couple of other shrubs that i can't remember the names of also. To fill in the gaps i sowed seeds of cornflower, larkspur (a favourite of mine) and French Lavender. Finally, as DP is so impatient and insisted on some instant colour we have a few violas and pansies. It looks pretty good i think, but then anything is an improvement. I hope they all survive!!! In places the soil is very heavy and clay like. My Mum dug in loads of sand to improved drainage so hope that does the trick.

Monday - Well now we have a fence to close the back garden off from the front and the pond is covered i feel a lot more relaxed about spending time in the garden alone with Millie. Today she helped me plant up some herbs. We did parsley from seed (which i've not tried before) It said in my book to sow the seed thickly. A good job as Millie was throwing down handfuls of the stuff! Then we planted a coriander plant, will definitely need more of these, and a purple sage plant. The sage was to replace the one i pruned to death last week. Still i don't feel too guilty about that as it was really woody and needed replacing.

Monday, March 10, 2003

Last week I started preparing the beds ready for sowing. If I had been organized I could have planted some green manure to enrich the soil and control the weeds over the winter, but sadly I am not organized. There were so many weeds. I have now dug over the first three beds and covered them with black plastic to prevent further weed growth before I begin my planting.

We have started to dig over the right hand side bed. This is proving a mammoth task as it is covered with comfrey, lemon balm, harebells and loads and loads of Jerusalem artichokes which have been left to their own devices over the past few years and so have just multiplied. Not a problem if you like them but I’m not a big fan so they will have to go.

I have also been preparing the tiny bed next to compost bins so that Millie (2yrs) can have it as a flower garden. The quality of the soil is very poor at the moment so have dug in plenty of manure and garden compost. Picked up my selection of seeds etc from BIL (allotment keeper extraordinaire!) yesterday so feeling very excited. Also came back after aweekend away to find our pond FULL of frogspawn. Just wait till dd sees it!!
Bit of background info for you....

We moved last year from a house with a postage stamp sized piece of garden, to a house with front, back, herb and vegetable gardens. The garden was a big factor on us buying the house as I had wanted to grow my own veg for a while - despite having no knowledge of what was involved! So began a steep learning curve.

It was May by the time we moved in but I still managed to plant crops of courgette, runner beans, Cos lettuce, radish, rocket and sweet peppers. To add to the strawberries, raspberries, Jerusalem artichokes and asparagus planted by the previous owner. Apart from the peppers, of which we managed only one pathetic slug eaten specimen, they were a terrific success and so this year I plan to do more.

Our vegetable garden is made up of four raised beds running horizontally down the centre of the plot with a large bed to the right (which I didn’t use last year so is very overgrown) and a bed to the left of them housing the strawberries and raspberries. Finally, a tiny bed next to the compost bins where I have my comfrey (for activating the compost and using in my lotions and potions!). We also have a plot for a small greenhouse/shed but sadly not the funds at the moment!