Monday, June 30, 2003
Well, I have to say that I'm now blooming addicted to this gardening lark. We have been bringing our crops home from the allotment - strawberries at first and then the most delicious potatoes, utterly superb.
We tried some ordinary potatoes which had started chitting in the fridge and in addition we bought a certified organic seed potato called Sante and they really were the best out of the lot. The crop was wonderful, the plant was nice to look at, although didn't get to the flower stage as everybody elses did. Not sure about that, they started turning yellow, I'm not convinced it was blight, but more likely some sort of deficiency - could be magnesium, note to self, must buy some Epsom salts!
Back at the ranch, the composter saga continues with smelly tower toppling again. I have now had enough and composter but contents, will be going down to the allotment. It will be ardous and extremely smelly, but it must be done. I want some sweet friable compost like the books promise! :-)
I've started some comfrey off again, I say again because the first lot I put in didn't look promising and they lived up to their appearance - which I have to add was jelly like and mouldy, ewww. I put this fresh lot in as soon as I received them and they are already delighting me with fresh green growth - not of the mouldy variety, thank goodness ;-)
However, I don't have time to wait for the comfrey to grow so that I might make a comfrey tea, so today whilst at the allotment I followed the recipe given out on Gardener's World. I picked some nettles and half filled my chicken manure bucket, then weighted it down with a brick (first rescuing a ladybird) and finally filled with water. If it hasn't exploded in the meantime in two weeks I should expect a nice smelly solution which is bursting with nitrogen for my tomatoes.
My allotment doesn't look pretty or packed, I grown as much as I can reasonably care for - although maybe just too many tomatoes - it is bountiful though. We finally planted some cucumbers today which have spent so long in their tray they have started sprouting baby cucumbers. I was very nervous about putting in the sticks - I remain unconvinced that I have put big enough ones in, but they will have to do - however, it all went well, I used pvc tape to bind them up, yes they look like they might just ping the other side of Hampshire, but I'm impressed.
The courgettes are coming along, if plants truly do respond to the human voice (or our carbon dioxide output anyway) then goodness knows what I will find tomorrow, because Harry was squealing in delight that we have courgettes, and how beautiful they were (and they are too).
We've put in another bunch of potatoes and we'll see what they come to. I have swapped ends this time and have planted them in a patch where I know the manure was stored, plus I added a handful of chicken manure pellets - we'll go down in a few weeks and find mutant potatoes on a rampage! ;-)
Harry was very into socialising today and with the exception of one chap at the allotment, they are a very friendly lot. I'm always offered something at the allotment, today I managed to politely say mostly no. Today it was manure, sticks and a lettuce, which Harry was scoffing on the way out - he says he's really quite into it now!!!!
I have been really surprised by the speed at which the garlic is growing, I have high hopes for that. I'll have to remember to post about that again - perhaps it too likes the pellets!
I'm off to find out when Eastenders is on now, missed it because tennis ran over - must see where Kat and Alfie are at :-)
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Gosh almighty, I'm posting again. :-) After a busy busy Thursday, my son and I visited our allotment at 7pm and planted out the courgettes and staked tomatoes which have been adorning our greenhouse and taking root through their pots. We also took some broccoli plants which needed transplanting. It was a nice visit, my son found his own plants to tend to and so left me to it! We lost track of the time and ended up leaving 1½ hours later.
We remembered to put a little hay around the strawberries, my son insisted that we put it around all the other plants (with the exception of the potatoes) too and I must admit being pleased with the results. Despite the heat, it is retaining moisture really well.
Now that I have tomatoes on the plot, I have to be sure to visit every day to water them. On Friday I gave them a water and seaweed feed - I hope I didn't over do it!
I have yet to sow my sweetcorn, I'm not sure if it is too late now, but will try anyway. I'm finally gaining a little interest from my husband and he came down yesterday and helped with the watering.
It's lovely to walk around and see the other plots coming on. Whilst we were there we talked with one of the allotment holders who is a championship sweetpea grower, he was cutting a few for the local hospital, which smelled divine. I've yet to meet the organic allotment holders, their plot is different to the rest, I'm learning via observation at the moment ;-)
I thinking forward to the autumn (already) and have started asking around for muck - I've found a place for it, probably next to my mulch pile - to be!!!
Meanwhile back at the ranch, I have some antirrhinums which need planting out, which I must do today without fail. Unfortunately in this stony soil I shall need my mattock to break through. I was awake with the birds today and out in the garden at 6.50hrs - imagine my surprise at seeing a bird flying around in the greenhouse, I've no idea how he got in, but I was lucky he missed me in his haste to escape!
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Well I didn't leave it another month this time! :-) Progress so far is that we rotivated the allotment and used this superb tool which a friend gave us, we think it is called a cultivator. It has a long handle with five long tines each with a little leaf shape at the end. It is excellent for raking through the soil, as it leaves the soil and takes the weeds. The only thing the rotivator wasn't keen on digging up was the creeping buttercup, which has lots of dense roots. I've pulled up most of the main body and covered the rest with sheeting and bricks.
We have divided some of the allotment up into beds using some wonderful mulch from a local organic farm, I'm going to need more though, so will have to think of other sources rather than deplete their supply. It was wonderfully full of bugs, but I'm now wondering if they were good bugs or not, earwigs...hmm, they eat young buds don't they? D'oh!
I have some more potatoes which still need to go in and which are now well chitted!!! I'm going to use the other end of the allotment which has been used for storing the manure, I'm pretty sure they will do very well there. I think the chap who grew veg there before used the same area that I'm using now hence the diseased soil. You live and learn. :-)
I was given a strawberry plant which is bursting with fruit and some almost ripe too - I need to put a little hay underneath it, so it doesn't get spoiled.
The chap who has the other end of the allotment plot hasn't been there for a while and there has been talk that he might be giving it up, I'm not sure if it would be offered to me, but I would be interested. I would build some nice big compost containers and have a small mountain of mulch of my own :-)
At home, I' ve just been taking care of the tomatoes/peppers, broccoli/leeks/carrots and courgettes and must harvest my lettuce before they bolt! Also must replant the cucumbers which I have been given - they are doing so well in their tray, but need a larger area in which to live now. I have no idea what I should be doing with them, will consult books and construct posts and wires! Also the area which we were going to grow veg in and decided against it is full of weeds - marestail especially - but also some nice wild flowers, poppy, calendula. Will harvest those before we turn it into a seating area.
I have finally planted some comfrey roots out in pots - they were a bit soggy and disgusting, I really hope that they take, I look forward to making smelly potions for the tomatoes!
The last thing I shall blog about is that I have sown some alpine strawberry seeds in a propagator - I hope they don't take too long to propagate, they are going to make a nice edging bush at the allotment.
Friday, May 30, 2003
Omigoodness, well it's been over a month since I last posted any progress - too wrapped up in life I suppose! :-)
Things have been slow at the allotment, the potatoes are in, but the whole plot needs to rotavated and de-weeded. I have somebody elses cabbages and potatoes coming up from last year. My potatoes appear to be doing well, except some of the non-certified variety which have yielded to blight :-(
At home, I have been more successful, my tomatoes, peppers and courgettes are bountiful. Also I have broccoli, carrot and lettuces growing well, I'm very pleased, but wish we had a larger garden, it would be much easier to tend to.
I'm visiting a organic farm tomorrow which is willing to share some of it mulchings to make pathways at the allotment, so until then!
Monday, April 07, 2003
Gosh, well I haven't posted for nearly a month, where on earth did the time go to. *We've made quite a bit of progress. Where to start? :-) I think I initially hit a tough spot when I found that the veggie/fruit area in the garden which we so beautifully put together didn't get more than 2 hours sun a day! Devastated! We am now going to plant up with shade loving plants, rhubarb etc. There is a fix for everything! :-)
We've planted up a whole load of seeds, the tomatoes are thriving and are massive, didn't realise I should have taken them out when they were two leaves, they now have about 16. *LOL* We've also planted up courgettes, leeks, broccoli, carrot and lots of flowers, some for companion planting and some for mere decoration and bee/butterfly food! Unfortunately the broccoli sprouts which were flourishing are now dying on me - well about 50%, I'm not sure if I have overwatered or whether it is too hot for them.
The allotment is getting there, it's hard on your own - DH is not interested in the slightest - but I have dug over and fertilised (not personally) two beds. One is planted up with potatoes and the other will have tomatoes and leeks in it. I then have about 3/4 of the allotment left. I have plans for this - the seeds, as aforementioned, plus sweetcorn which is winging it's way to us and I want to try pumpkins too. I tried a variety called baby bear, they're meant to be very tasty - hmmm!
I have also ordered comfrey which I shall divide between the allotment and the garden. It loves shade and shelter, so I have just read and is quite pretty when it is in bloom. I'm not sure how well it will establish at the allotment because it is a very sunny site!
We have dug over the site inside my plastic greenhouse and installed a small brick path and added soil improver - looks pretty good. There's enough space for pots and lettuces which I intend to try in there.
Finally because, I now can't remember a lot of the things we have done. We had a watering festival yesterday. It apparently has been said that it is the driest March on record since er, blah, blah, blah!!! :-) Some plants have been suffering dreadfully in the garden, so I have given them a good watering. Which I worry now whether it was a good idea, seeing as there has been a thick frost last night - d'oh!!!
I finally planted my french lavender and feverfew, but not the mints, I think I would actually like them to spread, and I'm just trying to decide on an area of garden.
The next big jobs in the garden are to remove the alpine rockery bit, which the previous occupant planted in the middle of the top end of the lawn and replace it with a brick path. The plants will be transplanted around the front and back garden. We lifted a couple of the big rocks this weekend, there is a massive and thriving ants nest under there, they look like they have been there years - must let them know they need to move soon before they start evolving!
*Each reference to we - should be interpreted as the effort of mother and son only!!!! *LOL* Oh and if I put I, I generally mean WE!
Saturday, March 15, 2003
Thursday, 13 March 2003
Didn't do a lot today in the garden. We watered the garden early in the morning because unbelievably it needed it and I want our little seeds to thrive, well germinate at least!
After making my poor child walk all over town and play in the park (again!) I dragged him up the road from the park to a strange nursery/smallholding which had masses of plants for sale. Granted not all them looked bushy and lovely because, unfortunately, this nursery was flooded. Fortunately, for us though, she was offering the plants at a reduced price. They all had good healthy rootballs and we managed to procure three big pots of herbs for a £1 each. Two different varieties of mint - garden and curly and a feverfew. In addition I bought a french lavender to replace one which was damaged by the frost.
Didn't position them in the garden today - will do it soon though!
Friday, 14 March 2003
Today Keith returned home early from work and continued work on attaching logs to brick. These will continue the log border which we have fenced the veggie area in with. In addition they also help to weight our plastic greenhouse down with. Despite protestations from friends (you know who you are) I think it looks good!
Whilst Keith was working on that and Harry was filling his wheelbarrow up with goodness knows what I made a brave attempt on a small pine/fir tree which was too big for our garden. Keith managed to break through most the roots, but it is still steadfast in the ground. I dug all around and stuck my shovel in to see where the roots still existed and was rewarded with an extra piece of root. Once pointed out to my husband he took up his trusty mattock and cut his way through. Eureka! The tree is now out and soon the base to our shed will go down.
Erm, the herbs and lavender are still not repositioned!!! :-)
Today:
I am absolutely knackered today and feel as though my head is filled with cotton wool - I shan't be doing any gardening today. I have watered the veggie bed when I went out to peg out the washing. I have also been reading about gardening and how plants grow and discovering that my propagators should really be in a warm, but *dark* place. Have therefore removed them from the windowsill to the airing cupboard. I don't know why I didn't just do this originally, as it is what I did with my tomatoes a couple of years ago and they yielded excellent results. Watch this space.
Herbs and lavender definitely not being planted out today! :-(
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Potted history:
Well I did wonder where to begin, so why not at the very beginning? ;-) I would love a smallholding, so would my 4 yr old Harry, but husband Keith would not! He feels that my desire for one is just a passing whim, so I need to prove to him that I can be a capable gardener and competent in animal husbandry.
We (Harry and I) are dabbling in growing various vegetables and flowers at the moment. We have planted mustard cress, unfortunately it was the green manure variety and possibly not for eating I don't know! It's bushy and thriving on the windowsill, I must do something with it before it turns into triffids and takes over the living room! Similarly, we have some potatoes which are chitting away, I really must plant them soon, as they will be one mass of sprouts and nothing else! We have also grown a couple of marigolds which I intend on companion planting next to our tomatoes.
With regards to the animal husbandry, well...we have managed to entice quite a variety of wildlife into the garden, not including Harry we have a nice range of birds and a squirrel. I shall be helping with the lambing at a local farm soon and so shall acquire a little experience there. It could be a little hairy (or woolly) for Harry in the first couple of weeks, so he shall join me once the births are mainly over! He will possibly get to feed some of the lambs or at the very least pat their heads! Harry and I visited the park today and being the only ones there, ended up surrounding in ducks. We walked into town and bought some bread and ended up feeding about 50 ducks! Er, and we have two cats!
Up until recently we have just been content with the odd bit of weeding and pruning as winter weather and other projects will allow. In late January we acquired an allotment and it is still not completely dug over. We will get there, I am undecided about what to grow there yet, but it's coming on, a bit late I fear, oh well!
When we finally made the veggie area in the garden, we also dug in a Belfast sink which was left here when we moved in. It is now filling up quite nicely with herbs and surrounded by primroses, it looks quite pretty!
Yesterday - Tuesday, March 11th 2003:
Had a bit of non-day as it was raining and we hadn't shifted our backsides outside as planned! The afternoon was better and so decided to make it a productive one. Visited neighbours first. Some chap up the road has a greenhouse in his garden, so I decided to be bold and and ask what sort of staging he had in his greenhouse and whether he could recommend somewhere locally to buy some. He said that his greenhouse (it's gorgeous, one of the dutch barn types) is ancient, about 20 years old and he made some of the staging and some of it came with the greenhouse. D'oh! It wasn't a completely wasted visit because in his greenhouse he had a big batch (?) of frogspawn hatching. So Harry got to have a look at that and his huge fish in the pond! We visited the lady across the road and asked if she would still like a climber (I think honeysuckle) that we have in the garden. She was very keen to acquire it. So instead of waiting - I promised her a passionflower climber before, waited weeks and then Keith dug it up and managed to chop the root off and into pieces! - I dug it up there and then and delivered it. We are planning to move the composter to the spot that the climber occupied. I am a little afraid of the logistics of this however, because when I lifted it up at the bottom, I could see a nice dark compost, but then it started oozing. Think we may have added too much tiddle!!!
Right I'm getting to the end of yesterday. We sowed some lovage seeds around the garden, I know they grow quite tall, so we mostly sowed them around the back of the border against the fence.
We sowed some carrots into our newly dug vegetable patch area in the garden, just a few as I want to see if they will take. I intend to fashion some sort of cloche for them. In the meantime I may just weight down some bubble wrap!
We finally put some use to our seed trays and sowed in tomato, lettuce, more marigolds and sweet peppers. I don't have any propagators this year, but have improvised by placing on top some clear plastic containers which I acquired from a visit to the scrapstore - bless them, long may they serve us home educators!
So they are on the windowsill with the mini-triffid mustard cress and I shall be keeping an eye on them, as will my little Percy Thrower!!!
Today - Wednesday, 12 March 2003:
Started the day by finally popping all the sweetpea, evening primrose and evening stock seeds from the pods which we acquired last year and we scattered these in the borders, I'm pretty sure they will take. I also scattered a few in the veggie plot for good measure and to ensure good cross pollination from the bees!
Today, I returned to the allotment, armoured with many socks and thick boots to deter whatever keeps making a meal of me. We managed to almost finish all the digging over - I'm very pleased. There was a patch of plants on there, like thick wild geraniums and their roots were extensive, digging them up was hell and I have a sore back now as a result. I need to return to rake over the ground and remove any last straggling bits of grass and thistles and add the soil improver. I'm actually quite sure that it doesn't need this as it has been well fed over the years.
Right off to have a bath now with my little 'erbert, alas I have no Rosemary oil to soothe my aches and pains as my beautiful child has been putting it down the toilet to make it smell nice! Arrrghhh! :-)
