10th April, 2012

I feel that I should be busier in the garden than I am but I'm relatively up to date with the chores.  I've plant the potatoes in what I call the middle bed where the soil is still very sticky and stony.  But this year digging the trench was much easier, so all that compost I've been adding is slowly but surely working to improve the soil structure.  This time I added a nice layer of compost to the bottom of the trench, sprinkled on some potato fertiliser and then placed the chitted spuds about 18" apart.  This is a bigger gap than I usually give but I seem to have more space this year.  I may regret saying that.

The tomatoes, basil, aubergines and peppers have germinated nicely on the windowsill.  When the first true leaves appear I'll pot them on into their own pots.  I've already done that for the Tigerella tomatoes and they are in the greenhouse.

My lemon tree did not survive the winter.  It dropped all its leaves and I hoped that new ones might sprout but no.  I'm not very successful at overwintering tender trees in the conservatory.  I lost a peach tree too.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong as I thought the lemon tree I had was tolerant to -5C.  I was really looking forward to eating home grown lemons too.  All that I can get to survive are cacti and Venus fly traps.

The Aloe cacti produced lots of side shoots which I potted up for friends.

The Swiss chard is getting bigger after over wintering.  I had nearly given up on these but maybe there will be a meal or two there.

I added a nice compost mulch around the base of the greengage and plum trees.

Now it's time to mow the lawns but this year I'm going to experiment with leaving areas uncut to generate a meadow effect.  Well that's my excuse for not mowing it.

20th March, 2012

I managed to get some seed sowing underway at last.

So I have sown some aubergine (moneymaker), tomato (cristal and tigerella), pepper (gypsy) and sweet basil which are on a windowsill indoors.

In the greenhouse I have got spring onions, radish and lettuce.

The leeks I sowed three weeks ago are starting to germinate.

There will be more sowing next weekend when I have can dedicate two days to the garden.

11th May, 2009

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.

17th March, 2009

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

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.

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.