Gardeneering - Plots and Plans

mid-May update

2008-05-10T16:08:00.003Z

I thought I'd check the growth rate of my plants by taking some pics last week then again today and compare. Here are last week's:

Onions & garlic, PSB, should've taken the fleece off to get a pic of the beans!

Strawberry plants - year 2

Asparagus - just the one spear last week

Potatoes, earlies just earthed up.

Random Plants

2008-04-27T13:08:00.006Z

Many things I plant deliberately. These just turned up.

Opium Poppy?

Canary Creeper and a euphorbia peeping under the fence.

Wood sorrel. Flowers will be yellow.

perennial cornflower - deserves to be transplanted somewhere showier.

muscari

lovage?

aquielegia

lovely (free) pale pink flowers! Very delicate looking.

sedum "wallpepper" (?) Will have yellow flowers.

blue lobelia - I had some in a hanging basket above this spot and it has seeded.

April Update

2008-04-27T11:52:00.005Z

On the 6th the lottie looked like this:

But not for long!

Three weeks later...

The onions and garlic are doing well, the PSB is ready for beheading and I've planted out peas, broad beans and French beans. They're under the fleece tent - my neighbour lost all her pea plants to hungry pigeons.

The Arran Pilot first earlies and Anya spuds are up!

In the plastic planthouse: lettuce seedlings are doing well (and have been transplanted into the bath in the lottie) ...

Garden Cat is taking every opportunity to "help"...

and enough tomato seeds have germinated.

However, last year's leftover snowball cauli seeds have not germinated at all.

Busy day on the plot

2008-03-30T17:50:00.005Z

Wow - a whole day of sunshine! I made the most of it by spending almost the whole day at the allotment. I cleared out the shed and took the wire shelving that wasn't being used to the plastic planthouse to be my new staging. A few tent pegs and it was fine. After that, I got my old bath out of the junkpile and took it to the plot. I chiselled out some drainage holes and wedged it so it would be stable.

I sowed:
beans french
broad beans aquadulce
chives
coriander
brussels sprouts can't remember variety
leaf beet (perpetual spinach)
leek Autumn giant
lettuce cos
stock
night scented stock
french marigold
poached egg plant
sunflower
dwarf sunflower
delphinium
nasturtium
hollyhock
convolvulus
sweet pea

I also planted up two hanging baskets for the front door with plug plants (impulse buy from the Garden Centre) and left them in the planthouse to get a head start then repotted a clematis for the archway to the back garden. Now the plastic planthouse is getting rather full.

I used leftover bamboo slat edging to make plant labels.

A very nice bloke from freecycle brought me some bags of topsoil, carried it to the allotment and tipped it into my old bath. I gave him a bucket full of leeks in exchange. Then I scrounged some sharp sand from a neighbour to add to the soil for better drainage. A good mix up and the carrots & salad onions can go in with a perspex cover on to keep the cats out and the heat in.

New Plastic Planthouse

2008-03-28T12:18:00.004Z

I planted some grasses and bulbs around the tree.

Not quite visible but the lillies I planted last year are coming up again.

I have a new plastic planthouse - bigger than the old one and with tent pegs & guy ropes. Due to limited staging space it will hold fewer trays than the wardrobe-style one, but that is easily fixed!

I'm trying a successional sowing approach this year so that (hopefully) I'll always have a choice of what to crop - unlike last year's glut of greyhound cabbage. You can have too much of a good thing...

Today's sowing session for the allotment:
Cabbage copenhagen market
Cabbage greyhound
calabrese marathon
cauliflower grafitti
cauliflower snowball
cauliflower sunset
chili anaheim
courgette Zuboda
florence fennel zefa fino
lettuce ice king
lettuce lollo rossa
lettuce red salad leaves
peas meteor
squash winter festival
tomato Gardener's Delight
tomato Sub Arctic Plenty
basil
parsley

and for the garden:
3 different kinds of dahlia (5 tubers)
6 montbretia "lucifer"
10 pastel trailing begonias

I'm always watched when I'm in the allotment - probably because I've got into the habit of feeding the chickens with leftover leaves through the fence.

Still to sow:
Potatoes and onions - the ground is still too wet
leeks
carrots
salad onions
parsnips
PSB
beans - broad, French and borlotti
kohlrabi
sprouts
leaf beet
chives
coriander
lots of flowers!

It must be Spring again!

2008-03-02T16:45:00.002Z

The pond has been full of Very Busy Frogs since Friday. I counted over two dozen at one point.

Can we eat these?

I found a pretty purple Christmas Rose hiding under the leaf pile so I planted a white one next to it.

Still alive!

Recent activity

2008-02-16T17:29:00.008Z

In the allotment:

Dug over half of the far plot and removed what remained of last year's leaf beet. There were still a lot of twisty white bindweed roots, but (I dearly hope) not as much as last time this was dug over and certainly not as much as when I first attempted to clear it.
Had a bonfire with the hedge trimmings and some woody stuff that would take too long to compost.

The view from the plot. Guess where the leaf beet went?

Ooooh freshly dug... Can I?

Manured. What's wrong with the litter tray, you little ***?

Hunt The Garden Cat.

In the garden:

This shrub was being crowded by a penisetum in front of it and a dahlia behind it so I dug out the broom (dead) that was here and put this (alive) in instead.

I've split some ornamental grasses, bought some herbs and potted up some bits'n'pieces.

The salad bar is at an increasingly jaunty angle. It needs moved somewhere sunnier and strengthened.

Esmerelda's spurs and Mathilda's wings

2008-01-13T15:48:00.001Z

These are new - if you look really closely at her legs you might notice spurs about an inch long.

And the rest of old Esme...

She seems quite happy and is still laying but there's something not right about a chicken suddenly sprouting spurs.

You might just be able to see where Mathilda's wings have been clipped. She is the only one to have had the wit to get out of "Borkatraz" and now we've raised the mesh, extended it, plugged all the gaps we could find, shears provided the final option.

What's going on

2008-01-06T11:08:00.001Z

Wotchalookin' at?

The goldfish are awake.

Not sure but these might be tulips.

Yay! I didn't kill off the rhubarb when I moved it!

My house. My perch. Why can't I go inside?

The daffs are flowering already.

Bathing.

Pigeon-proofing

Things To Do That I Should've Done Already...

2008-01-04T08:56:00.000Z

... plant garlic
... dig up, split and store the overgrown dahlia tubers
... dig over the far end of the lottie
... tidy up the ornamental grasses
... move a plant that is being crowded out by the grasses and the dahlias
... take more photos - notably of the daff that is flowering already in the garden
... have another bonfire and spread the ash over the plot
... make a bed for squash plants ready for the spring

Actually I did plant some garlic but it completely disappeared after the shoots reached about 3 inches high. Some of the other jobs here are traditionally autumn jobs I think but it has been really mild here and not too wet so I think I can just get on with it.

It's been a while...

2008-01-01T16:42:00.001Z

...and I have been busy - honest!

The chickens are settled in to their new home and I think (fingers crossed) their playground is almost as escapeproof as we can make it. They're still laying - about 15 eggs per week at a guess. Still a bit baldy in places! I'd upload pictures but the blighters won't stay still long enough to get decent closeups.

In the allotment not much is happening. The leeks are brill (having some with dinner tonight). I dug up the parsnips today and was actually quite impressed by them. Not great but I didn't expect anything worth eating since they went in late and the ground wasn't really suitable. They were small and forky but they'll feed us tonight. Also in the pot: jerusalem artichokes.
Cue mash!

The main job this week has been to erect anti-pigeon defences around the raised bed (spring cabbages) and the brassica bed (PSB and kale).

A step forwards

2007-10-31T07:10:00.000Z

I have resigned from a job that I used to love but has been making me miserable for a year. From Easter, I will either be working elsewhere or doing supply work until the right place comes up.

Meanwhile, we have a bit more flexibility when looking for a suitable property.

Mathilda's Massive Egg

2007-10-28T07:56:00.001Z

Can you spot the 100g monster? She clucked plenty over that one!

what's in the allotment

2007-10-28T05:56:00.000Z

I moved the kale and PSB from its closely-planted "holding area" up to the ex-potato bed. This area has been weeded, dug over with compost from the garden and bonfire ash, covered with a cardboard mulch and left alone for a month or so.

The cabbage collars I used did keep cabbage root fly away but provided a nice home for slugs. There was quite a lot of slug damage so overall I'm not convinced that collars are worth using.

Something has broken this kale off at the stem. Slugs or pigeons?

Some of the leeks are big enough to use.

Kohlrabi

Slugs got some of the swede and some swedes just vanished. Rotted away or eaten? The ones I get to first were nice though.

I'll try again next season with better slug-defences!

Back to project 1...

2007-10-28T05:39:00.000Z

Since the chickens are keen to remove all traces of vegetation from their vicinity and I actually want to keep the lawn, we have made them a permanent home behind the pond. This is the area I cleared ready for re-planting in the spring. Change of plan!

They have a bigger area now.

Scratching about

Garden cat no.2's reaction to flapping wings.

So what's in here then?

Garden cat no.1 supervising the digging up of insects and worms - the compost bin lived here until Friday.

I think garden cat no.2 may be deciding to change species.

free(ish) ranging

2007-10-23T07:22:00.001Z

They're out! ScratchscratchPECK ScratchscratchPECK ScratchscratchPECK Do they never get bored?

Here's a patch of lawn they've not been on yet...

And here's a patch they have scratched over.

They have done a great job of removing the moss and they seem quite partial to dandelions too - even grubbing up roots. I've reseeded in places but the rest will have to wait until spring. We need to choose which part of the garden to sacrifice as their permanent home. The bare area behind the pond is looking likely! I just need to level it off a bit first.

Mathilda's baldy neck. The feathers are starting to come through. Mathilda lays the biggest eggs - wish I'd photographed the last one! Massive!

Laying - Mathilda: big eggs, nearly every day. Esmerelda: nice shaped eggs, thick shells, nearly every day. Clarabell and Henrietta: one is laying well-formed eggs sporadically and the other lays soft-shelled eggs almost daily but I don't know which is laying which. I'm giving them oyster shell grit and the empty eggshells get washed, baked, ground up and mixed with their feed as a calcium supplement.

Jealous? Moi?

A week later...

2007-10-14T08:54:00.000Z

They're a lot more confident, come over for some attention when we go out to see them and definitely like their food best made up with olive oil and honey. They had one short session of free-ranging yesterday and seemed to want more so I'll get some netting and poles that can be moved around the grass and let them out during the day.

Found this on my washing - I've seen a few different species of ladybird in the garden but don't generally have the camera with me!

chookchookchook...

2007-10-06T13:58:00.001Z

Look what we got today! 4 ex-battery hens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.

In their new home - not free ranging yet!

A bit baldy in places.

They've had a traumatic time but after half an hour or so they had started to peck around the grass, preen and one of them found the coop and went in.

Photos (in wrong order)

2007-09-23T20:17:00.000Z

I can't believe I have strawberries ripening now!

The square foot bed (well, the 121 sq inch bed really) with kohlrabi, lettuce and spring cabbage.

The "hedge" of leylandii behind the pond and the start of the chickenwire to cover the gaps. I'm sure the chickens will be right over that and into the precious brassicas...

A bit more clearing done - mainly the leylandii bits that were growing through the fence and a dead tree.

Garden Cat on the chicken run. I had better fix the roof panel on securely!

The ex-potato bed, compost and ash dug in, mulched with cardboard. I'll plant the kale through the cardboard once it has been rained on and softened a bit.

Borlotti beans. Gorgeous.

The chicken coop. It's a swiss chalet mini ark from Jim Vyse. Sturdy and easy to build.

The 6ft run (minus roof panel since I want it to be hinged on one side and fixed on the other and need a trip to the hardware store to get the bitsnpieces)

Staghorn Sumac hasn't quite got its full autumn coat on, but it'll be all red in a day or two.

Aha! They're purple and yellow!

The "that'll do for now" fence behind the pond. It will keep the chickens in and I'll hide it with climbers.

alright, petal?

2007-09-02T14:28:00.001Z

Miscellaneous photos of things in the garden.

Plumbago (Thanks to grapevine forumites for helping with identification!)

Weigela florida "Verweig" (minor black) being invaded by Carex buchananii

The grasses are- Pennisetum "red bunny tails", Carex Buchananii and the variegated one is Phalaris arundinacea picta

The plastic planthouse: top shelf - a dozen cuttings of cistus purpurea, below that - violas intended as bedding plants for when I get the other planters ready.

Hebe - don't know variety

Maybe a spiraea ("bridal wreath"? Grapevine forum again!) - usually get masses of these flowers in early spring. I think the shearing it got a couple of weeks ago might have persuaded this cluster to appear.

Dahlia "Suffolk Punch"

Aster novae angliae "Alma Potschke" & visitor

Dahlia "Passion"

Dahlia - don't know variety. It's a small, bushy one.

Caryopteris "summer sorbet"

Woodwork

2007-08-29T14:32:00.000Z

I was in the first year at my secondary school where girls were allowed to do woodwork. I wasn't great at it. But then I wasn't great at cooking then either and now I can do a 3-course meal for 24 with just a bit of stress.

So having turned pallets into a raised bed, I thought I'd have a go at turning floorboards into planters. Attempt no. 1 is shown:

It'll look better once the plants (zinnia at the back, geraniums in the middle, sweet william at the front) have grown a bit.

I need 2 more like this (or one longer one) to fill the gap:

It's a bit rough around the edges but it sits straight and square and will "do". For the next one I'm going to play with making the corners a bit neater.

Back to Project 1. Umm... Day 5?

2007-08-28T06:46:00.000Z

Just a reminder of some of the "before" snaps:

Yesterday I spent another 3 hours and stuffed 2 wheelie bins full of ivy, sumac suckers, prunings from the holly, rose, buddleia and Brachyglottis Dunedin Group 'Sunshine' (which are now stumps) and bits of dead shrub that I found hiding in the wilderness.

The view from the side - the brachyglottis will sprout back and hopefully sprawl less. I might have killed off the buddleia but the base of the plant was in an unhealthy state so it might have been dying anyway. I pulled up and binned about 4 sumac suckers before checking their worth on ebay - I'll pot up any others I find and advertise them! The hebe got a trim.

Found this hiding under the brachyglottis and sumac suckers. I think it's euonymus.

The view from the bench.

So far: 14.5 hours, 6 wheelie bins and 2 "bonfire-in-a-bins"

Raised bed (sort of) building

2007-08-24T18:52:00.000Z

In the interests of recycling (and reducing the amount of weeding I do) I decided to build a raised bed. I got one 3ft pallet and part of a 4ft pallet from Freecycle and got to work.

Step 1 - dismantle pallets. This was the hard bit! There was no way I could get the 4ft pallet apart so I made do with 4 decent slats from it. The smaller one was easier.
Step 2 - build a box 4ft x 3ft, two slats high (about 20cm).
Step 3 - remove turf from the box location and stack it upside down, rake excavated area flat.
Step 4 - Line excavated area with double layer of weed suppressant fabric. Put another double layer over the removed turf (well, it was thin cheapo fabric)!
Step 5 - Put box in position. Fill with mixture of growbag and vermiculite, about a 2:1 ratio.
Step 6 - mark out square feet with string (actually worked out as 11inch squares, I'm sure the cabbages won't care).
Step 7 -plant stuff

I realised exactly what the cats would make of a big box full of crumbly compost and added a lid made from an old secondary glazing (I think) plastic sheet that I found in the shed, courtesy of the previous owner.

So here it is - the turf came out to quite a depth so it is a half-sunken-raised bed.

Elsewhere on the allotment: the caulis are looking good.

Little, and...

large.

Taaa Daaaaah!

2007-08-20T18:55:00.001Z

Project 2, Part 1 (the new path) is done!!

And from the other side:

The gravel is all the same colour, the most recently-raked bags are damp and look darker. I have still to build planters for the side of the path nearest the wall. That's why the paving slabs are off-centre.
I have a pink path!

Next: back to project 1 and ripping out ivy.

Project 2, day 1

2007-08-19T18:55:00.000Z

Since the bottom of the garden has a dip that needs filled and the side of the house has some soil to be removed, it made sense to take a break from Project 1 and complete Project 2. Just a reminder: the Before picture.

I thought all I'd have to do would be remove the soil, put down a weed suppressant membrane and tuck it under the paving slabs then put gravel on top before building made-to-measure planters. However, the paving slabs were very uneven, not quite in a straight line and being pushed up by tree roots.

So I decided to replace the path too. I have removed the extra soil and dumped it in a dip in "Project 1" and lifted one row of paving slabs. Tomorrow I will remove the second row (and the roots underneath), go get some heavy-duty weed membrane and some edging stones, some sand and some more gravel. I will reuse some of the paving slabs I have lifted for the "new" path, unless I see some nicer ones on special offer !

Meanwhile at Project 1, there is some sky visible at the back now! Shame the photo was taken just as a rainstorm started so it's dark. Spot the heap of soil from Project 2!

We have guests this week. Gardening Cats are quite nonplussed by these creatures. I am moving their cage every day so they get a fresh patch of grass from which to nibble out the dandelions. They crap more than any other creatures I've ever had.

Project 1, Day 4.5

2007-08-17T07:16:00.000Z

I got rained off yesterday after one and a half hour's work and half a wheelie bin load.

Jobs done: a bit more of the dry twiggy dead stuff removed from the far corner, most of a dead tree cut down and cut up into bonfire bits and more ivy and brambles removed. Ripe berries salvaged for pudding later!

I've made a few decisions about where to put the stone seat and what to plant so I will revise my sketches today. There's more space back there than I thought and there's more light now some of the overhanging tangle is gone.

Project 1, Day 4

2007-08-15T17:02:00.000Z

Another three hours and another wheelie bin load. Another neighbour offered the use of her bins too!

Doesn't look much different from the end of day 3...

(spot the garden cat)

...but here's the evidence in that the firewood pile is getting bigger...

...and the bin is full.

There was a lot of soft, traily, whippy stuff that looked like privet gone mental. This tied everything up and was quite hard to get out. Gardening Cats helped with that quite a lot - as I wrapped it up from one end, they helped to hold the trailing ends down. Very Helpful Indeed.

Now I can see the fence! There is a lot of dead stuff here that is dry, brittle and tangled up.

The first time I've seen the pond from this angle!

So far: 10 hours, 4 wheelie bins.

Project 1, Day 3

2007-08-13T15:44:00.000Z

Another two hours of clearing out ivy and dead plants. Here's what it looks like now:

The ground was (and still is in places) 20-40cm deep in leaf litter, dead branches, discarded prunings, old fence posts, angle iron and lost footballs. I have piled up the dry branches and will have a bonfire when it's all cleared out. The "sweepings" can go in the brown bin next week. I have balanced the footballs (3 so far and another visible but unreachable) on the back fence since that's probably the garden the originally came from. Wonder if the neighbours will appreciate their return?

Another view, and a confused cat. She'll have to find another jungle. I will probably hide the pond hose under some guttering and behind the retaining wall (plank and pile, if I decide it's necessary and will look right).

The other side of the pond. The variegated ivy can stay since it appears not to have tried to take over. Most of the plants in this area are going to stay.

and the view from the seat in front of the shed:

So far: time spent = 7 hours, wheelie bins filled = 3

Project 1, Day 2

2007-08-12T12:27:00.001Z

I thought I better do some planning. Here's my sketch of what's in the area now. I missed out a few spindly plants that were probably planted by squirrels and are coming out with the ivy.

And here is the first plan of what will be there after I've finished. I reserve the right to change my mind frequently.

I spent 3 hours ripping up ivy and then tidying up afterwards. Filled a wheelie bin completely with chopped up ivy bits. Can you see a difference? I went through the, "why did I start this?" stage after 30 mins, then the, "maybe I should hire some muscle!" stage after 90 minutes, but that's not in the spirit of things at all. Looks worse now than when I started!

Look! I found the waterfall!

Project 1: Redevelop the area behind the pond.

2007-08-11T15:38:00.001Z

If I call the front garden "Project 0" then the pond area is project 1 and the side of the house is project 2. Should keep me busy enough!

Before:

A general view of the pond area. Two compost bins make a poor display, a dilapidated shed is just to the left of the bins with a bench and there is a stone seat that is overhung by a conifer so much that you can't sit down.

At the side of the pond. There are some great plants here, just gone wild. The sumac is beautiful but has lots of suckers and there is a rose bush and a buddleia that haven't been pruned for 5 years.

A large sumac sucker, several years old, a spindly buddleia

and a spreading conifer of some sort. There are brambles too.

After emptying and removing the first compost bin and pulling up some of the ivy. About two hours work if I include the time spent putting the compost on the allotment. There is a cable and a water pipe (for the pond pump, filter and waterfall) to be hidden.

The rest of the ivy to come out. I want to have the ivy cleared and replaced with something less invasive before the frogs hibernate amongst it.

Off to do some planning sketches!

The Attack of the Two-Headed Vegetables!

2007-08-10T15:58:00.001Z

I'll take a better pic when it's a bit bigger, but I'm getting two cabbages from one stem here!

Meanwhile, on the ex-pea bed

Looks a bit bare. I weeded and raked the lumps to the sides and sowed about 16 Florence Fennel seeds. Variety: zefa fino. You can just about see that the aubergine plants are exactly the same size as they were last time. Sacrificial companion plant nasturtium is doing well though, not a bug on it!

The mystery potato bed got similar treatment with 50 onion seeds for overwintering. Variety: senshyu.

The garlic has really sprung up since I planted it!

Told you I had a purple lobelia! I was trying to take a picture of an enormous bumble bee with an orange backside but it was faster than my camera.

Feline helper. Making sure the flowerbed is warm enough.

It had to happen, she was the first cat to climb the pergola but not the first to get back down unaided.

Gardening Cats

2007-08-04T18:37:00.000Z

Asleep amongst the grasses.

Resting her eyes in the gap between the verbena and the dahlias.

Gassed.

Spud City

2007-08-04T17:55:00.000Z

I dug up all the potatoes yesterday since it was a nice sunny day and they'd have to dry before bagging.

The haul of desirees. Half for me, half for AN.

Slug damge? I caught three slugs in the act of chomping on my potatoes. Potato was their last meal.

More slug damage? I put these with the "damaged - use now" collection. I made cheesy mash with my half of the dodgy tatties and froze it.

The mystery spuds. They have thin skins so I think they are not a maincrop variety. I am feeding the running club on Tuesday so they will get baked potatoes. It's a charity meal - £5 per head for three courses, all proceeds going to Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. It's all to do with my other incarnation as an ultrarunner. Sponsor us - it's a good cause. I'm making a pasta salad starter, baked potato with chili for main and a choice of cheesecake or (and?) apple crumble and custard for pud. All home made, as much home grown as possible.

This was the maincrop potato bed. I'll split it into two and it can have spring cabbage and overwintering onions next.

One of the struggling aubergine plants. It just hasn't been warm enough I think.

The most prolific plants on the plot have been the sacrificial nasturtiums. Not a blackfly in sight on these!

One or two of the cabbages are unhappy. I pulled this one up to look for clubroot and/or cabbage root fly.

No maggots, but not much root either. Maybe I just planted too densely.

And the rest...

While in the mood for preserving, picked, blanched and froze the courgettes that were ready.

Delivered some potatoes and onions to AN and escorted her lad to see his cucumbers. They're brill! He's pleased that "the book says" you get a maximum of 10 per plant and he counted 12. So we ate two... It's nice to have cukes that actually taste of something.

Bought a half-decent saw and cut up the branches in the woodpile. Felt a bit sorry for the frog I made homeless, but there are plenty of damp, shady places in my garden. Besides, we have loads of snails so the frog has been doing a poor job.

I bought a shredder to chop up the smaller branches - a Bosch AXT Rapid 180 - with the idea of making material I could use on top of weed-suppressant membrane to make paths in the allotment. Claims to be able to shred branches up to 3.3cm diameter. What a load of sh1te! After unblocking it (i.e. take it apart with a screwdriver) about eight times I gave up and put it back in its box before I was too tempted to kick it around the garden. It's going back to the shop and they know it's coming.

Pergola and Potatoes

2007-08-01T18:21:00.001Z

The pergola...

The mr showing off chin-ups (yes, we both know he has grown out of his trousers!)

I think we need a smaller table!

The potatoes...

All that I left above ground after spotting blight was a few bits so I could see where to dig (and the weeds).

Dug up one plant and got 1.2kg of potatoes. Looks OK so far!

Elsewhere on the allotment...

I'm hoping this squash will ripen - and not fall off and rot like the rest!

Courgette look good.

Borlotti beans (where the earlies were). Squash plant (the one that isn't doing so well) and a few broadies in front.

Mystery Beans. French?

Blight

2007-07-30T13:05:00.000Z

Alas, the desiree maincrop tatties do have blight. I have cut down all the haulms and binned them. The potato bed looks a bit sad now! Hopefully the tubers will be OK.

What I did today

2007-07-29T14:15:00.000Z

Three hours in the allotment cheered me up no end, despite a nasty surprise at the end of it.

This is the corner of the onion bed - I ran out of canes so I used prunings instead. This bit of staghorn sumac wasn't quite dead!

I pulled up the onions. This took ages because the clay soil was very sticky and clumped onto the fork. And there were bindweed roots to remove. Some onions were beginning to rot - probably because it has been so wet. They are in the plastic planthouse to dry off. Not an impressive crop - I lost about a third of them and many that survived are very small. Might try a different variety and overwinter some.

The ex-onion bed is now a brassica bed. I weeded, forked in some blood, fish & bonemeal, trampled then planted some cauli (snowball), PSB and kale (Black Tuscany). They are planted a bit close together at the moment but will be thinned out eventually by selective cropping.

I thought I'd try out cabbage collars. The brassicas I already have in the allotment are fine, but the caulis I planted in containers in my back garden just over the hedge all suffered from cabbage root fly.

AN's lad's cucumber is doing well! I weeded under it for him - he's a bit too young to be sent on his own to look after it. I went back later and put straw under the fruits to keep them off the soil.

I planted out two-and-a-half rows of leeks in this space vacated by the Anyas then I filled the last half row with garlic.

Also, unsnapped by camera, I tidied up the strawberry bed by removing all the runners and doing a bit of weeding. I removed weeds that were "rounding off" the corners of the beds. Not precision work, but a very satisfying grab-handfuls-and-pull technique.

My Helpful Assistant points out that I need to get the strimmer out.

Hey! What's this netting for? Where'd my onions go? What am I going to roll in now?

That's right princess - stay on the path and I won't water your backside.

These are pretty - didn't weed them out.
The bindweed amongst the tatties was thinking about flowering but it's such a thug of a plant it had to go.

On the subject of tatties:

Oh no... surely not...

I think this is blight on the Mystery Spuds.
All haulms removed and binned. The desirees on the next bed seem to be fine but I will keep a very close watch on them. The next allotment along has lost all its tomatoes, probably to blight too.

Being realistic

2007-07-29T04:28:00.000Z

We can afford a couple of acres and a house in the fens. This would suit me fine but there are others to consider and although many, many people commute into London from King's Lynn and Downham Market, I'm not asking my nearest and dearest to do likewise. The point is to reduce stress levels! But as you'd expect, suitable properties better placed for rail links are out of our price range. Waaaay out!

So until (a) I win the lottery, (b) First Capital Connect speed up their services and/or (c) my nearest and dearest finds a more portable job we will have to make do with the space we have. This has advantages as well as disadvantages:

We have a good mortgage deal - keeping our current mortgage makes better sense financially than moving before September 08. I like my neighbours. I have downsized my job a bit but I don't want to be rushed into finding a different one, I want time to find a better one. For a small gardening business, I have more chance of finding customers in town than in the countryside.

But there is still the space issue - we can't have pigs or goats because we have neighbours, we can't have Great Big Dogs while we both have to go to work most days and can't give them free access to the outdoors, we have limited growing space, we're not allowed to sell anything from the allotment, we have no room for a polytunnel or a greenhouse in the garden, we live in a conservation area so I can't cobble together a solar water heater and bolt it to the roof.

So what can we do with what we've got?

As I mentioned, we can have chickens. Rescue battery hens will be arriving in September - 4 girls.
The allotment has kept us going as far as potatoes and green veg are concerned and we've not made best use of all the space yet. We could build some raised beds in the unused spaces and have a better-planned planting scheme.
We have a wonderful, enormous apple tree. I'd like more variety though! We could get two or three different varieties and plant as cordons along the hedge.
We have a bigger than usual garden for a town and there is quite a bit of it unproductive - the shed could come down, the jungle behind it could be cleared out, we could have space for a new, bigger shed (subject to planning permission, not guaranteed here!) and a small greenhouse.
I can get going with gardening as a means of generating income without worrying about having to start all over again somewhere else.

But if we both decide that we really can't hack it in the world of employment any more, we probably have enough equity on this house to buy a chunk of the Western Isles and have no mortgage. It is tempting.

What's growing where?

2007-07-27T15:35:00.000Z

This is turning into a photo blog rather than a wordy one - been out with the camera again! I seem to have a mix of garden flowers, veg and native British wildflowers (in the wrong places). Here goes...

In the back garden:
We decided we wanted a pergola on the terrace. We can drape the grape vine over it and let the honeysuckle trail over too. Doesn't look like much yet!

The mr getting on with it.

We had to stop after I whacked my finger with the mallet (it bounced) and he got blisters. However, the top section is just about done.

In the front garden:

One of the dahlias I got from Wilko - a pack of three tubers for almost no money. Rather pretty, as it turns out!

Another of the cheapo dahlias. The third one isn't flowering yet.

Morning Glory. I sowed loads of seeds, about 6 germinated and two survived long enough to be planted out. Both are flowering reluctantly. They are in a very shady spot though - I hoped they would grow through the hedge. Perhaps I should have left in some of the bindweed!

Penstemon - can't remember which variety but I probably stashed the little plastic thingy with all the details somewhere. It's gorgeous.

Some purple stuff - again, I need to find my stash of "things I'll put in a safe place because I'm bound to want them again." The original plant died off and I got a circle of new plants from the roots. Better tidy it up a bit this autumn because I think it could happily spread all over the garden. It is possible to have too much of a good thing!

Lobelia. I have a red one (here) and a purple one which is just about to start flowering. I love these! The dahlia behind it has since been staked up a bit.

Is that a GAP?!?! Surely not...

And in the allotment:

The last sowing of peas (meteor) seems to be OK.

The maincrop tatties (desiree), haulms dying back. I've been obsessive about checking for signs of blight this year - lost all my tomatoes last year.

The JAs. Well over 6ft high.

Squash.

Squash problem - they're falling off and rotting.

Courgette flower. I've had about 8 courgettes off this plant, it's producing just enough for me. We had 4 plants last year and couldn't keep up.

Swede (magres) looking promising! I planted about three dozen of these altogether. Yes, I do love swede! Last time I tried to grow swede was in a freak heatwave in Glasgow yonks ago. Looks like they'll be a bit better this time.

Alas poor romanesco - most of those that started producing heads have blown.

Native British Wildflowers in the wrong place (well OK then... weeds):

Scarlet pimpernel (and some bindweed)

Speedwell (and some more bindweed)

Wild strawberry (I'm not uprooting this!)

Black Medick (free green manure?)

Not sure... Ground Ivy?

Been Busy!

2007-07-24T17:45:00.001Z

and here's why

Whether you are randomly reading blogs or you are a regular visitor, it was in aid of a very worthy cause so why not sponsor us?

Playing with food

2007-07-06T17:44:00.000Z

What I picked today:

The peas will be eaten in about 10 minutes, the garlic is in dinner already and the caulis are for later in the weekend.

Some of these Arran Pilot earlies are keeping the garlic company (with some gooey cheese, onion and thyme). You can't tell from the photo, but some of these are big enough to bake.

Mini veg & things flowering

2007-07-01T14:28:00.000Z

All the recent rain has had a good effect on the allotment and garden. Things are growing - especially the weeds! We have cropped and eaten: more Arran Pilot earlies, some Anya (mmmm!) and the remaining garlic. Must plant more!

Squash plant no. 1. Planted in a space vacated by early spuds. Watered via an upturned squash (ha ha) bottle sunk into the soil.

Squash plant no. 2 planted at the end of a bean row. No idea what variety they are - good thing I like surprises.

Courgette. Only planted one this year. We had 4 last year and they were rather prolific. I don't like courgettes all that much!

My single, lonely broccoli plant is doing well so far...

...as are the snowball cauliflowers. Might crop a few as mini veg soon! They are about the size of a golf ball at the moment.

Now for the flowers:

The clematis over the back gate is doing well this year. I might plant a contrasting one and drape it in the other direction.

Dahlia. Bigger and better than last year but can't remember the variety. It's not Bishop of Llandaf, that's the next one along.

Another dahlia. Love these.

Red Bunny Tails.

Ok now what will I bung in this gap? I did have rhubarb here (Timperley Early and very nice it was too) but I gave in to the mr's requests for something more decorative. So the rhubarb has been moved.

The hunt goes on...

2007-06-17T18:12:00.000Z

We saw another property yesterday. Looked good on paper and the house was nice, maybe a bit big, but there was not really enough land for our plans and we thought it was overpriced.

My First First Earlies

2007-06-13T16:45:00.000Z

Plot to plate in 30 minutes :o) This is two plants' worth of Arran Pilot first earlies. It looks like some of the Anya might be ready too.

What I picked and Ate Today.

2007-06-11T20:39:00.000Z

Oregano, thyme and garlic went well wrapped around a big chunky pollack fillet. The mr had the strawberry on its own.

More Pics of Growing Things

2007-06-10T13:47:00.000Z

Thank goodness these are looking a bit better than last week! Lettuces are just about useable.

The fish are a bit less shy now I've started feeding them.

Clematis - replaces ivy that used to be hiding the nasty plastic arch and growing up the side of the house.

Some nice purple stuff.

Rose - Aloha. Smells wonderful!

Top view of one of the jerusalem artichoke plants. They are about 3ft high.

The brassica tent. It has been removed, weeded under and replaced a bit higher than before. The cauli and cabbage are doing well under there although the plants on the right-hand side are much smaller than the others. Planted half a dozen swede there too because there was space. And I love swede!

Removed the bean & pea netting as all my beans and peas are shorties. Gave up the manual fight against the bindweed and targetted the stuff with roundup. AN has some aubergine plants ready to go in the gap.

The romanesco AN planted is doing well...

...but it really needs weeding!

Tattie flowers - desiree

More tattie flowers - mystery variety that might be Orla.

We're having strawberries soon!

And AN has currants on the way!

My Little Helpers

2007-06-10T13:36:00.000Z

I'm in charge of string, grass and chasing things that aren't really there.

I'm in charge of catching mice and leaves.

Like I said, I'm in charge of grass.

I'm helping with the weeding - you can just see my paw going for the horsetail.

Now I bet this is really helpful!

Still Searchin...

2007-06-02T14:31:00.000Z

Saw another property this afternoon. A bit too remote (looked OK on the map, but awkward to reach in practice) and the land that looked perfect in the property agent's photo had since been planted with an odd mix of trees. And no wonder they didn't photograph the outbuildings! Difficult to site a polytunnel anywhere practical. It had a lovely (but almost empty) veg patch and an ornamental pond with a fake waterfall. The whole place had a strange feel to it - a bit like an urban property in the wrong place.

Oh no...

2007-06-02T08:40:00.000Z

A productive day yesterday with an important but annoying discovery.

Much of June's To-Do list is done! Planted the gladioli and some morning glory in the front garden, got to work on the side and back of the house... But I've got a half-formed plan for projects for "when I have the time" so I can easily extend the June list!

One of my little helpers. Keen to point out the location of shady spots for snoozing and areas of freshly dug soil for... well... hmmm.

Another of my little helpers. Likes to be helpful with string, netting, fleece and plants with trailing bits that move.

This is what passes for "lawn" in the back garden. The ground drains poorly but at least the plants that like this area stay green when all the grass goes brown in summer.

Hydrangea removed! I noticed whilst pulling out as much root as possible that the ground was very wet. Then someone drained the bath and the ground got VERY wet! Oh no... call an expert!

We have an expensive problem. As a one-bathroom household this also gives us a personal hygiene headache.

So I put the "side-of-the-house" project on hold and went back to the tree. Ripped out a bit more Ivy and planted some stuff.

Echinacea, lilies, with coleus and marigolds and night scented stock to fill some gaps.

And these are woolly aphids, identified by some fellow-gardeneers on the Grow Your Own forum. I removed as much as possible with a spray bottle containing soapy water then got the hose out to blast the rest off.

I think these are scorch marks on my tomato seedling leaves.

More photos

2007-06-01T07:12:00.000Z

The ugly hydrangea-thing (I think) that I want to remove and replace with a custom built raised bed/planter thingy. (Should've removed the bottle of roundup in the background! That's for the remains of the bindweed).

My herb & salad bar.

The apple tree, where I pulled up the ivy. There is still more to come out as the ivy is growing up through the hedge behind the tree.

Not a healthy tree :o(

Things waiting to be planted out: nasturtium, broad beans, lettuce, brassica successional sowings - they'll be a little mystery as the labels have faded..

The enemy no. 4. I've been collecting & removing snails regularly and at last the population is dropping.

June's To-Do List

2007-05-31T15:12:00.000Z

The weather has been too wet to get all the little jobs done that I wanted so I'll log them here instead.
(1) Put edging in the front garden to hold bark chips in place, and get new bark chips! The "log roll" stuff isn't right for this - too showy - some plain timber should do the trick and it's cheaper!
(2) Plant more gladioli bulbs behind the lawn for a longer flowering period.
(3) Dig out more ivy root from under the apple tree and plant something more decorative and less invasive instead.
(4) Build a raised bed/container thingy for the side of the house, removing the useless-ugly-hydrangea-never-flowers and plant some... erm... stuff instead. (Lettuces?)
(5) Remember to take before & after piccies!

snap-happy

2007-05-28T11:08:00.000Z

Thought it was time for another photo session.

The front garden after complete renovation. Nearly finished!

I planted the dwarf cherry last autumn so I'm not expecting much of a crop this year.

The potato patch in the lottie. There is a path between two high leylandii hedges which has effectively funnelled last night's wind over the corner of my tatties...

...but the one in the compost bin seems to be doing well!

Some of the brassicas: romanesco in the foreground, the bottles are protecting leaf beet and there's a single fleece tent over my lonely broccoli plant, swede at the back netted against the thieving pigeons.

Enemy no.2 - rust on the broad bean leaves. It has spread from the garlic in the next row. That'll teach me!

Enemy no.3 - blackfly on the new broad bean shoots.

The onions would look a bit better if the moggies would stop rolling in the onion bed. They love it! The lettuces and parsnips at the back are doing very poorly.

Gorgeous - growing at the corner of the lottie.

Back garden - reusing polystyrene packaging as a planter for tomatoes, lettuces and marigolds. A bit battered by the recent rain.

The roses at the back of the house. I pruned them mercilessly last autumn and they're saying thanks now!

Bits & Bobs

2007-05-27T06:47:00.000Z

Many small jobs done yesterday!

In the garden:
- Reused a polystyrene container (from a delivery of perishables) as a planter. It now contains 3 tomato plants, 8 lettuces and 2 marigolds.
- Filled four spare patio planters with cauliflower and marigolds.
- Planted 4 gladioli and 3 dahlias behind the new lawn.
- Planted an unidentified plant in the non-lawn part of the front garden, in a space vacated by something that died. It's a cutting from a shrub I wanted to save before ripping everything out of the front garden last year.

In the allotment:
- Planted out the leaf beet and protected it with bottle cloches.
- Planted one lonely broccoli plat and made it a fleece tent to keep the flutterbyes off.
- Netted the swede to stop the dratted pigeons from eating the tops.
- Planted one each of courgette and squash, next to the broad beans.
- Decided to remove all the broad beans and start again, away from the garlic which has a touch of rust. The BB are covered with rust and I don't want it to spread any further!
- Sprayed the blackfly with soapy water.

Today I got soaked whilst putting up guttering on the cat-run and directing the downpipe into a water butt.

What a weekend!

2007-05-22T05:19:00.000Z

Since the last post I have: seen two more properties, run two marathons, slept a lot!

"Property 2" - looked good on paper but the paddock was in a dreadful state and the kindest thing to do with one of the outbuildings involves an axe and the solid fuel stove.
"Property 3" was perfect!!! but judged to be too far from civilisation for the mr to be able to get into London when he has to. It's early days - but I'll regret it if nothing of this quality comes on the market again! I went round it thinking, "polytunnel over there with veg plot, chickens in the orchard, pigs or lambs there, and there's even space for a flower garden...." Time to get the house we're in tarted up for viewing, I think!

Meanwhile, I have done nothing new to the garden except make plans for lots of weeding over the next few days. I did get round to the allotment yesterday, just for long enough to pick a decent crop of broad beans for tonight's dinner.

Getting Laid

2007-05-17T06:07:00.000Z

The turf for the front lawn arrived yesterday morning so I spent a merry hour or two in the pouring rain carpeting the bare earth. I seem to have beaten the Horsetail (on the "lawn" side of the garden at least) as there were only a couple of very weak shoots poking up. I had two part-strips of turf left over and some bits. I put the decent sized bits in a gap in the back "lawn" (it's green, but it ain't grassy) and upturned the odds & ends into the maturing compost bin as a lid.

After that I went round to the allotment and planted the swede. By the end of my gardeneering session I was probably the muckiest I've been sice I grew out of digging dens and climbing trees.

Forgot to take pictures!

The search begins.

2007-05-14T18:00:00.000Z

We have looked at our finances and decided on a budget for a new place with more land.

With this budget in mind, we went to see a place at the weekend that was almost ideal - a house, a paddock, a pond and some outbuildings - but just not quite what we need. Too many mature trees shading the land and the house was just a bit too small.

At least there are places we can afford!

Meanwhile in the garden...

2007-05-12T16:03:00.000Z

The Plastic Planthouse

The Enemy!

Lettuce seedlings: red salad leaves

The pond - we have frogs, toads, dragonflies and fish of indeterminate species.

The apple tree

Growing Our Own

2007-05-12T14:03:00.000Z

I think I may have found a use for a blog: to track my gardening progress. Last summer, in July I think, I began to rent half an allotment. My neighbour has the other half and we share the work and produce of the whole plot. (Henceforth "AN" is Allotment Neighbour)

We started with knee-high grass, thistles, bindweed, brambles, dandelions and a bit of enthusiasm.

The story so far...

July 2006: Cut down the grass, dug over plot 1, planted stuff wherever there was space.
weeded... and weeded... weeded some more...
Crops: leaf beet very successful, tomatoes got blight, runner beans pretty good, lettuce OK, leeks did very well, sweetcorn failed, brassicas disastrous, courgettes plentiful despite powdery mildew, peppers - got a few green ones.

September 2006: marked out plot 2, drenched with glyphosate, waited 4 weeks, used glyphosate again, dug over then covered with tarpaulins to exclude light and prevent weed growth. Left it alone until March.

October 2006: planted broad beans and peas for overwintering. The beans were fine but the peas vanished within a week of planting out. Swapped some pea plants for some purple sprouting broccoli (Other Neighbour) and her pea plants vanished too. Pigeons ate the PSB :o(

December 2006: Planted 5 cloves of organic garlic just to see what happened. They all came up :o)

Jan 2007: Bought seed potatoes in Wilkinsons and started them chitting.

March 2007: Uncovered bed 2, dug it over again, forked over and removed weed roots several times. Added chicken manure pellets then fish blood and bonemeal when I ran out of birdcr*p. Started seeds off in the plastic planthouse.

April 2007: Planted seed potatoes (lots!) and strawberry plants and Jerusalem artichokes. Also planted some asparagus crowns from Wilkinsons. Weeded most of bed 1 thoroughly then AN finished the weeding and took over mowing duties.

May 2007: we have planted out
more potato plants than we need :o) Arran Pilot, Desiree, Anya and "mystery-found-sprouting-at-the-back-of-the-cupboard" which might be Orla - about 65 plants in all!

a couple of ferny asparagus plants (sigh... planted six)

six lots of JAs looking healthy

24 strawberry plants of uncertain variety but mostly alpine, flowering
about 90 onion sets, growing well
2 dozen each of romanesco, snowball cauli, hispi cabbage - well netted or fleeced against pests
Broad beans - one row cropping after overwintering and one row just planted out and about 6" high
peas - just planted out

parsnips
lettuce red salad leaves and cos
And there's more still to go in the ground!

The plot, looking south

Look what's growing in my compost heap!

The view under the fleece tent. Caulis and cabbage, planted closer than "official" for cropping every second plant early as baby veg/greens