Planted!

Finally the weather is improving and I had some time so the great planting exercise of 2012 was launched. Everything went in at once because it's really late in the gardening year to get going.

Although it doesn't look like much at the moment, I got the tomato plants and the lemon cucumber plants in there, along with two different kinds of mixed salad leaves and what I believe may be some raddichio (the packet it came in was not in English). Also I direct-sowed some climbing beans.

In the back of the garden we have rows of carrots, white beetroot and kale, topped off with patty pan squash, zucchini, and a mysterious plant which could be one or the other (a snail ate the label off the pot so I couldn't tell).

I may have to invest in a bigger watering can because the hosepipe ban is still in operation (and the hosepipe connector doesn't fit onto the tap anymore anyway since I changed the tap). Now let's hope for some nice weather, and hopefully my bamboo defences will deter the cats from digging up the seeds and the snails and slugs will leave the starts alone.

Autumn yet?

Didn't manage to post something last weekend when I was actually doing the work in the garden. It really felt autumnal then but of course the English weather threw a googlie this weekend with pleanty of sunshine and high temperatures.



Anyway last week I ripped up the tomatoes (damn that blight) and consigned the beans to non-harvesting mode (only waiting for beans for sowing next year now). Found a patty pan squash which had sprung up unnoticed. The only things that are left now are raspberries, kale, carrots, some beetroot (mainly for the leaves) and patty pan squash (I live in hope). I have some potatoes tucked away and a the world's tiniest Turk's Turban squash is growing up the fence.

Had a good browse through the seed catalogues and I think I got some ideas for next year...October is usually ordering month.

Definitely a month ahead...

A longish post before I go away for a week and everything shrivels up - it's going remarkably well and the garden is a full month ahead.

The evidence: the first raspberries. I checked back over the blog and the last two years the first few ripened end of June/beginning of July instead of beginning of June.

Strawberries also ripening in the pot and I picked a couple - so sweet! I fear however that the snails are getting to them before I will, even the copper tape doesn't seem to stop them.


The squashes, cucumbers and tomatoes are growing well, too, although they could do with more watering. I ended up with three different kinds of cucumbers (lemon, ridge and "Delta Star F1" mini cucumber) alongside my six varieties of tomatoes (the first ones are now flowering). Patty pan squashes are only two varieties, to keep it simple ;)




In the other bit of veg garden there are the curly kale (starting to curl), the beetroot, carrots and leafy lettuce mix (need to remember to pick before it bolts) and the pole beans (getting there but no Jack and the Beanstalk material).




Overall the garden is looking very nice. Very "orderly" - veg on the left, flowers on the right. The level beyond the curved path hides more veg and flowers. Now I do hope that it rains a bit over the next week so it doesn't all die...

May...or June?

This weather is crazy. It's been so warm and, especially, dry that everything is at least a month in advance. The kniphofia - Red Hot Poker - is already coming out and I have this feeling that all the flowers are going to be over and done with in a month. This is also bad news for the veg. I'm struggling to keep up with watering. One of the cucumber is really not looking happy. However, the germination of the lemon cucumbers was a bit hit-and-miss so there may be an underlying problem anyway. I also bought a ridge cucumber in the local shop today to see how that will do.


However, the gamble with the tomatoes and patty pan squash last month paid off. They are not that big yet but then again it's still early days. I spotted the first flower buds on one of the tomatoes today. I managed to mix them all up and didn't label them so it'll be a surprise when they ripen.



The herbs love this weather! The fennel, thyme, oregano and purple sage are nearly taking over!

The rest are also making progress. Kale (lost one to the snails), pole beans, and my rows of beetroot, carrots and salad mix are doing quite well. And just in case you are wondering - the bamboo BBQ sticks are cat defences.





So... all in all not bad but I wish it would rain now and again - overnight and then stop in the morning ;)

Glorious spring and early planting

I'm chancing it this year by planting out my tender plants early - a bit risky before "Cold Sophie" (May 15th) - but the weather has been really clement and they may actually do better in the ground than in pots. I still have some cloches on standby should it really get cold (and also to keep the snails at bay).

So I have six different kinds of tomatoes:


Two different kinds of patty pan squash:


And cucumbers:


I also have some kale starting up, another cucumber and some chilli plants:


I have also direct-sowed white beetroot, carrots and mixed salad leaves. The pole beans "Panthenon" have also been planted. Not bad going for Easter weekend!

Tidying up and first shoots

Walking through the garden taking stock. Some semi-hardy plants like my Solanum alba have dropped some leaves after the deep cold. I also wonder if my Fuchsias grown against a sheltered wall have survived. Hope that they will perk up again.


I have decided that I just can't keep up anymore with the ivy growing up my wall which was initially planted to hide an ugly downpipe. So I cut it off to wither away and dug most of the roots out. I am thinking of growing a jasmine instead which is much easier to handle and will also provide a nice scent, or go with another Solanum.


I only noticed a week or so ago that the huge sycamore tree in my neighbour's garden has been pruned. Most of the branches are gone with only two big ones remaining - one of them still is a bit over my garden but very high up. I'm not sure if they'll take it all down or leave it like that but it's already a big improvement in terms of light. I gathered together the trimmings that fell into my garden so I should have plenty of kindling and a few logs when they are dried out.

Browsing through another gardening catalogue I came across two things that piqued my interest: first, curly kale. I always liked to eat it but have never grown it. Second, grafted tomatoes (a tasty variety grafted on to a vigorous root stock). Who knew such a thing existed! I will stick to normal seeds though.



In final news, I have spotted garlic shoots (along with shoots of the hyacinths and daffodils). It's nice to see something growing in this cold and damp season.