1 |
My gardening season takes off in earnest today. I planted broad beans,
peas and chard outdoors, weeded part of the veg plot and dug over the
greenhouse soil.
Crow mowed the orchard and weeded around four of the fruit trees.
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2 |
I've been catching site of a pair of birds in our garden recently and I've
now succeeded in identifying them as a pair of collared doves. I'm
becoming quite a little twitcher.
Potted up ten Golden Berry seedlings from the heated propagator. I
hate this bit as they always wilt and look like they're going to die (and
sometimes do!) immediately after potting. Also planted beetroot
outdoors and weeded a little more grass out of flower bed 1.
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3 |
Indoor planting of tomato and gherkin seeds, followed by a meal out and a
trip to the theatre with four friends. We were picked up for our trip,
so I had the added and unusual bonus of being able to have a drink.
Perfect!
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4 |
Indoor garden activity, ordering potatoes, onion sets and seeds. It
took me some time to work out the best deal..... Another lovely meal
out with friends this evening.
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5 |
Shopping, walking, veg garden digging, then a trip to London for yet another meal
out. Three in a row - I've forgotten what the kitchen is for!
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6 |
Well, I was planning to plant out some radishes and start celeriac and
sweetcorn in the potting shed until we had our chickie disaster (see chicken
diary). I did the indoor planting but not the radishes as I was too
busy nursing.
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7 |
I've done the best I can at weeding and digging out grass from flower border
1. I've thrown down some Nigella seeds in one spot and plan to put in
some more seeds in the next few days. Crow dug paddock bed 2 and mowed
the lawns for the first time this year - they look so much better now.
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8 |
In the flower garden: more seeds sown, raked over and watered; Nigella
Persian Jewels, Californian Wild Flower mix, Cornflowers, Simplicity, Coral
Reef Poppy, Sunset Boulevard Poppy. As I see it, one of four things
will happen; 1) Nothing, 2) the chicks will dig up and
eat the seeds, 3) the rabbits will eat any seedlings that germinate, 4) I'll
get some beautiful flowers. I think my money is probably on 2) and 3).
In the veg garden: more seeds sown; two pots of Carrot Parmex,
Cantaloupe Melon, Swiss Chard, Physalis.
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9 |
Visiting day to mummy-in-law and her local garden centre where I cheated and
bought 12 savoy cabbage seedlings.
Germination: 2 west indian gherkin in my heated propagator.
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10 |
It's been warm and dry for several days now and a least three more forecast,
so I had to water my outdoor bean, pea, chard and beetroot seeds plus plants
in the greenhouse. I also protected my two carrot pots with fleece to
stop any carrot fly attacks.
Sowing: red pepper, haricot beans, chives.
Germination: 2 tomato seedlings in my heated propagator + 1 more gherkin.
Harvest: the last kale plant.
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11 |
Indoor seed sowing continues with courgettes, dwarf beans, minipop sweetcorn,
tumbling tomato, basil and coriander......
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12 |
Dig, dig, dig in the veggie garden - well, for two hours. Had to stop
otherwise I was going to get a blistered hand.
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13 |
Plan, plan, plan veggie garden planting, as
my new seeds and two trellis planters arrived.
You may have noticed a barrel with a water pump handle in photos of our
flower garden. Sitting watching the birds, I've noticed that a blue
tit is making a nest inside the neck of the handle - amazing! |
14 |
25C today - altogether too hot, too
suddenly for me! I need time to acclimatise. Even though I do
my best to avoid the sun and keep covered up, I've already got a brown
face and hands from just the last few days and my garden is starting to
cry out for some rain.
Crow's off rallying, so this Chick went for retail therapy and
bought some garden goodies, including 5 small heather plants for flower
border1. If I can get them to survive chickens and rabbits perhaps
they will be hardy enough for this dry bed. They're protected by
cloches at the moment...... |
15 |
Put
together two new green planters. I was pleased to find them very
well designed as they constructed well, no tools required, and a sturdy
structure resulted. These are now filled with my own compost mixed
with a little multi-purpose, feed plus some sand and waiting for gherkins
or climbing courgettes.
Meanwhile, in the veggie garden, I'm a bit puzzled and upset that nothing
at all has germinated in terms of outdoor planting - that's peas, broad
beans, chard and beetroot. I gently dug around and couldn't find any
trace of pea or bean seeds. Could they have been eaten by mice? |
16 |
A third really hot day left me keen to stay
cool indoors. Still, it was good for the housework situation.
We took to the local footpaths for an evening walk and went past a small
wood about half a mile away from which mournful sounds often emanate.
We had been told they were the calls of wild peacocks and we saw one
tonight! |
17 |
At last, a slightly cooler day. Still
about 17C but much more pleasant. Finished my latest knitted jumper
creation and crocheted a cord to make a Millifiori heart necklace.
Germination: 2 tumbling tom tomato seeds which I had given up on!
Harvest: 2 leeks. |
18 |
The BBC are at it again with their poor use
of the English language, describing the terrible gunman in Virginia as an
English student, rather than a student of English. The first time I
heard the report, I thought they meant he was born in England.
Seed planting session today: peas, beans, sweetcorn, tomato, sprouts,
broccoli and kale. |
19 |
Crow transferred the contents of compost
bin 2 into bin 3 where its now ready for use. Bin 1 is covered for
cooking, leaving bin2 to start anew.
Harvest: salad leaves, chives.
I start to crochet a shawl tonight in Sirdar silky look yarn. |
20 |
Since all but one of my first lot of
physalis seedlings have died, I sowed more seed in the heated propagator
along with some cordon tomatoes. My celeriac has shown no signs of
germination in the last two weeks, but I'm exhibiting patience as it does
say 14-21 days on the packet. Chilli pepper and melothrie also sown. |
21 |
I collected twigs and deposited them in the
bottom of compost bin2, then started it off with dead daffodil heads, rose
bush prunings and chicken poo. This was followed by an outdoor seed
sowing session of fennel, raab, radishes and salad leaves. I also
transplanted five chard plants grown in a pot last year. |
22 |
More garden pottering: building two
wooden trellis planters, wedding around the pond, planting out four
cabbages and sowing two pots with mini cauliflower seeds. |
23 |
I had three houseplants that were desperate
for re-potting so they got some tlc today, plus I planted a pot of lemon
geranium cuttings. |
24 |
An excellent night at Colchester Mercury to
see She Stoops To Conquer, a Georgian comedy, not unlike a Shakespearean
comedy. Thoroughly enjoyable, a great performance by the resident
cast and the best show so far this season!
I've acquired some exciting new fruit seeds on eBay; melon pear pepino (to
grow my own from scratch this year), lemonade berry and furry pink
banana. Can't get any of these in the supermarket. Crow has
ordered a Linkabord raised bed module for one of the paddock beds to do
something to stop the weeds.
Germination: 7 broad beans, 2 feltham pea. |
25 |
Sadly, my indoor west indian gherkin seedlings have
died and I've given up on celeriac germination both indoors and in the
potting shed. |
26 |
This evening I finished crocheting the
silky shawl and very elegant it looks! |
27 |
I got eight free strawberry plants with my
onion & shallot order, so I planted these in a new strawberry trough. |
28 |
Busy day out to Stockbridge for lunch and
to view a historic rally car that Crow is interested in. Followed by
a visit here from our "Portuguese" friends who we haven't seen
since before Xmas, which was a real treat.
Menu: Spiced fruity egg salad, tuna quiche with roasted vegetables, date
& cardamom rice pudding. |
29 |
My 7 remaining cabbages have been planted
out under a long fleece cloche and I've attempted to protect our new cherry
tree so that the birds don't eat the forming fruit.
On the knitting front, I've started a silky camisole.
Germination: at last 6 jerusalem artichokes have made an appearance, and
in the potting shed, 5 asparagus pea and 4 sweetcorn.
May is another busy birthday month so I made 3 birthday cards. |
30 |
I
was rewarded for my houseplant re-potting on 23rd when three flowers
appeared on my busy lizzie today.
In the potting shed: 5 sweetcorn Sundance seeds and one climbing
courgette sown.
Outside: 18 kohl rabi seeds sown.
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