Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Quick visit
Popped over to the plot very quickly this evening just to drop off some grass cuttings and veg peelings. It had clearly rained during the day here but it was sunny by the time I got home after work. More peas have come up and the potatoes are starting to reach for the clouds. No sign of parsnips yet though. Everything looks so healthy and raring to go though this includes the grass and weeds which desparately need cutting.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Female logic applies here
The past weekend was much drier than I thought it would be given the forecasts. There was some rain on Saturday morning but it had stopped by the time I emerged. No rain on Sunday I don't think.
On Saturday, I really had to sort out the small triangle of earth in front of the house. To ease me into that though, I headed over to the local garden centre as I wanted to top up my supply of bamboo canes (for pea wigwams). However, I also came back with some half price flowering bulbs. That means that I actually saved some money ;-)
I weeded our triangle of earth, removing lots of grass and pinching out the old, dead stems of the lavender. I rediscovered the lemon balm that I put in there last Autumn as it is started to regrow. The sage is started to take over. It is turned into quite a fragrant little corner. The tulips are flowering nicely too though the ones that were pure, bright orange in previous years are now flecked with yellow. Not a problem but I might try to source some pure orange ones for pots next year. In among all that, I planted some orange and yellow begonias (some of the half price tubers) to flower in late Summer.
I did pop over to the plot where I bumped into Bramble Man. We had a nice chat while I checked over my plot. Then we went over to his to admire his salad leaves which looked perfect. I rushed back home after watering the parsnip bed (fingers crossed for some sign of growth this coming weekend).
On Sunday, I meant to sort out the back garden but I didn't get round to that. I headed over to a huge car boot sale where I found some brand spanking new wine boxes. I snapped up 4 of them to plant mushrooms (more on that another time) and things like salad leaves. A few months ago, I had asked a nice wine merchant if she had any boxes to give away but it turns out that they are quite valuable so not something that is typically disgarded.
Back home with a cup of tea and the sun shining in the garden, I got on with some much needed sowing. I sowed the following:
- sweetcorn (F1 hybrid 'Northern Xtra Sweet')
- courgette ('Striato D'Italia', F1 'One Ball', 'Calabacin Di Nizza')
- squash ('Lady Godiva', 'Tromboncino D'Alberga')
- pumpkin ('Llena de Napoles')
- cucumber ('Miniature White', 'Marketer')
The pumpkin had pretty pink seeds.
I also repotted the tomato and sweet pepper seedlings choosing the ones with the thickest looking stems. There are now lots of pots around on windowsills.
The rain came in today and there is lots more to come tomorrow. I have no problem sitting in an office watching the rain come down and thinking of the allotment getting a good soaking.
On Saturday, I really had to sort out the small triangle of earth in front of the house. To ease me into that though, I headed over to the local garden centre as I wanted to top up my supply of bamboo canes (for pea wigwams). However, I also came back with some half price flowering bulbs. That means that I actually saved some money ;-)
I weeded our triangle of earth, removing lots of grass and pinching out the old, dead stems of the lavender. I rediscovered the lemon balm that I put in there last Autumn as it is started to regrow. The sage is started to take over. It is turned into quite a fragrant little corner. The tulips are flowering nicely too though the ones that were pure, bright orange in previous years are now flecked with yellow. Not a problem but I might try to source some pure orange ones for pots next year. In among all that, I planted some orange and yellow begonias (some of the half price tubers) to flower in late Summer.
I did pop over to the plot where I bumped into Bramble Man. We had a nice chat while I checked over my plot. Then we went over to his to admire his salad leaves which looked perfect. I rushed back home after watering the parsnip bed (fingers crossed for some sign of growth this coming weekend).
On Sunday, I meant to sort out the back garden but I didn't get round to that. I headed over to a huge car boot sale where I found some brand spanking new wine boxes. I snapped up 4 of them to plant mushrooms (more on that another time) and things like salad leaves. A few months ago, I had asked a nice wine merchant if she had any boxes to give away but it turns out that they are quite valuable so not something that is typically disgarded.
Back home with a cup of tea and the sun shining in the garden, I got on with some much needed sowing. I sowed the following:
- sweetcorn (F1 hybrid 'Northern Xtra Sweet')
- courgette ('Striato D'Italia', F1 'One Ball', 'Calabacin Di Nizza')
- squash ('Lady Godiva', 'Tromboncino D'Alberga')
- pumpkin ('Llena de Napoles')
- cucumber ('Miniature White', 'Marketer')
The pumpkin had pretty pink seeds.
I also repotted the tomato and sweet pepper seedlings choosing the ones with the thickest looking stems. There are now lots of pots around on windowsills.
The rain came in today and there is lots more to come tomorrow. I have no problem sitting in an office watching the rain come down and thinking of the allotment getting a good soaking.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Shapes in the soil
Popped over to the plot to water the parsnip seeds and to check things out. I have been overseas for a couple of days and heard it was dry and sunny back here so thought things might be a little dry. They certainly were. I could really do with untaggling the hose at some point soon. I just used the watering can. Several times. I did make some shapes in the soil though while watering the parsnips and peas:
There were signs of some pea shoots poking through the soil as well as more of the spuds. Most of the earlies and salads are showing now but only 1 of the maincrops. I think it is forecast to rain this weekend. Hopefully, I'll get some time on the plot. It is probably time to sow some squash and courgettes.
There were signs of some pea shoots poking through the soil as well as more of the spuds. Most of the earlies and salads are showing now but only 1 of the maincrops. I think it is forecast to rain this weekend. Hopefully, I'll get some time on the plot. It is probably time to sow some squash and courgettes.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Who needs the gym...
...when there is hoeing to be done. Particularly on soil that is quite nice and damp after the week's rain. This morning started off a bit chilly and cloudy but it has since become warmer with a bit more sunshine.
Before heading over to the plot, I thinned out the third pot of leeks sitting on the patio (I did the other 2 earlier in the week). I need to remember next year that leek seeds are quite reliable and there is no need to sow them so thickly. It is a right pickle trying to thin out seedlings that are so close together and so long and thin. See before and after piccies.
I hope that these now have the space to grow to the thickness of pencils.
I headed over to the plot for an hour. I started off by hoeing over Beds 7 (there is still about a third of this bed that is heavily populated by grass and needs to be dug over) and 9. It is amazing what an improvement hoeing makes on the appearance of soil. It looks so much finer.
A quick inspection of Bed 8 showed 2 or 3 potato plant tops poking through the soil. After 5 weeks in the ground they are showing signs of life. Just think, last year it was still a month before I got any spuds in the ground.
I then moved 3 broad bean plants from one row to another to fill some gaps. Out of the 4 rows of 13 I sowed, 2 of the rows did fine with only 5 gaps I think while the other 2 didn't quite reach a 50% success rate. Not sure why. See piccie below for how the broad beans currently stand.
I hoed a bit between the rows and unfortunately struck one of the healthier looking plants. I need to learn to be a bit more careful - I am new to this hoeing business.
Although the soil was quite damp, I did water the parsnip bed before leaving the plot. It is going to be quite a sunny, dry week I believe. I should pop over later in the week to water them again if necessary.
Before heading over to the plot, I thinned out the third pot of leeks sitting on the patio (I did the other 2 earlier in the week). I need to remember next year that leek seeds are quite reliable and there is no need to sow them so thickly. It is a right pickle trying to thin out seedlings that are so close together and so long and thin. See before and after piccies.
I hope that these now have the space to grow to the thickness of pencils.
I headed over to the plot for an hour. I started off by hoeing over Beds 7 (there is still about a third of this bed that is heavily populated by grass and needs to be dug over) and 9. It is amazing what an improvement hoeing makes on the appearance of soil. It looks so much finer.
A quick inspection of Bed 8 showed 2 or 3 potato plant tops poking through the soil. After 5 weeks in the ground they are showing signs of life. Just think, last year it was still a month before I got any spuds in the ground.
I then moved 3 broad bean plants from one row to another to fill some gaps. Out of the 4 rows of 13 I sowed, 2 of the rows did fine with only 5 gaps I think while the other 2 didn't quite reach a 50% success rate. Not sure why. See piccie below for how the broad beans currently stand.
I hoed a bit between the rows and unfortunately struck one of the healthier looking plants. I need to learn to be a bit more careful - I am new to this hoeing business.
Although the soil was quite damp, I did water the parsnip bed before leaving the plot. It is going to be quite a sunny, dry week I believe. I should pop over later in the week to water them again if necessary.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Pretty tulips
Not a huge amount to report from my plot today. There was even less cloud in the sky today (sorry, Soilman, over in the East) and it was a bit warmer - up to 17 degrees I think. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon digging up the last of the baby leeks and sowing some parsnips in their place. 2-4 seeds were sown in each station which had been made by first dibbing a 4 inch hole (I couldn't dib any deeper as the ground was quite hard) and then filling it with compost. After sowing the seed and covering it with 1cm or so of more compost, all stations were watered liberally. I thought that this week was a good week for sowing parsnips as we are expecting rain on Wednesday and Thursday and that should help to keep them damp if I can't get to them midweek.
No piccies from Plot 35 today but check out the pretty tulips on another plot...
V. inspiring. Must get some flowers into Bed 1 asap.
No piccies from Plot 35 today but check out the pretty tulips on another plot...
V. inspiring. Must get some flowers into Bed 1 asap.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Knowing my onions
Another warm day with sunshine and few clouds. The morning was a bit cloudy but it soon cleared up nicely. After a lazy morning, I headed over to the plot at about 1430ish armed with the onion and mint seedlings which were removed from the cold frame yesterday.
First job was to transplant the onion seedlings. I had lots of the white and red ones that I sowed earlier in the year and 8 of Hi Keeper which I sowed back in September. The Hi Keeper ones looked big and strong - actually looking like mini onions - whereas the others looked quite weedy. Note to self - sowing in the Autumn and overwintering seems to be a good thing to do. I planted out 40-50 of each of the red and white onions. After a quick feed and water, I covered them over with a tunnel cloche to stop the birdies nipping at them and flying off with them.
The second job was to finish off the weeding and hoeing around the globe artichokes. The third job was to put the mint plants somewhere. They went between the globe artichokes and the path down the middle of the plot. Things look a lot nicer in Beds 4 and 5 now, if a little haphazard (very much my style of gardening).
First job was to transplant the onion seedlings. I had lots of the white and red ones that I sowed earlier in the year and 8 of Hi Keeper which I sowed back in September. The Hi Keeper ones looked big and strong - actually looking like mini onions - whereas the others looked quite weedy. Note to self - sowing in the Autumn and overwintering seems to be a good thing to do. I planted out 40-50 of each of the red and white onions. After a quick feed and water, I covered them over with a tunnel cloche to stop the birdies nipping at them and flying off with them.
The second job was to finish off the weeding and hoeing around the globe artichokes. The third job was to put the mint plants somewhere. They went between the globe artichokes and the path down the middle of the plot. Things look a lot nicer in Beds 4 and 5 now, if a little haphazard (very much my style of gardening).
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Red sky at night
As it was wet yesterday, I spent much of the day painting the kitchen, leaving the rest of the week for gardening. Today was lovely, sunny and warm. The next two days are set to be pretty much the same. Perfect for getting some more stuff in the ground.
In the garden, I started by sowing some salad crops in troughs for picking and coming again over late Spring and Summer. These were garden cress (Wrinkled Crinkled Crumpled), corn salad (Verte de Cambrai) and rocket.
Then I sowed some brassicas for planting out later in the season. These were broccoli (Sprouting Calabrese), Brussels sprouts (Bedford) and cabbage (Greyhound). These have gone into the mini-greenhouse. Alongside them, I also sowed Swiss chard. For germination on one of the windowsills, I sowed some celery (Tango F1 Hybrid) and coriander. I haven't tried growing celery before so this could be a challenge.
While out in the garden, I repotted the lime plant which was starting to get a bit pot bound. It was helped by the fact that I dropped the plant a few weeks back and cracked the plastic pot it came in. I also gave it a good feed as it was started to look a little yellow between the veins on the leaves.
The lemon plant is looking good though...(I need to improve my photography - it looks like I shot this at night when I didn't)
I wonder if the fruits are going to continue to grow and become edible.
A peek into the cold frame in the garden reminded me that I have lots in there to plant out (see below) in the way of onions and mint.
There is also a sea kale which looks well.
Now I can refill the cold frame with more stuff (yippee!).
A brief spell over on the plot was dedicated to the sowing of peas. Two types: main crops (Early Onward) and sugar snaps (Delikett). Instead of fighting with bamboo canes to construct straight frames for rows of peas like I did last year and the year before that, this year's peas will grow up wigwams of canes. Even I should be able to manage a wigwam or two.
I hear that mice like to eat germinating peas (although apparently they lose interest once they have germinated) so I started by pegging down down wire mesh on Beds 3 and 6. I then sowed 3 circles of sugar snap and 4 circles of main crop between the squares of the mesh (see the photo below for an example) where each circle was made up of 8 stations and where each station was sown with 2 or 3 seeds. I will thin the stations down to 1 seedling and the leftovers can be used as pea shoots in a salad. I have meaning to try pea shoots but have not got round to it.
Oooo, red sky at night, shepherd's delight, eh?
In the garden, I started by sowing some salad crops in troughs for picking and coming again over late Spring and Summer. These were garden cress (Wrinkled Crinkled Crumpled), corn salad (Verte de Cambrai) and rocket.
Then I sowed some brassicas for planting out later in the season. These were broccoli (Sprouting Calabrese), Brussels sprouts (Bedford) and cabbage (Greyhound). These have gone into the mini-greenhouse. Alongside them, I also sowed Swiss chard. For germination on one of the windowsills, I sowed some celery (Tango F1 Hybrid) and coriander. I haven't tried growing celery before so this could be a challenge.
While out in the garden, I repotted the lime plant which was starting to get a bit pot bound. It was helped by the fact that I dropped the plant a few weeks back and cracked the plastic pot it came in. I also gave it a good feed as it was started to look a little yellow between the veins on the leaves.
The lemon plant is looking good though...(I need to improve my photography - it looks like I shot this at night when I didn't)
I wonder if the fruits are going to continue to grow and become edible.
A peek into the cold frame in the garden reminded me that I have lots in there to plant out (see below) in the way of onions and mint.
There is also a sea kale which looks well.
Now I can refill the cold frame with more stuff (yippee!).
A brief spell over on the plot was dedicated to the sowing of peas. Two types: main crops (Early Onward) and sugar snaps (Delikett). Instead of fighting with bamboo canes to construct straight frames for rows of peas like I did last year and the year before that, this year's peas will grow up wigwams of canes. Even I should be able to manage a wigwam or two.
I hear that mice like to eat germinating peas (although apparently they lose interest once they have germinated) so I started by pegging down down wire mesh on Beds 3 and 6. I then sowed 3 circles of sugar snap and 4 circles of main crop between the squares of the mesh (see the photo below for an example) where each circle was made up of 8 stations and where each station was sown with 2 or 3 seeds. I will thin the stations down to 1 seedling and the leftovers can be used as pea shoots in a salad. I have meaning to try pea shoots but have not got round to it.
Oooo, red sky at night, shepherd's delight, eh?
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Divide and conquer
A couple of relatively short sessions on the plot today (still a tad jetlagged). Today was lovely and sunny with some cloud. I was on the plot by 0845 - very early for me. I just did a spot of digging on Bed 5 next to the onions and garlic. No more parsnips left in the ground which is good. Next weekend, the onion seedings can go in there.
In the afternoon, I planted the 3 parsley plants that have been overwintering in the coldframe at home. They weren't looking too healthy so I wouldn't be surprised if they keel over. I also dug up and divided the clump of chives that was sitting in Bed 5 but not before harvesting some for tea. I gave 1 clump to a fellow allotmenteer before replanting the other 5 back in Bed 5. Before leaving for the day, I checked the raised beds. The Mispoona and the Spicy Mix were beginning to go to bolt so I picked these and put the rest of the plants on the compost heap.
Back at home, I sowed some tomatoes and herbs. Specifically:
Tomatoes
Principe Borghese - egg-sized, plum, determinate
Costoluto Genovese - beefsteak, indeterminate
Garden Pearl - cherry, bred for container growing
Tigerella - stripey, good for outdoors, indeterminate
Herbs
Basil (Dark Opal)
Chervil
I also potted up the chillies from the windowsill (4 seedlings of each variety) and the aubergines (6 of these). I'll pot up some of the sweet peppers later in the week.
Need more sleep...
In the afternoon, I planted the 3 parsley plants that have been overwintering in the coldframe at home. They weren't looking too healthy so I wouldn't be surprised if they keel over. I also dug up and divided the clump of chives that was sitting in Bed 5 but not before harvesting some for tea. I gave 1 clump to a fellow allotmenteer before replanting the other 5 back in Bed 5. Before leaving for the day, I checked the raised beds. The Mispoona and the Spicy Mix were beginning to go to bolt so I picked these and put the rest of the plants on the compost heap.
Back at home, I sowed some tomatoes and herbs. Specifically:
Tomatoes
Principe Borghese - egg-sized, plum, determinate
Costoluto Genovese - beefsteak, indeterminate
Garden Pearl - cherry, bred for container growing
Tigerella - stripey, good for outdoors, indeterminate
Herbs
Basil (Dark Opal)
Chervil
I also potted up the chillies from the windowsill (4 seedlings of each variety) and the aubergines (6 of these). I'll pot up some of the sweet peppers later in the week.
Need more sleep...
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Back home for BST
I am back after a week away on business in San Francisco (I am a lucky FlowerPowerGirl, I know). I am cream crackered after the flight back and am aiming to stay awake for another couple of hours to settle back into GMT+1.
My future in-laws have done a great job looking after our cat and my seedlings for the week. They all look strong and are ready for potting on tomorrow (the seedlings, not the cat, although she looks healthy too). Everything in the garden looks like it has been busy. Tulips blooming, mint spreading and vines sprouting. I cannot wait to get over to the plot tomorrow. I am worried that things will be dried out as I don't think it has rained here as much as I thought it would (judging by forecasts I'd seen). Oh well. I look forward to a nice day of gardening tomorrow.
My future in-laws have done a great job looking after our cat and my seedlings for the week. They all look strong and are ready for potting on tomorrow (the seedlings, not the cat, although she looks healthy too). Everything in the garden looks like it has been busy. Tulips blooming, mint spreading and vines sprouting. I cannot wait to get over to the plot tomorrow. I am worried that things will be dried out as I don't think it has rained here as much as I thought it would (judging by forecasts I'd seen). Oh well. I look forward to a nice day of gardening tomorrow.
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