Green Butterfingers' gardening experiences

Seed and plant list

2009-10-27T14:50:00.001-07:00

After much deliberation I have come up with my order for what to grow next year, going back to old favourites like rocket and marigolds, trying new things like Turks Turban squash, and yes - tomatoes from seed (I fall for them every year, maybe this is the year it'll work out).

I tried to only order from one place but some varieties seemed a lot cheaper or more interesting "on the other side". So here it is, my list, including some flowers as well.

Thompson & Morgan

Pantheon Bean (supposed to be really good on bad soil and in crappy weather)
Mixed Patty Pan squash
Turks Turban Squash (pretty if they work out)
Patula Nana Single Legion of Honour marigolds (old variety, prolific)
Purple Moldovan Wight Garlic (hardneck variety)
Jack Flash Silene (not sure about it, may come off the list at the last minute)

Marshalls

Crystal Lemon Cucumber (liked them when I grew them in Portland)
Super Marmande Tomatoes (grew Marmande one year in London and they turned out well as I remember so super should be even better, right?)
Chantenay Red Core 2 carrots (growing carrots on clay...hmmm)
Oakleaf Oakley Rocket (can't grow enough of the stuff...)
Rhubarb Duo Pack Stockbridge Arrow and Victoria (crumble! yay! eventually...)

I'll probably also grow the white beetroot again (still have some seeds left I think) but wasn't too impressed with the rest of the stuff. Order is going in soon as the garlic should be planted by the end of November.

Lost and found

2009-10-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

The sky cleared and I took the opportunity to clean up the garden, in readiness for shutting it down for winter. I am still leaving the tomatoes out in the vain hope of some ripening before the first frost. The raspberries are nearly finished too and I need to read up on when I am supposed to cut the canes back. Gave up on the beans.

As I was clearing the patty pan away I found a few that are just ready for a stir-fry and a larger, weird-shaped, yellow thing. Also a stray cucumber and some very green tomatoes, which are now nestling next to a banana in the kitchen.

The thyme has gone a bit crazy. Since I loathe running out after dark and into spiderwebs just to get a sprig or two of herbs, I am going to try drying it. The oregano didn't grow as big but I think it got a bit smothered by the thyme.

With everything put onto the garden compost heap and the canes put away, it suddenly looks empty. Plenty of space now though to put my home-grown guinea pig compost down! Soon, planning for next year.

Full of beans

2009-09-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

I have been wondering about the right time to harvest my beans. My usual first reference (Pears Encyclopedia of Gardening: Fruit and Vegetables, Roy Genders (ed.)) is not much help on this matter, only giving a reference to haricot beans: "These are grown chiefly for their beans, which should be dried, first by allowing the pods to hang until the weather loses its summer look [...]". This would have been mid-July then (mind you, this is also the book that attributes the decline of growing jerusalem artichokes to the shortage of kitchen staff willing to clean them). I decided to harvest some and see what they look like, the rest I will leave on to ripen a bit more. Also gathered more tomatoes and raspberries.

A slightly puzzling development on the patty pan front - some are looking like patty pans, some of them have the ridges of a patty pan but are more round and green like a zucchini. I think, since they are open-pollinated, I am getting a cross-breed.

Flowers in the garden are providing plenty of pleasure. The solanum 'Alba' is so pretty along the fence and in the back of the garden the cyclamen are popping through the woodruff. If the sun is out, it's a lovely time of year.

my spider sense

2009-09-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Life is hard this time of year for an arachnophobe like me...lots of webs built exactly where I want to wander and water. I am gingerly picking off the tomatoes, avoiding the giant spider that lurks there. A careful sideways approach to the waterhose reel because another spider has used it as an anchor for a thread. I am trying to ignore the one dangling over my head as I step out the kitchen door. I don't even think about dashing out to get some herbs after dark anymore, instead I plan a minor expedition involving a stick to knock down the webs and a torch. I guess they are very useful...but I just don't like 'em.

A few rays of sun are still about. Raspberries doing very well and I am even getting a little Serrano pepper. My bean experiment is nearing the end, there is a substantial amount of dark purple pods which, I hope, will contain black beans.

The Thompson and Morgan catalogue has arrived and I have leaved through it a bit. Disappointing selection of cucumbers but interesting beans. Need to sit down soon and make a list.

it's nearly autumn...

2009-09-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Time marches on but my camera doesn't (it keeps running out of batteries). So just imagine a picture of a bountiful harvest, including raspberries, patty pan squash, cucumber and a few tomatoes. In fact, probably your imagination is better than the picture would have been...

The bean pods are turning a deep purple and the beans inside them are now a near-black. Maybe I can recreate a vaguely authentic Mexican dish with them. I used some of the beetroot tops fresh and they tasted more like spinach, very delicious. Too much in one go, so I processed the rest by cutting them up and putting them in the freezer.

More patty pan to come (the other bush now finally has female flowers) and lots more tomatoes hanging on the bushes (I think most of them will ripen on the window sill in the end). Although the garden is still producing, there is the definite nip of autumn in the air. Hoping for a few more nice, sunny days.

finally...another harvest

2009-09-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

Finally - some ripe tomatoes (plum, yellow and cherry) and some patty pan squash! I even found some more raspberries.

I pulled a few more white beetroot -- not sure how good they are going to be -- and a cucumber.

Not too thrilled with all of it and intend to make some changes next year:

Grow fewer tomatoes, get them in earlier and in a sunnier spot.
Patty pan is fine but grows too big and two out of the three I planted only produced male flowers. Maybe see if I can get a variety that is smaller.
Dwarf zucchini - give up on them, grow proper ones.
Don't grow white beetroot, grow leaf beet instead.
The cucumbers have too many seeds and are too spiny for my liking. Look for a different kind.
The beans are too stringy to eat as green beans. I'll harvest them later but I think I'll switch back to runner beans "Painted Lady".

tree clearing

2009-08-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

First the horrific Leylandii to the right was cut down (yay!). Just now I got a letter through the door informing me that the back-to-back neighbours are going to remove the huge sycamore tree over the next few months (and they were kind enough to worry about my particular veggie plot). Hurrah!!! More light, more rain, more veggies. A bit of a shame about the tree but maybe they'll plant something lovely in its stead.

Fecundity

2009-08-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

After three weeks away the garden has exploded, or at least it seems that way after a bit of an absence.

The patty pan squash in particular is growing like mad, although it mainly produces male flowers at the moment. The back one has some fruit set but they are still small. It's nearly suffocating the dwarf zucchini, it's absolutely ginormous -- I wished they didn't take up so much room. The tomatoes have set masses of trusses and are doing their ripening as fast as they can in English weather. The raspberries have set fruit -- again! -- great stuff for the first year.

A few cucumbers have appeared with the promise of a few more. Perfect amount, in fact. Trellising them has also worked out pretty well.

Lifted the potatoes which were a bit of a disappointment - the slugs did their damage to the leaves too early. I may be better off buying them instead of growing them myself. Beans are doing great on the other hand - lots to be harvested over the coming weeks.

Need to harvest more lettuce and white beetroot before they bolt. All in all, a wonderful experiment to see what grows well and what doesn't -- and where the best places are to plant things.

A day of sunshine and thundery showers

2009-07-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

For Sharon.

first real harvest of sorts

2009-07-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

I realise I have been spoilt in Portland: everything grows so much faster there. Nevertheless, my first harvest in London today, apart from picking the occasional mange touts and raspberry.

I pulled up some white beetroot which I intend to roast tonight alongside other vegetables and use the leaves as treats for the guinea pigs and as an ingredient for an omelette. Also a handful of mange touts, a little bit of escarole and a few raspberries.

The potatoes I was growing in a pot had all their leaves chewed off so I decided to lift what was there. Delightful little ones (which I expected with "Mimi") which I think will go very nicely roasted with the beets. Looking forward to the ones that grow in the soil and have escaped snail and slug attacks... Also found a few ripe brambles as I was poking around the garden which is an added bonus.

Speaking of snail and slug attacks, the zucchini haven't been doing so great, especially the far one. I was wondering why that should be -- they get enough water, sun, etc. -- when I noticed that the lower part of the stem -- the bit resting on the ground -- was basically missing. London gastropods are bloody vicious.

Other than that the garden is doing quite nicely: it's warm but also rains a lot, evidence of fruit setting, the promise of more to harvest.

PS. Defensive bamboo sticks successful. So successful that I poked myself tending to the cucumbers.

First raspberry

2009-07-04T04:37:00.001-07:00

The first raspberry ripened and what a whopper it was! It disappeared into my mouth soon after this picture was taken...delicious!

On other news the tomatoes are growing tall and a bit lanky - probably because I mistakenly planted them in a more shaded spot than I anticipated it being (putting the potatoes in the sunniest spot *sigh*). Oh well, I'll know for next year.

I think the last few warm days, plenty of water and the black plastic covering helped the Patty Pan squash a lot.

Rest of veg doing fine. Beets growing (may harvest one or two soon), cucumbers doing their thing.

I swear you can actually see the beans growing if you stand there long enough.

more news from the front line

2009-06-23T01:11:00.000-07:00

Back to the potatoes I see. Need more kebab sticks. Look at that little overgrown bit in the back - doesn't that look nice and private, ideal for a secluded cat toilet?

update from the front line

2009-06-20T05:17:00.000-07:00

Yep, cat moved on to a different spot, this time nearly pooing on top of the zucchini starts. A plastic sheet has gone on that bed now too. Wondering where the enemy will strike next.

Mange Tout and Vlad the Impaler

2009-06-19T05:22:00.000-07:00

I had my first Mange Tout (aka snow peas) from the garden last night (just in case you think they look anemic, they are a yellow variety). OK, there were only three of them but they were delicious. Can't wait for more.

On other news, I am battling with a neighbourhood cat who insists on pooing in my garden. Not only is it annoying to remove big, foul jobbies at least twice a day (what are they feeding this cat???) but also it's getting close to scratching out my patty pan squash starts. So, last night I finally snapped and decided to cover up the bed with plastic - not only should that stop the fouling but also keep down weeds.

Partial success ensued. No fouling on bed but right next to it (twice!), nearly digging out the beans.

I've upped the ante by putting bamboo kebab sticks into the soil (similar to miniature medieval defences). Hopefully that will stop that in that spot. I fear though that the cat will shift around, finding another place. Maybe I should impale fake cat heads on the sticks. Also considering buying cayenne pepper in bulk. And a good watergun.

cloches

2009-06-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

In an effort to keep the neighbourhood cats from scratching out my cucumbers, the snails and slugs from getting to them and also to speed up the germination process (it dropped 10 degrees Celsius over the last few days and it is cool, cold even, at night), I took some take-away containers and bottles and made impromptu cloches out of them. Good results so far - all of the cucumbers and patty pan squashes have now come up.

The zucchini are a bit slow but not far behind. I can see a little bit of green just trying to break through the surface in one place and I am trying the cloche method in another. Rain - finally - last night and a good amount of it. That'll help too.

One of the tomatoes is about to flower. I can see a little mange tout forming (I expected more pea-like flowers so missed it initially). However, my radishes don't appear to want to set a "bulb" and have nearly gone to seed. Probably not enough watering when it was hot. More pretty flowers though until I can harvest something.

come on, grow!

2009-05-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

Update on tomatoes: Managed to save at least one of each but still puny. In the meantime, I bought four plants from the garden centre (Sungold, Sweet Millions, Plum Titania Improved (how so?) , and a beefsteak tomato the label of which I lost cycling home).

Then there is the fruit. Pruned the greengage slightly but still quite a bit of fruit hanging on it. A few small pears on the horizon. Raspberries show signs of blossoms. It will only be a handful but for the first year that is not too bad. Also noticed something that looks like brambles growing wild yet respectfully on one side of the garden.

The other stuff is getting on but I'm getting a bit impatient. Peas are climbing, beans are growing, white beetroots are finding their way. Few more rows of radishes, endive, welsh onion and more beets. With the nice weather though they should go into a growth spurt soon enough. Half of gardening life is waiting - now I am waiting for the zucchini and cucumbers to come up. All in good time, it's only the end of May. In the meantime, I can enjoy some flowers.

I knew it...

2009-05-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have given up on my tomatoes. Small, spindly - and when I put them out to harden off (hoping for sun to inspire them to so something) half of them were scratched out by a cat. I'll see what I can salvage but I'm afraid not much. Last year this will happen, from now on I am sticking to buying tomato plants.

Other than that, some mange touts are managing to outgrow whatever it is eating them. I sowed some more in the hope that the snails get full first. Radishes are doing great, endive not so much. Some beans have come through but too early to tell if they'll fall victims to voracious predators (I've done a second sowing to fill up the blank spots I left). White beets are now thinned out, they may actually surprise me. Potatoes are huge and dandy. Welsh onions are just...there. More second sowings have gone in, along with the first direct sowings of cucumber, zucchini and squash.

Garden was overgrown by weeds in three weeks of not doing anything much. It's surprising how quickly they can grow when vegetables seem to only struggle along.

One good thing though - when weeding I discovered an ornamental clover I got some years ago from my now 100-year-old great-aunt. I had feared it lost but there it was, small but yet flowering. It meant a lot to me.

snails and other pests

2009-05-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Something is nibbling my mange tout, so I've been outside late at night with a torch and yes, it is snails. Two little seedlings have already had their tops nipped off. I hope the other ones outgrow their enemies quickly.

The pear tree is getting hammered this year. It seems there are more greenflies around than usual, which descended mostly on the growing tips. Instead of using any chemicals I decided to just remove them mechanically to give the buds a chance to open. Some of the unfurled leaves have already holes in them from a tiny green caterpillar. Again, mechanical removal may have done the trick.

I'm away from the garden for two weeks and entrusted care of both outside beds and inside starts to toxicfingers, after leaving detailed instructions. I'm sure everything will be ok, right?

String Theory

2009-04-26T05:54:00.000-07:00

Had enough time (and motivation) today to put some string up for the mange tout to climb on. Not before time, they are stretching up. Not the prettiest of constructions but I hope that it'll get covered up soon.

I also put some cucumbers, patty pan squash and zucchini in pots to plant out in a few weeks. While I was at it I also sowed some pole beans directly - if they don't get going I'll have plenty of time to sow more - and I left some space for more in a couple of weeks.

Other than that there are now definite signs of growth in the potatoes, raspberries and white beetroot. The greengages appear to have set fruit and barring any infestation or weird weather it looks like there will be quite a few in summer. The herb garden is doing fine - although the lemon balm a bit too well. Anyone got any ideas what to do with it other than make tea?

Had no rain and sunny weather for quite some time and I should have watered the vegetables earlier. I think the forecast for tomorrow is showers but I'll give it a good soaking later on nonetheless.

germination

2009-04-19T02:12:00.000-07:00

The tomato seedlings are in. I would say that the germination rate was somewhere below 50%, with Ildi and Tigerella particularly failing. So that's the lot I have to live with, which, considering that I don't have enough space for all of them anyway, is possibly a Good Thing. I was very pleased with the serrano pepper (free seeds from Mexican restaurant Wahaca, originally mistaken for matches). I also got a geranium cutting from my upstairs neighbour.

The seedlings outside the house are doing fine too. The radishes have all come up (I sowed them too thickly in hindsight) and the lettuces are peeping out too.

The white beetroot are just starting to emerge, can't wait to see how they get on (ok, so the picture looks like it's just dirt but honestly they are there).

The mange tout have all come up, no slug damage yet. Excellent. Still waiting for evidence of the Welsh onion though.

The raspberry show strong growth, both from the canes and shoots coming up from the roots. I cleaned out my fireplace and scattered the ash around. Not sure how much good it'll do but can't do any harm.

Need to remember to sow cucumber indoors this weekend. I should really check my plant list more often as I just noticed that I also wanted to start patty pan squash and the zucchini off in pots. It's still quite slow in the garden but with the English weather it's good to give tender things a headstart.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

A wet but reasonable mild Easter weekend. The rain has done wonders for seeds (and weeds). The radishes have emerged but none of the other things I sowed have shown themselves (to be expected, really).

The miniature pear tree at my deck has opened up its blossoms. Hopefully I get some fruit this year.

The tomato seeds are showing mixed results: Ildi and Tigerella are very slow to germinate but I may still get one or two plants out of them. Orangeberry, Costoluto and Red Pear are doing ok, even San Marzano finally cooperated. Not sure if it is the toilet roll method or just the seeds. My money is on the seeds.

I have been reading Digging for Victory: Wartime Gardening with Mr.Middleton which is very interesting. It features lots of Derris powder (I don't think you can even buy that anymore). It really surprised me how much he talks about buying seed instead of seed-saving (I know my great-aunt was a very committed seed saver for everything, including tomatoes). It also reminds me how much more space gardeners seemed to have had - a recommendation for a small garden is to grow an apple, a pear and a plum tree along with 30 ft rows of potatoes, beans etc. Very interesting storage methods: the "clamp" which is basically a straw-thatched earthen mound to keep potatoes, carrots, etc. I think that is part of the problem with urban gardens - not a lot of space to either grow or store. It has reminded me though that I should really look into pruning my greengage tree - no idea how but it may improve the way it is growing and also the amount of fruit it sets. I like reading about gardening, I learn something new every time.

first sowing activity in the garden

2009-04-04T11:25:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the day of streetcar first use and the Big Compost Getting: 8x70 litre bags, which gave a good covering for the planting area. And then I didn't do anything for a week, except put the raspberries in.

The tomatoes seeds are a bit slow in coming up and I just re-sowed Ildi, Tigerella and San Marzano today. The other varieties were ok, just those are a bit hesitant. The aubergine didn't want to come out either. That's why I usually don't grow these things from seed, I find it a disappointing experience, almost crushing. The toilet roll method may not be the best way to go.

Today was nice, sunny and warm which encouraged hanging out in the garden for a while. So I finally planted the potatoes and the Mange Tout which probably could have been happily outside for a couple of weeks already. I also sowed some rows of Welsh onion, white beetroot, radish and endive. In this weather it is tempting to start early but I bet we have a few more cold days ahead.

raspberries

2009-03-25T05:43:00.001-07:00

Oops. I forgot that I ordered some raspberry canes. They arrived today and should also go in soon. They are Joan J (which I try to convince myself are named after Joan Jett...), an autumn-fruiting variety which is said to produce fruit in its first year on newly produced shoots. I love raspberries and already I am dreaming of raspberry cake (made the German way), raspberry muffins, raspberries on my cereal...yum.

Failed chores and sowing

2009-03-22T05:57:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately I am running way behind on gardening chores. I was going to book a streetcar to go to the local DIY centre yesterday to get some compost but a) all cars were already booked (my own fault for leaving it so late) and b) according to their web site the shop location is out of all big bags of compost (a fact that I cannot quite believe). So I need to do it next weekend which means that my potatoes and mange touts are going in a bit later than I had hoped.

However, the first seeds are in. I sowed a serrano pepper that Karesansui-san passed on to me. I also planted my six varieties of tomatoes and some seeds from my one pack of aubergine. I am using the "toilet roll method" - the cardboard core cut in half and filled with compost. Usually I either go for the tray method or scratch all the little pots I have together but this year I am willing to try something new. The idea is that you can just plant the whole thing out and the cardboard rots down. I have also heard some negative reports that the glue or something in the cardboard may inhibit germination. Let's see what happens.

Happy equinox

2009-03-21T04:47:00.000-07:00

Blossoms on my greengage tree.