We spent this morning topping up half of the strawberry bed with more topsoil: it's now ready for planting. The other half wants topping up with compost/manure, as it'll receive rhubarb crowns (which want lots and lots of organic matter), but that will wait.
In addition to another pair of cauliflowers, and a handful of courgettes, we also picked the first of our runner beans, and lifted the first celeriac. The celeriac's a little small, really, but made a very tasty soup for lunch.
Anticipating making the flower beds in the sheltered corner of the garden, we dug a hole (slightly randomly positioned) in that corner, to assess the ground. Not good. There's about 25cm of good topsoil, but below that is hardpan clay. This was somewhat expected, as the ground gets wet during autumn and winter, but it's probably worse than I thought. It probably means we'll have to bring in new soil, and may have to install some drainage aids.
Better, though, was our discovery during an afternoon walk of a damson tree: we now have a big tub of damsons, and the same of blackberries—the first of the autumn. We reckon that the apples are nearly ready, so we might have a weekend of chutney and jam in ten days time.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Monday, 29 August 2011
Midlands
As mentioned, we've been away for the weekend, visiting Liz's grandmother in Ludlow. In addition to stealing cuttings and divisions from her garden, we also went to Witley Court for a day.
The grounds, a magnificent country estate, contain the ruins of the 19th century manor house (itself a renovation of a Jacobean house, in turn built over a medieval property) that was burnt out in 1937 and never repaired. Now owned by English Heritage, it's a shell of a building, fascinating for a depiction of the type of building. The grounds are in the process of being restored, and still contain two fountains (one working).
The box hedging for the parterres was grown from cuttings taken from the original 1850's planting. When restoration began in the early 2000's, these were—to say the least—overgrown. The new plants are more typical of box hedging (6" high). However, the restoration work has produced a surplus of plants, which were for sale. We are, therefore, now the proud possessors of 18 box plants dating from the same period that the house was built: perfect stock for our own herb garden hedging. I'll work on taking cuttings and increasing the number over the next few years.
Less excitingly, we also called in at three garden centres on the way home (Dobbies, Percy Throwers, and our local Armitages), and picked up a trio of lemon cypresses, for the front garden.
Witley Court (© Ian (2011))
The Perseus & Andromeda Fountain (© Ian (2011))
Nesfield's South Parterre and the restored Perseus & Andromeda Fountain, looking towards the South Portico (© Ian (2011))
The East Parterre, with the Flora Fountain (© Ian (2011))
Gazenias in the East Parterre (© Ian (2011))
The grounds contained a couple of living willow sculptures, including this one, which caught our eye.
Willow tunnel (© Ian (2011))
Less excitingly, we also called in at three garden centres on the way home (Dobbies, Percy Throwers, and our local Armitages), and picked up a trio of lemon cypresses, for the front garden.
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Potatoes by Starlight
As we're away for the weekend, and leaving straight from work tomorrow, we had to get organized tonight, which involved checking that nothing needed picking or harvesting from the vegetable garden before we went.
It was relatively successful, to start with: a good handful of courgettes, another of peas, and a few runner beans (only just starting to crop). One or two cauliflowers will probably be ready next week.
Then disaster struck. We realised that the maincrop potatoes—mainly the Golden Wonder—have been hit by blight. Not too seriously, but definitely. The Druid were asymptomatic, but a lot of Golden Wonder foliage was showing the brown spots, and collapsing. Unfortunately, this was about 8 o'clock, and light was failing, but there was nothing for it: the potatoes had to come up. If left until we're back home, then we could be left with no crop, or un-storable tubers.
So, with the aid of a torch each, we've lifted all the potatoes. It's probably only a week before we'd intended to do so anyway, but I'd rather expected to do it in the light. Daylight, I mean: it's almost (August 29th) a new moon, so there was only a bit of starlight and twilight to guide us.
Still; there appears to be approximately 50kg of Druid, and about 25kg of Golden Wonder. At this moment, I strongly doubt we'll grow Golden Wonder again: it's more floury than we like, and the russeted skin isn't a favourite. Also, the yield is a little disappointing—no better than the earlies, and it's taken up space for two months longer. In better news, though, the Druid seems excellent. We experimented with two row spacings, and the bigger spacing appears to have been worth doing. Twice the spacing, but the yield of those six plants is roughly half the total from all twenty. They also seem to have good skins, and there are some monster tubers; the foliage was also strong and tall, although it needed nets to restrain it to the beds. A likely 2012 choice, I think.
A late night, though: we'll wash them and check them over next week.
It was relatively successful, to start with: a good handful of courgettes, another of peas, and a few runner beans (only just starting to crop). One or two cauliflowers will probably be ready next week.
Then disaster struck. We realised that the maincrop potatoes—mainly the Golden Wonder—have been hit by blight. Not too seriously, but definitely. The Druid were asymptomatic, but a lot of Golden Wonder foliage was showing the brown spots, and collapsing. Unfortunately, this was about 8 o'clock, and light was failing, but there was nothing for it: the potatoes had to come up. If left until we're back home, then we could be left with no crop, or un-storable tubers.
So, with the aid of a torch each, we've lifted all the potatoes. It's probably only a week before we'd intended to do so anyway, but I'd rather expected to do it in the light. Daylight, I mean: it's almost (August 29th) a new moon, so there was only a bit of starlight and twilight to guide us.
Still; there appears to be approximately 50kg of Druid, and about 25kg of Golden Wonder. At this moment, I strongly doubt we'll grow Golden Wonder again: it's more floury than we like, and the russeted skin isn't a favourite. Also, the yield is a little disappointing—no better than the earlies, and it's taken up space for two months longer. In better news, though, the Druid seems excellent. We experimented with two row spacings, and the bigger spacing appears to have been worth doing. Twice the spacing, but the yield of those six plants is roughly half the total from all twenty. They also seem to have good skins, and there are some monster tubers; the foliage was also strong and tall, although it needed nets to restrain it to the beds. A likely 2012 choice, I think.
A late night, though: we'll wash them and check them over next week.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Green Manure
Hmm: six weeks earlier than last time. Having cleared the onions last week, there's a patch of ground that now won't be resown with crops until the spring. Some of it will have spring cabbages, when they're big enough to transplant. In the remainder, I've sown two more rows of salad leaves, and two of radishes, but the rest (about 2–3 blocks) with green manure. This is a winter mix of red clover, crimson clover, mustard, and Italian ryegrass: it should get growing before the winter bites, and will serve four functions.
We'll hoe and dig in the plants in the spring, before the set seed. It didn't work brilliantly last year, I think because we only had the beds finished in time to sow the seed in late October. But with a month to get growing, I hope for greater success.
- Weed suppression: the clovers smother weeds;
- Nitrogen fixing: the clovers' roots take nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix it in the soil; the ryegrass helps release it gradually next season;
- Organic matter: the leafy bulk of the plants, and especially the mustard, add organic matter to the soil when they're dug in;
- Soil stabilization: bare soil leaches nutrients in the winter rain, but having the manure roots growing reduces/prevents this.
We'll hoe and dig in the plants in the spring, before the set seed. It didn't work brilliantly last year, I think because we only had the beds finished in time to sow the seed in late October. But with a month to get growing, I hope for greater success.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Patchwork Exhibition
We had my parents visiting for the weekend, and had a pleasant and relaxing time with them. We discovered the Bankfield Museum, which is an unassuming gem outside Halifax. It currently has an exhibition of patchwork by members of a local quilting group: there are some beautiful, and innovative pieces on show. There are also permanent exhibitions of textiles, a Duke of Wellington's Regiment museum, a costume gallery, and a toy gallery. It's well worth a visit.
We made a seriously tasty apple and almond pudding cake, too, which I will endeavour to load onto the recipe page when I get round to it.
We made a seriously tasty apple and almond pudding cake, too, which I will endeavour to load onto the recipe page when I get round to it.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Onions
The onions have been gently collapsing for a few weeks, and although I would ideally leave them outside to dry and ripen, the weather doesn't look favourable. It's probably going to be damp for the next week or so, and I don't want the bulbs rotting.
To avoid this, we've lifted them, and put them on racks in the dining room to dry out. It'll mean the room smells rather onion-y for a while, but there you go. We normally eat in the kitchen, anyway...
Yield seems good: there were only about a dozen that were smaller than one-meal in size, and many that were two- or three-meal bulbs. We'll weigh and count them when they're ready. However, I'm leaning to the conclusion that the Hyred are smallest; the New Fen Globe were largest. They also bolted far less—I don't think any formed flower stems, but there were probably 4 Hyred, and a couple of Autumn Golds that did.
To avoid this, we've lifted them, and put them on racks in the dining room to dry out. It'll mean the room smells rather onion-y for a while, but there you go. We normally eat in the kitchen, anyway...
Yield seems good: there were only about a dozen that were smaller than one-meal in size, and many that were two- or three-meal bulbs. We'll weigh and count them when they're ready. However, I'm leaning to the conclusion that the Hyred are smallest; the New Fen Globe were largest. They also bolted far less—I don't think any formed flower stems, but there were probably 4 Hyred, and a couple of Autumn Golds that did.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Raspberry Supports
Well, the wood's been sitting there for five months, and the raspberry beds have been nominally finished for longer (nearly a year), but the raspberry beds are now complete. Really.
Except for re-stitching the nets where the old stitching has split. One day, maybe, they'll be done.
However, I have now added the horizontal supports that allow us to stretch wires along the beds, onto which we have tied the raspberry stems. They're about 70 and 130cm above ground level, which is about right for the current height of the canes, but can be moved later if needed. I'm glad to have this done: some of the canes were getting a bit battered by wind, especially the tallest (about six foot now).
Liz collected some new flowers for the house.
We managed to squeeze some other odds and ends into the dry bit of the weekend (which began at 1500 on Sunday): repotting the Christmas tree (not looking happy—again). The last one didn't look well last summer, and eventually died. The replacement is now looking a bit bare at the bottom, which is unsettling, so we've replanted into a deeper pot, in hope.
The second-early potatoes (lifted a week ago) are now washed and ready to store. The space they liberated is partly re-sown: a patch of salad leaves, two rows of spring cabbages ('Frostie' F1; 3" by 6"), a couple of rows of Zlata radishes, and about 40 turnips ('Golden Ball'; 6" by 12" spacing). The cabbages are just there to germinate; we'll move them to their final spot once the potatoes currently occupying it are out. Everything else is a quick crop, and will be replaced in autumn/early winter by overwintering alliums. There's still about a square metre unused, between the turnips and the maincrop Golden Wonder potatoes, but otherwise we're still fully occupied.
The onions, though, are on their way out. Almost all the foliage has fallen over, and is yellowing. A bit of dry weather would help!
Except for re-stitching the nets where the old stitching has split. One day, maybe, they'll be done.
However, I have now added the horizontal supports that allow us to stretch wires along the beds, onto which we have tied the raspberry stems. They're about 70 and 130cm above ground level, which is about right for the current height of the canes, but can be moved later if needed. I'm glad to have this done: some of the canes were getting a bit battered by wind, especially the tallest (about six foot now).
Liz collected some new flowers for the house.
Mixed vase. © Ian (2011).
We managed to squeeze some other odds and ends into the dry bit of the weekend (which began at 1500 on Sunday): repotting the Christmas tree (not looking happy—again). The last one didn't look well last summer, and eventually died. The replacement is now looking a bit bare at the bottom, which is unsettling, so we've replanted into a deeper pot, in hope.
The second-early potatoes (lifted a week ago) are now washed and ready to store. The space they liberated is partly re-sown: a patch of salad leaves, two rows of spring cabbages ('Frostie' F1; 3" by 6"), a couple of rows of Zlata radishes, and about 40 turnips ('Golden Ball'; 6" by 12" spacing). The cabbages are just there to germinate; we'll move them to their final spot once the potatoes currently occupying it are out. Everything else is a quick crop, and will be replaced in autumn/early winter by overwintering alliums. There's still about a square metre unused, between the turnips and the maincrop Golden Wonder potatoes, but otherwise we're still fully occupied.
The onions, though, are on their way out. Almost all the foliage has fallen over, and is yellowing. A bit of dry weather would help!
Friday, 12 August 2011
Gladioli
Many of the gladioli that we planted in April came up (I've not counted), and four have put up flower stems. Given that it's quite windy at the moment, we've cut two to bring inside. Hopefully they'll continue flowering for a couple of months, so we should have a good supply of flowers to brighten the house.
Gladiolus (© Ian 2011)
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Conflicting Advice
We're thinking of ordering some bulbs and plants in the next month or so, and one that's caught our eye is Oxalis versicolour, or candy cane oxalis.
Based on the catalogue entry, they're hardy, and flower over the winter, so we thought of them for hanging baskets in the front. However, my research suggests they may not be hardy, and opinion on when they flower differs (late summer to autumn; early summer; winter).
If anyone has definitive advice (preferably for northern England), it'd be gratefully received...
'Candy canes' by Tanakawho
Based on the catalogue entry, they're hardy, and flower over the winter, so we thought of them for hanging baskets in the front. However, my research suggests they may not be hardy, and opinion on when they flower differs (late summer to autumn; early summer; winter).
If anyone has definitive advice (preferably for northern England), it'd be gratefully received...
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Cauliflowers
It's been a wet weekend, with rain most of Sunday, and a couple of showers on Saturday.
This did not deter. Yesterday, we started by pruning the flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) which is next to the path down to the kitchen garden. It's been neglected for some time, so we took out a lot of old wood, and reshaped it; hopefully it will reward us next year.
We also lifted the second-early potatoes (Nicola and Juliette), yielding about 40kg of tubers (about 1kg/plant). I'm a bit disappointed by the yield, which isn't any better than the first-earlies. That said, we do appear to have lost a relatively high number to mice. I'll weigh them more precisely when they're cleaned and ready to store.
In more exciting news, we found that two cauliflowers were ready. There are a further three that are getting close. We ate half of one on Saturday, and blanched-and-froze the other half. The pictured cauli remains in the fridge, for dinner on Monday.
On Sunday, we spent some time planning for the next round of planting: the overwintering onions and garlic will be on their way before long, and we've added seeds for some turnips ('Golden Ball'), overwintering spring onions ('White Lisbon Winter Hardy'), and spring cabbages ('Frostie F1'). This lead to us making a planting plan for next spring, which I'll digitize in time, so now we have a good idea of what we'll sow next year (and where) and, accordingly, what the fertilization needs will be this autumn.
A big seed order in October/November will be the result, as we'll obviously need more onions sets, seed potatoes, and new seeds for a number of other things (parsnips, leeks, mangetout, and beetroot are definites).
For now, I shall just revel in the beauty of my first cauliflower. It's the first time we've had them work.
This did not deter. Yesterday, we started by pruning the flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) which is next to the path down to the kitchen garden. It's been neglected for some time, so we took out a lot of old wood, and reshaped it; hopefully it will reward us next year.
We also lifted the second-early potatoes (Nicola and Juliette), yielding about 40kg of tubers (about 1kg/plant). I'm a bit disappointed by the yield, which isn't any better than the first-earlies. That said, we do appear to have lost a relatively high number to mice. I'll weigh them more precisely when they're cleaned and ready to store.
In more exciting news, we found that two cauliflowers were ready. There are a further three that are getting close. We ate half of one on Saturday, and blanched-and-froze the other half. The pictured cauli remains in the fridge, for dinner on Monday.
Cauliflower 'All Year Round' (© Ian (2011))
On Sunday, we spent some time planning for the next round of planting: the overwintering onions and garlic will be on their way before long, and we've added seeds for some turnips ('Golden Ball'), overwintering spring onions ('White Lisbon Winter Hardy'), and spring cabbages ('Frostie F1'). This lead to us making a planting plan for next spring, which I'll digitize in time, so now we have a good idea of what we'll sow next year (and where) and, accordingly, what the fertilization needs will be this autumn.
A big seed order in October/November will be the result, as we'll obviously need more onions sets, seed potatoes, and new seeds for a number of other things (parsnips, leeks, mangetout, and beetroot are definites).
For now, I shall just revel in the beauty of my first cauliflower. It's the first time we've had them work.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Wish-List
A plant was shown on a Gardeners' World we were watching tonight (though it's actually from a couple of months ago), and it rather caught my eye. One for the wish-list, I think. It's the South African night-scented phlox (though not a phlox), Zaluzianskya ovata or capensis.
They both have red-backed, white-faced flowers that open slightly in the morning, close in the full sun of day, and re-open in the evening when they're heavily fragrant. I think a drift in a rock garden would be very pretty.
Today is also the second anniversary of us moving into the cottage; I had hoped, whimsically, to time the 200th post with today, which would have worked if I'd got out into the garden last night, and had something to report. Never mind.
They both have red-backed, white-faced flowers that open slightly in the morning, close in the full sun of day, and re-open in the evening when they're heavily fragrant. I think a drift in a rock garden would be very pretty.
Zaluzianskya capensis by Sericea.
Today is also the second anniversary of us moving into the cottage; I had hoped, whimsically, to time the 200th post with today, which would have worked if I'd got out into the garden last night, and had something to report. Never mind.
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Strawberry Bed
At the end of last month, we started clearing a space for an extra strawberry bed (where I also hope to put a few rhubarb plants).
The 'Before' photo:
It appears we only work on this bed when it's very hot. It's been a very warm few days, and we've finished constructing the bed: I turned to soil on Friday, before building the bed on Saturday, when we also started to fill it (a couple of turf stacks that needed a home, and a few barrows of topsoil: more to follow).
I've also mown the lawn, and Liz has done a huge amount of weeding: the kitchen garden is really clear, and the front garden's been tidied, too. We've also lifted the first couple of onions (both Autumn Gold), which have weighed in at about 100–200 g. Very tasty, too. The crop should be ready in the next few weeks, and the foliage has started to yellow.
All photos and content © Ian (2011).
The 'Before' photo:
It appears we only work on this bed when it's very hot. It's been a very warm few days, and we've finished constructing the bed: I turned to soil on Friday, before building the bed on Saturday, when we also started to fill it (a couple of turf stacks that needed a home, and a few barrows of topsoil: more to follow).
The turves cut, and turned.
The posts in.
The boards attached, and soil levelled, ready for topping up.
I've also mown the lawn, and Liz has done a huge amount of weeding: the kitchen garden is really clear, and the front garden's been tidied, too. We've also lifted the first couple of onions (both Autumn Gold), which have weighed in at about 100–200 g. Very tasty, too. The crop should be ready in the next few weeks, and the foliage has started to yellow.
All photos and content © Ian (2011).
Sunday, 24 July 2011
First Earlies
We've been lifting first early potatoes for a while, and replanting second-cropping potatoes. This weekend, with some help from Hazel and Alex (who were visiting), we've lifted the remaining Rocket and Lady Christl, along with the potatoes that had come up in the fruit beds.
This came to about 45kg/100lb of potatoes, which has meant a lot of cleaning! We've now got about 90 days of potatoes lifted and ready to eat, and have planted out all of the second cropping seed potatoes (twenty of each of Vivaldi and Orla).
Potato Harvest - Lady Christl (© Ian (2011))
We had a good time with our guests, as well as making them lift potatoes, and the rest of the garlic (now drying, ready to plait later in the week), and it was good to see them. We were very lucky with the weather, and spent a fair time outside.
This came to about 45kg/100lb of potatoes, which has meant a lot of cleaning! We've now got about 90 days of potatoes lifted and ready to eat, and have planted out all of the second cropping seed potatoes (twenty of each of Vivaldi and Orla).
We had a good time with our guests, as well as making them lift potatoes, and the rest of the garlic (now drying, ready to plait later in the week), and it was good to see them. We were very lucky with the weather, and spent a fair time outside.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
More Carrots Sown
After taking out a few rows of carrots at the weekend, we had space to re-sow three rows of Early Nantes this evening. I also popped some cardboard collars on half the leeks, to see if it has any effect lengthening/blanching the stems. Yes, this is an experiment.
There were also another handful of peas to collect, and I took up another row (three plants) of Rocket potatoes. They seem to be keeping really well underground; minimal slug damage so far.
We also had to find somewhere for half a dozen spinach seedlings; lacking a good spot, we weeded around the smallest blueberries (still very little!), and put them in there. This necessitated digging up three of the potato plants that had been left unintentionally (no bad thing).
In weeding, I discovered that the end blueberry (Fruiting Dixi) had a small bunch of berries, which we hadn't spotted before. Very pleasing; it means four of the seven will have fruited this year (the two oldest, and two of the two-year-old plants we put in in 2009).
The seven are:
The first two came with us from our old garden, and are cropping well again this year. I need to decide how to make ericaceous compost or mulch, which these and the raspberries will benefit from.
Oh: there's updated data on the Weather page.
There were also another handful of peas to collect, and I took up another row (three plants) of Rocket potatoes. They seem to be keeping really well underground; minimal slug damage so far.
We also had to find somewhere for half a dozen spinach seedlings; lacking a good spot, we weeded around the smallest blueberries (still very little!), and put them in there. This necessitated digging up three of the potato plants that had been left unintentionally (no bad thing).
In weeding, I discovered that the end blueberry (Fruiting Dixi) had a small bunch of berries, which we hadn't spotted before. Very pleasing; it means four of the seven will have fruited this year (the two oldest, and two of the two-year-old plants we put in in 2009).
The seven are:
- Something unknown!
- Grover (the biggest)
- Top Hat
- Spartan
- Patriot
- Gold Traube
- Fruiting Dixi
The first two came with us from our old garden, and are cropping well again this year. I need to decide how to make ericaceous compost or mulch, which these and the raspberries will benefit from.
Oh: there's updated data on the Weather page.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Wet
A unrelentingly wet weekend, with it forecast to continue. However, we dashed out in the lighter bits, to get a few urgent things done. Another row of Rocket potatoes came up, making space for six more Vivaldi to go in. We brought in a big tub of peas, a couple of dozen carrots, and about six broad beans (not really ready, it transpires). We've picked the last of the red- and white-currants, and almost all of the raspberries. We'll need to prune the raspberries back, soon. When it's dry, I think.
We also managed to plant up the last two hanging baskets, with some petunias, cineraria, and lobelia. All seed-grown, I shall point out.
A rainy patch will probably be good, as everything will benefit from a good soak!
We also managed to plant up the last two hanging baskets, with some petunias, cineraria, and lobelia. All seed-grown, I shall point out.
A rainy patch will probably be good, as everything will benefit from a good soak!
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Autumn Planting Alliums
A brief mooch in the garden this evening, sowing some new carrot (Early Nantes) and beetroot seeds to replenish what we've taken up. We also collected some salad, kale, and spring onions (finally becoming a sensible size!). I don't know why the spring onions have taken so long to get going.
In addition, I have today ordered our autumn planting onions (100 'Radar' sets), garlic (3 bulbs of 'Germidour'; mild and good for storing), and a dozen cloves of Elephant Garlic (which is secretly a leek). All of these should arrive in August or September, ready to go straight into the ground.
The Radar should be ready May-July (ahead of next year's spring-planted onions, which will probably only be ready from August), and are pretty tough, overwintering well.
Germidour has about a dozen cloves per bulb, and a mild flavour. It's a soft-neck, which means it doesn't flower and stores better. Also, importantly (or not), it's easier to plait the garlic.
I've never grown Elephant Garlic, but want to try it for roasting during the winter months. In theory, it's a good candidate for a cash crop: the cloves cost about 75p each, but a bulb goes for about £4—and there should be 6–9 cloves per bulb. I'll probably keep at least a dozen cloves back for re-sowing.
In addition, I have today ordered our autumn planting onions (100 'Radar' sets), garlic (3 bulbs of 'Germidour'; mild and good for storing), and a dozen cloves of Elephant Garlic (which is secretly a leek). All of these should arrive in August or September, ready to go straight into the ground.
The Radar should be ready May-July (ahead of next year's spring-planted onions, which will probably only be ready from August), and are pretty tough, overwintering well.
Germidour has about a dozen cloves per bulb, and a mild flavour. It's a soft-neck, which means it doesn't flower and stores better. Also, importantly (or not), it's easier to plait the garlic.
I've never grown Elephant Garlic, but want to try it for roasting during the winter months. In theory, it's a good candidate for a cash crop: the cloves cost about 75p each, but a bulb goes for about £4—and there should be 6–9 cloves per bulb. I'll probably keep at least a dozen cloves back for re-sowing.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Lifting Garlic
Spent a couple of hours this evening tidying a few bits up. We pulled up a big bunch of carrots; those that are getting munched, or too close to their neighbours. Some of the Parmex are getting a little large, so we took out plenty of them. The Early Nantes (which we sowed at the start of April) are now respectable, so we may take more of these up and sow some more later.
The beetroot are getting proper sized (tennis-ball, or so), so expect more beetroot cooking. The peas are now in full flight, and the runner beans are just coming into flower, so I expect gluts of those two imminently. The broad beans will probably be ready to start picking this weekend.
One of the Orla I planted at the weekend is showing (already) above ground, so that will need earthing up.
Having run out of garlic, I pulled up one of the garlics that's been growing since last May. These went in when the vegetable beds didn't exist, and the fruit bushes were small. It wasn't the right time (oops), but they've coped just fine, and are now ready. The one I took up is a decent size bulb, so we'll probably lift the rest over the next week or two, as all the foliage is dying.
It's about time to order autumn planted (overwintering) onion sets, and new garlic (if I want to overwinter it), so I shall be doing that soon.
Oh—an addendum to the weekend's work: I planted out a couple of dozen beetroot seedlings, and replaced about half of the salad plants (which had gone to seed, and were no longer as tasty).
The beetroot are getting proper sized (tennis-ball, or so), so expect more beetroot cooking. The peas are now in full flight, and the runner beans are just coming into flower, so I expect gluts of those two imminently. The broad beans will probably be ready to start picking this weekend.
One of the Orla I planted at the weekend is showing (already) above ground, so that will need earthing up.
Having run out of garlic, I pulled up one of the garlics that's been growing since last May. These went in when the vegetable beds didn't exist, and the fruit bushes were small. It wasn't the right time (oops), but they've coped just fine, and are now ready. The one I took up is a decent size bulb, so we'll probably lift the rest over the next week or two, as all the foliage is dying.
It's about time to order autumn planted (overwintering) onion sets, and new garlic (if I want to overwinter it), so I shall be doing that soon.
Oh—an addendum to the weekend's work: I planted out a couple of dozen beetroot seedlings, and replaced about half of the salad plants (which had gone to seed, and were no longer as tasty).
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Pottering
It's been nearly eighteen months since I posted about my last weekend like this. Once again, Liz had to work, which left me to get on with bits and pieces.
I've sanded down our wooden chopping boards (including the large piece of worktop cut out for the draining sink), and (re-)oiled them. They've all needed doing for a little while, but I'd not got round to it. The biggest one (the new one) is rather large, and pretty heavy, as the worktop is dense oak, but quite attractive. The two biggest will come in very helpful when chutney making, which is always demanding of space.
I made a passing attempt at fixing the light above the bathroom basin (which has been flickering, and giving a disco-esque feel to the room; strobe lighting is not ideal when shaving). I've not been entirely successful, as I think a tube or igniter is going. Still; it's improved.
I re-weeded the vegetable beds (well, some of them): the onions needed doing, although they're much better than at the end of May, and I attacked the celeriac, leeks, and salad leaf bed while I was at it. The celeriac are growing well, and I will soon need to be watching for side-shoots forming: these need to be pinched out.
The lawn needed mowing, as it's been about ten days, so I've done my bit to help fill the compost heap. On the same note, I turned all three, and watered them, as they seemed a bit dry.
The fruit beds have been a bit swamped by unexpected potatoes that have sprouted from tubers left behind last year. These are a nuisance, and can't be helping the fruit bushes, so I've cut off all the foliage. With the haulms gone, the tubers should 'set', and be ready for lifting next weekend. I think we've got enough new potatoes (the Lady Christl and Rocket are still doing fine, and we're getting an average of a kilo per plant), so doing it this way means they should store. To that end, I've left the hessian sacks soaking in a bucket of weak bleach for a couple of hours, to make sure they're sterile.
As I've now pulled up nine Lady Christl, and three Rocket, I had space to put in twelve of the Orla and Vivaldi. These two (a first and second early, respectively) have been waiting in the wings (chitting in the study) while the first planting went in at the start of April. One can purchase 'second cropping' seed potatoes for new potatoes at Christmas—the producer holds them in optimal conditions, and they get to you about now. I wanted to try it myself (not least because the tubers are twice as expensive if they're second croppers), hence the waiting period in the study. The first dozen are, then, now in the ground, and hopefully will provide us with new potatoes in a couple of months.
Another pound or two of strawberries, a bowl of mini-peas, and a few beetroot all contributed to the weekend's food. The beetroot turned into a tasty hummus (courtesy of Hugh Fearlessly Eats-it-all).
It was also time to put the elder wine into a demi-john. Now, I had hoped that this wine—a blend of elderberry and elderflower—might oblige me by being a rosé. No such luck. The anthocyanins in elderberries are obviously quite robust, and the wine is definitely red. It may, I suppose, lighten, but it's unlikely to become a rosé. Never mind: the taste will be more important.
I've sanded down our wooden chopping boards (including the large piece of worktop cut out for the draining sink), and (re-)oiled them. They've all needed doing for a little while, but I'd not got round to it. The biggest one (the new one) is rather large, and pretty heavy, as the worktop is dense oak, but quite attractive. The two biggest will come in very helpful when chutney making, which is always demanding of space.
I made a passing attempt at fixing the light above the bathroom basin (which has been flickering, and giving a disco-esque feel to the room; strobe lighting is not ideal when shaving). I've not been entirely successful, as I think a tube or igniter is going. Still; it's improved.
I re-weeded the vegetable beds (well, some of them): the onions needed doing, although they're much better than at the end of May, and I attacked the celeriac, leeks, and salad leaf bed while I was at it. The celeriac are growing well, and I will soon need to be watching for side-shoots forming: these need to be pinched out.
The lawn needed mowing, as it's been about ten days, so I've done my bit to help fill the compost heap. On the same note, I turned all three, and watered them, as they seemed a bit dry.
The fruit beds have been a bit swamped by unexpected potatoes that have sprouted from tubers left behind last year. These are a nuisance, and can't be helping the fruit bushes, so I've cut off all the foliage. With the haulms gone, the tubers should 'set', and be ready for lifting next weekend. I think we've got enough new potatoes (the Lady Christl and Rocket are still doing fine, and we're getting an average of a kilo per plant), so doing it this way means they should store. To that end, I've left the hessian sacks soaking in a bucket of weak bleach for a couple of hours, to make sure they're sterile.
As I've now pulled up nine Lady Christl, and three Rocket, I had space to put in twelve of the Orla and Vivaldi. These two (a first and second early, respectively) have been waiting in the wings (chitting in the study) while the first planting went in at the start of April. One can purchase 'second cropping' seed potatoes for new potatoes at Christmas—the producer holds them in optimal conditions, and they get to you about now. I wanted to try it myself (not least because the tubers are twice as expensive if they're second croppers), hence the waiting period in the study. The first dozen are, then, now in the ground, and hopefully will provide us with new potatoes in a couple of months.
Another pound or two of strawberries, a bowl of mini-peas, and a few beetroot all contributed to the weekend's food. The beetroot turned into a tasty hummus (courtesy of Hugh Fearlessly Eats-it-all).
It was also time to put the elder wine into a demi-john. Now, I had hoped that this wine—a blend of elderberry and elderflower—might oblige me by being a rosé. No such luck. The anthocyanins in elderberries are obviously quite robust, and the wine is definitely red. It may, I suppose, lighten, but it's unlikely to become a rosé. Never mind: the taste will be more important.
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Swelling Fermentation Bucket
Just a quick note to record that the fermentation bucket full of elder rosé is starting to get going. The sealed lid is swelling, which means the yeast is busily converting sugar to carbon dioxide—and alcohol. At the weekend, I shall strain the must into a demi-john, and add the rest of the sugar. Half went in to the bucket (the 'elderflower' half); the second 750 g is for the 'elderberry' part of the wine.
We'll have to see whether this approach works!
We'll have to see whether this approach works!
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Summer House Party
We hosted a repeat of the post-Christmas get-together this weekend, with the same friends travelling up on Friday, and staying until today. Sadly, Katherine was struck down by a stomach bug, and couldn't make it, but Robert joined us this time (he couldn't make it in January). As before, much food was consumed and eaten, and we also enjoyed games of croquet and boules outside (the glorious weather held), and Twaddle and Chinese Chequers inside, as well as a walk on Saturday.
Everyone had left by early afternoon, and we've made the most of the last bit of holiday. A bit of tidying in the kitchen garden yielded a few trays of currants, and a kilo of strawberries, as well as a half-dozen carrots and a bowl of sugar-snap-size peas (they're not a mange tout/sugar snap variety, but we're eating them as such). We then popped out to collect a dozen heads of elderflowers, and set an experimental bucket of wine going: elder rosé. This is something I thought up last autumn and wanted to try, but have had to wait for the elderflowers, having frozen the elderberries I needed. My thinking is that a rosé based on the elderflower and elderberry wine would be interesting, as I find the latter has too much tannin, but the former has, naturally, none.
So, I halved both recipes, and combined them. We'll see what happens.
With the kilo of strawberries, we've tried making an elderflower and strawberry jam. Hazel made jars of this (and about six other jams) as favours at her wedding. It's a nice change from straight-up strawberry jam: hers was a little less sweet, and the floral addition worked really well. It seems to have set well, which I'm really pleased about: hopefully it will also taste good.
Everyone had left by early afternoon, and we've made the most of the last bit of holiday. A bit of tidying in the kitchen garden yielded a few trays of currants, and a kilo of strawberries, as well as a half-dozen carrots and a bowl of sugar-snap-size peas (they're not a mange tout/sugar snap variety, but we're eating them as such). We then popped out to collect a dozen heads of elderflowers, and set an experimental bucket of wine going: elder rosé. This is something I thought up last autumn and wanted to try, but have had to wait for the elderflowers, having frozen the elderberries I needed. My thinking is that a rosé based on the elderflower and elderberry wine would be interesting, as I find the latter has too much tannin, but the former has, naturally, none.
So, I halved both recipes, and combined them. We'll see what happens.
With the kilo of strawberries, we've tried making an elderflower and strawberry jam. Hazel made jars of this (and about six other jams) as favours at her wedding. It's a nice change from straight-up strawberry jam: hers was a little less sweet, and the floral addition worked really well. It seems to have set well, which I'm really pleased about: hopefully it will also taste good.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Biscuits and Bilberries
As planned, we spent the day with the smallest foster-child, to give Jenny and Philip a break while the girls were at school. I think it went well: he seems to have had a good time, and we managed to combine several useful activities with keeping him amused. We started by baking Shrewsbury Biscuits (a spiced currant biscuit), which he enjoyed cutting into cat-shapes (courtesy of a biscuit cutter we bought at Christmas). We had one each for lunch, but they're mainly for the weekend, when we've got a number of friends visiting.
We then dug up a potato plant (another Lady Christl), which was very exciting. For me, obviously, though I expect it's good fun if you're two, too. That was part of lunch, which was conducted as a picnic hiding inside an old oak tree up the lane, where Liz and her sister had a den about 15 years ago. Clambering into it was an adventure, only slightly distracted from by the Belted Galloway cattle (a great favourite) in the adjacent field.
On the way home, we even managed to pick a small tub of bilberries from the hedgerow. Who said a day spent looking after a two-year-old would be wasted?
We then dug up a potato plant (another Lady Christl), which was very exciting. For me, obviously, though I expect it's good fun if you're two, too. That was part of lunch, which was conducted as a picnic hiding inside an old oak tree up the lane, where Liz and her sister had a den about 15 years ago. Clambering into it was an adventure, only slightly distracted from by the Belted Galloway cattle (a great favourite) in the adjacent field.
On the way home, we even managed to pick a small tub of bilberries from the hedgerow. Who said a day spent looking after a two-year-old would be wasted?
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Paint and Potatoes
Last time we had a bit of time at home (at the end of April), I painted half of the window frames—I've now finished them, so all of the windows installed last year have had a coat of paint this year. Some touching-up is required for the insides, but that's much less urgent, as it can happen in rainy weather, so long as it's still reasonably warm. While I painted the frames, Liz was busy cleaning the glass, and that looks immeasurably better. I'll have to go up a ladder to do the first-floor ones later.
I also mowed the lawn, for the first time since marking the pond: the lifted-turf 'firebreak' works well. We also brought up some more of the Lady Christl potatoes: we've had a couple of plants up as new potatoes now. In theory, we should have started with the Rocket, but a Lady Christl was looking sad, so it came up first. They are delicious, and cook really quickly.
I also mowed the lawn, for the first time since marking the pond: the lifted-turf 'firebreak' works well. We also brought up some more of the Lady Christl potatoes: we've had a couple of plants up as new potatoes now. In theory, we should have started with the Rocket, but a Lady Christl was looking sad, so it came up first. They are delicious, and cook really quickly.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Space for More Strawberries
On the hottest day of the year, what do we choose to do, but start clearing the space for the strawberry/rhubarb bed?
Needless to say, we had to take a lot of breaks, and we only did a comparatively short day of work—but it was quite productive. We removed the three bushes in the way, and two 60kg-odd stones that were hidden behind them, and started to level the area. The shrubs are ready to chip, and the stones have been moved out of the way (under an adjacent bush: might move them later, but they're out of the way). We also marked out the bed with the normal sticks and string, and as soon as we have time, we can start knocking in the posts, and building the raised bed. It'll be filled with what's left of our last topsoil delivery, combined with spoil from the pond and compost.
Needless to say, we had to take a lot of breaks, and we only did a comparatively short day of work—but it was quite productive. We removed the three bushes in the way, and two 60kg-odd stones that were hidden behind them, and started to level the area. The shrubs are ready to chip, and the stones have been moved out of the way (under an adjacent bush: might move them later, but they're out of the way). We also marked out the bed with the normal sticks and string, and as soon as we have time, we can start knocking in the posts, and building the raised bed. It'll be filled with what's left of our last topsoil delivery, combined with spoil from the pond and compost.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Fruit Trees Planted
We finally finished digging the hole for the apple tree today: I was nearly there last week, and once I'd regained some strength, I was able to drag out the large stone (which, it transpires, is a slab of reinforced concrete), and clear up. Plenty of compost and topsoil later, and the apple tree is planted.
Surprisingly, when we then dug the hole for the cherry, it was almost easy. No massive boulders or sheets of metal lurked below the surface, and the tree was quite quickly at home. You never can tell. While Liz dug the hole, I finished cutting turves to mark the edge of the pond, this time marking the edge of the contiguous bog garden. This has let me take up the sticks and string, so I can mow the lawn right up to the lifted turf, and the pond will remain clearly marked until we're ready to dig.
It's been extremely hot, so we had to take a couple of breaks to sit and cool down, but before we collapsed at the end of the day, we measured up the strawberry/rhubarb bed, which we'd like to make a start on this week. It has the potential to be quite large, depending on how many of the overgrown shrubs we take out—it'll probably be about 4.5m, and we'll remove an unhappy looking hebe, as well as a cotoneaster and a patch of deadnettles. The cotoneaster is, in principle, quite an attractive one, with variegated leaves. Unfortunately, like the (also pretty, and purple-tinted) hebe, it's leggy, dead in the centre, and doomed.
Our supply of half-pigs looks unable to supply us imminently, so we also spent some time looking at the alternatives, and working out what we'd require this time. We're tempted to try making our own sausages, and—ideally—our own black pudding, though this is logistically tricky. One requires fresh blood, really (although frozen is possible, if the abattoir or butcher will start the preparation of it), but the pig itself usually arrives two to three days after slaughter, by which point the blood would hardly be fresh. It can also be tricky for the abattoir to separate the blood from 'your' pig from that of all the other slaughtered animals, and seeing as we're particular about the origin of our meat, that undermines the point. Fortunately, we've found a smallholding that might be able to supply a half pig, and we're enquiring about whether they can meet our (ahem) particular demands. And, admittedly, spent some time browsing mincers/sausage machines.
Surprisingly, when we then dug the hole for the cherry, it was almost easy. No massive boulders or sheets of metal lurked below the surface, and the tree was quite quickly at home. You never can tell. While Liz dug the hole, I finished cutting turves to mark the edge of the pond, this time marking the edge of the contiguous bog garden. This has let me take up the sticks and string, so I can mow the lawn right up to the lifted turf, and the pond will remain clearly marked until we're ready to dig.
It's been extremely hot, so we had to take a couple of breaks to sit and cool down, but before we collapsed at the end of the day, we measured up the strawberry/rhubarb bed, which we'd like to make a start on this week. It has the potential to be quite large, depending on how many of the overgrown shrubs we take out—it'll probably be about 4.5m, and we'll remove an unhappy looking hebe, as well as a cotoneaster and a patch of deadnettles. The cotoneaster is, in principle, quite an attractive one, with variegated leaves. Unfortunately, like the (also pretty, and purple-tinted) hebe, it's leggy, dead in the centre, and doomed.
Our supply of half-pigs looks unable to supply us imminently, so we also spent some time looking at the alternatives, and working out what we'd require this time. We're tempted to try making our own sausages, and—ideally—our own black pudding, though this is logistically tricky. One requires fresh blood, really (although frozen is possible, if the abattoir or butcher will start the preparation of it), but the pig itself usually arrives two to three days after slaughter, by which point the blood would hardly be fresh. It can also be tricky for the abattoir to separate the blood from 'your' pig from that of all the other slaughtered animals, and seeing as we're particular about the origin of our meat, that undermines the point. Fortunately, we've found a smallholding that might be able to supply a half pig, and we're enquiring about whether they can meet our (ahem) particular demands. And, admittedly, spent some time browsing mincers/sausage machines.
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Out-of-season Loft Insulating
I had some insulation left after packing out the utility room loft (after the frozen pipes at Christmas), so I've put it down in the loft above the main bedroom. It seems as good a place as any, seeing as the guest room and study are less heated, and the bathrooms' loft is pretty full of plumbing. That now means that loft has around 60cm of insulation, which seems plenty.
This was rather a hot day to be doing such things, but I had a couple of hours spare after an administrative day, and one in which we spent a couple of hours playing with the youngest foster-child. We're planning to spend the day looking after him on Wednesday, but wanted to have a preparatory visit (so he gets used to being just with us for less than a day). We're just at the start of a week off, so there was no mad urgency to get things done, which was rather nice!
This was rather a hot day to be doing such things, but I had a couple of hours spare after an administrative day, and one in which we spent a couple of hours playing with the youngest foster-child. We're planning to spend the day looking after him on Wednesday, but wanted to have a preparatory visit (so he gets used to being just with us for less than a day). We're just at the start of a week off, so there was no mad urgency to get things done, which was rather nice!
Incubation
We might have discovered why a tray of petunia didn't come up.
I didn't expect Chess to get broody, but it appears he thought the seeds needed incubating.
© Ian 2011
I didn't expect Chess to get broody, but it appears he thought the seeds needed incubating.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Bottled
The elderflower cordial we started at the weekend is ready, so I've strained the fruit, squished the juice out, and bottled the cordial. As before, it's in pint milk bottles, about three-quarters full (which we find a convenient quantity), and is now in the freezer.
The recipe calls for two days of steeping, but longer does work well. However, you have to be scrupulous about sterility. Given that I also make wine, this is something I'm used to!
The wine will need until, roughly, the weekend, before it gets strained into a demi-john. I'll probably try to get the elderflower rosé and hedgerow port going at the same time; the airing cupboard will then be full of demi-johns! Which is, perhaps, as it should be.
The recipe calls for two days of steeping, but longer does work well. However, you have to be scrupulous about sterility. Given that I also make wine, this is something I'm used to!
The wine will need until, roughly, the weekend, before it gets strained into a demi-john. I'll probably try to get the elderflower rosé and hedgerow port going at the same time; the airing cupboard will then be full of demi-johns! Which is, perhaps, as it should be.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Hellebores
We ordered them ages ago (last August), and they've just arrived: ten mixed hybridized hellebores. They're small ('jumbo plugs', which means a root ball about an inch across, and two tall), but that also means they were very good value, and I hope they'll grow on quickly over the summer. For now, I've just potted them on, into 9cm plastics. I love hellebores for giving us flowers at a dark patch, and I'm hoping to find some attractive variants in the mix. We'll see, this Christmas...
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
A Long Day Digging
Admittedly, I only spent a couple of hours digging, but it's the longest day of the year (the solstice was at about 1715). The hole for the apple tree is taking a long time to excavate, as there was—I discover—a large piece of iron sheet where I want the tree, as well as a big stone. The sheeting is out, but the big stone will have to wait. I'm worried that the same sort of problems will confront us when digging the pond, which may mean re-visiting the mini-digger idea. Which would, in principle, be fine—so long as the weather cooperated on the booked hire period!
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Turf Cutting
A weekend of unexpectedly favourable weather has meant we've got on well with a number of things. Least exciting was a spring-clean and bike-maintenance session. Never mind; needs must.
More interestingly, we finished digging a hole for the plum tree to go in (no, it's not the 'right' time of year to plant it out), having removed two large trugs of stones, bricks, and a square foot of corrugated iron from the spot we wanted. Plenty of compost, topsoil, and feed added, and the plum tree looks much happier. Liz then started on a hole for the apple tree, with my help when needed; meanwhile, I cut the turves marking the edge of the planned pond. This means that the sticks-and-string markers can come out (removing a trip-hazard, and one that might be nibbled by passing deer), and I can mow right up to the edge. It also makes it easier to see, so we can consider the shape, and be sure we're happy. I'll take and post a photo of progress, to also show the shape of the pond. Actually digging the pond is going to be quite an effort, based upon the two—much smaller—holes we've attempted for the fruit trees. The apple tree's hole is hard work; there are several large stones in the way, and we're only about half-way there.
Taking advantage of the dry day on Saturday, we collected up several dozen elderflower heads, and proceeded to make this year's elderflower cordial, and I started a batch of elderflower wine. We're making the cordial a couple of weeks earlier than last year, as the flowers are further ahead; the wine's about three weeks earlier. However, there are still plenty of flowers; I plan to make a batch of elderflower rosé in a week or so (half elderflower, half elderberry (from frozen stock)).
Sunday afternoon has been spent weeding, sowing some more spring onions and radishes, and harvesting some produce! We've been eating salad leaves and spinach for about three weeks, now: the salad leaves in the small central bed have been doing really well, and the spinach has grown quickly. The first lot of radishes are now nearing the size of tennis balls, so we've taken up the last ones to finish this week. The kale was planted too densely (deliberately), so we're now eating every other plant, to leave them at the proper spacing as they grow. The Brussels Sprouts had a better germination/growing-on rate than we expected, so they were also too dense. We've taken up about two-thirds, and will eat the young leaves (taste sprouts-like, and kale-y). We also brought up about eight of the baby carrots (a mix of Parmex and Early Nantes); there are going to be some peas this week, too. I'm also expecting us to run out of last year's potatoes this week, so we can lift some of the first earlies (which still haven't flowered, though I'm sure they should have)—it's all starting to pay off!
More interestingly, we finished digging a hole for the plum tree to go in (no, it's not the 'right' time of year to plant it out), having removed two large trugs of stones, bricks, and a square foot of corrugated iron from the spot we wanted. Plenty of compost, topsoil, and feed added, and the plum tree looks much happier. Liz then started on a hole for the apple tree, with my help when needed; meanwhile, I cut the turves marking the edge of the planned pond. This means that the sticks-and-string markers can come out (removing a trip-hazard, and one that might be nibbled by passing deer), and I can mow right up to the edge. It also makes it easier to see, so we can consider the shape, and be sure we're happy. I'll take and post a photo of progress, to also show the shape of the pond. Actually digging the pond is going to be quite an effort, based upon the two—much smaller—holes we've attempted for the fruit trees. The apple tree's hole is hard work; there are several large stones in the way, and we're only about half-way there.
Taking advantage of the dry day on Saturday, we collected up several dozen elderflower heads, and proceeded to make this year's elderflower cordial, and I started a batch of elderflower wine. We're making the cordial a couple of weeks earlier than last year, as the flowers are further ahead; the wine's about three weeks earlier. However, there are still plenty of flowers; I plan to make a batch of elderflower rosé in a week or so (half elderflower, half elderberry (from frozen stock)).
Sunday afternoon has been spent weeding, sowing some more spring onions and radishes, and harvesting some produce! We've been eating salad leaves and spinach for about three weeks, now: the salad leaves in the small central bed have been doing really well, and the spinach has grown quickly. The first lot of radishes are now nearing the size of tennis balls, so we've taken up the last ones to finish this week. The kale was planted too densely (deliberately), so we're now eating every other plant, to leave them at the proper spacing as they grow. The Brussels Sprouts had a better germination/growing-on rate than we expected, so they were also too dense. We've taken up about two-thirds, and will eat the young leaves (taste sprouts-like, and kale-y). We also brought up about eight of the baby carrots (a mix of Parmex and Early Nantes); there are going to be some peas this week, too. I'm also expecting us to run out of last year's potatoes this week, so we can lift some of the first earlies (which still haven't flowered, though I'm sure they should have)—it's all starting to pay off!
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Pondering
Although Sunday was rather wet, Friday (a day's leave) and Saturday were dry for reasonable stretches, so it's been a fairly effective weekend.
I started dismantling some more old pallets on Friday, to augment the compost bins with, while Liz weeded the onions. We didn't get all that far, unfortunately, before rain stopped play; we did, though, therefore sew the last curtain tie-backs for the kitchen. Saturday morning also started out wet, so we began the day by lifting the paperwhite narcissi that gave us some much-needed winter flowers. The flowers ended in January, but we gave the foliage as long as possible to die back, and fed the bulbs a few times (Chempak's low nitrogen #8, with NPK 12.5:25:25, to encourage root and flowers, but not foliage). The bulbs are now dry and dormant, so we've lifted them, cleaned them, and will put them somewhere cool and dark to wait out the summer. We started with 45, but there are several that have started to split, and have (currently joined) offspring forming, so hopefully next year the stock will be noticeably increased.
When the rain cleared, we got back outside, and continued where we'd left off. I finished assembling a third compost bay (a bit smaller than the first two, because of space constraint), and turned the contents of the existing bays (bay 2 into 3, then 1 into 2). The older heap (2) isn't doing as well—a bit dry, and not rotting very well, so I watered it after mixing it. Bay 1 was doing well: nice and hot, and rotting nicely, so hopefully it will go still better after aerating.
Liz's mammoth weeding session has left all the vegetable and fruit beds looking much better, although she's left with sore hands and back.
Sunday morning dawned clear, so we got straight outside to ponder our plans for the middle lawn. It's divided in two by the cover of the septic tank, which we have to build into our ruminations.
The Middle Lawn (from the north end).
It is, however, a very good size. We'd always wanted to keep the bigger, more level, more regular shaped part (the foreground above) for a 'games' lawn—somewhere large enough for badminton, short tennis, clock golf, boules, croquet, and the like. However, we've never checked whether it's actually the right size, rather than just looking about right. So, we dug out Liz's grandfather's length of rope, marked up for a badminton court, and set about laying it out. It's the circumference of the court, with marks for where the main lines go, so it makes it all rather easy. The lawn, it transpires, is approximately 7 feet short, but also about 7 feet wide; so the badminton court won't be quite regulation, but is eminently playable.
Yes, we checked it was playable. In wellies. And a breeze.
This, obviously, is excellent—the septic tank is immovable, and we don't want to reduce the beds. It won't be Olympic regulation size, but I'm not that fussed. We also checked croquet-suitability. It's a little small for serious use, but for a casual game, entirely satisfactory.
The culmination of this is that we can now go about laying the extra beds at the edges of this lawn, and remove the gorse/cotoneaster we don't want, knowing that the grass area is sufficient, and we don't need to revise our plan for which bit of lawn to leave large and quadrilateral.
We've also been intending to get our three pot-grown fruit trees (a plum, an apple, and a cherry) into the ground. They've not been really happy for the last 18 months, and we think they need to get out of their pots. Our master plan calls for a pond on the opposite side to the tank in the photo above—that's the foreground of the next photo. We've marked something tentative out with sticks'n'string (as normal), and we'll see how it feels. However, it's basically right, so I've lifted turves where the fruit trees will go, near the pond (yes, I know I'll need to clear leaves from the pond!). These appear like monumental mole hills in the photo—but as soon as it's dry for long enough, they'll be replaced with fruit trees.
Looking onto the Middle Lawn from the east corner.
I started dismantling some more old pallets on Friday, to augment the compost bins with, while Liz weeded the onions. We didn't get all that far, unfortunately, before rain stopped play; we did, though, therefore sew the last curtain tie-backs for the kitchen. Saturday morning also started out wet, so we began the day by lifting the paperwhite narcissi that gave us some much-needed winter flowers. The flowers ended in January, but we gave the foliage as long as possible to die back, and fed the bulbs a few times (Chempak's low nitrogen #8, with NPK 12.5:25:25, to encourage root and flowers, but not foliage). The bulbs are now dry and dormant, so we've lifted them, cleaned them, and will put them somewhere cool and dark to wait out the summer. We started with 45, but there are several that have started to split, and have (currently joined) offspring forming, so hopefully next year the stock will be noticeably increased.
When the rain cleared, we got back outside, and continued where we'd left off. I finished assembling a third compost bay (a bit smaller than the first two, because of space constraint), and turned the contents of the existing bays (bay 2 into 3, then 1 into 2). The older heap (2) isn't doing as well—a bit dry, and not rotting very well, so I watered it after mixing it. Bay 1 was doing well: nice and hot, and rotting nicely, so hopefully it will go still better after aerating.
Liz's mammoth weeding session has left all the vegetable and fruit beds looking much better, although she's left with sore hands and back.
Sunday morning dawned clear, so we got straight outside to ponder our plans for the middle lawn. It's divided in two by the cover of the septic tank, which we have to build into our ruminations.
The Middle Lawn (from the north end).It is, however, a very good size. We'd always wanted to keep the bigger, more level, more regular shaped part (the foreground above) for a 'games' lawn—somewhere large enough for badminton, short tennis, clock golf, boules, croquet, and the like. However, we've never checked whether it's actually the right size, rather than just looking about right. So, we dug out Liz's grandfather's length of rope, marked up for a badminton court, and set about laying it out. It's the circumference of the court, with marks for where the main lines go, so it makes it all rather easy. The lawn, it transpires, is approximately 7 feet short, but also about 7 feet wide; so the badminton court won't be quite regulation, but is eminently playable.
Yes, we checked it was playable. In wellies. And a breeze.
This, obviously, is excellent—the septic tank is immovable, and we don't want to reduce the beds. It won't be Olympic regulation size, but I'm not that fussed. We also checked croquet-suitability. It's a little small for serious use, but for a casual game, entirely satisfactory.
The culmination of this is that we can now go about laying the extra beds at the edges of this lawn, and remove the gorse/cotoneaster we don't want, knowing that the grass area is sufficient, and we don't need to revise our plan for which bit of lawn to leave large and quadrilateral.
We've also been intending to get our three pot-grown fruit trees (a plum, an apple, and a cherry) into the ground. They've not been really happy for the last 18 months, and we think they need to get out of their pots. Our master plan calls for a pond on the opposite side to the tank in the photo above—that's the foreground of the next photo. We've marked something tentative out with sticks'n'string (as normal), and we'll see how it feels. However, it's basically right, so I've lifted turves where the fruit trees will go, near the pond (yes, I know I'll need to clear leaves from the pond!). These appear like monumental mole hills in the photo—but as soon as it's dry for long enough, they'll be replaced with fruit trees.
Looking onto the Middle Lawn from the east corner.Sunday, 5 June 2011
Winged Weekend
Another busy weekend, for us, and for barn swallows who have been building a nest in our porch.
They're building their nest (out of mud pellets) on top of the keystone in the arch, on the 'in' side; it's nicely sheltered, but it does mean they get disturbed whenever we come or go. If we're doing anything for any length of time on the driveway, they perch on the telegraph wire opposite, and noisily complain.
Aside from the antics of these new tenants; we got an early start to the weekend, as we were telecommuting on Friday, so I got out to mow the lawn after work. First, admittedly, I had to mend the mower: the bolt that holds the blade was jammed stuck, and it took some work to get it to shift. By 'work', I mean destructive dismantling. New bolt installed, and mowing completed. It was swelteringly hot, though, so I was glad to finish. Liz started to clear weeds growing around the puschkinia and bluebells, which is another good thing to have done.
On Saturday, we had a busy day in the garden. The butterfly net (8mm square mesh) for the brassicas arrived a while ago, and so we put that over the rectangular vegetable bed. It went on really easily, after the shenanigans with the fleece covers, and it has reinforced edges which hooked over the existing nails neatly. We've stiched the ends together (non-permanently, so the same mesh can be reconfigured, wherever the brassicas are next year) with polypropylene cord. Earlier this week, we mended one of the split fruit cages with the same cord, with some success—they had been stiched with hemp twine, but that's rotting.
We also put some bird netting (inch mesh) over the peas, beans, and carrots. It's actually cat netting, rather than bird netting, for the carrots: the boys appear to have taken to sitting on the carrots. I wouldn't otherwise object (too much), but I don't want them bruising the foliage and attracting carrot root fly.
Belatedly, we realised we hadn't sown any butternut squash, so we planted a pair of seeds where we had put gourds, and covered them with bottle-cloches. The gourds joined another half-dozen from a windowsill in a large half-barrel, filled with compost and topsoil. They're a little crowded, I expect, but I only want a few fruits.
Sunday came, and we nipped out to the garden centre. The bitter winter saw off the clematis 'Pink Champagne' growing near the front door, and we also wanted a climber to go up trellis near the kitchen (disguising the old door). We found two new clematis to do this; an 'Angelique', and 'Marie Boisselot'. We also picked up a dozen petunias (pale yellow/cream), and planted these into two of the new hanging baskets. The other two hanging baskets received three verbena, three pelargoniums, and a small fuchsia or two; these are now near the door, and the petunia baskets are on the front of the house. The dahlias we got at the same time have graduated into bigger pots, too, to grow on until they're needed once pansies in the troughs have gone over.
We also re-planted the Christmas tree, into a larger bucket-pot, and sowed some more salad leaves. We've been eating salads with lunch for the last three days, as they're leafing nicely. The spinach is especially good.
Lastly, and least glamorously, I trimmed back the ivy where it was threatening to block the study window. Needs to be done a few times each year: I try to prevent it from adhering to the wooden window-frame. We also weeded the front garden, and reshuffled a couple of the hellebores under the acer, as there were a couple of gaps, and a bit of congestion. The front garden, with its two new clematis, four new hanging baskets, and weeded beds, is looking much better!
They're building their nest (out of mud pellets) on top of the keystone in the arch, on the 'in' side; it's nicely sheltered, but it does mean they get disturbed whenever we come or go. If we're doing anything for any length of time on the driveway, they perch on the telegraph wire opposite, and noisily complain.
Aside from the antics of these new tenants; we got an early start to the weekend, as we were telecommuting on Friday, so I got out to mow the lawn after work. First, admittedly, I had to mend the mower: the bolt that holds the blade was jammed stuck, and it took some work to get it to shift. By 'work', I mean destructive dismantling. New bolt installed, and mowing completed. It was swelteringly hot, though, so I was glad to finish. Liz started to clear weeds growing around the puschkinia and bluebells, which is another good thing to have done.
On Saturday, we had a busy day in the garden. The butterfly net (8mm square mesh) for the brassicas arrived a while ago, and so we put that over the rectangular vegetable bed. It went on really easily, after the shenanigans with the fleece covers, and it has reinforced edges which hooked over the existing nails neatly. We've stiched the ends together (non-permanently, so the same mesh can be reconfigured, wherever the brassicas are next year) with polypropylene cord. Earlier this week, we mended one of the split fruit cages with the same cord, with some success—they had been stiched with hemp twine, but that's rotting.
We also put some bird netting (inch mesh) over the peas, beans, and carrots. It's actually cat netting, rather than bird netting, for the carrots: the boys appear to have taken to sitting on the carrots. I wouldn't otherwise object (too much), but I don't want them bruising the foliage and attracting carrot root fly.
Belatedly, we realised we hadn't sown any butternut squash, so we planted a pair of seeds where we had put gourds, and covered them with bottle-cloches. The gourds joined another half-dozen from a windowsill in a large half-barrel, filled with compost and topsoil. They're a little crowded, I expect, but I only want a few fruits.
Sunday came, and we nipped out to the garden centre. The bitter winter saw off the clematis 'Pink Champagne' growing near the front door, and we also wanted a climber to go up trellis near the kitchen (disguising the old door). We found two new clematis to do this; an 'Angelique', and 'Marie Boisselot'. We also picked up a dozen petunias (pale yellow/cream), and planted these into two of the new hanging baskets. The other two hanging baskets received three verbena, three pelargoniums, and a small fuchsia or two; these are now near the door, and the petunia baskets are on the front of the house. The dahlias we got at the same time have graduated into bigger pots, too, to grow on until they're needed once pansies in the troughs have gone over.
We also re-planted the Christmas tree, into a larger bucket-pot, and sowed some more salad leaves. We've been eating salads with lunch for the last three days, as they're leafing nicely. The spinach is especially good.
Lastly, and least glamorously, I trimmed back the ivy where it was threatening to block the study window. Needs to be done a few times each year: I try to prevent it from adhering to the wooden window-frame. We also weeded the front garden, and reshuffled a couple of the hellebores under the acer, as there were a couple of gaps, and a bit of congestion. The front garden, with its two new clematis, four new hanging baskets, and weeded beds, is looking much better!
Monday, 30 May 2011
Weeding
We seem to have spent a lot of this (long) weekend weeding. It did, however, rather need doing.
On Saturday, we cleared half of the onions (which were rather congested with clover and nettles, mostly), as well as going over all of the fruit beds. The raspberries were quite bad; the gooseberries/blackcurrants were acceptable; the blueberries and currants were awful. There are, somehow, about two dozen potatoes growing—obviously missed when we lifted them last year. We had to remove some, as they were crowding the fruit bushes, but we've also left others, and will bring them up as new potatoes in a while. However, there was also a lot of other weed coverage—now all cleared. It looks a lot better!
We also popped round to help Jenny and the children construct a large octagonal sandpit. It's very good: took about 350kg of sand to fill it, but is big enough for all three children to play in.
Yesterday, we spent almost the entire day sorting the workshop out, which wasn't a particularly enjoyable task, but good to have done. It was a bit too wet and windy to venture outside! Today, though, has been drier, so we finished weeding the other half of the onions, and repotted a number of the perennials that arrived in the autumn, many of which are looking good, and starting to grow. A few, however, have not yet shown signs of life: hopefully they will soon.
The onions appear to be getting quite battered by the strong winds of the last few days: many of them needed firming in. Liz suggested a low withy hurdle along the wind-facing side, to give them some protection, which has merit.
We also planted out some more seedlings: 16 more celeriac (next to the extant 20, which needed two replacements), another dozen leeks (between the others, to be taken up as babies), and a pumpkin, three courgettes, and two ornamental gourds. We also sowed a row of spring onions between some of the celeriac, and a row of radishes between some cauliflowers. I also put 6' support cages up above the peas and runner beans: they've had 2' supports, but are outgrowing them.
This means that all the beds are now full!
On Saturday, we cleared half of the onions (which were rather congested with clover and nettles, mostly), as well as going over all of the fruit beds. The raspberries were quite bad; the gooseberries/blackcurrants were acceptable; the blueberries and currants were awful. There are, somehow, about two dozen potatoes growing—obviously missed when we lifted them last year. We had to remove some, as they were crowding the fruit bushes, but we've also left others, and will bring them up as new potatoes in a while. However, there was also a lot of other weed coverage—now all cleared. It looks a lot better!
We also popped round to help Jenny and the children construct a large octagonal sandpit. It's very good: took about 350kg of sand to fill it, but is big enough for all three children to play in.
Yesterday, we spent almost the entire day sorting the workshop out, which wasn't a particularly enjoyable task, but good to have done. It was a bit too wet and windy to venture outside! Today, though, has been drier, so we finished weeding the other half of the onions, and repotted a number of the perennials that arrived in the autumn, many of which are looking good, and starting to grow. A few, however, have not yet shown signs of life: hopefully they will soon.
The onions appear to be getting quite battered by the strong winds of the last few days: many of them needed firming in. Liz suggested a low withy hurdle along the wind-facing side, to give them some protection, which has merit.
We also planted out some more seedlings: 16 more celeriac (next to the extant 20, which needed two replacements), another dozen leeks (between the others, to be taken up as babies), and a pumpkin, three courgettes, and two ornamental gourds. We also sowed a row of spring onions between some of the celeriac, and a row of radishes between some cauliflowers. I also put 6' support cages up above the peas and runner beans: they've had 2' supports, but are outgrowing them.
This means that all the beds are now full!
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Lions and tigers and...meerkats
We had a day out yesterday with Jenny, Philip and their foster children, to Yorkshire Wildlife Park. None of us had ever been, so it was an adventure. It's only been open a couple of years, but it's excellent, with a good variety of animals, and nice settings. My particular favourites were the meerkats and lemurs; they also have three lion prides, an 'African Plain' full of zebra, ankole cattle, and the like, a tiger enclosure under construction, birds of prey, and a wetlands opening later this year.
The children, predicatably, were as excited by the slides and adventure playground as the exotic animals, but there you go. Today's been foul weather (strong winds, a couple of inches of rain, and—at one point—hail. Which was being blown horizontal. Accordingly, we stayed inside, instead of doing the garden tasks we had in mind (nothing exciting, but some weeding needs to happen, and I'd like to plant up the new hanging baskets). I've patched up some plastering in the kitchen, and removed some rotting window-sill in the study. The windows stand on a stone lintel, which, while exposed outside, is boxed inside. The wood has started to decay, however, so I've removed part of the case and sealed the window-frame to the lintel. When we come to redecorate, I'll need to replace the window-sill, and decide whether or not to replace the lintel casing. Possibly not; we'll see what a stone 'feature' looks like.
Meerkat sentry; Yorkshire Wildlife Park © Ian (2011)
The children, predicatably, were as excited by the slides and adventure playground as the exotic animals, but there you go. Today's been foul weather (strong winds, a couple of inches of rain, and—at one point—hail. Which was being blown horizontal. Accordingly, we stayed inside, instead of doing the garden tasks we had in mind (nothing exciting, but some weeding needs to happen, and I'd like to plant up the new hanging baskets). I've patched up some plastering in the kitchen, and removed some rotting window-sill in the study. The windows stand on a stone lintel, which, while exposed outside, is boxed inside. The wood has started to decay, however, so I've removed part of the case and sealed the window-frame to the lintel. When we come to redecorate, I'll need to replace the window-sill, and decide whether or not to replace the lintel casing. Possibly not; we'll see what a stone 'feature' looks like.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Rain
It rained a bit, over the weekend, and that's continued today. The wind's also picked up, which—combined with the rain, I think—meant that the rectangular vegetable bed's fleece cover had half blown off the frame this morning. It was still attached on the eyes/nails on the path-side, but in being lifted off had started to tear quite badly at the corners. So, I removed it completely. This evening, the other covers were also tearing, and because it's damp, I can't really make any repairs (tape won't stick to wet fleece)—so they've all come in.
It's a couple of weeks earlier than we were planning to take the covers down—we can get frosts until the end of May. However, we probably won't put them back on this spring, as the weather's been quite warm, and is looking set to stay that way. If a frost does threaten, the runner beans will need covering, and—if it's severe—the celeriac and beetroot, but otherwise I think the soil's now warmed enough not to need the covers.
They've been a rather mixed success, the fleece cages. They've taken a lot of time to put in, and maintain. On the other hand, I think they've helped get things going, and—without a greenhouse—we would have struggled to grow enough plants on to fill the beds in May/June. The wood/wire construction will be useful, in the long run, for netting (especially brassicas and beans) and for fixing the irrigation system's water jets, so that's certainly no waste. I'm not sure, though, whether we'll continue using the fleece once we have a greenhouse.
Once I'd collected the covers, I spent a while weeding the onions, which are doing well, but were accompanied by rather too many nettles, goosegrass, and clover. It's looking much better now.
It's a couple of weeks earlier than we were planning to take the covers down—we can get frosts until the end of May. However, we probably won't put them back on this spring, as the weather's been quite warm, and is looking set to stay that way. If a frost does threaten, the runner beans will need covering, and—if it's severe—the celeriac and beetroot, but otherwise I think the soil's now warmed enough not to need the covers.
They've been a rather mixed success, the fleece cages. They've taken a lot of time to put in, and maintain. On the other hand, I think they've helped get things going, and—without a greenhouse—we would have struggled to grow enough plants on to fill the beds in May/June. The wood/wire construction will be useful, in the long run, for netting (especially brassicas and beans) and for fixing the irrigation system's water jets, so that's certainly no waste. I'm not sure, though, whether we'll continue using the fleece once we have a greenhouse.
Once I'd collected the covers, I spent a while weeding the onions, which are doing well, but were accompanied by rather too many nettles, goosegrass, and clover. It's looking much better now.
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Comparing Notes
We got back this afternoon from a pleasant weekend spent with Hazel and Alex in Cambridge. As is custom, we spent the time eating, gardening/walking, and playing board games. Hazel is an excellent cook, and produced a lovely slow cooked pork belly from a National Trust book we don't—yet—have. That may need to change. We'd taken a bottle of my elderflower wine, which went down very well—apparently, it's quite like a semi-sweet Reisling.
On Saturday, we walked over to their allotment, which has come on again since we last visited: they've basically finished the raised beds (about 3m x 0.8m), and installed a 5m x 5m fruit cage with a load of bushes. Gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants; and a jostaberry, Japanese wineberry, and a kiwi. The jostaberry is, essentially, a gooseberry/blackcurrant cross; wineberry is a type of raspberry; the kiwi needs no introduction. I shall be intrigued to try the first two, and to gauge their success with a kiwi—needless to say, I doubt we could grow one up here. The vines need decent summer warmth, and are vulnerable to early frosts: we have an insufficiency of the former, and a predilection to the latter.
Their potatoes are, I might say, behind ours: conversely, their runner beans are ahead. They grew over-wintering onions (Senshyu), so they're looking bigger than ours—no surprise, as they've been in since August 2010. However, Japanese onions don't store as well, and we've sown a year's worth, so we'll be well placed once ours are harvested. The strawberries are doing better, benefiting from the higher temperatures in East Anglia. Everything, though, is a bit dry: they've had no significant rain since the end of March.
It was, as normal, a pleasure to see them; and always interesting to see how someone else's garden's getting on!
On Saturday, we walked over to their allotment, which has come on again since we last visited: they've basically finished the raised beds (about 3m x 0.8m), and installed a 5m x 5m fruit cage with a load of bushes. Gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants; and a jostaberry, Japanese wineberry, and a kiwi. The jostaberry is, essentially, a gooseberry/blackcurrant cross; wineberry is a type of raspberry; the kiwi needs no introduction. I shall be intrigued to try the first two, and to gauge their success with a kiwi—needless to say, I doubt we could grow one up here. The vines need decent summer warmth, and are vulnerable to early frosts: we have an insufficiency of the former, and a predilection to the latter.
Their potatoes are, I might say, behind ours: conversely, their runner beans are ahead. They grew over-wintering onions (Senshyu), so they're looking bigger than ours—no surprise, as they've been in since August 2010. However, Japanese onions don't store as well, and we've sown a year's worth, so we'll be well placed once ours are harvested. The strawberries are doing better, benefiting from the higher temperatures in East Anglia. Everything, though, is a bit dry: they've had no significant rain since the end of March.
It was, as normal, a pleasure to see them; and always interesting to see how someone else's garden's getting on!
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Bedding
We've been away for the weekend, visiting my parents, so there's been barely any garden activity. However, we popped in at the garden centre on the way to Thirsk, and picked up a couple of packs of mixed bedding (to augment the cineraria, et al. I sowed last week). I also grabbed thirty six-foot bamboo canes, to frame the peas/beans once the fleece cages come off, and some more of the excellent thorn- and water-proof gloves we like. Our old ones have lasted about a year, but we've each acquired one split. We'll keep using the old ones for things that the splits don't impinge on, but they were on offer, so we've stocked up.
When we got home today, we've had to spend some time adding waterproof fabric tape to the fleece cages, where the posts have damaged the fabric in the wind. It's rather tedious: hopefully soon we'll have reinforced sufficiently the vulnerable areas.
I keep meaning to create a 'weather' page, with data from the weather station. It's happily churning out statistics, but I need to export some graphs, and the like, to upload. One of these days...
When we got home today, we've had to spend some time adding waterproof fabric tape to the fleece cages, where the posts have damaged the fabric in the wind. It's rather tedious: hopefully soon we'll have reinforced sufficiently the vulnerable areas.
I keep meaning to create a 'weather' page, with data from the weather station. It's happily churning out statistics, but I need to export some graphs, and the like, to upload. One of these days...
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Tidying the Strawberries
It's about two months late, but we spent an hour tidying up the strawberry bed this evening. The netting that covers it is out-of-the-box: never cut down to size, and a bit of a tangled mess at the edge of the bed. We trimmed that down (much improving accessibility), and cleared some of the dead leaves, detritus, and weeds from around the plants. A big pile of straw then made its way onto the bed, to protect the nascent fruits.
I note that, when doing the same thing last June, I decried it as a job left too late. I'm about seven weeks earlier...and it still seems too late. I think the rapid growth (due to the very warm March and April) has hastened things along: it would have been a much easier job if done in February, and I could have removed a lot more dead foliage without fear of disturbing the strawberries. Never mind: I'm sure they'll cope.
I note that, when doing the same thing last June, I decried it as a job left too late. I'm about seven weeks earlier...and it still seems too late. I think the rapid growth (due to the very warm March and April) has hastened things along: it would have been a much easier job if done in February, and I could have removed a lot more dead foliage without fear of disturbing the strawberries. Never mind: I'm sure they'll cope.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Vegetable Seedlings
An enormous day of planting out the vegetable seedlings.
We started in the last side of the C-shaped bed, interplanting some small 'Parmex' carrots between the Early Nantes we sowed a couple of weeks ago. We then filled the remaining space with about forty beetroot (some 'Boltardy', some others), and quickly recovered the bed, to minimize the risk from carrot root fly. We were careful to handle the carrots as little as possible, and avoid the foliage; on a breezy day and with the re-sealed beds, I think they'll evade attention.
The newly completed rectangular bed was next. At one end, we've put in lots of cauliflowers ('All The Year Round'): they're too dense, but I think many won't survive the transplantation. Then, nine Brussels Sprouts (looking healthier than the caulis), and a couple of dozen purple sprouting broccoli. These stay in until next January, so we've intercropped them and the Brussels with scarlet kale (of which the young leaves are tastiest) and some spinach. The last couple of metres of bed are empty, ready for the courgettes, pumpkins, and butternut squash—they're still inside, as they're a bit more tender.
Lastly, we planted up the Q-bed: 48 leeks ('Prizetaker') next to the onions, and another row of 'Ishikuro' spring onions between the leeks. Sixteen celeriac ('Monarch') in the corner, and then we moved the runner beans and peas to join the directly-sown plants. For while they're small, we've put a few more Early Nantes carrots between the blocks.
To round off, we moved some salad leaves into the miniature middle bed, and then sowed some more seeds: cineraria (Senecio cinerearia 'Silver Dust'—bedding foliage), petunias (a cheap F1 mix, if I recall), and lobelia ('Cambridge Blue') (for the new hanging baskets), and some poppies ('Flanders') and love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena 'Moody Blues') to eventually naturalize in the copse.
Back to work tomorrow, but a very productive Easter holiday, I think—and very exciting to have the vegetable beds planted up!
We started in the last side of the C-shaped bed, interplanting some small 'Parmex' carrots between the Early Nantes we sowed a couple of weeks ago. We then filled the remaining space with about forty beetroot (some 'Boltardy', some others), and quickly recovered the bed, to minimize the risk from carrot root fly. We were careful to handle the carrots as little as possible, and avoid the foliage; on a breezy day and with the re-sealed beds, I think they'll evade attention.
The newly completed rectangular bed was next. At one end, we've put in lots of cauliflowers ('All The Year Round'): they're too dense, but I think many won't survive the transplantation. Then, nine Brussels Sprouts (looking healthier than the caulis), and a couple of dozen purple sprouting broccoli. These stay in until next January, so we've intercropped them and the Brussels with scarlet kale (of which the young leaves are tastiest) and some spinach. The last couple of metres of bed are empty, ready for the courgettes, pumpkins, and butternut squash—they're still inside, as they're a bit more tender.
Lastly, we planted up the Q-bed: 48 leeks ('Prizetaker') next to the onions, and another row of 'Ishikuro' spring onions between the leeks. Sixteen celeriac ('Monarch') in the corner, and then we moved the runner beans and peas to join the directly-sown plants. For while they're small, we've put a few more Early Nantes carrots between the blocks.
To round off, we moved some salad leaves into the miniature middle bed, and then sowed some more seeds: cineraria (Senecio cinerearia 'Silver Dust'—bedding foliage), petunias (a cheap F1 mix, if I recall), and lobelia ('Cambridge Blue') (for the new hanging baskets), and some poppies ('Flanders') and love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena 'Moody Blues') to eventually naturalize in the copse.
Back to work tomorrow, but a very productive Easter holiday, I think—and very exciting to have the vegetable beds planted up!
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Preparing the Last Vegetable Bed
We've now emptied the last (rectangular) vegetable bed, having removed the crocosmia, an errant iris, and the stooled willow. Next, we added about fifteen barrows of topsoil (I lost count, but it was about that many), to bring the level up, having spread out the manure we'd left at one end. I then drove the wooden posts into the edges, and strung wire between these to form the support for the fleece cover; then we attached the water nozzles to the posts, and connected them to the irrigation supply line. We then put fleece over the cage, punched holes in its border, and set the reinforcing eyelets in the holes, before nailing in the respective hooks (into the outside of the bed). Finally, we put reinforcing tape on the fleece where it goes over the posts, to minimize the risk of splits.
And then we collapsed on to the sofa.
And then we collapsed on to the sofa.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Short Break
We've been away for the last few days, on a short trip to Cambridge. On Wednesday, given the run of warm dry weather, I started painting the window frames. As they were new last year, I want to get another coat of paint on them this year, to start building up the protection—and if I start now, I should be able to spread the work out, and make it more tolerable, instead of having to cram it into September. Like last year.
We travelled down to Cambridge on Thursday, paused to pick up a copy of St John's College Cambridge: A History, which is being given to Johnians ahead of its release (a magnificent tome coinciding with the quincentenary). We spent the rest of the day with the Fellow we stayed with, Katherine, who has rooms in Pembroke.
Friday was spent profitably, mooching round Cambridge, and watching some coverage of events in London. It was a lovely day for sitting on the Backs admiring St John's New Court (apologies for the wonky horizon).
We also went back round Clare College's gardens. It was interesting to see them just a few weeks after our last visit. The hyacinths have all gone over, but there are loads more tulips out, and their bed of hostas looks great.
We came home on Saturday, stopping off to visit an old neighbour, who very graciously gave us a peony ('Sarah Bernhardt'), and also called in at our old local garden centre, leaving with some bits and pieces, including a second calathea for the sitting room.
We return to work on Tuesday, which gives us a couple of days to get the vegetable beds in order: we want to plant out lots of the seedlings, and the bottom rectangular bed (now it's empty) needs its fleece cage and irrigation installing, and to be filled with topsoil. We added manure in March, when doing the other beds, leaving it piled at one end: that will need distributing across the whole area. It may make for a couple of long days!
We travelled down to Cambridge on Thursday, paused to pick up a copy of St John's College Cambridge: A History, which is being given to Johnians ahead of its release (a magnificent tome coinciding with the quincentenary). We spent the rest of the day with the Fellow we stayed with, Katherine, who has rooms in Pembroke.
Friday was spent profitably, mooching round Cambridge, and watching some coverage of events in London. It was a lovely day for sitting on the Backs admiring St John's New Court (apologies for the wonky horizon).
We also went back round Clare College's gardens. It was interesting to see them just a few weeks after our last visit. The hyacinths have all gone over, but there are loads more tulips out, and their bed of hostas looks great.
We came home on Saturday, stopping off to visit an old neighbour, who very graciously gave us a peony ('Sarah Bernhardt'), and also called in at our old local garden centre, leaving with some bits and pieces, including a second calathea for the sitting room.
We return to work on Tuesday, which gives us a couple of days to get the vegetable beds in order: we want to plant out lots of the seedlings, and the bottom rectangular bed (now it's empty) needs its fleece cage and irrigation installing, and to be filled with topsoil. We added manure in March, when doing the other beds, leaving it piled at one end: that will need distributing across the whole area. It may make for a couple of long days!
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Emptying a Bed
Yesterday's birthday went really well: the party (a few party games, followed by a picnic) went smoothly, presents were well received, and the cake worked a treat. We found take to—once again—water the garden, and we also bottled the elderflower wine that I started last year, and racked at Christmas. I have to say, it's delightful. Excellent bouquet, nice and clear, and vinous taste: a very credible dry white.
Today, I've mown the lawn, and we've started emptying the rectangular vegetable bed. To start, we took up two large clumps of geranium from the rectangular vegetable bed, and divided them into about a dozen pieces. These, along with a couple of woody shrubs whose name escapes me, have moved into the copse. While I was planted these, Liz took the shears to the kitchen garden's paths, which were getting a bit jungle-y: they look much better now, and easier to navigate. I really must get round to ordering weed suppressant membrane to line the paths: we can then distribute some of the chippings along them, which will keep maintenance down.
Today, I've mown the lawn, and we've started emptying the rectangular vegetable bed. To start, we took up two large clumps of geranium from the rectangular vegetable bed, and divided them into about a dozen pieces. These, along with a couple of woody shrubs whose name escapes me, have moved into the copse. While I was planted these, Liz took the shears to the kitchen garden's paths, which were getting a bit jungle-y: they look much better now, and easier to navigate. I really must get round to ordering weed suppressant membrane to line the paths: we can then distribute some of the chippings along them, which will keep maintenance down.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Watering as Entertainment
We started the day by testing the new irrigation system: a thorough success. Much more so than the fruit beds: I think the 180º jets are better than the 360º version, and having them raised by a foot seems to improve them further.
The painted Easter eggs from yesterday were then dispersed around the garden, in small-child-friendly hiding places. Judging spots that would keep two- to seven-year-olds interested is a little outside my experience, but it seemed to work well: the children (and my parents-, grandmother- and sister-in-law) came round after breakfast and were suitably entertained. Later on, for reasons I can't really explain, the children decided that they wanted to help water our garden. This being a slightly mundane and tedious job, I was happy to oblige...and while I worked from one end of the pots with the hose, they ran back and forth with watering cans. All the while, it appears, loving every minute.
Who knew childcare was as simple as giving them a watering can?
It's the middle one's birthday tomorrow, and Liz and I have been tasked with hosting the 'party', and making a birthday cake. It's a fairy ring, with small doll surrounded by toadstools, cunningly crafted from miniature muffins, chocolate rolls, and chocolate coated marshmallows. Hopefully she will like it...
The painted Easter eggs from yesterday were then dispersed around the garden, in small-child-friendly hiding places. Judging spots that would keep two- to seven-year-olds interested is a little outside my experience, but it seemed to work well: the children (and my parents-, grandmother- and sister-in-law) came round after breakfast and were suitably entertained. Later on, for reasons I can't really explain, the children decided that they wanted to help water our garden. This being a slightly mundane and tedious job, I was happy to oblige...and while I worked from one end of the pots with the hose, they ran back and forth with watering cans. All the while, it appears, loving every minute.
Who knew childcare was as simple as giving them a watering can?
It's the middle one's birthday tomorrow, and Liz and I have been tasked with hosting the 'party', and making a birthday cake. It's a fairy ring, with small doll surrounded by toadstools, cunningly crafted from miniature muffins, chocolate rolls, and chocolate coated marshmallows. Hopefully she will like it...
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Eggs
Following on from yesterday's main-line installation, today we put the supply line and spray nozzles in the vegetable bed. These are 8mm tubes ending with mini-jets that spray water over 180°, out to about a metre. The nozzles are a foot above soil level, attached to the wooden posts that support the fleece covers. We didn't gave a chance to test the system, unfortunately, as we had other things to get done...
As tomorrow is Easter Sunday, we've made the three foster children chocolate eggs (18cm jobs, half white, half milk, with 'Happy Easter' piped onto one side: they look surprisingly good), and visited them to help paint hard-boiled eggs. We're going to hide nine of them in our garden tomorrow morning, and they'll come down after breakfast to hunt for them.
Jenny's harvested her rhubarb (which seems notably earlier than mine—though mine, admittedly, languishes in a pot), which made for an excellent dessert, but has also provided me with a big bag of rhubarb leaves. I've chopped these up, and put them in a bucket of water in the shed: once they've steeped/stewed/leached, the resulting liquid is rich in oxalic acid (the reason one shouldn't eat rhubarb leaves), and can be sprayed as an (organic) insecticide. Given the sawflies on the gooseberries, this couldn't come soon enough.
Finally, I had twenty minutes spare, so I've poured the cider (finally—it's taken forever to finish fermenting) into a barrel, and added a couple of ounces of sugar: in a week or so, it should have settled and be suitably fizzy.
As tomorrow is Easter Sunday, we've made the three foster children chocolate eggs (18cm jobs, half white, half milk, with 'Happy Easter' piped onto one side: they look surprisingly good), and visited them to help paint hard-boiled eggs. We're going to hide nine of them in our garden tomorrow morning, and they'll come down after breakfast to hunt for them.
Jenny's harvested her rhubarb (which seems notably earlier than mine—though mine, admittedly, languishes in a pot), which made for an excellent dessert, but has also provided me with a big bag of rhubarb leaves. I've chopped these up, and put them in a bucket of water in the shed: once they've steeped/stewed/leached, the resulting liquid is rich in oxalic acid (the reason one shouldn't eat rhubarb leaves), and can be sprayed as an (organic) insecticide. Given the sawflies on the gooseberries, this couldn't come soon enough.
Finally, I had twenty minutes spare, so I've poured the cider (finally—it's taken forever to finish fermenting) into a barrel, and added a couple of ounces of sugar: in a week or so, it should have settled and be suitably fizzy.
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