Steady Progress at the Plot

I spent a couple of productive hours at the allotment today. I sowed three rows of lettuce (Little Gem and Tom Thumb) in the large cold frame, dug in some chicken manure and planted the rest of the onions. Also pulled up quite a bit of couch grass from around the paths and did some general tidying up. The patch is finally losing its unkempt look and no longer stands out as the messiest plot on site.
The garlic I planted in early March has sprouted to about two inches, but none of the shallots or earlier planted onions are growing yet.
This evening I spotted a fox in our street. I've heard foxes many times at night but never seen one around here before. I was driving into the street when a young fox appeared (coming from the adjacent common ground). It crossed in front of my car and then dashed into someone's front garden . I'll be keeping a keen eye out from now on.

Onion Planting

I managed a dash to the allotment after work today, determined to get a few things in the ground. It was pretty chilly so late in the day but a long to do list kept me warm!

I sowed rows of sunflower seeds, perpetual spinach and spring onions and planted 15 each of shallots, garlic and onion sets. There's loads more onions to put in - I simply ran out of time.

Back To The Garden

I spent a couple of hours this week starting to dig over the vegetable patch. One pleasant surprise was finding that last year’s garlic which didn’t grow has sprung to life over the winter and is looking fine and dandy. I began by weeding around said garlic, and then got carried away into the next bed and the one after. It was great to be digging the earth again – I’ve really missed the fresh air and exercise these last couple of months.
The weeding was surprisingly easy, partly because the earth is moist and the weeds haven’t really got a foothold yet, but also because I’m reaping the benefit of having done a lot of deep digging last year, to rid the garden of Japanese Knot Weed. I found myself thinking about how gardening is so much like life – digging deep is hard work, but definitely worth it in the end. It seems that I’ve swapped one problem for another though (so like life!). Where the Knot Weed has gone, Fat Hen has now run wild. Still it’s a lot easier to get out of the ground as it doesn’t root deeply. (For some strange reason I always want to call it Fat Chick. Best not go there!) I guess in the end, if the new weed is less tricky than the previous one, you at least can say that things are moving in the right direction!

Essential Wormery Maintenance

Emptying the wormery went to the top of my list this week - with the decomposing matter only inches away from the lid, I kept finding worms making an escape bid. Tecnically it should have been a simple job. . .

Legend; Remove the top few inches of rot, to be put back in later, as this is where the worms are supposed to all hang out, then empty the rest (what the pros call 'black gold") into the garden or to mix for potting compost. It's supposed to be a rich crumbly, earthy substance.

Reality; Remove top few inches - worms everywhere, so remove next few inches. Keep going; more worms than anticipated, get over a foot down into the composty stuff - still endless worms. Continue (what else to do?) Storage box now full (see above) so start using sack. Keep going. Yet more worms. Start to wonder if worms can suffer from overcrowding. Sack now half full and still no sign of the black crumbly stuff. Am looking at slimy potatoes and tea bags, and a large worm community. Finally strike a fine vein of black gold before establishing that the worms have also populated the bottom of the bin.
So, end result - two bags of worms and tea bags to go back in, and half a bag of almost compost.

Anyway, the job got done and I added lots of ripped up newspaper to the slimy worm mix as it went back in, to dry it out and stop it getting water-logged. As you can see, it's a dirty job, but quite frankly I didn't mind!

Best of all, I got to spend about two hours outdoors - that's the longest it's stopped raining so far this year. Consequently I am feeling a much saner person this evening. As yesterday was officially Blue Monday, I am calling today Turnaround Tuesday, the first day of the garden calendar '08.

Guilt Free Pot Grown Christmas Tree

I managed to heave the christmas tree indoors today. It's looking a little straggly this year - it's seven feet tall now and will have to be planted out after christmas. I've repotted it several times in the five years I've had it and it's roughly doubed in size since then. It's in the largest pot I could find for it, and it was difficult to get it through the doorways because it's so tall. I'm pleased it's lasted so well, and it'll be nice to see it in the ground next year.
Before this one, I'd bought several potted trees but they always died after being planted out in the new year. The difference is that this one was grown in it's pot (I bought it from a garden centre) instead of being dug up and stuck in one. I'm slightly worried that it might grow huge when it's planted out, so it's gonna have to go a long way from the house.

Wormery moved into the Warm

I should have done it about a month ago, but at last I've managed to move the wormery into the shed before it gets any colder out there. I hauled it over by adding some shredded newspaper and giving it a good stir up. The worms seem to be thriving - there are hundreds of 'em, young and old, all eating and presumably breeding like rabbits. They're still producing plenty of liquid feed too - I don't really know what to to with it at this time of year (it only keeps a few months) so have been adding it to the garden, though watering is the last thing the garden needs right now.

Happy Halloween!

I was hoping to be carving an own grown pumpkin this year - never mind, I'm still pleased with the look of this one. I chose the design as a reference to the Harry Potter books, which of course concluded this year. Farewell Harry!

Here's proof it really is a pumpkin..

The Lost Summer

A part of me is still loooking for it on fine days.

The garden has been well and truly waterlogged this year, leaving the earth compacted and keeping pretty much everything looking straggly. As for garden, so for blog, which also came to an abrupt halt as the miserable weather set in.

Here then is a brief, sad history, after which we'll be definitely and determinedly moving on.

Runner beans - failed to manage even a stroll

Onions -1 (out of 20)

Potatoes - small and NOT perfectly formed

Butternut squash - quashed

Pumpkins - nothing plump about 'em

Sweetcorn - not sweet and quite frankly not funny either

Peas - not pleased, also got showered regularly by the kitties, so refused to grow.

Leeks - leeked conviction

Garlic - well hardly

Broad beans - narrow yield

Overall best crop and winner of most persistent plants this year - definitely the Tomatoes which were slow to start but hung on in there until the rain stopped (end of September, wasn't it?) and then grew like the survival of their genus depended on it.

So it was all rather grim in the garden. Luckily though, there is some good news - In the hope of better results next year, I've taken over an allotment
As you can see it's a bit ramshackle and overgrown (perfect!) but not too far gone, so the weeds are coming up quite easily, along with the large number of half grown potatoes I keep finding every time I stick my fork in the ground.
There's a good water system set up - a large vat and a number of butts, some roofed storage (Who needs walls?) and four long raised beds plus a topless (Oh!) - Calm down, it's a cold frame.

It looked like Spiderwoman had visited the garden

...which would have saved me the effort of making the cucumber frame.

I planted out said cucumber about five days ago. It's doing OK, though looking slightly frayed at the edges, from the cold nights!

I've been steadily planting out the runner beans a few at a time and have put the Borlotti beans in the earth too. So far, at least they are all untroubled by slugs and snails, or at least the barrier of plastic collars and bits of copper pipe around the plants is working. Elsewhere in the garden the same slugs and snails are on the rampage - even having a nibble at tomatoes, shallots and garlic, which they usually leave in peace.

Beans, beans and more beans

Definitely the most fun plants to grow. This year I am branching out from my favourite runners. It's the first time I've grown broad beans - they are at last growing now, but they still seem hard work. I'm also giving Borlotti beans a go - these are a lot more entertaining, quick to germinate and more like sprinters than marathon runners.

From the top, Borlotti Nano, one and then three days old ( I couldn't believe it - they are supposed to be the small variety), and below, Borlotti Rampicante, which apparently will grow 12 to 18 feet high. I loved the shape - like a dragon's head.

I planted the nanos out a couple of days ago - I've grown three of them - now I'm wondering if that's enough -so have sown one more (space is limited!). Yesterday I planted out two of the runner beans (as a test run). They are still there today and have not been eaten, which is more than can be said for the peas, which have now been pretty much devestated by giant snails. I put the runners out with collars made from old water bottles - it gives them protection while they are young. I also had some old copper piping so put that round them too, as it's the best thing for keeping those snails away. Shame it's gone up in price so much recently.

Storm Damage

Heavy rain and high winds all through the night meant that I was a little afraid to look at the garden this morning. Most things survived in tact, though one of the apple trees broke a branch, leaving it hanging by a slim thread. And, of course, it was the only branch on that particular tree that has flower buds. I have been keeping a close eye on them, hoping they will open in time to pollinate the granny smith which has been in flower on its own for weeks now.
Some people take the view that a bit of sticking tape will fix most things. I have always preferred to think of myself as a bit more thorough than that. Today, I have to admit that the evidence to the contrary is building.

Introducing Gaffer Tape...

...a veritable sticking plaster for trees, though that's just one of it's uses.

Not convinced?

Look on.

Not only has this bit of tape held my wing mirror in place since christmas day, when some festive joker knocked it off, but my car passed it's MOT last month in this state. Quite frankly I was amazed.

(I don't expect the branch to survive for long, but if it last long enough for the flowers to open, that will be fine.)

Makeshift Mini Greenhouse

...or Dubious Creations Of A Skinflint...

Yes, you may have to look twice (or even thrice) to work out what is going on here, but basically it's a large polythene bag with a window in it, turned on it's side, hung on a frame and pegged down. I aquired it as the packaging to some willow fencing. Being a natural born horder, I knew immediately it would come in useful!

It's now housing two black cherry tomatoes, and they are (so far) doing very well in it. The only possible drawback is it may get blown over (or even away) in high winds. Oh, and I suppose there is the matter of property prices to consider - if my garden gathers any more tat it is possible the local market could take a serious downturn.

Moving away from make-it-yourself corner, here's a progress report on the rest of the garden;

The peas are growing slowly despite being eaten regularly by slugs. I have been sowing more seeds in the gaps that keep appearing, and have had to give up on the far end of the rows, as I just can't keep the cats away from their chosen toilet area. I didn't give up without a fight though - there are more sticks in the ground than gaps in between now and I am left wondering how they still manage to get through, but they do. So the pea rows are shorter than hoped for and are being seriously slowed down by the slug onslaught which seems a lot worse than last year. Some will grow - it remains to be seen how many.

The onions, shallots and garlic are doing much better, being neither eaten nor pee-ed on.

I planted one of the aubergines out last week, into a container, and it is doing fine, though only about four inches tall.

The broad beans continue to be difficult - I can't believe they are supposed to be easy to grow. Slugs have devestated about two thirds of them and the ones that are growing are very slow indeed. The largest one is still only three inches tall, though it's been up for about six weeks.

About ten runner beans are up in pots, and another ten should follow shortly. Also coming up in the pots are sunflowers, sweetcorn and borlotti beans at the moment.

My courgette plants and globe artichokes are about ready to go into the ground - I am waiting for the next dry spell to give them a fighting chance against the dread slugs.

There are tomatoes already on the largest plant (the one I bought to get a head start). I count them everyday - today's count 16.

Best news of the week though - I have been round to the local allotments and put myself on the waiting list. With luck I may get one before the end of the summer.