June 2008

1 Light gardening duties, staking the other half of my greenhouse and transplanting six tomato Moneymaker plants, planting a new rhubarb to replace one that has died, transplanting two Sub Artic and one Garden Pearl tomato into long tom pots and finally moving a big pot to the veg garden to sow some mint into (after tomorrow's heavy rain has passed).
Wandering in my tunnel, dare I say that I think there are some signs of germination, although a magnifying glass is required to be sure.
2 Another rainy day so my plans for the garden were shelved.  Suffering again from a re-emergence of my cold I even skipped the gym.  Feeling guilty I went out as chief nettle chopper in the woods later.
3 At last it's stopped raining and there isn't any more forecast for the next four days at least.  Not encouraged into the garden though as it is overcast, miserable and so very wet underfoot.
Harvest : chard
4 I've been making a sexy vest top in Sirdar Firefly which I finished (at last) this evening.  This is what they call a ladder yarn and it's been quite difficult to work with.  It's a birthday present for Caroline.
5 A very busy day in the garden:  6 yellow tumbling toms moved to outside hanging baskets.  In the veg garden:  seven stations of chick runner beans sown, plus two pots of carrot parmex followed by swede where the carrots and garlic failed.  Then out with four globe artichokes plus a fifth in a pot.  Then more carrots, radishes and lettuce sown.  In the greenhouse:  black bush tomato and cordon italian tomato (from Sandra) planted.  In the tunnel:  6 stations of runner beans sown, 2 rows of spring onions sown between the sweetcorn and more sweetcorn seeds sown as all but one of my seedlings have rotted.  I obviously put them out too early.  
Harvest: radishes, lettuce, mint, basil, coriander, carrots, 2 strawberries
6 Guess what?  It's raining again - steadily all afternoon, 5 hours so far....
We've tried a bit of a lawn repair where we had a metre circle of sunken ground which always filled with water.  We've filled the dip with compost from the woods, raked in some grass seed and wired it off to stop the chickens eating the seed and digging up the soil.  At least we didn't have to water it!
7 All day, rain again, never stopped.  So I turned my attention to the houseplants in the conservatory.  Big leggy geraniums were chopped back and cuttings put in water to root and other plants generally tidied up.
8 At last, some more time in the garden.  I've potted up three bush tomatoes to grow on in my potting shed and transplanted my last five cordon tomatoes into the greenhouse.  Still got two spare spots in there; I guess I'll fill them with bush tomatoes.  Tried to rescue my broad beans from a blackfly infestation but not sure how successful I will be.  Then I turned my attention to some more houseplants, potting on one that has been in a teapot for so many years that I had to break the teapot to get it out.  And I've re-potted some cacti.  Oh and my giant cacti has got two flowers coming.
Excitement mounted as I made my first five eBay sales.  It's almost more satisfying than buying... but not quite.
9 Cactus flowers From one extreme to the next, it's 27C today.   I met up with a friend for coffee and tried Costa's Ice Latte.  Very nice it was too and I swapped eggs for leek plants.

My big cactus doesn't flower very often, perhaps once very two years.  The flowers only last a day or two and today was the day -->
10 Leek plants planted as recommended but it's really weird to put them in a hole and not fill it in.  Obviously they fall over and look like they will just rot into the soil, but I presume there's magic on the way to prevent that.  I also planted out two chard specimens which I reared in pots and installed two bush tomatoes at the last two greenhouse stations.
Harvest:  swiss chard.
11 Well, I've now concluded that most of my seeds sown in the tunnel have either rotted or been washed away so I've been out today trying again.  I bought a pot of 11 cauliflower for 80p (bargain, I thought) and they've been transplanted.  A few beetroot have germinated but threw a few more seeds in that bed to fill it out.  No fennel or carrots germinated, so both re-sown.  No red cabbage germinated, but only enough seeds left to re-sow one row.  Finally, no kohl rabi but no seeds left so replaced with swede seeds.  Finally, I had four pathetic sprout seedlings which didn't seem to be growing so I've planted those out too and protected with cloches.
Harvest:  rhubarb, 10 alpine strawberries.
12 Some heavy rain overnight and a bit chilly today, but I was glad to see our repaired grass patch is sprouting.  We paid a visit to mum-in-law as she's not well with a cold.  Did a bit of shopping for her and got back just in time to let the chicks have an hour or so out and about.
Finished the first sleeve of my jumper and started the front.  This is completely patterned and cabled so is going to be quite a challenge.
13 Ever seen a Power Ball?  Crow's bought me one and included a PodPower so it can also be used on the foot.  I haven't figured out yet how I get it started and keep it going long enough to get it in the Pod on my foot.  This is going to need some serious practice!
14 Just time to sow some Soya Bean seeds and a couple more courgette seeds before setting out to London to celebrate Caroline's birthday.  We went to the cinema in Leicester Square to see Made of Honour which was a very light hearted rom-com and the girls wanted to drool over Patrick Dempsey.  Then, a good Chinese meal in a nearby restaurant.  Altogether a lovely time.
15 Pottered about in the garden, potting up the last two tumbling tomatoes in hanging baskets in the greenhouse, potting up two batches of golden berry and preparing pots for other planting.
16 I'm quite pleased with my first eBay stint which is now finished.  Two thirds (10 out of 15) of my items sold.
Harvest:  salad leaves, basil, mint, radishes, strawberries, plums, rhubarb.
17 What to do with our injured sparrow hawk?  I tried phoning the two local RSPCA centres but both were just permanently engaged.  So I called Essex Wildlife Trust and they gave me a number for the Rescuers Wildlife Sanctuary in South Benfleet.   They take in wildlife with the aim of healing them and returning them to the wild.  So a surprise trip to the Sanctuary was on the cards.
For more information about the Rescuers Wildlife Sanctuary see www.rescuerswildlife.org.uk.

Then a couple of hours in the veg garden in which I planted out my remaining six bush tomatoes (2 Garden pearl and 4 Sub Artic) and sowed Feverfew, Anise, Dill, Mint, Spring Onions, Salad Leaves, Cutting Celery and Summer Savory.  I see that 4/5 swede stations have germinated along with 4 runner beans.
Harvest:  last two scorzonera, swiss chard
18 I'm about to sound very callous, I think.  Why is there all this fuss about the first female to be killed on the front line in Afghanistan?  Of course, it's as terrible as all the other loss of life in war but she must have known the risks when she chose to join up and isn't this what equality is all about?  Didn't we fight for equality so that women could choose to join the army (and other dangerous occupations like policing, fire-fighting etc.) and not be cosseted from dangerous duties once trained?  Even her father is quoted as saying “But I know that at least Sarah died doing the job she loved and for a cause she believed in.”  The fact that this single death has called into question the increasing use of women on the front line of war, implies one of 2 things. Either women are less capable than men or a woman's life is more important important than a man's. Both implications are insulting to female soldiers.
Ok, I'm off my soapbox now.
19 And now I'm really mellowed out having been for a long 3/4 mile swim.....  That's the farthest I've ever swum in one go and probably the farthest I'm ever likely to!
20 Harvest:  salad leaves, basil, mint, first ever cucumber, 15 strawberries
21 Some welcome rain on the garden this morning then clearing up so that I could venture out for front garden weeding followed by potting up of three red pepper seedlings, one melothrie and planting out of a butternut squash.
22 The melothrie I put in a big pot yesterday was a big disaster.  I wanted to use a wicker climbing frame to support it and cover this with polythene to give it a greenhouse type atmosphere.  I didn't check that the wicker frame would fit in the pot before I planted and, of course, it didn't - doh!  So today I moved the melothrie to the greenhouse border, topped it with it's protective wigwam and surrounded it with eggshell to deter slugs.  I also  weeded and watered, topped up my blueberries with ericaceous compost, then planted out a squash in the tunnel and an ornamental gourd in a large pot.
Our evening entertainment was a meal out in Southend with friends followed by a visit to Cliff's Pavilion to see The Yardbirds and The Zombies.  Well, what a fantastic performance they both gave.  We wallowed in old hits and reminiscence and wondered at Colin Blunstone's voice.
23 As we start this warm and sunny week I thought I'd check:  Did you know that the sun is at its highest in the sky over the UK at this time of year?  It's easier to get sunburnt on a sunny day in late June than on a hotter day in August.  So take care if you're out and about.
We've had a really special treat tonight with complimentary tickets to se Neil Diamond at the O2 arena.  Seated in the best seats in the second row meant the view was astonishing and Neil was only a few feet away as he spent most of his time roaming the very front edge of the stage.  His put in a wonderful performance for the 15,482 people there as he chatted and sang his way through over two hours of his many, many hits plus three songs from his new album.  We were also given a goody bag:  a program, the latest CD/DVD, a shoulder bag, two mugs and two T-shirts.  Truly a night to remember!!
24 Poor me has been to the dentist for a filling and arrived home with some new, strange, mini wire toothbrush things meant to stop plaque gathering behind the teeth.  Wish me luck!
The first day lily of the year bloomed under the bird table.  This is always the first spot to flower and it's always a pink one whereas most of the others are orange.  So, I don't know whether it's the variety or the location which makes the difference.
Planted out some purchased sweetcorn & my pretty pathetic celeriac seedlings.
Harvest:  10oz strawberries, salad leaves, basil, mint, cucumber.
25 I've been waiting to try out Hugh's Broad Beans on Toast recipe and today's the day.  Delicious!
Harvest: broad beans
26 Worked on the Debden airfield roadbook for the Cloverleaf Rally then we had a wander down the route to suss out our Pegularity road route.  Potted up a courgette & the last melothrie.
To my horror I found two holes in my net tunnel, so I had to find my biggest darning needle and set to repairing with garden twine.  Not too pretty, but pretty effective.
Now, shall I water or trust the weather forecast of overnight rain?
Harvest:  9oz strawberries, rhubarb, cucumber.
27 Mad of Maldon (that's me) was up at 6 to go to the gym, in order to be back home in time to take Salt to the vet (see Chicken Diary for the result).  Finished the Debden & Bassingbourn roadbooks.
Harvest:  12 baby carrots, swiss chard.
28 Very hot today but I braved it in the garden to sow some soya bean seeds in the tunnel (all my indoor sown ones failed), plant out 3 pepper plants (under cloches) and then water, water, water.  We finished last year's potato crop yesterday so we emptied out the first potato barrel, but it's too early.  There were only three full sized potatoes and loads of tiny ones.  Still, we'll get one meal from them.
Watched a very silly film this evening called Evan Almighty.  Have you seen it?
Harvest:  salad leaves, basil, mint, 3 cucumbers, new potatoes.
29 I can always find more and more to do in the garden.  Today, veg garden weeding and plant control - tying up raspberries, tayberries and jerusalem artichokes.
30 Just a bit of tending and more watering in the garden.  I picked my first cabbage and the chicks had a treat of the outer leaves.  Also my biggest strawberry haul and first courgette of the season.
Crow's been to the gym today and saw that I was 4th in the "most weight lifted" category for my age range for May.  What a shock!  I don't even look at the ladies monthly stats but I'll be looking out for the June ones soon.
Harvest:  12oz strawberries, my first courgette (8oz) and my first cabbage (16oz heart)