This time last week I was worried about my tomatoes. A month after sowing and still no sign, so I got Mick to pick up some more seed on his way home - "Sungold" this time. Then ,of course, i sowed them and all the original seed started germinating - i've a feeling i've been here before ;o)

It's all happening now. As a quick run down, here's what we've got so far....


Cucumber 5 germinated out of 5 Unfortunately though 3 were eaten by slugs, despit the slug
prevention gel! I have sown 3 more.
Courgette 2/2
Pumpkin 1/1
Squash 1/1
Garlic chive 0/12
Parsley 0/12
Brussels 14/22 Although i would say only 2 of the seedlings look healthy - not quite sure what the problem is with the others.
Leeks 30/50 Sowed 2 to a pot and in most pots both have germinated
Tomatoes 3/16
Carrot 2/6
Beetroot 0/11 One set i soaked before sowing to (hopefully) aid germination
French Bean 5/6
Pea 22/29
Sweetcorn 6/9
Lettuce 2/11 plus the tray of cut and come again which i have thinned a little and is doing really well.

We were really busy throughout the Bank Holiday weekend getting the beds sorted and now have two ready for planting up this weekend.

I think I will plant out the courgettes/pumpkin/squash under fleece as they are getting a bit leggy. It's worth the risk as they are so fast growing but I'd better get the copper rings out to protect them from the slugs!

I have been given 4 tomato plants from my neighbour (after hearing my tales of woe over the non germination!) so looks like we won't be short ;o)

Other exciting news is the strawberries in the green house are in flower. This was an experiment really as we had to get rid of some of our plants so i just put them in pots in the greenhouse. I hadn't expected them to do very well, but so far at least they seem to be loving it :o)

On a rather less exciting note we have a wasp's nest right in front of the shed door...

I've been so busy in the garden of late that come the evening i am too tired to blog my achievements!

So as a summary here is what i have been up to the past week:

Sowed peas, sweetcorn, lettuce, courgette, pumpkin, squash, beetroot, carrot, French bean, cucumber, garlic chives and parsley... think that's it.

9 of my Brussels seeds have now germinated and 3 of the leeks. No sign of the tomatoes yet though.

Mick bought me one of those temporary greenhouses and has put it up on Bed 5.

It should prove useful - as long as it doesn't blow away in all this wind!

I've moved my climbing rose which has been in one of the veg beds since i moved it when the builders started their work last spring. I've put it outside the extension, in the new bed, so we can see it from the kitchen/diner. I also moved the echinacea here. Not sure if this will upset it's flowering but i needed my veg beds back! Next task is to move all the giant snowdrops (???) and Lily of the Valley once flowering is over as they are taking up too much space in Bed 5.

I guess i got excited too soon :o( It has gone really cold again. We had torrential hailstorms and snow here today!!!
On the plus side my cut and come again lettuce has emerged - now safely tucked up in the warmth of the mini greenhouse.

I didn't bother sowing anything this weekend but did plant up a nice pot for the front step of primroses and heathers. Mick managed to get another of the raised beds finished.

Springs almost here, the butterflies are out!

Well i have been busy in the garden since i last posted but just never got around to blogging it!

My seeds have arrived and i have sown some already, but only in the little greenhouse. I have leeks, Brussels sprouts and tomatoes. I have also sown a tray of cut and come again lettuce to keep on the patio. A pack I bought on a whim that is supposed to be ready in 3 weeks so we'll see!

Mick was busy in the garden at the weekend and has put together the first of my new raised beds. It's looking good :o) I think we will need a bit more topsoil though.
I spent my time sorting out the very neglected fruit bed. Apparently you are supposed to get new strawberry plants every two years, or something like that. Well we've been here nearly five years and have the same ones the previous owners put in. They still seem to crop ok, despite the fact i never even take the runners off. So anyway, i decided to thin them out a bit so *hopefully* if i've done it right we should get a bumper crop this year....Just incase it all goes wrong i bought some new plants too but will keep these on the patio for the time being. I'm still unsure whether or not you are supposed to remove the flowers in their first year, i've read mixed things about this so will chance it and not bother ;o)


The new bed outside the extension is looking very springlike...

Primroses just shout *spring is here!* to me.

The frogs have been busy too...

Lots of frogspawn!

The sleepers arrived on Friday for the new raised beds in the vegetable garden. They look ok, i think they will do the job well.



We had the fun of moving them from the front to the back of the house, very heavy they were too.


The bulbs i planted before Christmas in the bed behind the new extension and pots on the patio all seem to have poked their heads through. It's very exciting!


I ordered my veg seed at the weekend too so double excitment :o) It will be an incentive for us to get a wriggle on with sorting out those raised beds.

I had planned to ditch this blog and just lump the garden stuff in with everything else but i think it's maybe time to ressurect it. We are going to be very busy this year, there is so much to do. Last year the garden was pretty much left to ramble as we were having building work done to the back and side of the house, making access difficult. So basically the garden is a huge mess!

We've started by ordering some sleepers to replaced the crumbled brick of the raised beds in the veggie garden - something that is long overdue. Mick was going to build new brick ones but having weighed up how much time it would take him we decided sleepers were the way to go. They are unused pressure treated ones, not the kind covered in creosote!

So now i just need to decide what we are going to grow :o)

Picked out first strawberry today :o) A high in a month of gardening lows - my seedlings were massacred by slugs :o(