Vegetable Kingdom

18th January, 2012

2012-01-18T19:45:00.001Z

Nearly 2 months since my last post! I haven't been very busy in the garden so not much to report really. I've done the following on occasional weekend when I can becase it has been quite wet.
Cut down the asparagus and weeded the bed.
Collected the leaves for leaf mould.
Emptied compost bin contents and spread it over the bed to break down over winter.
Harvested the parsnips.

In the greenhouse the broad beans are growing rather too well. Here they are flopped over after a frosty night. But I think they will be OK.

Here is part of the side bed where I have lad a relatively thick layer of the compost.

The purple sprouting broccoli are safely protected under netting. The unprotected ones (I don't have enough netting) have been stripped bare.

The parsnips have grown good tap roots this year but haven't fattened up much. They taste fine though and were a lovely addition to the roasting pan for xmas dinner.

21st November, 2011

2011-11-21T21:02:00.001Z

I haven't posted in some time as I have not got around to taking photos of the garden. My excuse is that I leave it too late in the day when it's too dark to take photos.Anyway, I have harvested the apples and carefully identified those that were unmarked and these were then wrapped individually in newspaper. The marked ones will be eaten first hopefully before they go rotten.Here are the apples nicely wrapped and stored in the shed.

The tomatoes were still being picked in November. It's been very warm and I still haven't recorded a frost.

I cleared out the greenhouse and cleaned the glass properly this year to remove the algae that had built up. I have chillis, broad bean seedlings, peach and cyclamens in there and they will need a much light as possible so clean glass will help.These are the chilli plants which may or may not survive. I always try but they haven't survived a winter in the greenhouse in my hands.

Peach and broad beans.

Cyclamens which I dug up from the front garden; they may make nice gifts for my friends or to spread around the garden.

I've managed to dig over the parts of the garden plots that are clear of veg. This is a first. I've spread over the compost that was rotted enough to do so. But it doesn't go far.

The warm weather has encouraged the onion sets to shoot. I also planted some garlic but that hasn't shown yet.

The leeks are small; I may have to wait until spring before they put on some growth.

But we have been eating some nice pak choi.

The asparagus is finally turning brown (another sign of the warm spell) and it's time to cut it down.

The leaves have started to fall and I must collect them to make valuable leaf mould.

27th September, 2011

2011-09-27T21:36:00.000+01:00

The apples did break the branch!

I've stripped all the leaves off the tomatoes so that all the energy now goes into ripening the fruit.

The cucumber in the greenhouse has done well despite it being an outdoor one. I've got some nice sized fruit.

The outdoor tomatoes and cucumbers are still producing too.

And the chillis are going to be fine. I finally disposed of the dried chillis which are two years old and this year's plants will replace them. The best of the dried chillis were ground up to make chilli powder.

The pear harvest has been superb. The fruit are still hard but are very edible due to their sweet flavour; just delicious.The apples are huge and need picking soon.

The leeks are still quite small but I think they will be fine by next year.

The button carrots have been good. I grew these in the stony soil of the middle bed knowing that normal carrots would have just forked. So that plan worked out OK. I should repeat that for next year. The sweetcorn are beginning to die back so I harvested most of the cobs which I then put in the freezer with their husks on. I've not tried this method before as I have never had an excess so I'll wait and see what they are like when they come out of the freezer.

Lastly, the weather is still quite warm and this week the temperature will get into the mid 20s, so I planted out the purple sprouting broccoli (which I sowed very late), some pak choi and Swiss chard in the hope that the warmth will allow them to put on some good growth.

7th September, 2011

2011-09-07T20:47:00.000+01:00

I'm still bringing in the harvest; what a great year this has been. The tomatoes aren't very tasty but they do make good passata. Next year I may grow one or two plants of gardener's delight which produce a lot of sweet tasty toms for salads which only my wife and I eat. Two plants should be enough. I'll then have space to grow more larger toms for passata and soups which the kids do eat with pasta.

The aubergines are finally getting to a decent size but I don't think all of the plants will produce fruit. Next year I may grow more sweet peppers again because the kids will eat peppers rather than aubergines.

The apple harvest is going to be good too. The tree branches are bending alarmingly under the weight. I may have to prune this one as it is shading out the leeks.

There are too many to store so ideally I'd like to make juice, wine and cider but I need a crusher and press. They are so expensive though.

22nd August, 2011

2011-08-22T20:49:00.008+01:00

It's been an intensive weekend of harvesting and cooking. First, I harvested the spuds as the haulms were dying back. In Gardener's World, Monty Don had target spot (early) blight and he advised to dig up the tubers before the spores infected them. I'm not sure I had early blight but decided that it wasn't worth the risk, besides the haulms were not going to make the tubers any bigger. As it turns out the potatoes were quite large and will make excellent bakers, moreover I have a big yield. There are about three apple boxes worth. They are mostly kestrel variety with a red mixed in which I forgot the variety of. I must write these things down.

As for the cooking, I made a passata with the tomatoes from the greenhouse; two lots of courgette cakes for freezing; chocolate beetroot muffins (yes beetroot!) which were delicious and even the kids ate them despite their concern over the red tinge. If I had told them they had beetroot in them I doubt they would have eaten them (all the more for me and the better half!). I pickled more beetroot and some spring onions that had bulbed up. I made some very tasty curries with the French and runner beans to accompany a courgette and prawn curry and finally triple quantities of a kohlrabi casserole which we ate on the day and the leftovers were frozen for later. I used some of this year's green chillies and dried red chillies for the curries too. We also had a salad using home grown tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrots and pickled beetroots. And to use up the plum glut, I made some plum jam and then some plum sauce to brush on meat and fish dishes.

To burn off all those calories I worked in the garden doing mostly weeding and trimming. The strawberries got tidied up with all the straw cleared, beds weeded and runners removed.

As it was sunny I dug up the onions so they could dry in the sun. A good yield.

Another good producer has been the blueberries. I have three plants with fruit that ripens one after the other so we get about a long harvesting period. There's sill plenty to come on the last bush.

Some animal has been attacking the lower leaves and branches of the plum tree. Several branches had been broken and the fruit removed with leaves strewn around the base. I assume it must be a badger as the damage had to be caused by a creature of some size (ie not a squirrel) and not too tall since the branches above ~2-3 feet tall were not affected (ie not a deer) and something that eats plums (ie not a fox). And I have seen a badger in the area. Anyway. I needed to remove a few branches including the one that had snapped and there are still plenty of plums left higher up and I think I have enough to share, perhaps I might even get to see the badger one evening. That would be a treat unless he gets a taste for my veg!

I did some late sowing of purple sprouting broccoli, pak choi and Swiss chard. I'm hoping I'm not too late.

15th August, 2011

2011-08-15T21:38:00.015+01:00

It was with some trepidation that I went on holiday 2 weeks ago. Many of the veg were ready to harvest and a warm dry spell could have been disastrous. I was fairly confident that everything would be OK as I had organised the in-laws to check on the plants in containers and water if necessary; also I had set up the automatic watering system in the greenhouse for the tomatoes, aubergines, chillies and peppers. The main reason for my complacency was that I was going on holiday and usually that means it's going to rain. Well true to my form it did rain but I was not unhappy about it because for once the family and I went abroad to Tenerife where we had a wonderful vacation and it did not rain at all.

On our return I was concerned that we may have missed the peak of the plums ripening, but that was unfounded and we are enjoying a glut, so much so that I made some jam.

There is so much fruit on the tree that one of the branches has snapped. Perhaps I should have thinned the fruit?

Another glut is the French beans which are a very tasty yellow variety. The yellow colour also makes them very easy to spot when picking.

In the greenhouse the tomatoes were also so heavy that the supports broke but it hasn't done any damage.

The aubergines are looking great but the fruit is still small so I'll have to be patient.

There are plenty of runner beans.

Hopefully the parsnips are going to be as good as the carrots, there's good top leaf growth.

The onions have all collapsed and are ready to pull. I haven't made the mistake of bending them over this year as this can cause neck rot, so I hope that their natural bending won't do the same.

The kohlrabi should have been harvested whilst I was on holiday as they are quite big now and probably woody.

The sweetcorn is ready and I'm looking forward to the first cobs this weekend.

These are the leeks in their planting holes and seem to be doing ok.

Finally for now, the pears are looking really good. I can't wait to have the first bite.

11th July, 2011

2011-07-11T21:14:00.005+01:00

Apart from keeping the weeds down, this time of year is very rewarding as the veg are harvested. This may be my best year yet. There are not too many losses from pests or diseases and the quality is very high.

These potatoes are delicious; if only I could remember what variety they are. There's no sign of scab or slug damage.

I pulled a few carrots and was delighted to find them to be without forks and of a good size and most importantly they are bursting with flavour. Supermarket carrots are a pale comparison. Why is that?

I finally planted some of the leeks; the rest will be planted when I make room by harvesting a couple of cabbage that were overwintered. I picked one of them this weekend and it's a monster size. I cooked it with some spices from a Madhur Jaffrey recipe rather than simply boil it. It tasted superb, very sweet and tender. Perhaps with the next one I could try some home made coleslaw.

28th June, 2011

2011-06-28T21:16:00.005+01:00

I'm really pleased with the strawberries. A great way to use them up is to make smoothies which the whole family love. They are a nice size too.

Every year I think the broad bean yield will be pitiful but there are always plenty to eat.

I can't get coriander to grow leafy, it just bolts. So I pulled it up and replaced it with spare dwarf beans. I pulled off what leaf there was from the coriander and froze it in ice cube containers.

The leeks are ready to plant out so I started to weed and dig over some ground. Since it had rained the ground wasn't too difficult to dig but the heat was in the high 2Os, so sweaty work. The leeks go in next weekend but that's all the space used up and I still have seven pumpkins to plant out. Maybe they'll have to stay in pots.

20th June, 2011

2011-06-20T20:20:00.005+01:00

I spent a nice weekend tidying up and weeding the veg plots. The plants are looking really green and fresh now. I harvested some cabbage that had been planted last autumn and it had a lovely green and tender heart. I shredded it and cooked it with some mustard seeds and chills as a curry side dish. Delicious.

I also picked the first of the broad beans which were small, tender and sweet.

Now it's Wimbledon fortnight the strawberries are coming thick and fast. I made 5 jars of strawberries with plenty left to have fresh with cream.

I also stripped the blackcurrants and managed to make half a jar of jam with them.

The potato plants have put on a lot of leaf which I hope is a good sign. The runner beans have reached the top of the poles and are flowering. The courgettes should be ready this weekend.

Weed free beds with parsnips, carrots and onions.

Tomatoes and sweetcorn.

7th June, 2011

2011-06-07T20:03:00.013+01:00

Yesterday was a fruit update, today it's all about the veg.

The Gardener's delight tomatoes have been planted out into their final pots in the greenhouse and the first trusses have formed. I've planted some basil and marigold with them as I had plenty spare.

A second sowing of french beans has germinated, the first lot were old beans and didn't appear.

The chillis are a nice size now and I pinched the growing tips out to encourage lateral growth.

The aubergines have been slow to start but are leafing up nicely now.

The potatoes are great, I've been watering them to try and keep the scab at bay.

The mint got repotted and it has certainly benefited.

The overwintered onions are ready to pick. Some of them are getting thick necks so they will be eaten first as these tend to rot on storage.

The asparagus has been tied to string supports and I've stopped cutting it now.

Sweetcorn.

Back to the fruit. I'm very pleased with how well the three peach trees are doing.

And finally, I sowed some wildflowers last year and planted them in the border. A success I'd say. These are ox-eye daisy and red campion. I've sown and planted more!

6th June, 2011

2011-06-06T21:22:00.013+01:00

Strawberry season is approaching and the first few were harvested and eaten this weekend. But the birds love them just as much as I do, so protection is vital.

I'm quite pleased with the cage I made out of water pipe and scaffold netting. The key to a good structure is to screw a wood batten across the top to give stability and a frame over which the net stretches properly.

If you don't protect the strawberries then this happens.

The fruit gets eaten before they turn fully red so the birds or possibly squirrels will always get them before you do. Fortunately, there are plenty of these under the nets.

Another fatality has been the kohlrabi.

Pigeons I think. So they have been pulled out and replaced with beetroot. I've made a new sowing of kohlrabi.

There's no sign of rust on the pear tree this year and there is quite a lot of fruit; I've been watering the fruit trees in the evenings during the dry spells to prevent the fruit dropping.

I've done the same for the plums and there's lots of fruit.

Continuing with the fruit theme. There are plenty of blueberries.

Blackcurrants (which I thought were redcurrants).

Gooseberries.

I managed to kill off the acid cherry by not watering it and probably over pruning it. I bought a new one this spring with lots of side shoots on it from B&Q at a reasonable price (~£13, I think) and it even produced two flowers but I won't expect fruit. Anyway, it's been well watered and I've not pruned it; it's leafed up well.

26th April, 2011

2011-04-26T10:32:00.025+01:00

The excessively dry weather has necessitated a disciplined approach to watering with a good soaking every evening. Fortunately I have had several days off work due to a combination of bank holidays and a royal wedding which has allowed me to do the vital watering and get on top of the gardening (almost). The dry weather has been glorious though and it's been lovely working outside.

So it's been a very busy time.

Sowing

In seed trays

Tomatoes
Sweetcorn
Dwarf beans
Runner beans
Lettuce
Basil
Courgette
Radish
Pumpkin
Spinach
Chillis
Wild flowers
Snapdragon
Gaillardia

Nice green seedlings in the greenhouse.

The picture below shows the 3 home grown peach trees; they are the tall plants at the back and growing very well.

Beetroot and kohlrabi.

I have plenty of sweetcorn this year, about 30 plants.

Despite my initial optimism about the fig, it looks like only one will survive. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm hoping the plant is still young and needs to bush up more.

Sowing outside

I'm trying direct sowing for parsnips this time

Coriander
Carrots
Parsnip

Planting

Peas
Potatoes
Onion sets

The onion sets are up already.

Sadly, I have run out of last year's onions and will have to buy some (the shame!), but I have planted a lot of onions this year and the overwintered onion sets are beginning to swell so I may only have to use supermarket onions for a short while.

The Kestrel potatoes are through and I've earthed them up in case of a late frost, which doesn't seem likely with the past weather but it's never worth the risk.

Harvesting

Rhubarb
Asparagus
Purple Sprouting Broccoli

The pigeons never attacked the purple sprouting broccoli and we had several nice meals from the 4 plants that did survive the winter.

Also around the garden, the broad beans are starting to flower and the mulch of my sieved compost is working well in keeping the weeds down and holding the precious water in the soil.

Sieving my compost was becoming hard work so I had a light bulb moment after watching soil sieving methods on youtube. I converted the old guinea pig hutch into a rough and ready siever. It works by me pushing the sieve backwards and forwards and the compost is collected in the old hutch; so still hard work but less strenuous.

Any new plantings are treated to a freshly dug bed with plenty of the compost, plus a mulch of the stuff.

The sievings get recycled into a heap that is about at its limit now. I've resolved that any further sievings which are essentially the shredded wood of the Leylandii hedge will be sent to the brown council bin where they can be better processed. Otherwise I'll be sieving them forever I think.

Also around the garden, the strawberries have plenty of flowers.

The runner beans are hardening off in the coldframe.

I've erected a more sturdy frame for the peas using some spare wire fencing. It's difficult to get it looking nice with the slope of the garden but it should do the job.

Finally for now, the blackberry and tayberry have nice new growth and I need to weed and feed them with a good mulching.

The raspberries have spread and filled their area and now that the hedge has gone I can properly set up their supports.

5th April, 2011

2011-04-05T19:50:00.020+01:00

Finally, I have been able to get out into the garden. My weekends have been pre-occupied with decorating the lounge which I naively thought would take a week to do and took time off at half term in February. It's now April and I still haven't quite finished it! The problem has been the plasterwork which fell off the walls as I stripped the wallpaper and it's been a long job repairing the holes. My kids are are members of the local swimming club and there have been galas and swimming competitions at weekends too so time has been precious. The garden has taken a back seat therefore, but last weekend I eventually did a bit of sowing and weeding.

I thought I may have been too late for some seeds but I checked the packets and I'm OK. So what has been sown?

Beetroot (Boltardy) in modules
Spring onions (White Lisbon) in modules
Leeks (Musselburgh) in 8" buckets
Kohlrabi in seed trays
Spinach in seed trays
Tomatoes (Tigerella) in 3" pots
Pepper (Gourmet) in pots
Parsley in seed tray
Peas in a gutter
Aubergine in 3" pots
Melon in 3" pots

Still got plenty more to sow of course. I need to sow chillis and more tomatoes.

Harvesting

Rhubarb - I forced one crown this year and had very tender stems. I have 5 crowns so the idea is to force each crown every year in rotation.
Leeks (despite the leaf miner damage)
Parsnips - I have dug them all up and made a parsnip cake and froze the rest. This is the recipe for the cake, which was lovely and I recommend it.

The vegetable beds are very neglected and weedy.

The home made compost which I dug in when I planted the garlic does have a lot of weed seeds in it, but a quick bit of hoeing soon sorted that out.

Also weeded were the overwintering onions which have strong green shoots now.

And the asparagus is showing! I reckon there's enough for a meal at the weekend.

The leeks look better than they did a few months ago and there are maybe 2 or 3 meals left in them.

Four purple sprouting broccoli survived. I need to repair the veg cage before the pigeons discover them.

The fruit is coming along with plenty of blossom on the plum tree....

and the greengage...

and the redcurrants have flower buds.

This is the rhubarb. In the front is the forced crown with the small leaves and the unforced larger crown behind it. The crowns are getting to be a nice size now.

There are plenty of buds on the blueberries too. I must remember to feed them as they are in containers and will need help.

In the greenhouse, the seed trays are filling the shelves - a good sight!

Finally, I was really pleased to see green shoots coming from the peach stone I stuck in a pot last year.

I did buy a peach tree a few years back at great expense and I managed to kill it before it really got established. I hope I can do a better job with this much cheaper plant.

My lemon tree lost all but about 3 of its leaves over winter despite it being under a fleece cover. It was left to its own devices in the conservatory though, so it probably did well to come through. There are lots of new green shoots appearing now; however there are some dead bits which will need removing. Another victim of the cold spell is the bay tree which I was maintaining as a lollipop shape, but the top growth has all gone brown. At the bottom though there are green leaves so I will cut it off at the base and grow it as a compact bush.

This weekend we had some beautiful cloud formations and deep blue skies. The winter is fast becoming a distant memory and I'm looking forward to some warm summer days.

25th January, 2011

2011-01-25T20:23:00.009Z

So, it's not leek moth but allium leaf miner that has destroyed my leeks. Apparently, this is caused by a fly which lays eggs in the leaf and the caterpillars mine down the stem and then pupate overwinter. The pupae are characteristically brown as opposed to the creamy colour of the leek moth's. The damage to the stems allows infections to occur resulting in slimy, rotting stems. It first appeared in 2002 in a garden in Wolverhampton having somehow been transferred from Europe. However, my father who lives near Southampton says his leeks have got it too, so it has spread quite far in only 8 summers.

I spent a tough afternoon struggling with the apple pruners on an extendible pole. But managed to prune both the apple and pear trees. This is a photo of the nice spurs on the apple tree that are developing and where the blossom and fruit occur.

Mind you, I need to look after the apples a bit better than I have this year. I thought they would be OK in the shed but the freezing temperatures damaged most of them. Those in the garage have been discovered by mice. So I'm not sure where to store them next year.

The Swiss chard has some green shoots poking through when I thought it had been destroyed by the snow and ice.

I'm not sure about the purple sprouting broccoli though; hopefully some shoots will emerge soon. I have covered it with netting to keep the pigeons off.

The fox is making a distinct path as he/she walks across my onion bed. Maybe it's not that obvious in this picture.

Nonetheless, the onions are growing.

Finally, as part of the garden clean up, I made a hedgehog house from old fence palings. I'm quite pleased with the result but the truth in how good it really is will depend on whether it gets occupied. I do hope so as I haven't seen a hedgehog for quite some time.

18th January, 2011

2011-01-18T20:13:00.004Z

Still not much happening in the garden. I'm focussing on tidying it up by getting rid of the compost pile. To do so I'm emptying out the compost bins that are ready and then I'll start filling them again. I sieve the compost as it is quite twiggy which then gets recycled back to the compost bins. I am laying it on the side bed without digging in. Hopefully, the worms will drag it in from now to planting time in spring.

The parsnips are a nice size and very tasty. I have noticed a problem with the loo roll method in that a good tap root does not form readily. I think what happens is that there is good lateral growth into the loo roll but the tap root does not seem to grow evenly as it gets to the bottom of the loo roll and hits garden soil which it struggles to penetrate. The result is forked tap roots and a constriction where the bottom of the loo roll is.

So this year I'm going to try direct sowing.

The leeks have been ravaged by leek moth which I haven't had a problem with until now. That's because it has normally been a problem in the south but it is obviously moving northwards. I will have to monitor the plants closely this year. The caterpillar migrates down from the green leaf into the white stem where the brown pupae overwinter. The picture below shows how the stems are shredded by the caterpillar eating its way down the stem and leaving tracks marked by brown edges. If the leaves are removed then the inner parts of the stem are OK and edible.

9th January, 2011

2011-01-09T09:30:00.013Z

Well, I did manage to pick some Brussels for xmas although they were frozen! They were on the small size but tasted great. I think that will be about my yield though. I think this is due to them being sited near the shade of the apple tree. They obviously need more sun. I'm not convinced I will bother any more as they take up too much space for little return.

I also tried to dig up some parsnips to roast but the ground was solidly frozen.

There is a benefit to freezing the soil which is that the ground expands and contracts as the water freezes and thaws. I noticed just how much the soil lifts up as the freeze sets in. This should encourage mixing of the soil and introduction of air leading to better soil condition. This picture shows how the soil surface gets broken up by the action of freezing and thawing.

The downside of course is that vulnerable plants don't survive. For example, my Cordylline is no more.

The Swiss chard looks ruined but I suspect it will pull through.

But the purple sprouting broccoli despite flopping over looks fine.

The broad beans in the greenhouse don't look good and have a lot of black stems ; I'm not very hopeful.

When it did finally warm up, I weeded and mulched the asparagus bed with the spent compost from last year's containers. I did want to do this earlier, but the compost was frozen. This is sounding familiar!

I raked up all the leaves (after the snow had thawed) and have a nice large pile for spring 2012.

One thing I could do regardless of frozen soil, was to make new compost bin out of the spare fence pailings I had. I ordered too many. The final bin is huge, but I soon filled it with the compost pile I have generated from the hedge shreddings and grass clippings. Not surprisingly, the compost was frozen!

The inside of the compost pile was amazingly dry and so not much rotting had taken place although clearly a lot of fungal growth had occurred (not clear in this picture of what was left of the compost pile after emptying it into the bin. I still have a fair amount waiting to go into bins).

And despite all this prolonged period of excess cold, I was amazed to find rhubarb leaves showing.

13th December, 2010

2010-12-13T20:41:00.010Z

It's been a long time since the last post. It's been hectic and haven't had too many free weekends. The weather hasn't helped either. I've haven't even had a chance to clear out the greenhouse of the tomatoes and chillies. The broad beans have survived despite prolonged sub zero temperatures. It looks a bit dark in there due to the thick layer of snow on the greenhouse roof.

I'm not sure how well the winter vegetables have survived. The chard looked like a mushy mess. The garden did look nice with all that snow. But precluded any ideas of digging or weeding.

Come spring all these plants will burst into life again (I hope).

My veg cage has collapsed through the weight of snow. I've not investigated if I have any Brussels for xmas.

The snow has also revealed the frequent visitors to the garden. A fox's footprints are fairly obvious and he/she clearly follows a similar route each night. I don't know how they survive in such conditions, so we have been putting out some dog food for them.

The snow melted and refroze and made some beautiful patterns.

The snow has finally melted and I've been able to get down to the bottom of the garden where I was able to inspect the frozen compost bins; the smaller furry friends have been trying to keep warm in them! I managed to collect a nice lot of leaves though.

25th October, 2010

2010-10-25T21:15:00.006+01:00

There have been some glorious sunny days of late but this has been tempered by the first sharp frosts. The freezing temperatures should improve the flavour of the winter veg. So I have harvested the first of the parsnips. The one I dug up had a nice neck but the root was split which I attribute to the clay soil. I think the root expanded within the loo roll but didn't go downwards much. More compost needed to improve soil structure.

I also tried some young Brussels sprouts which were also very nice.

Other harvests: beetroot, Swiss chard, spring onions, raspberries, sweet potato, tomatoes, green peppers, last of the aubergines, chillies.

The sweet potato bucket was emptied finally. Not a good yield. I probably anticipated this and won't try again, I think I am too far north to get a long enough growing season.

I also uncovered the celery growing inside the Pringles tubes. One or two will provide a few edible stems but again I'm unlikely to try this again. But never say never.

My Thompson and Morgan seeds arrived so I have sowed 30 broad beans (Claudia Aquadulce) in individual pots which are now in the greenhouse.

I also planted out the overwintering onions (Thompson and Morgan first early) which I grew last year with good results.

I've started collecting leaves, always a worthwhile activity.

13th October, 2010

2010-10-13T20:45:00.015+01:00

I've been remiss in not posting in September, despite it being the main harvest time. The reason partly is that I have been busy putting up the fence to replace the Leylandii hedge. I'm quite pleased with the result.

I have been able to do some other work.

Sowing: coriander (for indoor growing through winter). Winter lettuce (my dad gave me some).

Planting: strawberries (I decided to get the new plants I propagated into their final spots before winter set in)

Harvesting: apples (lots of them!), raspberries, turnips, beetroot, Borlotti beans, Swiss chard, kohlrabi, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers and runner beans.

Yes, runner beans in mid October! Here's the proof.

The aubergines have had a growth spurt just to prove me wrong when I thought I wouldn't get any. Mind you three plants did not produce any fruit, so only a partial success.

And there are some more on the plants.

The chillis are also latecomers. These are the usual cayenne peppers I grow.

These are Bolivian rainbow, given to me by a work colleague who is a keen chilli grower.

The greenhouse is also producing the peppers finally and there are still plenty of tomatoes. Despite my concerns that they are not Gardener's delight, they have a delicious taste.

The Swiss chard has grown very fast in just over a month.

These are just some of the apples. A good harvest.

And seven pumpkins for Halloween and pies.

Finally, this is the very large heap of hedge shreddings and grass mowings that will make some lovely compost next year. Yes, you read correct, grass mowings! I'm still mowing the lawn in October.

The compost makes the soil go much darker and I'm really impressed with how it is transforming the clay soil.

31st August, 2010

2010-08-31T20:09:00.010+01:00

The rain has returned and we take our family holiday. Typical. We went to the Forest of Dean which is very nice and it would have been lovely if it was sunny! I don't know how people can do camping in that weather.

Sowing

Still not sown any winter lettuce.

Planting

My dad gave me some spring cabbage.

Harvesting

Potatoes: all dug up since the soil was softer due to the rain.
Dwarf and runner beans
Sweetcorn: deliciously sweet and large cobs too.
Turnips
Raspberries, blackberries and plums: the plums are fantastic.

The spring sown onions have dried out nicely.

Inside the greenhouse, everything looks lush but it's been a bit of a failure. There are no melons, the aubergines are only just showing fruit and most of the peppers have not fruited. The chillis seem to be late too, but I'm not so worried about them as I still have plenty that I dried from last year.

This is a green pepper forming on the smallest plant. I think the problem is due to low light levels under the greenhouse shelving.

Another disappointment, the butternut squash just doesn't seem to have taken off, there should be a lot more leafy growth.

The swiss chard and purple sprouting broccoli are growing quickly under their protective netting. They will soon outgrow it so it will have to come off but by then there shouldn't be any white butterflies anymore. In the spring I should be able to use the veg cage that is currently covering the sprouts since I should have eaten them by then.

The runner beans and Borlotti beans have produced lots of beans. I did water them a lot during the dry spell and they had a good mulching when they were planted.

A general view of the side bed.

I have been sieving the shreddings from the Leylandii hedge to remove the twiggy stuff. The result is a lovely soft, black compost which breaks up the heavy clay soil giving it a wonderful open structure with good moisture retention. Maybe I have found the solution to my soil problem. I did the same to my regular compost with equally pleasing results. The twiggy stuff got returned to the compost bins and will get mixed with the green stuff.

2nd August, 2010

2010-08-02T22:18:00.016+01:00

The dry period continues. There has been some rain which has been just enough to keep the veg in reasonable condition.

Sowing

No sowing, I forgot to sow some rocket.

Harvesting

Turnips: we make a lovely vegetarian chilli with these.
Lettuce, beetroot, cucumber, tomatoes, and spring onions for salads
Potatoes: the first of the Kestrel were dug up and taste great with no signs of slug damage. I think I'll stick with this variety.

Planting

Swiss chard.

I have continued to chop down and shred the Leylandii hedge which has taken some time. Fortunately the veg need little maintenance now with just the mandatory weeding.

The greenhouse tomatoes are forming nicely. They should be gardener's delight variety but the trusses have only a few fruit on them. Last year there were up to 50 per truss. I'll have to check the seed packets.

The aubergines are starting to flower.

I may actually get some red outdoor tomatoes this year; the hot weather has kept the blight away.

There will be some good pumpkins too. I've got about 3 per plant and I must remember to pinch them out to prevent any more developing.

.

Lots of apples this year, the branches are bending under the weight.

I cut the old leaves off the strawberries and cut the runners back to one plantlet. I think this is the last year for these plants , then I'll replace them with the new ones.

This is my attempt at growing Pringles. Actually, it's my attempt to get long white celery stalks.

The sweetcorn is nearly ready. I could and should have grown twice as many plants in the same area. The field down the road has them spaced much closer together.

12th July, 2010

2010-07-12T20:09:00.020+01:00

Hot, hot hot! Fortunately with a vegetable garden I can water it readily and don't they need it.

Sowing

Radish, spring onions, purple sprouting broccoli, swiss chard.

Harvesting

Lettuce: of those that have hearted up, these have been delicious. But of course, in this heat they need regular watering and a few have bolted.
Broad beans and peas: these have finished and I pulled them out. Must grow more next year, we definitely prefer the variety Celebration which are much sweeter than the early variety Meteor.
Strawberries: we've been making smoothies with these and some jam with the tayberries. I have to say the jam is wonderful.
Runner and dwarf beans: the first of the season and nicely tender.
Onions and garlic: drying out in the shed.
Spring onions: big and hot.
Beetroot: delicious warm.

As you can see from that list we had a nice salad at the weekend sat on the patio. We watched the many birds on the feeders we have. There are a lot of young birds this year so the parents got their timing right when all the caterpillars emerged.

Planting:

Leeks, butternut squash, beetroot and spring onions

I potted up the sweet potato into a bucket and it is showing good leaf growth. The pots around it contain celery. I heard somewhere that the pot method can give you nice stalks so I'm giving it a go.

In the greenhouse, everything is in its final pots:

Leafy aubergines

Chillis

Tomatoes with fruiting trusses

and young melon plants:

I'm growing the cucumbers outside this year because I don't have enough room in the greenhouse anyway. With this hot weather maybe a greenhouse isn't necessary after all. These are gherkin type cucumbers but they are perfectly tasty and edible; They are better without the tough skins though.

The outdoor tomatoes are fruiting too, these are the lovely stripey Tigerella variety. No sign of blight as in the previous years.

The courgette glut is just about to start. A lot of the early fruits have yellowed and it seems the plant has to achieve a certain size before it can sustain the developing courgette.

There are lots of flowers on the runner beans

This year I topped and tailed the leeks which I did find made them sit in the holes much better. I also got nice sized plants of the desired pencil thickness (mostly) which I put down to them being grown in large pots.

I've also cracked how to grow spring onions. These are great!

It's nice to see pristine Brussels sprouts not ravaged by the cabbage white caterpillar.

More kohlrabi on the way, this is a white variety.

an this is the purple variety which are possibly getting too big and woody. We make a very tasty and easy casserole with them which we can't get enough of.

These are the spring planted onion sets that are swelling up. I have deliberately planted them close so that the bulbs don't get too big. But notice the large cracks in the soil due to the hot weather. I still have along way to go to improve the structure.

The overwintered onions and garlic have produced nice fat bulbs.

Parsnips; I listened to Terry Walton's podcast and he advised not to water parsnips as this encourages the tap root to lengthen for water. But I've watered mine a bit as I know the soil will be bone dry if not. Surely they need some water?

The sweetcorn must be loving the sun. Top flowers are showing.

21st June, 2010

2010-06-21T21:55:00.018+01:00

The longest day.

I don't seem to find time to take photos of the vegetable garden because I'm too busy... well gardening! I feel that a blog describing vegetable growing needs illustrations to show off nature's bounty, so I don't post without pics. I have been busy removing the Leylandii hedge at the bottom of the garden as it is on a slope and I can't trim the tops. So I have decided to remove it altogether which has let in more light anyway. Moreover, I discovered that the encroaching elderflower trees which were damaging the hedge were not originating from next door as I thought but were on my side within the hedge itself. I'm using a sharp lopping saw that cuts through the branches very easily and can even cut through the main trunk at the base without too much effort. Much safer than a chainsaw. The branches are being shredded which I can slowly add to the compost bins. That may take a few years. Here's progress so far, a very dirty but satisfying job.

The raspberries will benefit from the increased light levels.

Harvesting

Peas. These are so sweet and a big family favourite.

Also making its way to the plate are onions, spring onions and broad beans.

Planting

More kohlrabi. I would like to plant out the leeks but they will go near the sprouts and also where the broad beans are.

Sowing

I bought some chard and more spring onion seeds but haven't sown them yet. The chard will be sown with the purple sprouting broccoli and can be planted where the onions are as these will be pulled up soon.

Care and maintenance

I watched a blackbird help itself to a nicely ripening strawberry so anticipating a bumper crop this year I quickly rigged up some protective netting. It will do for this year but I think I will need to buy some better netting.

In the greenhouse the tomatoes have been planted into their final pots and tied in with the watering system set up. Flower trusses are developing nicely.

The aubergines have also been potted into their final pots. I've put them into smaller pots than last year as I hope this will encourage more fruits to develop. I'm going to leave them on the shelf so that they get more sun rather than in the partial shade of the greenhouse floor.

After nearly giving up on my sweet potato sprouting, these shoots developed at last.

The parsnips are producing fresh green leaves. I expect the clay soil is not going to allow long tap roots to develop though.

Looks like there will be courgettes next weekend.

I have the dreaded asparagus beetle. There were plenty of eggs laid and this weekend I noticed that they had hatched and I have been removing them. The caterpillar is not as attractive as the beetle.

The kestrel potatoes look great and beginning to flower, I hope it's reflecting what is happening below ground.

The pumpkins are fruiting, so I must feed them well. This reminds me that I still have to find space for the butternut squash.

The overwintering onions are falling over and are ready to lift. They are a nice size too.

Finally, I bought a lemon tree which fills a space in the conservatory left by a ficus tree that didn't over winter well.

2nd June, 2010

2010-06-02T19:55:00.016+01:00

It's been very dry and I still have a long way to go before the soil condition improves. Without rain the soil rapidly becomes like concrete, so what should be a relatively simple task of planting out becomes a strenuous effort just to dig the holes. I do have large piles of grass clippings and tree shreddings to rot down but they won't be ready for a few months yet. Frustratingly the compost that has been rotting down over winter still is not ready either so I have been throwing in a handful of multi-purpose compost for each plant to try and improve the soil a little.

Sowing

More radish, beetroot, spring onions, celery. I've grown the radish in trays and this has worked out very well. The seeds are large enough to space out at regular intervals so that there is no need for thinning.

Planting

Sweetcorn, parsnip, runner beans, dwarf beans, Brussels sprouts, courgettes, tomato (tigerella) and outdoor cucumber. That's freed space up in the greenhouse and the tomatoes will be planted up into their final pots this weekend. They have started to make their first flower trusses.

I planted the runner beans against the fence as last year, so no crop rotation. But the location does catch the sun nicely.

More runners and Borlotti beans planted under wigwams with a good mulch of what compost I felt I could use.

Sweetcorn. I haven't done much crop rotation with these either.

The tomatoes and cucumbers were planted where the sprouting broccoli were. The soil wasn't too bad here.

I've given the courgettes plenty of room. I planted them too close to the leeks last year and they crowded them out completely.

The peas are nearly ready to eat.

Likewise the broad beans.

The potatoes were earthed up finally; there was little frost damage anyway. In the background is the veg cage protecting the Brussels sprouts. I shall plant the leeks around the sprouts.

Plenty of apples.

And some plums.

Not everything escaped the frost; the fig leaves and fruit got damaged.

In the greenhouse, the aubergines, sweet peppers and chillis are looking good.

These pumpkins are waiting to go out to their final position by the wigwams once I've prepared the soil. I haven't quite worked out where the squash plants will go, I'm hoping that the broad beans will be finished by the time they are ready for planting out.

12th May, 2010

2010-05-12T21:29:00.018+01:00

I seem to like starting these blogs with a weather report. Well, it is quite crucial for the veg grower to keep a weather eye and what I thought was the last of the cold weather, turns out to be a return of northerly winds and frosty mornings. I was correct to leave the runner beans in the greenhouse. Here they are waiting patiently.

Harvesting

The first asparagus has been eaten and it was delicious. We've had 3 pickings so far and more to come.

Sowing

Cucumber, sweetcorn, dwarf bean, borlotti beans, more beetroot, more kohlrabi, more spring onion and turnips which I have all sown in seed trays or pots for planting out. I committed the cardinal sin and didn't label the trays so I will have to rely on my ability to recognise the seedlings when they emerge.

The greenhouse is filling up and I'd like to be planting some of the veg outside but it's just not worth risking a late frost. This is the sweetcorn.

I have had the leeks hardening off outside but they are painfully slow to grow.

Planting

Kohlrabi, rocket, lettuce, beetroot, more peas

These are the kohlrabi in the foreground with the onions and garlic in the background. I'm pleased with the onions they are bulbing up nicely. I'm making a net cloche for the kohlrabi from spare netting for the veg cage and wire frame of the old plastic cloches; the plastic finally became too brittle and it was ditched. I need to finish it soon before either the pigeons or the butterflies discover they are there. I've seen pigeons but it still seems to be too cold for cabbage whites.

I planted the rocket out in clumps from seed trays. Rocket is on the right, parsley on the left.

And some lettuce under domes. Maybe I should have removed a dome to avoid the reflections and show the lettuce properly.

In the garden the strawberry plants look very healthy with flowers developing.

I have let the purple sprouting broccoli flower, I don't need the space just yet and maybe the bees will appreciate them.

I spotted the first sign of the spuds but rather than wallowing in the glory of it, I should have covered them with earth to keep the frosts off.

The apple tree has plenty of blossom most of which is on the side spurs rather than the tips. So, I shall continue with the pruning method for spur fruiting. It's easier too.

The greengage is leafing up. There do not appear to be any dead bits which I'm pleased about given it was a bare rooted tree. There are no flowers though, so no fruit this year.

21st April, 2010

2010-04-21T19:44:00.010+01:00

I took 2 weeks off work for the Easter break and had a lovely time getting a lot of the garden chores done, very satisfying, especially with some lovely weather; the rain seems to have also taken a holiday. The lawnmower came back from its service and despite its age (>40 years) it looked like new and started on the first pull. Of course, as well as mowing the lawn I did lots of weeding and sowing and planting out.

Harvesting:

I've finished off the leeks and had these with the purple sprouting broccoli baked in a cheese sauce. There is still plenty of PSB coming.

Sowing:

More radish. I haven't got much room in the greenhouse for any more stuff at the moment.

Planting:

Potatoes. As with last year I dug a trench and planted the spuds on a good layer of compost. The compost was not fully rotted but will hold the moisture nicely.

The asparagus has sprouted and there will be enough for a meal or two (hopefully more) which will be the first harvest ever.

The broad beans are flowering. It didn't look good for these plants a few weeks back but nature finds a way.

The early peas (Meteor) are attaching themselves to the pea sticks, but the germination rate of those I sowed later (celebration variety) in the greenhouse has been very poor. I will definitely have to sow more as these were very good eating last year.

The radish are growing well in the greenhouse. I'm trying them out this way instead of sowing directly outside. They certainly grow faster and look better, hopefully they taste good too. In the picture below, the radish are in the foreground with kohlrabi behind them and the beetroot behind the kohlrabi.

Aubergine coming along nicely.

A second sowing of spring onion. This method is working well. Sow a few seeds per station in a seed tray and then when they get to a good size, plant the clump outside.

Last year, I bought basil from the supermarket and grew that on but where is the fun in that? So, this year I have sown my own (I had the seeds anyway).

I'm pleased to report that the fruit trees are all showing good numbers of flower buds including the new greengage and cherry trees. I think the pear tree will be first into flower though.

4th April, 2010

2010-04-04T13:26:00.015+01:00

It's April already and yet spring still feels like it hasn't arrived. At last the daffodils have flowered and there are signs of bud break on the trees. Ever the optimist, I've being busy sowing and planting.

First up though, I have been thinking about what to grow against a north facing fence that replaced the Leylandii hedge. It's a big expanse of boring wood that is close to the conservatory and is crying out for some green cover. As ever, with my economical nature, I wanted to get something that was edible. So my initial thoughts of a flowering climber were quickly replaced. The decision turned out to be not too hard as there are not many fruit trees or climbers that will grow on a north facing aspect. The solution came in the form of an acid cherry. As luck would have it I stumbled across a free cherry tree offer on the internet. All it cost was the post and packing at £6.99. So it came last week and it's now planted and pruned. Maybe the link is still alive and there are still free trees on offer?

I've severely pruned it so that I can train it into a fan against the hedge. The idea is to promote two lateral branches from which further laterals will develop. It came bare rooted so it will need lots of watering.

The greenhouse is looking more like its purpose, full of seed trays.

And it has that lovely warm feel to it at last.

Notice the loo roll method of growing parsnip and peas.

I put the fig outside so that it can get more sun as the greenhouse gets afternoon shade. The embryo figs are starting to swell nicely.

I planted out more strawberry plants that I'd propagated from runners last autumn. I was going to give them away but decided you can never have enough strawberries. The soil here was good for making pots, so much clay! I thought it best to grow the strawberries in it rather than struggle to get it in good condition. I can concentrate the compost application to other areas for now.

The gooseberry has plenty of pristine leaf, although it's far from a bush at the moment and will need a few years before it produces a decent yield.

The redcurrants are also looking rather stick like after I split the original so that I can prune them properly to form a productive bush; again I'll have to wait a few years for some decent yields.

The buds on the plum tree should open any day now.

All five of the rhubarb plants are sprouting which should allow me to force each crown on an annual rotation. The biggest plants look like they can withstand forcing so I'll try one of them next year.

I've sown the following:

Carrots, coriander, pumpkin, runner beans, sweetcorn, courgette, sprouts, parsnip, rocket, tomatoes, dwarf beans, Borlotti beans.

I have also planted the spring sown onion sets and the spinach. But I still haven't planted the potatoes, that will happen in the next few days.

22nd March, 2010

2010-03-22T21:41:00.015Z

Finally, I felt it was warm enough to begin sowing in earnest, despite there being a frost this weekend. A good sign for me was that the leeks had germinated. It's good to see the greenhouse shelves filling up with seed trays. The leeks are in the black buckets in the picture below.

In the picture below, the spinach on the lower shelf will be ready to plant out soon I hope. On the top shelf I have peas, parsley, beetroot and celeriac.

Also in the greenhouse, I sowed some more peas (celebration) in loo rolls. The horseradish (tall black pot) is shooting up which I plan to keep in a container somewhere. I'm persisting with it because I understand the root has to be several years old before the heat develops. I tried it after two years and it had no heat at all. I'm also waiting to see if the cacti and succulents came through the winter, they seem OK.

Indoors, the aubergines have germinated. They won't go in the greenhouse until they have developed a few more leaves and the weather is warmer (mid-April?). I should have six plants if I look after them.

I sowed some tomato (Tigerella), melon (Edonis) and sweet pepper (gourmet) along with a pineapple top which I'm trying for a bit of fun. The pineapple top had its flesh removed and then the leaves removed to reveal about 1" of stem and then left to dry out for a few days. Then I dipped it in rooting hormone and laid it on its side on compost. The idea behind this method is to try and prevent the top from rotting.

Outside there are signs of life. The blueberries are budding up. I'm going to grow these in full sun this year rather than on the patio which gets afternoon shade. The idea being that this may encourage sweet fruit rather than the sour berries I seem to be getting up until now.

The broad beans have struggled this year. The winter has knocked them back but new growth is sprouting from the bases. Looking back at my blog this time last year, the beans were nearly 30cm tall.

But the purple sprouting broccoli looks very promising. I shall be picking some this coming weekend.

Should be a good garlic year too!

And onions. I'm ashamed to say that I am having to buy onions now. All because I bent the necks of last year's and caused them to rot.

The strawberry plants that I propagated from runners last year and had been sitting in the cold frame all winter were planted out; they were showing signs of new leaf growth. This bed is full of strawberry plants now and my plan is to have a glut of fruit. My family can't get enough of them. Also in the picture, there are the bright green shoots of the chives. I'm still waiting for the neighbouring rosemary, sage and thyme to burst into life.

21st February, 2010

2010-02-21T13:39:00.013Z

I thought the cold weather had ended so I have planted out the broad beans and spring onions. They beans were getting a bit leggy and there have been a couple of nice sunny days which fooled me into thinking spring was here, but this morning I woke to 2-3" of snow.

Here are the broad beans before the snow; I planted 2 double rows (only one double row in picture).

And here are the spring onions.

This is the effect of the snow on the veg cage. I need to buy some more clips to hold the netting in place. The purple sprouting broccoli protected within, is coming along nicely and I hope to have a few meals from the plants despite the pigeon damage.

As well as the broad beans, I sowed leeks and more peas (to replace the failed sowings of November) in the greenhouse. The spinach I sowed is struggling along.

I have also sown aubergines, parsley, basil and celeriac which are indoors on a windowsill. I follow the packet instructions and these require a minimum of 15ºC for germination.

I did try a bit of digging and incorporated some home made compost. The soil is very wet though and I stopped after one trench.

Despite the nasty weather, signs of life are emerging.

The garlic is showing through.

Rhubarb.

Fruiting buds on apple tree. I'm fairly convinced that this is a fruiting bud as it is quite fat and hairy. It's forming on the tip, so I'm having to revise how to prune the apple tree (again!). I've taken off a few branches that are showing signs of damage or disease and then left it pretty much at that for now. I've not pruned those branches that clearly show a fat bud on the tips or spurs.

I was very pleased to receive a large package in the post this week. The greengage tree arrived from Thompson & Morgan. It had a very small root ball which worries me a little, but I went ahead and planted it with plenty of compost in the hole and a nice mulch.

Finally, a picture of some snowdrops that I bought in the green rather than bulbs which are less reliable. They should make a nice show in the front garden border.

16th January, 2010

2010-01-10T11:44:00.013Z

The snow and ice have not been conducive to going outside into the garden. Even the greenhouse has been suffering. Only 3 pea seedlings have emerged from the 30 I sowed in November. In fact the compost has frozen solid, so I doubt I'll get anything now and I will have to do another sowing maybe later this month. The temperature dropped to -8°C. And it appears that my greenhouse got to a maximum temperature of about 48°C during the summer! I don't remember that.

The chilli plants didn't make it so I'm glad I kept one indoors that is just about holding on.

Even the broad beans have suffered, but I expect them to bounce back.

Outside it looked like this.

The ground was partly frozen but I sill managed to dig up some leeks.

I also dug up a half decent parsnip much to my delight. It actually looked like a proper parsnip with a long tap root; tasted good too. I don't know why I didn't take a photo.

I got the veg cage at last (see side bed photo where you can see the frame) and I ordered some netting off the internet, as the local garden centre didn't have any. So I need to cut and fix the netting in place but the weather is wet and miserable. It shouldn't deter me really as the pigeons are not taking a rest from stripping the PSB of leaves.

The Brussels sprouts are a good size and tasty.

Finally, I started off a sweet potato in a mug of water after I listened to Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4. Bob Flowerdew who is a panellist on the programme, recommends starting them early (January) in buckets, but I think this variation might have more success as documented on this blog

Oh and the Kestrel seed potatoes and Setton onion sets arrived.

One thing that Bob Flowerdew also said on GQT was NOT to bend the onion necks over before harvesting as this leads to neck rot. Well, he's right. I did that this year and a fair few of my onions have gone rotten around the neck.

19th December, 2009

2009-12-19T18:05:00.006Z

The weather has turned very cold and frosty at night with sub-zero temperatures. So not much happening in the garden. Nonetheless, the frosts should improve the flavour of the sprouts and parsnips. I've tried a few and they do taste very good. They will be excellent for Xmas dinner. The parsnips are rather small and have bent roots. It seems the tap root goes down so far then goes sideways. Again I have to blame the heavy clay soil which the root can't penetrate. Once again, I hope that continued addition of compost will improve the soil condition.

The purple sprouting broccoli had resisted the attention of the wood pigeons, until now. I counted a flock of 22 of them which get frightened off by a buzzard every so often, but they must be getting hungry as you can see below.

With Xmas arriving I have asked for a veg cage which should be a little more substantial than my pathetic home made effort which now looks like this.

I need to get the cage over the PSB as soon as possible (Boxing day?) before my PSB is eaten away.

The broad beans in the greenhouse are thriving but this cold spell will check them back.

Finally, if you remember I made some apple and raisin wine last December after my failed attempt at crushing apples for cider. I had to resort to using wine finings to get it to clear which worked a treat and I'm glad to say that the final result is very nice! It's a medium wine that is very smooth and easily drinkable, perfect for xmas (if it lasts that long). Cheers!

24th November, 2009

2009-11-24T21:32:00.010Z

The asparagus beds got a good mulching of multi-purpose compost. I didn't have any home made compost ready so had to resort to buying some but I was determined to give the beds some first class treatment as next year should see the first real crops.

As well as the onions showing fresh green shoots, so are the shallots.

No sign of the garlic, but last year they didn't start sprouting until the spring either.

In the greenhouse the spinach has started to germinate which might seem surprising but on sunny days the temperature has reached around 20C. Impressive. The broad beans have benefited from this and I've moved them to a sunnier position.

I've been doing some potting up of a succulent plant called Echeveria (not a cactus)that has thrown out a large number of sideshoots. I can't bring myself to dispose of them because they produce wonderful flowers all through the summer and maybe they would make nice gifts. They will have to rough it out in the greenhouse over winter and we'll see what happens next year.

I have some small Aloe cactus there too.

Finally, I've been splitting bulbules from the orchids too.This one is last year's which I have just left in the greenhouse to get on with it (with watering of course) and now that the shoots are appearing, I have taken pity on them and brought them indoors.

And these are the flowers of a Phalaeonopsis orchid which has been flowering constantly for several years now. Marvellous.

10th November, 2009

2009-11-10T23:39:00.009Z

I spent the weekend mostly collecting leaves on yet another fine sunny day. Here they are in the plastic bags.

I cut down the asparagus to ground level and will mulch with some cheapmulti-purpose compost. I would like to use my own compost but it's not ready yet.

I pruned the gooseberries and redcurrants following RHS advice. I cut off the leader back to about 6" of growth and then cut the side shoots back by a half.

One of the redcurrant bushes was composed of 4 shoots rather than the desired single shoot. So I dug it up and indeed it was really 4 separate plants, so I have replanted these in a temporary position until I have prepared a new bed near the apple tree. I'll do this through the winter for planting in spring. This is all possible because now there is sufficient sunlight to grow plants on the south side of the garden following the hedge removal.

The continuing warm weather has helped the onions develop some strong shoots.

The spring onions are doing well in modules in the greenhouse. I'll probably plant these out in spring.

The broad beans have germinated already and I sowed some spinach in modules. There have been some frosts so the Brussels sprouts and parsnips should have improved taste I hope. I need to try some although I don't think the parsnips are very big.

26th October, 2009

2009-10-26T22:52:00.003Z

I planted out the overwintering onions (First Early variety from Thompson & Morgan) along with a row each of garlic and shallots (using this year's bulbs). Within 2 weeks of planting the onions are already showing green shoots which I put down to the lovely warm weather in combination with a good bit of rain.

I sowed the Aquadulce broad beans in small pots and they now sit on a shelf in the greenhouse. I also have started to collect leaves of which I can not get enough. I am lucky to have deciduous trees at the bottom of the garden and lately they have been shedding their leaves. I filled the small leaf mould cage very quickly and there are still lots more to come. The large adjacent cage is already full of shredded Leylandii which I reckon may take several years before I use it by slowly adding it to the regular compost. So, I will have to use the black bag method again for the leaves. Other than that not much is happening.

This is the side bed with the leeks and purple sprouting broccoli behind it.

And some nice hedge clippings in front.

My compost bins are full and so with all the clipping and pruning at this time of year, I have big piles of green stuff scattered around the garden; I am trying to make as much compost as possible. Next year the beds should really benefit from a huge onslaught of added compost (I hope).

6th October, 2009

2009-10-06T21:10:00.006+01:00

At long last it has rained which is very welcome because I want the soil to soften up so that I can plant out the overwintering onion sets, garlic and shallots. The picture below shows just how bad the soil had got in the bed next to the hedge and has developed large cracks. So still some way to go to get the soil condition right, despite my previous post where I was more upbeat about the soil in the bed where the spuds had been. It just goes to show that you can never dig in enough compost.

The chillis in the greenhouse are putting out new shoots and look in good shape for overwintering.

I have removed the environmesh covering the purple sprouting broccoli as it was restricting growth. The plants look really good and I hope it produces some good florets next spring. This will be a first for growing and eating.

The Brussels sprouts have been rather neglected because I have not made a veg cage to protect them properly. They did have netting draped over them but this has not been sufficient to keep the pests off and the top leaves have been attacked. However, there are some good sprouts coming along and there will be some for xmas. There are plenty anyway but I won't be trying any until there is a frost which should improve flavour.

I would like to be digging in more compost (soil condition permiting) but I have none so that will have to wait, hopefully there will be some in the spring. In the meantime I shall be collecting leaves for leaf mould

2009-09-16T22:14:00.019+01:00

It was a beautiful weekend. We even had lunch out on the patio with not a cloud in the sky and a buzzard soaring overhead.

It was almost too hot for digging, but I have started to dig in the compost in the bed where the spuds were. Of course I have uncovered quite a few tubers that I missed.

I wanted to empty the compost bins out to make room for all the finished veg plants such as the runner beans and sweetcorn that I am pulling up.

I am quite pleased with the soil condition. I can put the spade right in without resistance and it crumbles relatively well. But some more compost won't go amiss.

I am getting a bucket of coffee grounds every week from my work canteen; I add it to the compost bins. It has a lot of benefits including a high nitrogen content, helping to heat up the compost pile, improving soil condition and attracting worms.

In the greenhouse, the plants are coming to an end. I retired three tomato plants and picked off all the fruit (both red and green). There's not much fruit left on the remaining plants so I expect next weekend I shall remove the rest.

I've spread the spent compost from the tomato containers on the front borders, where the soil has become like iron and reminds me of what the soil in the veg beds used to be like.

These are tomatoes before the clear out.

I picked all of the chillis and pruned back the plants with the idea of overwintering them. I didn't succeed last year so I don't mind if they don't survive to next year as a fresh sowing was very successful this year anyway. I think I have over 100 chillis and they have a nice heat to them.

There have been some nice green peppers but not as many as last year. I put this down to the chilli plants which I think shaded out the peppers and the aubergines.

I have had no aubergines at all this year despite good leaf growth and flowers but again I think the plants were too well shaded.

The melons have produced six small but tasty fruits. Not a great haul.

The leaves of the strawberry plants were removed and the soil around them weeded. Looking at that soil, an addition of compost wouldn't hurt either.

The runners were potted up for next season's new plants to replace the old ones on a three year cycle. I got plenty of new plants with enough to give away or swap.

There are still late blueberries on one bush but they have a sour tinge and therefore are not great, perhaps they need mixing with other berries and a bit of sugar.

I picked the apples and most of them are of a good size. The unblemished ones were wrapped in paper for long term storage. The rest I have been cooking with the blackberries.

The pear tree has a serious case of rust and I'm not sure what I can do about it. Next year I will be more vigilant and remove affected leaves. I will also check the stem for signs of disease where the spores might reside.

Around the rest of garden the leeks are fattening nicely.

The parsnips have rapidly leafed up but they were late in the ground so I am impressed that they have done so well, but I am not sure what is happening underground.

The purple sprouting broccoli is pushing out of the protective environmesh, I need to make a veg cage for them.

The asparagus has lots of green feathers.

Finally I have ordered seeds for next year but only those that I need to replenish. Mostly I can still use last year's seeds but I will use fresh carrots and parsnips seeds (old seed has a poor germination rate). I also ordered a greengage tree which won't arrive until March. Now that the Leylandii hedge has been removed on the south side I reckon it will allow me to grow another small tree.

3rd September, 2009

2009-09-03T20:14:00.003+01:00

There is a cool, autumn feel in the evening air now. Has the season finished already? Certainly the courgettes are slowing down and the runner beans have finished flowering. So all I am doing at the moment is harvesting.

Although there weren't many plums or pears, they did taste nice and bodes well for future years. In the beds there are are a few beetroot left still, some spring onions, runner beans, borlotti beans, courgettes, sweetcorn, dwarf beans and pumpkins. For later harvesting there are turnips, leeks, parsnips and purple sprouting broccoli.

The strawberry plants need weeding and they have sent out lots of new runners with plantlets which I will pot up for next year's plants and replace the older plants as needed which is after 3 years of fruiting apparently.

In the greenhouse the melons look good and should be ready soon along with the peppers. As usual I'm getting lots of tomatoes and the chillis have been exceptional this year.

25th August, 2009

2009-08-25T19:37:00.004+01:00

The International Kidney spuds definitely had blight; I have had to discard most of the tubers. However, the rest of the spuds (Dunluce and Kestrel) seem to be fine and I got some very large tubers which will be ideal for baking.

The fig tree produce three fruits in the end and they tasted delicious; a great success.

Also a success are the onions. The dry spell was ideal for drying them out after pulling them up. It is important to keep them dry as I ruined the overwintered onions by leaving them out in the rain and they started to rot very quickly. A lesson learned.

The garlic have produced some big bulbs, probably the best I've grown.

Is all this success due to improved soil conditions? It certainly seems easier to dig and hoe, but it still dries out quickly when there is no rain. The compost and leaf mould is looking good so I shall be digging that in soon, probably after some rain when the soil will be easier to break up, but not overly wet when it becomes very heavy to work.

I tried the sweetcorn and it's not quite ready yet. So I looked at the mini sweetcorn and that is ready, perhaps it is too big. It was very tasty in a stir fry.

This picture shows the difference in size between the mini sweetcorn (bottom)and its normal counterpart. Above them are the runner beans which have been prolific along with the chillis (above the runners).

The raspberries and blackberries are starting to ripen both look to have produced a lot of fruit too. The plums are a bit of a disappointment, not much fruit (about six) but they make up for that with taste.

I picked two pears, yes that is all, before they get eaten by wasps. They are too hard to eat yet so they will ripen on the kitchen windowsill.

I am going to try and organise the greenhouse properly next year. It is too crowded, I will grow one less tomato plant and grow about three chillis (I'll try and overwinter the ones I have) instead of six. Then I may not grow cucumbers anymore as they don't really thrive in the crowded conditions. That should give me more room for the aubergines, melons and peppers which I do want to keep growing. But I may revise that decision depending on what I get off the plants this year. The aubergines don't look very promising at the moment.

I have a lot of bare earth on the beds now that the spuds and onions are out, so I may consider sowing some green manure. But I do need to reserve space for garlic and overwintered onions. That means I need to start thinking of ordering next year's seeds. Is it that time already?

5th August, 2009

2009-08-05T21:32:00.016+01:00

I seem to have been busy for the last few weekends and have not got around to taking pictures of the garden. There's been a lot of wet weather which has promoted the veg growth and I'm getting huge yields.

The downside to the wet weather is that there is more likely to be blight and I think my spuds have got some.

I should have been digging these spuds up earlier but I've left them until I need to eat them. I decided to dig the first two rows up which I think are International Kidney, as they are the worst affected. I think I have caught them early enough as the spuds themselves seem unaffected. I'm not sure of the variety since my records were lost when my laptop crashed. So, two lessons learned; one it's very easy to forget what and where you planted things and second make copies.

The second sowing of kohlrabi are ready.

For once I seem to be getting a decent pumpkin this year. All my previous efforts have failed.

The runner beans are very productive too. I didn't even prepare a trench; must be down to the wet weather again. I froze a lot for later use.

The asparagus has thrown up a lot of new shoots which bodes well for next year when I can harvest some for the first time.

I planted out some purple sprouting broccoli and covered them with environmesh. I left this a bit late perhaps but then I didn't have any space. These filled in the gap left by the peas, turnips and overwintered onions.

For the same reasons I have planted the parsnips very late. They did very poorly in the toilet rolls, not sure why. Let's hope they pick up now they are in the ground.

The courgettes are just crazy. What to do with them? I have given most away, there are just too many. But today I read from Skippy's blog that you can freeze grated courgette for subsequent baking. So that should work for the courgette cake I make.

The sweetcorn is now 7 foot tall and finally showing the male flowers...., well on the normal sweetcorn plants. The mini(!?) sweetcorn is the tallest but yet to flower.

The spring sown onions are ripening and they will be pulled soon. I planted them closely and they have still swelled to a good size.

The sprouts are under the builder's netting that I acquired and I just haven't had time to make a permanent cage. It seems to be keeping the butterflies off.

Finally some greenhouse pictures. The tomatoes have hit the roof and I have pinched the tops out. I think there is too much in there and as usual the cucumbers are not making fruit which I put down to the competition for light with the tomatoes.

Opposite the tomatoes though, the chillis are making lots of green fruits.

7th July, 2009

2009-07-07T21:10:00.013+01:00

Finally, I have my PC back and I can post pictures. The warm weather and rain has caused a massive growth spurt; this year is turning out to be a bumper harvest. The turnips are huge and taste wonderful.

The tomatoes are looking great.

The chillis are flowering and hitting the roof of the greenhouse. The melons beneath them are putting on a lot of growth, I hope I get more than one fruit this time unlike all my previous attempts.

The runner beans are making lots of flowers.

The Borlotti beans are not quite showing as much flower.

Lovely beetroot.

The leaf patterning on courgettes is beautiful, the fruit should be ready to eat next weekend.

I've had to freeze the peas as there have been so many.

I've not dug up any of the early potatoes yet, but I will be soon. Notice that the hedge behind has been removed by the neighbour to be replaced by a 4 foot wicket fence. This will let more light onto the garden especially on to the plum tree and more importantly I don't have to trim the hedge anymore. This was a dangerous affair since to cut the top of the hedge I had to balance on stepladders on sloping ground.

I need to make a proper permanent but moveable netted frame for the sprouts. For now I've just stretched some netting over the plants but there are gaps and the cabbage white butterflies will find their way in. Notice the flowers of the coriander which has still bolted even in the part shade. Although I have got several pickings out of it it's time to sow some more.

Lastly for now, the strawberries are doing well and need regular pickings.

15th June 2009

2009-06-15T19:26:00.003+01:00

The previous weekend, it rained heavily so I was unable to get out in the garden much. I did manage to pot the tomatoes into their final containers and they are now in the greenhouse with the automatic watering system all rigged up and working.

Last weekend was glorious and in complete contrast. I planted out one pot of the leeks, the parsley and outdoor tomatoes.

I harvested a few turnips and kohlrabi and made a curry dish from each. The turnips were done in a yoghurt and tomato sauce with cumin seed and cayenne pepper. The kohlrabi were cooked in a tomato and vegetable stock with chillis and cumin seeds and I have to say they were delicious.

I also picked a lot of broad beans and spent a relaxing time shelling them in the sun. Most were put into the freezer as there were just too many to cook for one meal. The rest were cooked with peas, mint, parsley and coriander and eaten with couscous. I didn't have any peas ready to eat this time, but except for the couscous too, it was all from the garden. The freshness really came though in the taste. Here's the recipe:

I haven't included pictures in this blog because I have not been able to upload them to my laptop which is under repair. So I'm writing this on another computer and haven't got my camera handy to upload it too.

2nd June, 2009

2009-06-02T21:50:00.020+01:00

It's been a busy time. I have been freeing up space in the greenhouse so that the plants can be set up in their final positions with the automatic watering system rigged up. So first up I planted out the runner beans and Borlotti beans. They will grow up wigwams. I will have to water them well as I didn't add any compost to the planting holes to allow for their thirsty nature. The hedge behind will also dry the soil out.

Borlotti beans

Runner beans

I discovered that the grape did not survive the winter after all so I decided to grow the spare runner beans up the fence where the grape should have grown.

In the greenhouse, the aubergines, cucumbers, peppers and melons have been potted up into their final pots. They are growing so much better now they are not in the peat free compost I bought from B&Q. I really don't recommend it. It's more like bark chippings.

The cucumbers already have fruit forming.

The tomatoes are yet to go in their final pots only because I didn't have enough compost for them.

The parsnips have germinated well at last after buying fresh seed and sowing direct into loo rolls. I'm not too concerned that I haven't planted them out yet as I don't have the space anyway. They will go where the broad beans have been most likely as these will be harvested first.

With the recent hot weather the louvre vent is working well. Temperatures have reached nearly 40°C in the greenhouse which is about as hot as I'd like it to get.

I have picked about 2kg of the overwintered broad beans already.

I reckon the kohlrabi will be ready soon too (I've sown some more for a second batch)

and the lettuce grown under the domes look ready and are significantly bigger than those without cover.

The turnips are swelling up too

I've planted a lot of sweetcorn. Most are for baby sweetcorn which I haven't grown before and I'm not sure what to expect. I presume they produce lots of small cobs. Well I hope there are lots of cobs rather than a few you get with normal sweetcorn.

The peas are flowering.

I think the coriander is enjoying its partially shady spot.

And I'm looking forward to these figs.

Can anyone confirm that this is comfrey? The leaf in the foreground is a bramble so ignore that and concentrate on the flowers.

It will be great if is of course as I can use it to make a liquid fertiliser.

Finally, I dug up the horseradish to stop it crowding out the redcurrant bush. I peeled and grated it expecting to have my sinuses cleared but it turned out tasteless. Perhaps it needed another hard winter to get the heat into it. I've replanted a bit of the root in a pot and then when it shoots again I will probably give it away.

13th May, 2009

2009-05-11T23:00:00.022+01:00

Outside the garden is filling up.

The chives look lovely in flower.

The strawberries are bigger plants this year and are flowering.

The first lot of radish and spring onions were picked and eaten this weekend. They were incredibly tasty, a great success.

This picture shows the second lot of spring onions which I have planted in clumps rather than individually. Sowing in pots and then transplanting appears to be giving a better success rate than direct sowing.

I planted out the beetroot and celeriac as they had reached a good size after a couple of nights in the cold frame adapting to outdoors. They are hardy so no frost concerns.

Also planted out were the kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts and some more celeriac. The kohlrabi and sprouts are under environmesh and cloches to protect them against pigeons and the cabbage white butterfly.

Under the cloches the plants look pristine and undamaged. These are the sprouts.

And these are the kohlrabi.

The bases of the overwintered onion are starting to swell.

The shallots are the best I have grown; perhaps because I overwintered them.

I thinned out the turnips.

Lettuce planted out. I have some under the dome cloches and some not. Those under the cloches (at the back in the picture below) are unsurprisingly doing better than the uncovered counterparts (at the front).

The peas are climbing up the netting nicely.

The asparagus plants have all developed spears and some look big enough to eat. So next year may be the first time I can eat the home grown stuff.

I got another redcurrant bush from a work colleague who also gave me the other bush last year. Here they are still on the small side so little fruit this year.

There is a good amount of developing pears. I do hope that most of them will still be there in the autumn.

The broad bean pods look ready to eat. I've never tried eating the pods and prefer to wait to shell the beans. The hairy insides of the pods put me off.

The spuds are emerging and will need earthing up.

The coriander is growing well. I sowed some more near the summer raspberries where there is shade and a little bit of space. The ground is relatively uncultivated so it's a gamble if it grows there.

Lots of onions.

I picked four sticks of rhubarb and made a crumble (like you do). Scrumptious.

11th May, 2009

2009-05-05T12:43:00.021+01:00

Much is happening and the plants are growing apace. In the greenhouse:

The runner beans are quite large and ready to plant out but there is still a threat of frost so they will stay inside, they are in big pots so they should be OK.

This is a picture of the aubergines (front) with chillis and peppers behind and a second sowing of courgettes with new seed, starting to germinate on the left. The old seed was clearly too old so I had to buy a new packet (Venus F1 variety). I'm disappointed with the peat free multi-purpose compost, it's very woody and the plants don't seem to have done well in it.

Despite my concerns about the compost, the cucumbers are flowering! The one plant I was worried about going down with stem rot has survived although the bottom leaves are dying off (see the top picture).

This is the spare celeriac which I gave to my work colleagues and some flat leaf parsley in front of that. Behind are the sweetcorn growing in loo rolls. I germinated the sweetcorn on wet towels as I did last year.

Like the runner beans the Borlotti beans are staying inside for a few more days yet, despite their good growth.

I have two butternut squash and two pumpkins. They will be planted amongst the sweetcorn but not until the end of the potentially frosty May. I also couldn't resist having a go at an outdoor tomato (Tigerella) despite the blight of last year (they are still to germinate in the pot at the front). At the local charity shop they had free plants for sale and an outdoor cucumber (the one with the wooden label) found it's way into my bag.

The potatoes in buckets are doing well.

I have a cactus in the greenhouse which I left unwatered over winter, now it looks like it might be starting to flower. Is this a flower bud (it's the daker green bit at about the 12 o'clock position in the centre)? If so it is the first time I have got this cactus to flower.

Tomorrow I'll update what is happening outside.

22nd April, 2009

2009-04-22T20:09:00.022+01:00

We are having above average temperatures so it's been very pleasant out in the garden.

First off, I planted the spuds (Dunluce, International Kidney and Kestrel). They were nicely chitted. They are all earlies, no maincrop this year. I felt I grew too many last year, not because we couldn't eat them but because they took up too much space. So this time it's quality not quantity.

The chits show the beginnings of leaves, so they are off to a good start let's hope.

It was hard work digging the trenches; just look at the picture below to see how lumpy the clay soil is. I hadn't really dug this bed over fully since I removed the turf the year before last. By that I mean I haven't incorporated a good amount of compost during the autumn digging, mainly because I ran out of compost. But I had planned to plant the spuds in this bed in order to improve the soil condition through digging a trench and adding a layer of compost to the bottom of the trench. Here they are ready to be covered over with soil which I sprinkled with Growmore fertiliser.

I pricked out the celeriac, I will have plenty to share with friends.

I thinned out the beetroot seedlings to one per module. The beetroot seeds are clusters so 2-3 seedlings develop from each one.

One of the cucumbers is showing signs of wilting leaves, I got this problem last year and lost all the plants. I understand that this could be stem rot. So, I'm watering from beneath to stop the soil getting too wet near the stem.

I planted out the peas. I felt I did this too early as the roots were not as well developed as I thought. But getting them out of the modules caused a lot of disturbance to the roots, so I won't do this next time. Instead, I will sow into a drainpipe and then slide the plants into a prepared trench. I've set up a net for the peas to grow up and also some peas sticks. It will be interesting to compare the two. I didn't set this experiment up intentionally, it's simply a consequence of running out of netting.

It didn't take long for the pea tendril to get a grip!

There is one rather thin asparagus spear so far. I won't be eating any until next year. I do hope that the plants get better established this season. A friend has kindly given me some of their spare asparagus spears (they have more than they can eat) which I have swapped for some of the celeriac seedlings (good deal I reckon).

This is the middle bed after the spuds have been planted. Lumpy clay soil. The Aquadulce broad beans are at the back.

Did I mention I had clay soil? I can make pots out of this! But it will serve as a record for me to see how the soil improves as I cultivate it year on year.

The coriander has germinated. I've sowed directly into the bottom bed which gets some shade, the idea being to promote leaf rather than flowers.

I have also sown runner beans (Lady Di), Borlotti beans ( a gift from Flummery ) and dwarf beans (Nomad) in pots in the greenhouse.

The courgette, squash and pumpkins seeds I brought back indoors from the greenhouse because the night temperatures are still quite cold.

I had a blitz and sowed some more carrots (Bangor) in the bucket, side bed and patio bed.

Toby Buckland on Gardener's World told us last week that parsnip seed viability declines rapidly. That might explain why last year's seeds had not germinated which I had started off on wet paper towel in the airing cupboard. So I bought some more, again a RHS garden merit variety (Tender and True,) and got them going using the paper towel method.

10th April, 2009

2009-04-04T12:40:00.029+01:00

Lots happening now, so this is a monster blog with plenty of pictures! The greenhouse is filling up with seed trays and pots of young seedlings and the beds will have no vacancy signs on them soon.

So in no particular order but just because that is the way I walked round the garden and snapped away here is the latest update in the Kingdom of Veg blog.

Before I walked out the door I took a picture of the basil. It's grown a lot since I last blogged about it on 11th March, less than a month ago. It does very well on the windowsill right through to winter.

This picture doesn't look much but it's the first one that I have ever taken of carrots for this blog which probably reflects the lack of success I've had to date. I've taken the plastic cloche off them as they seemed to be drying out. I'll sow some more towards the end of the month in this bed where the soil is well cultivated (still could do with some more compost) and the carrots should form good tap roots.

The half row of radish have emerged; they will need thinning soon.

I potted up the kohlrabi into individual pots. I'm not sure this was really necessary but it will tell me how good the peat free multipurpose compost I bought from Homebase is at promoting growth. I abandoned the home made mix of turf loam and multipurpose compost of last year. It was OK but seemed to dry out quickly. Too much clay in it I suspect. Mind you the peat free stuff seems to be made of thin bark chippings. So I shall wait and see what results I get. Behind the kohlrabi are the leeks and spring onions which must have put on another inch or two since the previous blog entry (~3 weeks ago).

I potted the cucumbers up into bigger pots and they have been moved from indoors to the greenhouse. I think the greenhouse will protect them from any surprise frosts now. You can see the wood chip compost better. I'm being careful with these this year as before I have lost them due to stem rot caused by overwatering. So now I'm watering sparingly from below and none has succumbed (so far).

The melons and peppers have also been moved into the greenhouse. The peppers took about 3 weeks to germinate (indoors). It was old seed I suppose.

OK, this isn't veg but I get a strange buzz out of seeing neatly pricked out seedlings. It's a very therapeutic way to spend a few hours. The first weekend job I had as a kid was pricking out seedlings in a nursery; it was boring of course but rewarding when you went back next week to see them growing. These are snapdragons.

Peas in modules, the mice and squirrels can't get at them! When the roots show through at the bottom I'll plant them out.

A boring picture of the Dunluce potatoes emerging but useful for the blog records. I planted 3 each in 2 buckets and the shoots popped through in under 2 weeks. I followed the instructions from the JBA seed potato website and added some fertiliser to the compost but did not water to encourage the roots to grow. I used growmore fertiliser which does not have the correct balance of NPK for spuds (so I didn't follow the advice!). I might then just get a lot of leaf and few tubers.

Outside in the garden beds, the overwintered onions looking hunky dory. Notice also what a lovely sunny Easter break we are having. /sarcasm.

The overwintered broad beans are getting taller.

Garlic. Finally a picture of them to show that they did overwinter just fine.

Onions sets emerging; planted them about 3 weeks ago.

Raspberry bed with lots of new shoots racing skywards.

The rhubarb almost looks like a mature plant now. Behind it which you can't see well, are the puny crowns I bought and planted last year. They have only just started to show, I thought that I had lost them.

I'm hoping the summer raspberries I bought last year will really get going this year, I don't expect much fruit. I gave them some growmore and a mulch, I hope they noticed.

This is what my compost looks like. Quite woody really, but lower down it is acceptable. I'll be laying this in the bottom of the potato trenches. The potatoes are going to be planted in the beds where the lawn was and the soil structure is still quite dense with clay, so this stuff, I hope, along with the turning of the the soil will improve things.

Alright don't laugh, this is my Heath Robinson style potting up station which I hastily made (can't you tell) from old hardboard. That's hardboard not cardboard! The kids also purloined it for a step up to climb the tree.

Still no sign of the asparagus, yet others are reporting theirs coming through.

I sowed courgette, squash and cucumber and left them to their own devices in the greenhouse. I've sown more than I need but if they all come through I can swap the seedlings at my work's plant swap day.

Phew! I'll leave it there. I have some more pictures of the pear and plum blossom which should provide a reasonable amount of fruit. The fig tree was moved from the greenhouse on to the patio and it is developing about a dozen figs already! No picture this time.

25th March, 2009

2009-03-25T21:30:00.011Z

Despite the sunny weather it is still quite cold once the sun sets, there was a frost one night, so I decided to use my plastic cloches to protect the carrots sown in the patio bed and to warm the soil.

The rest of the bed has strawberries (nearest) and to the left of the cloche are the perennial herbs (rosemary, chives, sage, oregano and thyme) which have all survived the winter well.

I've been sowing more too and the greenhouse shelves are filling up which is good to see. I sowed beetroot in two trays of 5x3 modules, seen on the lower shelf. You can also see the Brussels sprouts and kohlrabi seedlings on the top shelf in half trays nearest the camera position. At the back are some annuals for the front garden, Rudbeckia and snapdragons. In between are 3 trays of peas which I had hoped would have germinated by now, but maybe the cold nights are holding them back. On the lower shelf, is celeriac in a half tray and then in the plastic containers with lids towards the back is parsley.

I germinate parsley by soaking the seeds in water indoors overnight then spread them out on to multipurpose compost in those lidded containers. Those are what biscuits are sold in at Sainsbury's. I just poke some drainage holes in the bottom and there you have a mini propagator.

The leeks and spring onions are coming on, they are about 2-3" tall now. I also sowed some lettuce (Webb's wonderful) in pots and these are in front of the leeks/onions. The spring onions that I transplanted outside though have done very little, cold nights again?

I planted the onion sets (Corrado and Golden Ball) out into the bottom bed. I put them quite close together (about 3" apart) and 10" between rows, as I have got a lot this year due to a free bag offer from Thompson & Morgan. There was a half row left so I sowed some coriander there with the intention of sowing more in 4 week successions.

I was concerned that the overwintered broad beans were not very tall and the lower leaves are yellowing (wind damage?).

I checked my blog entry for last year for comparison and I was concerned then that the beans were not very big. Also this year's plants seem to be a few weeks ahead of last year to my surprise given the cold weather. So keeping a blog has proved very useful in that regard and no doubt I will be making further comparisons with last year for other veg.

17th March, 2009

2009-03-17T20:51:00.007Z

A little more sowing has been done, this time it was the peas (celebration) which I was going to sow into loo rolls cut in half but then I remembered that I have modules. I sowed 3 trays of 15 section modules so 45 seeds in all. I still have plenty left so I'll do a second sowing next month.

I sowed some carrots (Adelaide) and radish (French breakfast). The carrots were sown in the patio bed as I call it because it is next to the patio and is effectively a raised bed; the soil in it is lovely and dark, perfect for carrots I hope. I did have the herbs growing here last year but I've removed all but one of each type (sage, thyme, oregano, chives, rosemary). The rest of the herbs have gone to the front garden. Last year they flowered profusely so I think they will be great out front which I haven't yet transformed from an ornamental garden into one that grows vegetables. Maybe growing herbs is the first step.

The cucumber has come up already (less than a week). I'll let them establish some true leaves before putting them in the greenhouse. I struggled to keep the seedlings alive last year but I think that I overwatered them and this causes the stems to rot. So I'll be careful with the water this time.

Here are the chillis (left) and aubergines looking good. Again I'll wait until some true leaves develop before they go in the greenhouse.

In the greenhouse the broad beans I sowed on February 19th have germinated and are throwing up green shoots (always a pleasing sight). These are last year's seeds and they have all come up.

Out in the garden the overwintered broad beans are flowering much to my surprise as the plants are still only around 8" tall.

11th March, 2009

2009-03-11T19:27:00.009Z

Further sowing was done this weekend. Veg sown are as follows:

Cucumber (Swing F1 hybrid) only 4 seeds per packet and not cheap (£3.49) sown in individual 3" pots.
Pepper (Gourmet) 7 seeds sown in one 3" pot
Melon (Edonis F1 hybrid) 3 seeds sown in individual 3" pots
Tomato (Gardener's delight) 6-7 seeds grown in a 3" pot
Celeriac (Monarch) 12 seeds sown in a half seed tray.

I bought the celeriac seeds on impulse at a garden centre as I would like to have more overwintering veg to fill the hungry gap. I also bought some purple sprouting broccoli seeds for the same reason, but won't sow these until June.

All of these were placed indoors to germinate as they require some heat to get started.

Here they are along with some basil that I bought as a living plant from the supermarket and repotted into three pots. Also on the windowsill are the aubergines (germinating) and the chillis (not germinating). Only 3 of the aubergines are germinating but that may not be so unusual given that I am using last year's seed.

I also sowed kohlrabi (Kolibri F1 hybrid) and Brussels sprouts (Nelson F1 hybrid) and these were placed in the greenhouse.

The leeks are germinating which I sowed on February 19th and left in the greenhouse, so no heat required and they came up in less than 3 weeks.

The automatic vents of the greenhouse have started to open and close this week with temperatures reaching over 30°C inside. Further evidence of the warmer temperatures are apparent in the garden.

The blueberry flowers are emerging.

The pear tree buds are bursting.

The autumn sown onion sets (Radar) are looking nice too.

The second sowing of garlic that I was worried were not showing have all come through too.

Next duty will be to plant out the onion sets later this month. I'm still waiting for delivery of the ones I ordered although I do already have a free bag that came with the seed order. There will be plenty of onions this year.

I perhaps should plant the early potatoes now but I've had minor surgery recently and can't do anything too physical for a few weeks so I will have to wait until April.

2009-02-22T16:07:00.011Z

At long last I fitted the louvre window and its automatic opener to my greenhouse. It's warm enough to be working outside without having to wrap up. I really enjoy being outside on mild days and observing what is starting to grow, such as daffodils, snowdrops (in flower) and bluebells. Marvellous.

Anyway, back to the louvre window. It took longer than planned because I thought it would have to rest on a pane of glass rather than it sitting at the bottom of the greenhouse where I wanted it. I think this would provide better ventilation. First mistake, and not the first time I've done this, is to measure the size of the pane wrong. It was 2cm to tall. Second when I fitted the window at the top it wouldn't allow the louvres to move as it was fouling the frame of the greenhouse. I was about to chuck it all in the bin when I returned to my original plan. As it turns out the louvre does allow a pane to rest on top of it and with several glazing clips in place the glass is held firmly.

I had to have new louvres cut as the ones provided were not wide enough (but I knew this might be a problem despite the information provided with the window stating that it would fit most greenhouses; mine is not in the most category). I fitted those eventually after getting confused which way up they go. Then I find I need 5 glass louvres whereas I ordered only 4; second mistake. So suitably frustrated, I was in the mood to cut my own glass. I have several panes lying around with broken corners from when I moved the greenhouse but enough to cut a louvre from. I laid a layer of dust sheets on the patio table and cut the glass on this with a long piece of heavy wood as a guide. To my surprise it cut easily. Then I cut the 2cm of the new pane that sits above the louvre and I was successful at that too although it wasn't a clean cut. It all fitted together finally and the day was saved. It could have turned out so differently and if so I would have been too embarrassed to blog it.

Finally, I put up the temporary shelving ready for the seed trays that fit in them, but I need to buy some new seed trays. Notice also my trays of loo rolls ready for the parsnips. Those trays are what Sainsbury's sell their mushrooms in.

I have been inspired to start sowing now. The temperature has reached ~20°C in the greenhouse. So I took the plunge and have sown aubergines and chillis in 3" pots which are on the windowsill indoors. In the greenhouse I have sown some broad beans in individual pots (only to use up last year's seeds), leeks in two 5" pots about 100 seeds in each and some more spring onion (white Lisbon) in a 5" pot. Those I sowed last October had grown to about 4-5" and I planted these outside. I've read on David and Karen's blog (Evington Hilltop Adventures) that this is their method for success, although I have planted mine out individually rather than in blocks.

Finally, a work colleague provided me with a strasberry plant which she grew from a seed from the fruit she bought at a supermarket. They are a cross between a strawberry and raspberry; it looks like a normal strawberry plant (so no picture). I've not heard of them before.

18th February, 2009

2009-02-18T15:56:00.012Z

The milder weather has encouraged me to plant out the broad beans, also I was worried that they were getting pot bound and on a sunny day they might dry out in the greenhouse. So here they are in 2 double rows.

That should provide ample beans for this year.

To the right I have planted out some spinach which I sowed last October. Perhaps I should put a cloche over them to bring them on a bit.

The garlic hasn't done much through the winter but hopefully all the action is happening below ground, the individual clove is meant to be splitting I think.

There is still no sign of the second row of garlic I planted.

The rhubarb is emerging although the first shoots have suffered from the cold. This is one of the original crowns I got from my father and it's now the third season, so I should be able to harvest a good few sticks. The other 1 year crowns I bought have not emerged yet.

The weather feels like it is warming up and I'm looking at my seed packets. Perhaps I'll sow some in the next few days. I will also fit the automatic louvre windows to the greenhouse before I fill it up with seed trays. It's a lot different to just a few days ago. These were the blueberries in their pots on the patio under a blanket of snow.

I pruned the apple tree yesterday using the pruners I got for Xmas. They attach to a long pole and I was able to cut back the long branches that I couldn't reach last year. Great tool. I still have apples stored that are holding up well although a little shrivelled, but they are still good to eat.

The autumn fruiting raspberry canes have been cut down to ground level and there are new shoots coming through. The wooden supports for them have rotted at the base so I will have to rig up something more permanent.

4th February, 2009

2009-02-04T15:35:00.006Z

I put my seed potatoes into egg cartons to chit today, but only the earlies (International Kidney and Dunluce) not the maincrop as they don't need to be chitted apparently. However, as you can see from the picture below, they are well on their way to sending out sprouts which is because I left them in the warm house rather than in the cool (no, very cold!) conservatory. Ooops.

I dug up two remaining parsnips today. I had to scrape away the snow to get to them. They were on the small side but are now in a casserole along with some parsnips I froze from last year! Did I have that many?

My father has sown his parsnips already but the seeds I have (Excalibur) don't need sowing until April.

I could start sowing this month, although I think it is still too cold even in the greenhouse. I'm going to wait a few more weeks. The veg I can sow are:

Chilli (De Cayenne): these grew very well last year and got a good crop some of which I dried and are still available for use (haven't done so yet though). I'm still using last year's seeds.
Flat leaved parsley (last year's seeds again) another good yield last year
Aubergine (last year's seed): not a good crop due to overwatering, that's easily rectified.
Tomato (gardener's delight): last year's seed, good yield.
Leeks (porvite): new seeds
Broad beans (Jubilee Hysor): I have about 10 seeds left from last year so may as well find a spot for them.

2nd February, 2009

2009-02-02T16:06:00.007Z

Like everyone else I have taken pictures of the garden covered in snow. It's not too bad here in the Midlands, but the snow has been getting steadily heavier this afternoon and now the roads are very slippery. The gritters have not been round here since last night and we are on a bus route, I expect they are busy.

Here is the side bed this morning.

And looking back to the greenhouse and shed.

Working form home today along with many others; the internet is probably under heavy usage.

27th January, 2009

2009-01-27T21:34:00.010Z

I emerge from my blogging hibernation; it's been a cold winter! The good side to the cold snap is that I hope many of the garden pests such as slugs, will have been killed off. Let's see if their numbers are reduced this coming season.

I have done very little in the garden and have not posted as a result. The only activity has been digging up some of the leeks, which are not as big as last year but they taste great which is the whole point.

The parsnips were fine too but again somewhat on the small side and I didn't grow enough.

In my last post (November!), I wondered about the lettuce tasting bitter, well I did try some and they were fine. But I'm not used to the idea of picking lettuce during the winter and forget to brave the cold outside and get some as a crispy addition to a sandwich.

The broad beans are about 4-5" tall now.

I may need to plant them out soon if they grow anymore as they may get potbound. But at the moment they look very healthy.

The seed potatoes arrived from T&M. I ordered International Kidney (aka Jersey Royals) for salads and Kestrel (maincrop) which were recommended by the grapes on the GYO forum. A third pack of Dunluce was also included free with my order along with some Corrado onion sets.

The blight resistant varieties I grew last year were too floury and were not that nice to eat all said and done. They resisted blight well but the idea for me in growing your own is for maximum taste.

The overwintering onions (Radar) have not grown much, not surprising given how cold it's been.

Likewise the garlic and shallots have stood still over the winter. The second sowing of garlic have still not shown themselves, however, the rhubarb is beginning to emerge.

The garden is fairly waterlogged so there has been no digging. Despite all the additions of compost last autumn it still looks like the soil is mostly clay. My compost bins are full though so the goal to transform my soil continues and I suspect will never end.

24th November, 2008

2008-11-24T21:27:00.011Z

It was a very cold weekend, the coldest this year. But I still got outside to do some of my latest favourite pastime...leaf collecting. I still have a way to go to fill the new leaf cage.

The greenhouse is the place to be if you are a young plant at this time of year I reckon. The broad beans are looking great.

The spinach and spring onions haven't done much but I will prick them out into modules next weekend. But the onions outside are a good size.

The lettuces are small and I think they may be bitter to taste, maybe I should taste a leaf and find out.

The garlic and shallots too are showing some green shoots.

The soil is very wet now and I won't be doing any digging for a while since I'll just make the soil structure worse by walking all over it, but also it is too heavy to work. I don't have a lot of compost left and I intend to incorporate the compost every time I am digging. So I'll have to wait.

Finally, I used up nearly 3kg of the stored apples to start off some apple wine. It's bubbling away nicely in the airing cupboard. It will be ready in 6 months if all goes well, that is when I'll be harvesting the broad beans. This is my first venture in to wine making and it seems to be relatively straightforward. Let's hope it works out. But it has inspired me to make more, I think I'll try some parsnip wine next. It's nice to have a bottle of wine at the weekend so to satisfy that demand I calculate I need to make a batch of wine every two months!

I've given up on the cider making unless I can find a cheap cider press, but that seems unlikely. I did make a bid on ebay for a 6 litre press but it sold for the price of a new one (~£110+). They seem to be popular at this time of year not surprisingly, so maybe I'll look again when they are not in demand.

2008-11-18T20:09:00.008Z

I overestimated how much chicken wire I'd need to make a cage for the leaves. Or there was a generous amount of wire provided. Whatever, I have a very large cage now! I doubt I will fill it; it would be great if I did as I know I will use as much leaf mould as I can make.

I had to use the flash to take the photos, as it was getting late in the day. I've only managed to fill about half of the cage.

I've braced the supports for the blackberry and loganberry plants. The blackberry especially put on so much new growth over the summer that the supports were buckling under the strain.

I plan to cut down the Leylandii hedge (behind the blackberry in the picture) as it mostly dead and therefore not very attractive and it's very hard to trim, and it's probably drying the soil out.

The broad beans continue to grow in the greenhouse and there are two main leaves on most of the plants. The lettuce under the cloches are growing too and there should be enough to pick some leaves for a salad soon.

The potatoes are lasting well and we'll be eating them well into the new year. Also in store in the garage are the apples which are lasting well and are being used for apple pies mostly. I shall make some more apple jelly though on a cold day when I can't get outside, as every week there are a few apples that have turned brown. The onions should last us until the next harvest, although I have rediscovered fried onions.

12th November, 2008

2008-11-11T14:24:00.008Z

The broad beans have started to germinate. It's amazing that these plants can grow in the cold and low light levels. As with last year, I'm giving them help by starting them off in the greenhouse where they get some protection, but I have successfully germinated broad beans directly in the soil outside. Tough plants.

I have been top dressing the front lawn which is a side project of mine. I'm trying to make it into the perfect lawn and spend some time (too much?) in looking after it. Last year I added lawn dressing which I bought from a garden centre. It's a fairly large lawn so the dressing cost around £20. This time I've gone for the cheaper option and have made my own dressing from cheap multi-purpose compost (4 x 75 litres for £10 from Wickes) that I mixed with equal amounts of sharp sand. I just spread it over the lawn and brush it in. I'll have some spare compost left over and I'll be using that for next spring's seed sowing. I got the idea of lawn dressing from Recycle now that suggested using your home made compost as a lawn dressing. The trouble with that is home made compost is full of weed seeds and I'm trying to grow grass not weeds. I'm very good at growing weeds anyway.

Talking of recycling, I was disappointed to read here that the UK does not have the capacity to recycle all its own paper and that some of it gets shipped abroad to the Far East where it can be processed. So there was I thinking I was saving the planet but no, the paper gets shipped half way round the world. How much carbon dioxide does that generate? It's all about money after all.

Another rant I have is about the government's initiative to provide 50% discounts for loft insulation. I reckon I can do this myself for a lot cheaper. I do have some existing insulation but it needs to be thicker. Then I learn that the government is still claiming the VAT, albeit at 5%, which seems rather cynical to me. There is a petition that I have signed (and you can too) to request that the VAT be waivered for loft insulation materials. If the prime minister wants to make tax cuts then this one would be helpful don't you think?

5th November, 2008

2008-11-05T18:18:00.011Z

Not much activity now. I've been collecting leaves for more leaf mould.

The beds look very empty now. I've pulled up the squash and pumpkin plants and taken down the runner bean wigwam. There were two green marrow shaped and sized pumpkins which I am going to leave for a while to ripen up hopefully.

Leeks and cloches over the lettuce in the side bed.

Just parsnips showing, but I've dug in compost/leaf mould at the far end and planted garlic next to the parsnips, bu there is no sign of their green tips yet.

Only the parsley left in the middle bed.

29th October, 2008

2008-10-29T18:56:00.013Z

This is an update on the pictures I should have taken last blog. First are the chillis in the greenhouse looking very straggly; I don't think they will survive the winter especially since today and yesterday saw a heavy frost which is very early; some parts of the country had snow.

These are the broad beans in pots trying to germinate. No signs yet. I've got enough I think without needing to do a second spring sowing. I've still got broad beans in the freezer from last year!

The spring onions have germinated after all! I can grow them. They are on the right in the picture below with the spinach in the other pot.

Below are the lettuce underneath the plastic squirrel protector domes.

And some more under the cloche.

I planted these on a lovely sunny autumn day and was quite hopeful that they will put on some growth but the latest cold snap will probably slow them down and I may be lucky to get much at all. Maybe I'm expecting too much and perhaps I should just pick the young leaves.

A good thing about the frosts though is that it will kill off many of the overwintering pests, hopefully some of these guys.

The onions are showing their green tips, a lovely sight.

The garden chores are slowing down now. I've been digging in some compost and last year's leaf mould in the bottom bed. I will have to continue to collect this year's leaves. I want to make two permanent cages for the leaves, one for the current year and one for last year's. I'm undecided how to do this at the moment. I'm inclined to go for the simple chicken wire cage, but I want to make them really big as I can collect a lot of leaves.

Now that we have had a frost I can try the leeks and parsnips, they should have sweetened up nicely. The horseradish will be good to dig up too, I'll need to get the ingredients to make some horseradish sauce.

The cold weather has driven me indoors and into the kitchen. It's warm when the oven is working. I made some more pickled beetroot and two jars of apple jelly. The jelly has already been tried on sandwiches by the kids, so I'll probably be making more which is no problem as there are a lot of apples to get through. I had a go at making an apple pie too. For some reason I had thought there was some magic art to making pastry but on the BBC food website there is a video masterclass that shows you how using a food processor. Works a treat!

20th October, 2008

2008-10-20T17:53:00.005+01:00

I finally dug up the last of the Sarpo potatoes. The Miras were up first and they were very badly damaged by slugs. I reckon at least half of them were affected. So I wasn't too hopeful for the Axonas despite the few I had dug the previous week being damage free. But good news, only a few were eaten and even that was mild damage. The two varieties were grown next to each other so I think this is a good comparison and I shall be keeping some of the Axonas back for next year. It's not recommended as disease may be carried over, but these spuds are blight resistant so they should be OK, and I got blight on the tomatoes this year but not the spuds.

I made an order of seeds and potatoes from Thompson & Morgan. The bill came to around £40 which is a lot less than last year as I hope to use some of this year's unused seed.

I planted out some shallots alongside the onions. The shallots were selected from bulbs of this year's harvest, so no cost again. I did the same trick for garlic (Solent Wight); the cloves are a bit small but I planted them in the bottom bed where I dug in a lot of compost to help them fatten up.

The greenhouse was cleared of the tomato plants. There are still a few sweet peppers left, none of them has turned red though. The chilli plants don't look like they will survive the winter but I'm not too bothered as I'll just grow some more next year.

I sowed broad beans (Aquadulce), freshly arrived from T&M, in 3" pots and they will overwinter in the greenhouse. Likewise, I sowed some spinach and spring onion in large pots. The spinach has germinated quickly but there is no sign of the onions. I used a new packet of seeds to exclude the possibility that my past failures with spring onions was due to old seed. The nice weather recently has heated the greenhouse up nicely and should be good for germination, if this doesn't work I don't know what will.

I transplanted some lettuce (Little Gem) which I has sown a few weeks back, into the side bed and covered them with plastic cloches. It's a bit of a gamble but I may get some young leaves for a winter salad.

I pulled up all but one of the courgette plants which is still flowering and I even cut a courgette last weekend. It's been a good yield this year as was last year.

The chillis I strung up have nearly all turned red; I hadn't expected that.

The flowering stems of the blackberry plants were cut down and this year's growth tied in.

The butternut squash plants are dying back revealing some small fruit, I don't know if they will taste any good.

Finally, the leaves are starting to fall and I will be collecting them for leaf mould. I plan to make a cage out of chicken wire to put them in rather than the black bin bags I have used before.

Sorry no photos this post.

7th October, 2008

2008-10-07T20:01:00.013+01:00

A dull weekend with a lot of rain, the river flooded again. So not much work could be done outside. I had planned to dig up the last of the Sarpo potatoes but they would not have dried out. I did dig up one plant of the Sarpo Axona to find a good batch of red tubers with no slug damage. The skins are quite tough and I tried some tonight. As I suspected they are quite floury but will be good for roasting.

Speaking of eating, I picked one of the green peppers. Their skins look like they have been polished.

I rearranged the herb bed. I have too many thyme and sage plants and could use the space I free up for other veg such as more strawberries and carrots. I think the carrots will grow well because the soil has a very good structure due to the bed being well cultivated for flowers beforehand.

I will remove one of the rosemary bushes too. I transplanted some strawberries from the planter; it hadn't been very successful, I think the soil dries out too quick. I may put in a thyme plant in the planter as they will tolerate drier conditions.

I cut down the asparagus ferns and then mulched it with a good layer of compost (boring photo below). I'm hoping for more ferns next year of course. That's the joy of gardening, next season is always anticipated as you never know what it may bring.

I'm going to take regular photos of the 3 beds to follow the seasons; they can change so dramatically.

Side bed showing leeks and empty ground where the spuds were with the Sarpos behind that. In the immediate foreground are some pathetic carrots, that's why I want to try carrots in the herb bed.

Beyond the Sarpos are the overwintering onion sets and then some more leeks and a few remaining beetroot with the asparagus bed beyond that.

Looking back up the bed to the greenhouse with the grapevine against the fence, no grapes though but it is only its second year.

The bottom bed is mostly empty after I dug up the sweetcorn. In the foreground are the parsnips which have got some good root on them. I need to grow more next year. At the back are some rubbish squash plants, I suspect they haven't grown as they are in the shade of the apple tree for much of the day.

The middle bed also has two squash plants then the flat leafed parsley and pumpkin. Behind all that is the runner bean wigwam which is still producing.

Finally, the Japanese maple bonsai has turned a most magnificent red.

30th September, 2008

2008-09-30T21:08:00.012+01:00

A nice day on Saturday which was used to cut the Leylandii hedges. Not a job I relish at all. I'm slowly chopping it down truth be told to replace it with something nicer, not sure what though.

Anyway, vegwise the Markies potatoes have been cooked and are quite tasty, to my surprise! They are good baked, microwaved and as chips. The Sarpos are still in the ground but I'll probably dig them up next weekend.

Here are the Sarpos with the nicely trimmed hedge behind. Notice the brown bits in the hedge caused by aphids, a prelude to complete demise. Apparently the hedge is too dense for birds to get in and eat the aphids. You can brush/rake out the dead stuff which may open it out a bit. Maybe I should try that.

The beds are looking like it is the end of season now, autumn has really arrived. The sweetcorn has been disappointing. I rightly suspected that they had not put enough leaf on and as a result the cobs were small. Now they have gone quite tough and are not as nice to eat.

The pumpkin plant has put on lots of growth but the fruit is tiny. I have never been able to grow one yet. There's always next year!

Right next door to the pumpkin is the flat leafed parsley which has grown very well.

The apples were all picked off the tree and they filled a wheelbarrow.

So I had a go at pressing some apples to make cider. Ahem, not a great success. I completely underestimated how many apples are needed to make a gallon. I found out after the attempt that 11kg of apples will give one gallon of juice. The good news is that my home made press did work! But it only produced 700mL of juice which is quite a bit short of a gallon. But....the juice was absolutely delicious to drink! Wonderfully sweet and smooth.

This is the press all loaded with chopped up apples (a food processor was used to do the chopping).

The chopped apples are wrapped in tea towels to hold them in place and then a bit of plywood is placed on top and pressed down by tightening nuts screwed onto the bolts.

This is the juice dripping out, not a great flow rate.

A proper cider press would do the job in no time, but they aren't cheap, even the second hand ones on ebay are sold at a premium. I did call a local homebrew shop to find out if they rented presses, but they only sold them. I may have another go but I need a lot more cloth to hold the mashed apples in the press and a quicker way to chop them up.

The tomatoes (gardener's delight) struggle on in the greenhouse despite the lateness of the season. There has been a big yield from them and there are still plenty left although they are getting smaller but still taste beautifully sweet.

The only melon was picked and had been attacked by slugs but there were good bits that could be eaten. Melons, along with cucumbers and pumpkins are veg I haven't perfected yet.

I did get a good yield of chillis which I have strung together to dry. They are mostly green due to poor summer (?) but hot nonetheless.

I'm still harvesting:

Beetroot
Raspberies
Courgettes
Runner beans - but only a few, not a good yield this year.

There are some green peppers ready to pick in the greenhouse.

Finally, I planted around 50 onion (Radar) sets in the ground where the potatoes had been and I'd added lots of compost. Next week I'll plant the garlic using bulbs from this year's harvest.

22nd September, 2008

2008-09-22T12:45:00.004+01:00

Another cracking weekend weather wise, but perhaps it's all a bit too late. The sweetcorn is getting tough now and leaving it, in the hope the cobs would swell, didn't really work. They are still edible but you can tell they are not at their peak. Also something is eating the cobs on the plant, it has to be a squirrel.

So I dug up the Markies potatoes, deciding that further slug damage was likely. There was a good yield with about one third damaged, but not enough to throw away. The undamaged tubers were stored in a pillow case! Well, I don't have paper or Hessian sacks; it was an old-ish pillow case, honest. In the gap I dug in lots more compost, this is a prerequisite for any veg garden!

The courgettes just keep coming! But at least they are being eaten as courgettes and not marrows now.

The single aubergine was harvested and eaten in a cheesy pasta meal, delicious but very disappointing that I only got one this year. I think the poor yield is because the plants were kept too wet. The pots stood in trays so as to conserve water during hot spells. But of course we never had a hot spell, so the trays filled with water from the automatic watering system. I have to balance the flow to be enough for the tomatoes which are heavy drinkers, with the aubergines and sweet peppers. I learned from the GYO forum that aubergines don't like the soil being too moist which I think explains the lack of fruit. I also think I need to get them growing a month early; February/March rather than April.

I used the spent compost from the aubergine pots to fill up the carrot bucket, after picking the rest of the carrots which have not been a big success. There was no carrot fly but they never reached a size I expected. I think this may have been to erratic watering.

I don't have any pictures for this blog, but I do need to keep a record of the veg pics at the end of the season as it's interesting to see comparisons of progress through the year.

Instead of snapping away, I spent time doing other chores in the garden such as making paths around the fruit bushes and cutting the grass. The front lawn was looking good after the cut and then I transformed it in to a dishevelled mess by scarifying it. Fortunately, I have an electric scarifier, I don't think I would do it by hand! I filled up a compost bin with what was pulled out which is always useful; it's amazing that there is any grass left.

I pickled 6 jam jars of beetroot after I found a simple recipe that looked like it would be a sweet vinegar method. I don't much care for the straight pickled beetroot, I think the sweetness brings out the flavour. I tried some and it's perhaps a bit too sweet but maybe it will mature. I would have made more but I ran out of jars.

16th September, 2008

2008-09-16T21:44:00.005+01:00

At last some nice weather! So I took advantage of the sun to dig up and dry some of the potatoes (Lady Balfour and Cara) which had started to die back. They were a bit disappointing, they had a fair bit of slug damage but some were good enough to put in a paper sack for long term storage. The Sarpo varieties (Mira and Axona) are still quite green on top but the Markies have all died down. I'm in two minds as to whether to leave them or dig them up. It's probably best to do the latter as the slugs will only eat them.

I dug in serious amounts of home made compost into the gap that was left by the potatoes in readiness for the overwintering onions and garlic. I haven't bought the onion sets yet but I won't need to buy the garlic as I will just use cloves from this year's crop.

I noticed blight on the outdoor tomatoes (sub arctic plenty), this is what it looks like.

So I picked all the tomatoes green and red before they all succumbed. The green ones were made into a simple curry that was nice as a side dish. As you can see there were a lot, the surplus was frozen for a later curry meal.

I'm still harvesting

courgettes - more cake and curries
beetroot - more bortsch, pickling in sweet vinegar next week
cherry tomatoes - a very good yield this year but they are greenhouse grown
green chillis - a good yield too, the greenhouse certainly overcomes the shortcomings of the British weather
turnips - getting a bit woody now and they should have been eaten much earlier
raspberries - wow, a large bowlful everyday
cooking apples - loads and loads, I plan to make some jam/jelly, give some away, freeze them and store them in the garage

8th September, 2008

2008-09-08T21:59:00.009+01:00

In the last entry I was critical of the potatoes. Well, I've dug up some more of the Lady Balfour and I'm quite happy with the yields. The slug damage is not so bad and there is a bit of scab. The scab is due to dry soil and alkali conditions which can both be cured by adding compost. I may have contributed to the alkali conditions by liming the ground the previous season; that may have been a mistake. Perhaps I should have checked the soil pH to begin with.

Anyway, I don't think the soil is too dry at the moment! There has been a lot of rain and the river nearby has flooded again. The wet weather is the best friend of blight but the tomatoes and potatoes have not succumbed (yet) although some of the plants are dying back.

But the potatoes underneath are alright.

The rain has also not been kind to the blackberries. Most appear to have rotted on the plant. There are more coming but the weather forecast doesn't look favourable.

I have picked around 40 apples to make cider with; they are softening up in the garage. I still haven't worked out how to pulp them yet; I'm thinking of fitting a hover mower blade to a drill and blending them in a bucket. Could be interesting. I have made the press though.

I suppose the wet weather is good for the plants, the pumpkin is putting on a lot of leaf but I fear it is all too late. It's the same situation for the squashes. The picture below show the pumpkin plant and to the left is the flat leaf parsley which is growing well.

The rain has prevented me getting out into the garden and I've taken my eye off the kohlrabi which I sowed to get a late harvest. The picture below shows how brassicas in general are very quickly eaten. I'm not sure what did this damage as I couldn't find any caterpillars. I really should have put some mesh over them when they were planted out. I think I'll get an edible vegetable out of it despite the munching.

I have a lot of beetroot so I decided to make some borscht. I wasn't sure I'd like beetroot soup but it was very tasty. It includes onion and carrot plus some red wine vinegar which gives it a nice tang. I'll make some more but I'll be the only one eating it, the family aren't too keen on beetroot. All the more for me!