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The spate of Bank Holidays have meant lots of work in the garden interspersed with the odd BBQ or three! So I finally got round to building the two mini-greenhouses that Rachel bought for me very cheaply at the end of last season. They’ve joined the one I already have as an overflow to the 8′x6′ cold greenhouse. I positioned them between the greenhouse and the fence, a gap just big enough for them, which also meant blocking off a favourite path for the girls to run round – but running round between a fence and a load of glass wasn’t fun for me watching an accident in waiting! A lot of people have had trouble with these things blowing away, I’ve got mine in a very sheltered position but have also driven an iron rod into the ground and hooked it over one of the shelves so there’s no chance of them going anywhere.
Yesterday I sowed leeks, more dwarf beans, more marigolds, alyssum, poppies and rudbekia. The crunch will come when all of them need pricking out, I’ll be out there for days with the amount I’ve sown!
The tomatoes are looking good, this is the first batch, the first true leaves are just appearing on the second. With the recent weather it’s tempting to plant out some of the tender plants to make more space inside. I think Spring will have a sting in the tail so be warned, don’t put them out too early!
Hope you all have a great Bank Holiday!!
A day of showers today so I could only do the odd bit here and there after we got back from shopping in Salisbury. I noticed Homebase had 20% off and I picked up a pot of 4 runner beans for 78p (they’re well ahead of mine as I’ve not sown any yet!) and a tray of 10 celery for £1.60. I had no intention of growing celery before I popped in there but I couldn’t resist something I’d never tried before (will have to read up on it as I have no idea what I’m doing). In Poundland I bought a blackcurrant and a couple of rose bushes along with some pots and string. Chloe’s feet haven’t grown as much as we thought so there was no need to buy shoes which was a result!
In the ground went a globe artichoke I bought the other week, and the blackcurrant and rose bushes. I’ve now filled up the greenhouse and mini-greenhouse with more potting-on as you can see. On the veg front I sowed dwarf and climbing french beans in toilet rolls.
Elsewhere in the garden I spotted this flower tucked under a hedge. I think it’s from the hyacinth family.
I’ve been struggling to identify this one, I think it’s Scilla?
The first tulip is threatening to bloom.
And finally if you need a cheap way of keeping young children amused get one of these ‘tinfoil’ emergency blanket things available in Poundland, it kept our two happy for ages!
Well 2009 was a big year with the arrival of our 2nd daughter, Emily. I can’t believe that was nearly 12 months ago, wow how time flies!
2009 was the first proper year of my veg growing and I’m been thrilled with how well it’s gone. The family have eaten every type of vegetable that I have grown, nothing has failed although some have been more successful than others. The only thing still to harvest is the purple sprouting broccoli, I hope it’s survived the snow of the last couple of weeks and we can look forward to tender purple spears for the first time!
My Top 3 most successful veg 2009 were:
1) Brussel Sprouts, I can’t believe how many sprouts you can get off just half a dozen plants. We’ve been picking them since November and still going!
2) Courgettes, with the mild Autumn they produced from mid-May right through to the end of October – 3 plants gave us all we could eat.
3) Cucumber – great variety, 2 plants in the greenhouse produced cucumbers from May, the last one picked early November.
My 3 least successful veg:
1) Carrots – pretty useless harvest, I need to rethink my tactics!
2) Parsnips – good harvest but variety was smaller than I expected, I’ve picked a different variety for this year.
3) Leeks – variety wasn’t as big as I’d expected, a new variety this year I think.
Resolutions for 2010:
1) Get my eldest daughter, Chloe, more involved. She’s 3 this year so is old enough to have her own mini-patch. Also I’ve got a much better idea of what she likes to eat so I’ll be planting a lot more cauliflowers this time round and calabrese for the first time.
2) Root veg, I need to do better on the parsnips and carrots, both for the table and exhibitions.
3) More showing, I really enjoyed entering my local Horticultural Society’s Summer Show and I’d like to do more this year.
2009 list of vegetables:
In the greenhouse: Lettuce (Salad Bowl, Little Gem & Lollo Rosso), Cucumber (Carmen F1), Tomato (Moneymaker, Garderner’s Delight & Marmande), Chilli (Cayenne & Jalapeno), Peppers (Etuida).
Radish (French Breakfast, Albena), Beetroot (Detroit), Salad Potato (Charlotte, Juliette & Anya), Broad Bean (Sutton), Runner Bean (Scarlet Emperor), French Bean (Dwarf – Ferrari, Cobra), Courgettes (Aurelia F1), Summer Squash (Scallop Mixed), Butternut Squash (Cobnut F1).
Chard (Bright Lights), Brussel Sprouts (Maximus Hybrid), Cabbage (Golden Acre Primo & Savoy), Carrots (Amsterdam Forcing), Parsnips (Tender & True), Garlic (Purple Wight), Onion Sets (Radar), Shallots (Griselle), Broccoli (Early & Late Purple Sprouting), Kale (Dwarf Green Curled & Scarlet), Swede (Virtue), Cauliflower (Snowball), Leeks (Musselburgh), Jerusalem Artichokes (variety unkown).
