Anteaters?

Unlikely, but there was an ant's nest at the bottom of the hole!
Happy gardening!

Too windy

We've been away. We came back yesterday and went to have a look and see what's to be done. Lots!

So....today I cut the grassy edges and did a bit of weeding. I planted out the sweetcorn too. Some strawberries were ready and lots of rocket too. But mostly, the new plants are getting on with their business of growing...slowly, because of the lack of rain. Oh, and the WIND. It's been windy since before the 1st of May! The runner beans, french beans and courgettes are all suffering from wind scorch. The leaves discolour, the plant fails to thrive unless sheltered in one of the many plastic bottle cloches we've used this year. The little brassicas in the photo are ok but mostly, everything this year is struggling on our exposed hillside. I do wish it would calm down and let my plants grow!

Happy gardening (and hope the wind drops)

Weed of the month

Forget-me-nots. All over the place. I'd have hauled them out weeks ago but I read somewhere that they're very attractive to honeybees so I've given them a reprieve.

Only for a little bit longer. Watch out little blue weeds - your days are numbered!

Happy gardening

The compost fairy

Well, so much for sowing seed! Of the seeds sown last time I posted, only three tiny parsnip seedlings have appeared and I don't know what happened to the rest. So I've sown some more, just parsnips this time and I also added a row of beetroot next to the potatoes. Over the last week or so I've been planting out pak choi, spinach beet and lettuce seedlings, but the big job has been watering (an hour and a half each time I go) and there's still no sign of rain!

The big thrill this post is that the compost fairy (burly bloke called Joe) has been, so I've now got plenty of good organic matter to dig in or spread over my plot. Just in time to enrich the bed I'm getting ready for the cane beans. Excellent timing.

Happy gardening

J admiring Sandy and Roger's plot next door.

Our own plot is now strimmed (thanks J) and dug over (that was me) and is looking nice and tidy but a bit empty. The garlic, broad beans and onions are coming up. The potatoes are yet to appear but the rest of the beds that aren't given over to permanent planting are waiting for their new occupants. I've sown some seed, carrots, parsnips and spring onions but they haven't appeared either and I think they may have dried out during the very hot week we've just had. So.......




.........I've been popping seeds into pots at home like a crazy obsessed thing. I didn't even stop when I ran out of windowsill (there's more under the piano) I can't wait till they're big and strong enough to plant them out. Let's hope there's going to be enough room for them all!





Happy gardening (exciting, isn't it?)

Rhubarb rhubarb

This week, I've been mostly eating leeks and rhubarb. Actually some of the rhubarb's still sitting in the fridge waiting for me to do something with it. The leeks are good though.

Both my rhubarb plants were flowering but I cut the strange, knobbly flowers off because I'm told they waste valuable stalk producing energy. Probably a good thing, but I often don't really know what to do with my rhubarb. This week I bundled up a little pile of stalks and took them into work. Somebody there knows what to do with them. They disappeared anyway!

Happy gardening. Enjoy your rhubarb.

Early drought

It's been another lovely day but already the dry weather is adding the extra job of watering to all the other work we do at this time of year.

During the last couple of weeks I've put in some Charlotte potatoes, the rest of the broadbeans (Bunyards Exhibition) and sown a couple of rows of parsnips and carrots but the ground is now so dry that I need to go and water every couple of days. It is really, really early in the year for all this watering. An effect of climate change maybe? Or just weather, which as we all know, can be unpredictable.

Whatever the reason, I can't just leave my newly emerged plants or germinating seeds to dry out!

Happy gardening (and watering)