New house, new garden, new start!

Well, it’s plain for all to see, I’ve neglected my blog. Last year was a difficult one which, after injuring my ankle twice - once in April (when the growing season really kicks off), and again in September (harvest time). I didn’t do much growing at all last year, my allotment went to rack and ruin, and the garden was just a non-starter.

Then we moved 70 miles away to a new house. Which, of course, has a fabulous (and somewhat bigger!) garden. But, I no longer have an allotment.

My new garden has two, yes TWO potting sheds, and a Victorian-style greenhouse. Perfect. So, I’m going to start off from scratch, again. But I really positive about this. The previous owners were real gardening folk and the garden is in almost immaculate condition. I will need to wait for a full year before making any huge changes so that I can see, quiet literally, what comes up. I know that when we viewed the house there were various perennials that have since died down over winter. I’ve no idea what spring delights we have, although already I am starting to see daffodils, tulips and crocus plants emerging.  This also means that most of my fruit and vegetable growing will be done in containers, but that’s fine for me.

I’ve ordered some raspberry canes x 10, variety Tulameen. I’d be interested to know what success other growers have had with this variety. I have ordered some (cheap on offer x 25) strawberry plants, variety Aromel, and also some cheap Cupid runners x 12.

I’ve picked up a big back of King Edward seed potatoes, and a small bag of International Kidney. I’ve also ordered some mimi salad potatoes. I’ve got some spring planting garlic, a handful of shallot sets, a horseradish thong, and some asparagus crowns. I’m going to start all these off today in the greenhouse, and chit the potatoes. Whilst I eagerly await my fruit plants!

So, whilst the sun is shining, and the snow seems like a distant memory, I’m going to get started on my new project!

My courgettes are massive marrows, but all my green leafy veg are diminutive specimens

I need to ensure better protection for them next time around I think.

I suspect birds are the culprits, although mice are also suspects. It’s disappointing, but, too late to remedy it now. My peppers have taken off now though, and I have plenty of various types of tomatoes that are swelling, and will hopefully start ripening soon.

My sweetcorn is also doing better now.

This afternoon I harvested all my onions and garlic. Potatoes have mostly been harvested too. They were utterly delicious.

Some beans are ready now as well. I’ve picked a few to see how they taste.

The absolute winners of the plot are the courgettes though. The white ones in particular (Trieste White) from www.RealSeeds.co.uk have done spectacularly well, and I have ended up with 5 white marrows because they swell so very quickly. I have been away on holiday for a week and came back to a huge stash of white marrows. The Italian courgettes are also plentiful, but dont seem to swell to marrow-size so easily.

So, I’ve been looking up recipes for Marrows. I have plenty of jam jars left over from the fruit jam making so I am thinking Marrow Jam, Marrow chutney, and Marrow pickle!!!!

Homemade Blackcurrant Jam

I harvested enough blackcurrants to make some jam, so here’s the recipe:

I had 1lb 10oz of blackcurrants

so, an equal quantity of caster sugar – 1lb 10z

1.5 pints of water.

Remove all the stalks from the blackcurrants and stick in a large, deep saucepan. Add the water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Then, lower the heat and add the sugar, stirring over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a rapid boil and boil for about 8 to 10 minutes. Check for a set by spooning a small amount on to a very cold plate and leaving to cool briefly. Then, push the jam it with your finger. If the surface wrinkles it is ready. If not, leave to boil for a minute or two longer.

When ready, remove from the heat and skim off any scum on the surface. Leave to cool for 5 or 10 minutes before pouring into warm, sterilised jam jars. Seal immediately and leave to cool completely before attaching labels.

I got 4 small jars of jam with the above quantity!

Enjoy.

Gooseberries Galore, Rampant Raspberries and Burgeoning Blackcurrants

We went fruit picking on the plot on Sunday. I’d been itching to go and pick some fruit for about a week because I knew that there was plenty ready.

So, my husband and two children and I went over to the allotment armed with a few baskets to collect fruit.

The raspberries were in absolute abundance. In fact, some of them had started to shrivel and wither away with over-ripeness. The gooseberries were also quite plentiful. It turns out that we have several varieties – a golden type and a small red type. I think we managed to collect about 2lbs worth, which considering we haven’t actually done anything on the fruit plot other than keep it tidy – well, it’s a miracle! The raspberries – think we have about 3lbs – they are currently being stored in a very large saucepan in the fridge.

The real stars of the show were the blackcurrants though! I collected nearly 2lbs of blackcurrants, which doesn’t sound like much, but, considering I didn’t even know we had many good fruiting bushes over there, AND we haven’t really protected any of the fruit bushes from birds, it’s quite remarkable!

There is a huge redcurrant bush over there with plenty of fruit on it that I am looking forward to harvesting when ready. Plus plenty more raspberries and gooseberries. I think we’ll also have some blackberries from the prolific brambles that reside there.

It’s all looking good! I even harvested a bowlfull of blackcurrants from a small bush in my back garden that I’d forgotten about!

Now I’ve got lots of jam to make!

NEWSFLASH for all Allotment Growers – Traces of herbicide Aminopyralid made by Dow Agrosciences found in manure

See here http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/29/food.agriculture

Thankfully I’m not affected by this, nor any of my fellow allotmenteers on our site. But, it seems to be a pretty widespread problem and very upsetting for those affected.

How could this product be allowed to be used?

Growing my own bedding plants – more experimental growing

I’ve decided to try and grow some bedding plants, rather than buying them ready grown from nurseries or garden centres. I went a little overboard with the seeds (as usual!) and also bought some hardy perennial plants to mix in and provide colour early on next year. The seeds I’ve sown so far are:

Catanche (hardy perennial)

Evening Primrose (hardy perennial)

Osteospermum (hardy annual)

Nicotiana (hardy annual)

Night scented stocks (hardy annual)

Phlox Phlox of Sheep (hardy annual)

Dwarf wildflower mix (hardy annuals)

Italian White sunflowers (hardy annuals)

Geranium Splish Splash (hardy perennial)

Briza Maxima (grass) (hardy annual)

Delphiniums (hardy perennial)

Verbascum Southern Charm (hardy perennial)

Honesty/Lunaria (hardy annual)

Cosmos – two varieties Daydream and Gazebo mixed (hardy annual)

Marigolds (hardy annual)

Nigella (hardy annual)

Californian Poppy (hardy annual)

Double trailing petunias (hardy annual)

Cerinthe (hardy annual)

Lupins Dwarf Lulu mixed (hardy perennial)

Nasturtium Milkmaid (hardy annual)

Penstemon True Blue (hardy perennial)

Agastache (hardy annual)

Eustoma/Lisianthus (hardy perennial)

Calendula Sherbert Fizz (hardy annual)

Ox-Eye Daisy (hardy perennial)

Oriental Poppy Coral Reef (hardy perennial)

Primula Japonica (hardy perennial)

Veronica getianoides (hardy perennial)

I’m also trying some tropical plants – Tacca Nivea/Bat Plant, Gloriosa Lily and White Bird of Paradise.

The cosmos has germinated already and it was only sown on Friday! The geranium has also germinated which is great because it can be notoriously difficult to germinate from seed and its only taken two weeks. All the annuals sown two weeks ago have germinated too. It’s going well so far. I will update in a week.

A little experimental pest prevention on the plot….

I’m battling with slugs on my plot at the moment. I’ve found some organic Slug/Snail killer from Growing Success. It seems to be doing the trick so far.

My broad beans do have some black fly on them, and I’ve experimented with some organic insecticde made from plant extracts.

However, I thought I’d take it one step further and try some more natural prevention and have a crack at plant husbandry. So, I bought a pack of a dozen marigolds from a garden centre and planted them alongside my tomatoes. It is thought that marigolds help stave off whitefly, and, apparently tomatoes seem to grow better alongside them. I shall keep an eye on the progress and post it here. Fingers crossed…..

I also planted two butternut squash plants amongst the fledgling sweetcorn plants to make use of the space and to help suppress weeds around the base of the corn as it grows.

Why I Don’t Recommend Grow-Bags for Tomatoes

I’ve thought about this at some length, and, it’s a common question I’m asked about by friends etc when wanting to grow tomatoes.

In my admittedly limited experience of growing tomatoes in grow-bags I’ve found that the plants have required more attention as a result of the grow-bags.

Firstly, it’s well documented that tomatoes require support. They grow deep roots to search for nutrients and water. Grow-bags do not accommodate this. They are less supported by their root system in grow-bags without the usual staking they require. Now, the staking they require – usually by bamboo canes, cannot be pushed in deeply enough in order to provide good support without them leaning over, or collapsing in heavy rain.

So, what do you do to deal with this? Spend more money to get special wire support stands to put canes in. Or, buy ‘Grow-Pots’ or similar (which are a pretty neat idea as it happens) in order to heighten the level of compost around the tomato plant, plus provides a reservoir of water to enable efficient watering. Which brings me on to the next problem with grow-bags……

Have you ever tried watering them successfully? It’s pretty difficult in my experience. Most of the water runs off the grow bag,  and it doesn’t hold much water in it. In really dry weather I’ve found myself having to water them twice a day and the plants still wilt after a few hours. Again, unless you buy further gadgets such as the ‘Grow-Pots’ to put them in, it’s made far more complicated than it needs to be.

So, if I’m asked, tomato plants should be planted directly in the ground once hardened off, or in deep plant pots at least 10 inches in diameter. (Plastic or metal is actually better than terracotta, unless you line the terracotta pots with an old compost bag).

So, are grow-bags worth it generally? Yes, I think so. Strawberries do pretty well in grow bags. There is no need to provide a mulch – the plastic grow bag cover provides this if you plant through a small slit rather than cutting out a huge hole. Growing other vegetables such as lettuces, beetroot etc are great. Also for growing herbs. But for tomatoes – no, they are not worth it.

Argh!!! The Birds!!!

Another trip to the allotment today. The red cabbage plants I planted the other day have been decimated (by slugs I think, but I think there may be some other prolific pest at large).

Worse still, two of the currant bushes have been almost completely stripped of fruit. It wasn’t ripe yet so the birds that have done it will have somewhat an upset stomach I suspect. Got to feel for the cars parked close by under the trees really.

It’s very frustrating, but, I’ve not been able to afford netting, let alone fruit cages. I’m going to have to investigate other options (scarecrows are out, I think!).

That aside, today has been a quite productive day in terms of digging and planting. All the overgrown weeds on the fruit plot have been razed to the ground (again). Everytime there is a rainy week, they shoot up with tremendous speed. My husband and I have also dug over another bed, removed as much of the bindweed root as we could find, and have planted 16 tomato plants of many and varied varieties. I also planted out my 24 strawberry plants that are already fruiting. I have placed a mulch of weed suppressing membrane down around them in preparation of fruit ripening. I will definitely have to find a way of protecting these with wire and old cds to keep the birds off.

My little gem, radicchio, florence fennel, primo cabbage and lollo rosso seeds have all germinated (although they have been attacked by slugs leaving only one lollo rosso left). Beetroot, radish, lambs lettuce, sweetcorn and peas are all doing very well too. I just need to appear regularly for slug/snail duty and to keep on top of the bindweed.

I’m absolutely shattered now! It’s been a very long day!

 

A quick trip to the allotment that turned into a two hour visit

I didn’t mean to be long……..

But, I wanted to plant the 3 aubergine plants that I’d been propagating at home, particularly since they were starting to suffer from life in the small pots they were housed in.

So, off I went, and ended up spending about an hour pulling out more bindweed (if only all my vegetables grew as quickly). Then jumping when discovering a snake curled up in the bindweed as I was wrenching it out! A small brown thing with a black dot encircling a white dot on it’s head. Very pretty but made me wary for the rest of the weeding effort. Subsequent investigations have shown that what I saw was a baby grass snake (see picture).

 

Then, I planted the 3 aubergine plants and looked around to see if anything else needed urgent attention.

I ended up thinning out the sweetcorn sown in two parallel rows about 6-8 weeks ago. The thinnings were transplanted basically, and I’ve now got 24 plants in block formation. That should give me a pretty good crop. I’ve got some more plants growing at home that are ready to go up there too. They are all the same variety – peaches and cream. I’m keen to know how this variety will taste, not that you can go far wrong with sweetcorn anyway.

I also harvested some more radishes – delicious!

The gooseberries and currants are coming along nicely on the fruit plot too! I think I’ll be making lots of jam in a few weeks time! Cant wait!