Life @ Longfield Diary June 2006

June 2006

1	A friend came round today, so didn't get out into the garden until 5pm, but I stayed out until 9pm! My main job was clearing weeds from around the base of our eight fruit trees. I then set about a ruthless pot clearout, tidying up some pots and throwing others away. My last job was another attempt at removing bugs from my melon pear pepino plants which are still causing concern. I've given up with anything new in the flower garden, especially in pots, as all new green fleshy growth just gets devoured by the rabbits. My four lily pots are the latest casualties. If you want to see the damage, look on the Flower Garden page. I am now not sure what to do with the Lavatera, Agastache, Campanula, Incarvillea and Nigella which I have grown from seed...... We've got our first Longfield rabbit for the pot tonight! It's soaking in salt water as I write. Another friend came around this evening to try out his new air rifle, bagged a rabbit, skinned & gutted it and gave it to me for tomorrow's dinner. What a treat! We couldn't buy fresher meat!
2	Have bought a plum moth trap to protect the cherry plum tree, but I've put it in the unidentified fruit tree near the bedroom window as it looked plum-like and was attacked by what might have been plum moths last year. Planted out my sweetcorn today so that means no more cold nights are allowed! Also started planting up the greenhouse with 16 tomato plants. Only room for 18 more plants so now need to choose between more tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and gherkins. You'll never guess what happened to me earlier - I got bitten by a goose! One of the houses down a nearby lane has chickens, guinea fowl and geese. The geese currently have three little ones. They were out in the road when I was jogging and one of the male geese took a leap at me, got hold of flesh just below my waist, left the ground and wouldn't let go. If it hadn't tried to screech whilst biting, I don't know how long it would have held on. Even through my clothing it grazed the skin and left a half inch mark. Just being a good parent, I guess, but I really didn't need reminding that when I try to jog in a long white t-shirt, I look like a goose!! Cooked that rabbit for dinner. It was tasty, but some of the meat was a little bit tough. I must try to find out more about how to prepare & tenderise a wild rabbit.
3	What a change. Wall to wall sunshine and 24C. Mowed the front lawn & was absolutely whacked. My herbs got frazzled in the greenhouse :-(
4	Determined to safeguard my fruit crop, I installed a Codling Moth trap to protect the apple trees. I tried to buy another plum moth trap for the cherry plum tree but the local garden centre had sold out. However, as I was leaving, I spotted a green plant tray in their freebie bin, in the same material as the traps already purchased, so I picked that up and made my own trap from it. Continued planting in the greenhouse with another six tomato plants and two aubergines. Also wanted to plant some peppers but have found that the bug from the melon pear pepinos has spread to my pepper plants. Spent ages de-bugging leaf by leaf, but left the peppers in the potting shed to see if they are clear. Don't want to introduce this bug to the greenhouse! Have had to temporarily isolate the melon pear pepinos to the car port. Shame as one is just coming into flower. I love mint and use it to make fresh mint tea, which I especially like after dinner. I like to grow different varieties, but haven't been able to find any seeds other than ordinary garden mint this year. So, I gave in and bought an applemint and a chocolate peppermint plant today. The first is reputed to be especially nice on ice cream and the second should make a really special cup of tea. Potted them up along with two more garden pearl tomatoes, which will grow on in the potting shed.
5	Started today by potting up two Golden Berry plants and intended to deal with some peppers and do some front garden weeding BUT got completely carried away with a houseplant sort out (more on flower garden page). After a walk into town and tending to the chickens, I finished the day harvesting; my first gooseberries, mint for after dinner tea, thyme for tonight's fish and swiss chard.
6	I've put some jars of jam & chutney out for sale. Not really expecting much success as there isn't very much passing traffic. No gardening today as we've been building our new office furniture, which arrived as flat packs. Not finished yet but got extra help tomorrow. Sold! One jar of blackberry & apple jam.
7	Lovely site in the garden this morning, a female bird walking across our driveway with at least ten tiny young chicks running after her. From a distance they just looked like dark leaves blowing across the gravel. Don't know what kind of bird, but think maybe a partridge. The trouble is, bird books usually just show the male and the female can look a little different. Managed to get a snap, but now too clear. Gardening consisted of building a stand for my pots which I hope the rabbits won't be able to climb, planting out my five swiss chards and potting up four more garden pearl cherry tomato plants.
8	Well, my Incarvillea pot has been destroyed on the top shelf of the new pot stand. I can't see how a rabbit could get up there, so now it's pesky squirrels as well! Nevertheless, I potted up and put out my lavatera and agastache in my two butterfly planters. They will probably not survive either, but there's no point in keeping them in the potting shed where they'll just die from the heat. Continued planting up the greenhouse with another aubergine and five peppers, then planted my remaining three garden pearl tomatoes outside of the greenhouse.
9	Out & about today, then moving all of the computer equipment back into the study. My new pot stand, lavatera and agastache survived a night without attack, but sometimes it takes the wildlife a few days to discover or revisit, so I still don't hold out much hope for the survival of any of my pot plants. The good news is that my japanese acer which I protected in a chicken wire enclosure on 14 May, after it had been attacked, has actually survived and started to grow again.
10	Potted up a chilean glory vine given to me by a friend and put it in the conservatory, along with a bolivian chilli. Potted up a red pepper & chick red pepper, placed in the potting shed and a gherkin to grow outside. Other "gardening" activities included a tack room tidy up, replacing an old chest of drawers and adding some plastic drawers to file small bits like pegs, nails, string etc. Got to be organised - a old work habit! I have masses of lemon balm growing in the flower garden and after a tip-off from a friend, have discovered that it makes very nice tea.
11	Well, the good news is that the other five jars of jam & chutney I had out for sale have all gone - the bad news is that someone didn't pay for two of them. So much for honesty in the community. Don't know whether to bother any more, I'd rather continue to give it away to friends then be robbed! There is slight hope (I think) for my melon pears. I've had them in the car port for a few days, sprayed them again and I think the bug they were harbouring is leaving. Of course, that could just mean it's done all of its damage and it's time to move on.... Anyway, they have become quite large, so I've re-potted all three in the hope they will produce after all. Also harvested some raab for tonight's dinner. Tasted good, but not as spicy as I expected. Swiss chard I planted out four days ago does not look too good, in fact one plant has died and others are struggling, so I've planted some more seeds. Earthed up my two potato pots again, re-seeded the kale drill, planting out 4 kale seedlings raised in the potting shed and examined the progress of fleeced carrots, parsnip & radish.
12	I know I shouldn't complain, but this ongoing heat is getting to me. Couldn't face any hard garden labour so just planted up a fresh white radish pot and potted on three more golden berry plants, one in the greenhouse, one in a hanging basket in the greenhouse and one in a pot in the conservatory.
13	Highlight of the day was eating the first of this season's strawberries. If you've never had a fresh home-grown english strawberry, still warm from the sun, you're missing something! The only other gardening activity was to pot up yet another two pepper plants to grow on in the potting shed. I managed to give two pepper plants away earlier but I've still got nine more to deal with!
14	A cool & damp day so weeding the veggie plot, weeding the bed by the bedroom and cutting back the bushes under the unidentified fruit tree was today's agenda. I've also planted out two celeriac seedlings, protected by plastic cloches cut from old water bottles, since it's so cool. An evening trip to London to meet up with Ray's two daughters, to celebrate eldest one's birthday. Hope she likes her Chick Original.... Another excellent meal in the highly recommended fish restaurant of the Great Eastern hotel. I had pickled crab followed by swordfish. Very special!
15	A busy day - but not in the garden. It culminated with another trip to The Old Vic in London with my best girlfriend to see to the Channel 4 filming of Derren Brown's current show, Something Wicked This Way Comes. As ever, he was fascinating, puzzling, unbelievable and he has great stage presence. He did scary things with nails and glass that are not televised, so if you see the tv show and they don't cut the bit where the member of the audience on stage says his face is bleeding, then you'll have a clue why....
16	Dug up the mini cauliflower bed which has failed and planted three asparagus peas in the gaps where the turnips germinated then disappeared. Harvested first baby carrots from carrot trough C1, first courgette from pot C5, with last mushroom and some polycress, lettuce & land cress for tonight's salad. Hot air balloon low over Longfield this evening and a toad on the patio.
17	Still trying to pot on or plant out all of my seedlings in the potting shed. Managed to deal with nine of them. Also re-seeded the left hand two feet of the kale drill where my seedlings died. There are some signs of germination, but I've been here before - don't know if the hot sun fries the very young seedlings or something eats them. I've covered the drill with a cloche tunnel to see if this brings more success. Planted out my remaining asparagus pea seedlings and dug up 4 of last year's chard plants.
18	Great trouble deciding the best spot for the outdoor peppers and brandywine tomatoes. Obviously need as much sun as possible but also support available. Was going to put them around the greenhouse, but that will only exclude light & sun from the plants in there, so probably not a good idea. First outdoor pepper planted between turnips and broccoli, replacing a failed asparagus pea. Dug up another three chard and had a freezing session with the harvested leaves. I've got four sweetcorn plants from when I ran out of planting space in the veg garden. I kept them just in case any of those planted out failed, but they've all survived. I'm trying to sell them out front. Potted up four strawberry runners - the start of next year's new plants. Indoors, planted a pot of basil and one of coriander.
19	Made a very nice chard and potato soup from one of yesterday's portions, plus the vegetable stock from blanching. Nothing good goes to waste in my house! Harvested two more courgettes and some chocolate peppermint leaves, for tea. Finally potted up my last two golden berry.
20	Sweetcorn failed to sell and my box fell over in the gusty wind today so it's decision time - throw them away or try them in the paddock? Can't bear to throw a living plant away, so they're now in the paddock, protected from the rabbits of course. Mum-in law and auntie-in-law paid us a visit and were served with home-made quiche and salad for lunch, followed by rhubarb fool and a big portion of my favourite chocolate topped courgette cake to take home.
21	All of the pepper plants dealt with - two potted up in a mix of multi-purpose compost, sand and perlite and three planted outdoors around a willow obelisk. Last three brandywine tomato plants also put outdoors around another obelisk. I want to extend my lemon balm beyond it's normal season so I can continue to enjoy fresh lemon tea so I transplanted some which had seeded itself in my peas, the aim being to move pots into the greenhouse, potting shed or indoors when autumn comes. Harvested more strawberries.
22	Looks like all of the asparagus pea seedlings are dying and my second lot of seed planting in the potting shed didn't germinate at all. Not sure where I've gone wrong here. Hot work in the greenhouse nipping out all of the side shoots on the cordon tomatoes, then onto sowing: runner beans, carrots, west indian gherkin, melothrie and saladisi.
23	Ventured into DIY today! We're having our bathroom decorated, so I decided to spruce up the pine mirror as it was looking very dull. Gave it a coat of varnish. It's not perfect but looks better than when I started, which is not always guaranteed with my DIY efforts. Not much garden effort - weeded the onion bed and planted out four celeriac (one in a pot). Harvested lettuce, land cress, polycress, baby leeks (as spring onions), radish, courgette and the first broad beans for tonight's salad. Our friendly neighbourhood hunter bagged us another rabbit - guess what's for dinner tomorrow?
24	Card making today for two birthday's and a wedding anniversary, followed by flower bed weeding and walking.
25	More weeding. More harvesting: lettuce, carrots, courgette and strawberries.
26	A rainy day, very good for the veggies but I had to spend the day indoors cleaning and baking. Made two savoury loaves, mushroom and sundried tomato & caper.
27	Early morning trip to the dentist to have a crown replaced, then some retail therapy to cheer me up - ordered my chest freezer so I can store all of this year's harvest. The vegetable garden is looking good after yesterday's rain. I picked a very large courgette and my west indian gherkins and saladisi have already germinated.
28	At last, I planted out the five leeks that I grew in the potting shed and today's harvest was rhubarb, strawberries, baby leek, haricot beans and broad beans. Oh, and another large courgette.
29	The first day lily bloomed today. A good pot tidy up, seven pots emptied and the spent soil used to earth up paddock potato bed 2 - I told you nothing goes to waste here! Replanted a piece of lavender and potted up three celeriac into a trough. Noticed the first carrot germination from seeds sown on 22nd. Harvested yet another courgette, with some chard and raab. See chicken diary for BIG scare today.
30	Odd jobs in the garden: thinning out carrots, planting out two parsnips grown in potting shed, sowing more raab, resowing carrot pot C2, sowing two more courgette tubs and planting out eight celeriac.