Chelsea: Thompson and Morgan's Gill Oliver Garden.

This little gem was in the pavilion. It was a very good attempt at getting a productive vegetable garden into a 5mx5m space. There was a greenhouse, composter, seating area, and deep veg beds. There were fruit bushes, lemon trees, a host of veg and many flowers and herbs. It was delightful!

All the pictures should enlarge if you click on them.

We were given handouts with details of the planting. I'm no typist so I shan't be reproducing this here unless someone asks!!!!

My photos of this haven't really done it justice...it really sparkled with beauty and freshness.

Chelsea: The Daylesford Organics Garden

This garden always had a huge crowd around it, and it isn't hard to see why.....! (All photos should enlarge if you click on them...)


















One part of it was a hay meadow....perhaps for use as mulch. It was full of wild flowers...and had a very posh wicker scarecrow in a linen peasant's smock!



















The meadow was separated from the Kitchen Garden by a delightful cut and laid hedge.
And the vegetable beds were edged and contained by willow hurdles. Apparently these will last about 10 years. They were very handsome!

Behind the garden was a garden kitchen full of bread!

The RHS website describes this garden......
"Summer Solstice is an organic agrarian garden, linking a green wheat field flanked by native trees and wetland ditching to a sheltered potager for the new century. Kitchen garden becomes ‘garden kitchen’ with an architectural green-roofed building where what is grown is prepared for dining outside.
The planting is native and naturalised, and seasonal for the solstice. The garden is intended to demonstrate that the demands of organic practice, conservation, sustainability and self-sufficiency can be strengths, not limitation, in contemporary design.
Native trees flank and shelter a portion of green wheat, bordered by ditching for drainage and wetland flora, and native hedging for wildlife. This leads over a traditionally laid hedge into a kitchen garden, sheltered by stone walls and incorporating an outdoor fireplace.
The focal point, a state of the art green building, looks down the garden, with planted green roof, solar panels, reclaimed timber and Cotswold stone. At its sides, flowerbeds for flowers and soft fruits, offer clocks of colour, giving sightlines indoors and out and shielding the utilities of eco-friendly living – compost, wormery and water storage."
The plant list is available here http://www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea/2008/pdfs/DaylesfordOrganicPlants.pdf

It was truly inspiring, even if it was a bit yuppy!

NB I'll put a few more pictures in the next message because blogger will only load 4 at a time!!!

Part Two

Part Three

Here is the compost area of this garden. I hope their rotary composters work better than the one I used! (I only borrowed it, and couldn't get it to make compost so gave it back!)
These espaliered fruit trees made good use of the area behind the composters.

Chelsea: The Daily Telegraph Garden

The RHS site says about this garden
"The theme of The Daily Telegraph Garden is simplicity. Hard elements have been reduced to a minimum, while restrained planting and water come to the fore, encouraging reflection of light and contemplation. The garden was inspired by the purity and restraint found in Japanese gardens.
The garden is a contrast of vertical and horizontal elements; of planting and water; of hard and soft.
A stone-edged, rectangular pool of water fills the space of the garden, and is softened by planting on two sides. A serpentine path of stone, crossed by ribbons of white waterlilies (Nymphaea alba), links the front of the garden to the planting at the back, and leads the eye towards a bamboo thicket.
The pool is punctuated by sculptural rocks, half submerged in the pool, and four trees that frame the views and lend a sense of permanence to the garden, and a sense of age and height to the composition. The largest of these trees is Pterocarya fraxinifolia chosen for its association with water.
The plants in the garden were selected for their strong visual association and effect. Simplicity and precision are key to the planting design. Large green leaves (including Gunnera), grey leaves, vertical bamboo and iris, rounded shrubs and roses create a rhythm. "
I must say that this was my second favourite. I loved its simplicity. This one and yesterdays had the same restricted colour palette...green and white. I thought both were lovely because of this restraint.

The planting was simple....here is a list of the plants....

 Alchemilla mollis
 Allium stipitatum 'Mount Everest'
 Amelanchier lamarckii
 Athyrium nipponicum var. pictum
 Buxus
 Camassia white-flowered
 Campanula poscharskyana
 Cornus kousa
 Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety'
 Gunnera manicata
 Hakonechloa macra
 Hebe
 Hedera species
 Iris sibirica
 Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'
 Osmanthus heterophyllus
 Phyllostachys aurea
 Phyllostachys sulphurea f. viridis
 Pterocarya fraxinifolia
 Pyrus salicifolia
 Roses - Rosa
 Sagina subulata
 Soleirolia soleirolii
 Spiraea nipponica 'Snowmound'
 Spiraea × vanhouttei
 Taxus baccata (hedging)
 Viburnum opulus 'Roseum'
 Water lilies Nymphaea
 Zantedeschia aethiopica 'Green
Goddess'

Leeks!

I did a search on the web for some leek seeds that could be sown in May and came across Atlanta and Tadorna from Suffolk Herbs. I sowed these today individually in rootrainers. I'll leave them in there until they are quite big as I have taken their space for something else and will have to wait for a clear spot when my early spuds are harvested.

At the show I bought some seeds of a "Horned Melon" called Kiwano, from the Robinsons seeds stand. They don't appear on their website, but googling found this information....http://www.wikihow.com/Eat-a-Kiwano-(Horned-Melon)
and this
http://obsess.com/fruit/kiwano.html
so I have high hopes for this. I have sowed 4 seeds today. The man selling the seeds said I just about have time to sow them for this year. We'll see. I have 4 seeds left to try next year if they fail.

I didn't get to the plot today as it just floated by in a haze of catching up with various jobs here. Tomorrow I must check on it all though.

Chelsea Flower Show. Best in Show!!

I had a really wonderful day at the show yesterday, and enjoyed photographing all the gardens. I took 498 photos in all....thank goodness for digital. What would that have cost in film and prints?

The overall show winner was the Laurent-Perrier Garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith. It was so tranquil. The RHS website

description of the garden says " The Laurent-Perrier Garden is designed as a contemplative space with a dreamy and slightly surreal character. It is a garden of elegant understatement based on the idea of juxtaposing opposites.
The build elements of the garden are made entirely of brick-shaped objects, orientated in one direction, while the planting is in a seemingly random pattern.
The layout of the garden is made by overlaying a number of separate patterns.
A grove of 30-year-old hornbeams extends over the garden. The trees are pruned so that the foliage forms a number of rounded ‘clouds’, which seem to float in mid air. This grove is dissected by a pattern of paths made from traditional Flemish bricks that are laid over the garden like a net. The paths eventually lead to a terrace at the back of the garden to a seating area.
A third element of the design is a number of zinc tanks, which are placed throughout the garden. Designed by Andrew Ewing, they brim with water and appear to overflow. Zinc is also used in large panels to form the rear wall of the garden. The metal was chosen because it can be used to make precisely detailed features and has a beautiful patina, and the cool blue-grey colouring suits the contemplative green garden.
The fourth element of the design is the herbaceous planting, which forms an undulating tapestry throughout the garden. The colour palette is predominantly green, and key plants include Rodgersia, Molinia, Epimedium, Asarum, Hosta ‘Devon Green’ and Astrantia. The planting is designed to be calm and poised, with an emphasis on form and texture, rather than colour. "

I found it quite difficult to choose which of my photos to use because so many of them made the zinc water holders look like coffins!

This picture shows a little more of the garden that I hadn't noticed on the TV coverage...the round balls of clipped box (?) at the back of the garden....perfect!

And the cloud pruned hornbeams were, as many people have already said, inspired.

Here is a list of the plants used (the handout we were given explained that they all prefer moisture retentive soil in sun and semi-shade....

 Cloud pruned hornbeam
 Taxus hedging (2.2m high)
 Osmanthus heterohpyllus
 Alchemilla erythropoda
 Asarum europeaum
 Astrantia major subsp. involucrata
‘Shaggy’
 Darmera peltata
 Dryopteris filix-mas or D. wallichiana
 Epimedium × youngianum ‘Niveum’
 Epimedium × rubrum
 Euphorbia palustris
 Euphorbia wallichii
 Geranium phaeum ‘Album’
 Gillenia trifoliata
 Hakonechloa macra
 Hosta ‘Devon Green’
 Kirengeshoma palmata
 Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea
‘Transparent’
 Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea
‘Fontane’
 Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea
‘Windspl’ (for foliage only)
 Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea
‘Strahlenquelle’ (for foliage only)
 Paeonia lactiflora ‘Jan van Leeuwen’
 Paeonia lactiflora ‘White Wings’
 Peaonia lactiflora ‘Krinkled White’
 Rodgersia podophylla ‘Rotlaub’
 Selaginella helvetica
 Selinum wallichianum
 Tellima grandiflora
 Digitalis purpurea f. albiflora
 Buxus sempervirens

Tidying up.

As the picture shows, it was getting difficult to get into the shed to get at the shelves at the back. Also the tools were in such a tangle that everything would fall out when I took one to use. I more than once clouted myself around the ear or in the face with the rake by treading on the tines (not funny when you wear glasses....the nose bits were all twisted....lucky I didn't break the lenses, as I always have glass rather than plastic ones). So....an hour spent tidying and sweeping produced the results shown in the second picture....a tidy shed. When they are so small (6x4) they have to be kept tidy if anything is to be found.

I brought away a bin bag full of rubbish!



After this I weeded out the onions and shallots, spent an hour on hoeing paths and digging out deep weeds in them. These are almost pristine now. A little more effort will see it finished.
This afternoon I went back to weed the cabbages, re-net them, and tread the beds to firm everything in. They all have their cabbage collars now....so they are safe from the dreaded root fly.

I also soaked every bed that could cope with it (ie not the courgettes, squashes and sweetcorn...a cold shower is the last thing they want. They had a watering can job, just to their roots!)
Chris on the next plot called out that he has black fly on his broad beans. So I went to check mine and sure enough....the little blighters were there....! So I pinched the tops off them all and tomorrow I'll give them a spray with my organic bug gun stuff.

Every day I am very grateful for my plot. £15 a year's rent, plus seeds and sundries, gives me so much pleasure. I could be paying £35 + a month to go to a gym and be neither so happy, nor (I believe) so fit. Plus....we get to eat good veg and fruit!

Squashes and Sweetcorn in

A wonderful afternoon yesterday....Sunday...so I had a good slot for planting out my Squashes, pumpkins and sweetcorn. I had so many that I used the bed set aside for them, and another bed which was to have had leeks (top picture) but which I have given up to this as the leek situation is dire. I forgot to sow these at the appropriate time so have none for here. There are a few at home in the kitchen garden but not really enough.....never mind!

It was a mistake though masquerading as an opportunity though. The sweetcorn plants were of two different varieties and shouldn't be planted too near each other because cross pollination ruins the sweetness of Sweet Nugget (I think was its name) so they are now in beds at different ends of the plot. Sweetcorn is wind pollinated so I think these should be far enough apart. It is windy on my plot, but I don't think it will carry the pollen 25 feet.....after all we have set out the corn plants at 18 inch spacing to ensure the wind can do the job.....so 25 ft should be enough distance to be clear.

Anyway...this first bed has Sweetcorn Tuxedo, and squashes Pink Pear, Uchiki Kuri and Red Rooster (a heritage seed library one). The Pink Pear will need some support very soon because it is a climbing squash. Those are the ones that lasted so beautifully last winter.

This long bed at the top of the plot has the Sweet Nugget (?) Sweetcorn, and a variety of squashes and pumpkins.

The photos show where I slipped when scattering the slug pellets....organic ones. I know that isn't the ideal solution, but I don't have time to go up there with a torch each evening as I do in the back kitchen garden.

Today seems to be going to be fine all day. The washing is blowing in the breeze, and the kitchen is cleared up, so I'm off to the plot to weed the onions and cabbages, improve the netting situation over the cabbages, carry on deep weeding the between bed paths, and tidy up the shed.

On Wednesday I am off to Chelsea.......I'll be taking a load of photos like last year and will post the best on here over the next few weeks. I saw the preview last night and it looks like another cracking show. I have a few pennies saved for this and am hoping to be able to order some stunning irises for my front garden re-vamp (it bakes out there in the summer), some new strawberry plants after talking them through on the Ken Thingy (?) stand, check out the new Aqua Pots that another blogger is so smitten with, and look to see if there is any improvement on "John Downey" Crab Apple trees before investing in one of them. I had a really super day there last year and have high hopes of doing so this year.

Last year I wore my Crocs to the show(the slip on ones with the strap that can go forward or back). My feet lasted through quite well considering that I had to walk from Victoria Coach Station both ways as well as around the show all day. This year I have some of the boating ones, with the filled-in top with the draw cord closure. These stay on my feet better and little stones don't jump in as much as they do with the others. I also wear them with socks so my feet will be even comfier.

Tomato Plants in the Tunnel beds now.

I had intended to go to the plot with the squash and pumpkin plants, and the sweetcorn...but it was drizzling all afternoon. So instead I planted out the tomato plants into the greenhouse beds. I forgot to take the photo, but wanted to post this message so that it is recorded under today's date.

Yesterday I cleaned the last bed in the home kitchen garden and planted out the tiny leek plants I sowed the seeds of in Feb. They look so vulnerable....but will grow on now that are not in modules.

Tomorrow I hope to get the pumpkins and corn in...at the plot.

A boring photo!

This being the last hot day for a while, and the plot being in a nice airflow in the mornings...and in the shade too....I decided I could cope with something energetic. So I cleared this pathway between the courgette bed and the Kestrel potatoes. It was thick grass and dock and it had got away from me a bit last summer. I dug out all the offending weeds and got all the roots (the soil had really compacted so it was hard work). Then I used the loose soil to earth up the spuds. I have danced up and down on the new surface to compact it again and am happy with it. I WILL keep it hoped from now on!
I know it looks like nothing, but it took me over two hours!
I also hoed some of the other paths.

There was a water leak around our standpipe, so I phoned the Allotment Officer at 12. By the time I walked the dogs through the allotments at 3 they had been and stopped the leak. We are on water meters here on the Island, and I suppose that goes for the council too.

This afternoon I planted the two currants (red and black) that I bought the other day, into the bed at the side of the garden. It was a bit dry in one of the holes so I'll have to keep an eye on that one.

When it cools down a bit this evening I'm going to have a tidy up session in the back garden. Rain is on the way tomorrow and I have a lot to put away....

Early start

I made an early start at the plot today because it is in shade all morning and I can't work there in full sun. The first job was to spend a half hour watering everything. I soaked all the seed beds and the spuds, and lightly watered the areas I was going to weed......they were a bit hard. The plot gets no sun until lunchtime so the plants were not warmed up and so could take a chilly shower!

Picture 1 shows the raspberries, doing well, and now sporting their petticoats of poached egg plant. I have put the little modules in front, between, and behind the bushes in the hopes that they will seed profusely and smother weeds forever! That is the plan anyway!

I also took advantage of the shadiness and the chilly wind to do the strenuous work of weeding out two of the untouched beds. The one behind the wigwams will have beetroot sowed there on the next root day. I need a lot as I pickle them for DH for the whole year.

And the third picture show where I have cleaned the bed to front left and sowed peas. Sugar snap, which need the wigwam support as they grow to 1.5m. I didn't have any netting at the plot so will have to go back with that, and with some CDs to hang around to scare pigeons. I aso sowed Twinkle....a normal pea, which needs the usual pea supports.

I must get back to the plot soon to finish weeding out the paths so that a weekly hoeing will keep them clear. I much prefer hoeing to mowing, or clipping so the grass is going!

All in all it was a very pleasant morning once the wind dropped. (I needed my fleece until then. ) It was very cheery hearing the banter of the other plotholders as they arrived, and the slow thwack, thwack of the men playing tennis at the sports club. The almost tame blackbird came and took every worm I threw him. He waits until he has 5 or 6 hanging down like a huge moustache before he flies back to his nest with them. He also serenaded me for a while from the top of the tree by the flats.

Progress....

A busy session at the plot today. DH rotovated the squash bed which runs right along the top of the plot. The chunks of dried manure didn't break up as they are so dry. I'm considering raking them up and putting them in water to make a plant feed.

Whilst he did that I weeded and tilled this bed. It now has courgette seeds in. From left to right...
Rugosa Friulana
Custard White
Jemma
and Lungo Bianco.
I will sow French beans along the edges and between the plants as a catch crop. They like to grow together anyway.

I also did this bed near the shed. It is where the broccoli was until today. I dug it, tilled it, and erected the wigwams. I have done them in this square shape to make it easier to hoe between the rows. I don't know why I didn't think of that for the tepees in the back garden.

The sticks nearest the camera are where I sowed Borlotti beans, between the wigwams are some dwarf French beans..."Tepee". And the far framework has Climbing French Bean "Cosse Violette".

I still have two beds to work and sow. The one next to this bed and the one nearest the shed, which had field beans in it all winter. That will be for peas, and the bed next to this one will be for more beetroot. There is not enough for DH's pickles in the other bed.

Brian in the next plot was planting out his marrows, courgettes and sweetcorn today. So, when mine are hardened off they will go up into the long bed at the top of the plot. Brian stakes all of his sweetcorn against the wind, but I don't think I will need to as the far bed isn't all that windy....I have a hedge..

Now to walk the patient dogs.....

Sunburnt

What a beautiful day we had today! Not quite so sunny as yesterday so I put on a sunfrock as I thought there was less chance of burning. So...I now have a burnt back of my neck! It goes with my nose which burnt yesterday....!

I didn't post about yesterday's planting. I sowed more runner beans around another wigwam....Red Rum. And some Hestia (dwarf runners) around the wigwams. Within the framework I sowed various lettuces, as before.
In the pea bed I sowed some more sweet peas around a wigwam, hoping for some later blooms, and some cucumbers and pickling cucumbers around another.

I spent a long morning in the back Kitchen garden. It needed a good tidy up. I strimmed all the grass edges which were providing a hiding place for slugs. I still have a great deal to do but it does look better. I also dismantled the tent/cloche as I don't need a cold frame for a while, and it was in the way.

This afternoon I went to the plot....to spread grass mowings on the potatoes, and to sow carrots and beetroot. This first picture shows the bed after I'd finished. I had to weed it out first and reduce it to a fine tilth with my Wolf cultivator. 6 short rows of carrots... Flyaway, French Frame, and Early Nantes. The E Nantes were a seed tape which I am trying for the first time.


I also remembered to take the cabbage collars with me and "dressed" my cabbage plants. These look happy, which is a relief, remembering what happened to the plug plants I bought at great expense and planted in my plot last Autumn. Although I believe the problem there was that I had only just dug in the green manure crop....obviously its decomposition was affecting the plants...they all dies except two at the very end and even they failed to grow at all all winter.
These plants here were raised from seed in modules here in my tunnel and frame.

I ran out of time to do any more at the plot....I still haven't planted out the Poached Egg plants. I'll do them and another good hoe round tomorrow.

Now to put more cream on my burnt back neck and go lie down!!

Today at the plot

I had a very valuable 5 hours at the plot today. My back soon unstiffened from yesterday's efforts and I got so much done.

DH brought the strimmer with him and he sorted out the nettles on the banks and all the grass paths, on the plot and between my plot and next door. I raked it all up and the nettles went on the compost pile, and the grass went on the early spuds to mulch them. I earthed them up yesterday so this is a bonus for them. Anything to cut down watering....

I carried on hoeing pathways between beds...most are now done. So...state of the plot today...
Picture 1. In the background are the Sutton Broad Beans...doing nicely. Next to that is a roots bed...still needs attention. Next to that is the carrot bed....with a lot of Desiree too as there were too many for the bed I had allocated for them.

In the foreground the RH bed was the brassicas over winter...needs clearing. Next to them are the shallots...which I weeded out today. Next to them are the onions...also weeded today.

Picture 2. The bed on the back left is the maincrop bed. I spread grass on there yesterday. Then under the nets in the foreground are the cabbages I planted out today.....actually cabbages, caulis and Brussels sprouts. I covered them against the pigeons. Chris next door lost a whole row of peas to pigeons, and so did the plot next to him. I forgot the cabbage collars...will do them tomorrow. The next bed is the Charlotte salad potato maincrop.
Picture 3. The early spuds Kestrel are on the right in the foreground. These were earthed up yesterday and today I piled the strimmings into the dip. The pathway here between that bed and the next is very grassy and needs more than hoeing...a job for tomorrow. The last long bed is for the courgettes and squashes. I will also put the sweetcorn in this bed, my Two Sisters bed!! Chris and I had a natter whilst sipping water and having a mid-afternoon sit, and commented that no-one at the plots appears to grow sweetcorn. I suspect I'll find out why this summer! I suspect it gets blown over in the ferocious winds we get. My runner beans used to blow over on the old plot
This picture taken along the back fence shows the comfrey along the fence, the Autumn Bliss raspberries in front, and the rhubarb in the front RH corner, with the gooseberry just poking itself into the frame. I had a preliminary hoe around all these today and picked up a whole;e barrow load of sticky weed, nettles and bindweed. Tomorrow I will hoe it all again and then plant out all the poached egg plant modules to become the ground cover in this corner.

I pulled a load of rhubarb for us and gave some to Chris. His was only planted this year and is quite small. I also cut off all the globe artichokes that were big enough to eat. I'm giving them one last go. I'll try Sarah Raven's recipe from her garden cookbook. If that doesn't do the trick I'll dig them up and put them on the surplus seat and see if anyone else wants them.

All in all a very satisfying day. We did a lot and made good progress. There is still much to be done though.......! Watch this space

Yesterday....

Yesterday, being the first visitor free day that coincided with appropriate weather , I decided to go for it in the garden. The morning was spent planting out celeriac, dill, spinach and parsnips that I had started off in modules and jiffy sevens and which had been hardening off in my smart new Lidl tent greenhouse/cold frame.

It is time for the beans to be sown, so in the bed prepared last week I set up my third wigwam of bamboo sticks with a nifty plastic circle with holes in to gather it together at the top. I sowed Lady Di, two beans per stick. In the middle space went some Winter Density raised in modules.

Then I moved the aforesaid cold frame and weeded the bed under it ready for borlotti beans. Another wigwam took care of them, also filled with lettuce. Hopefully the beans will shade them a bit when they get bigger. I find lettuce seem to bolt in my back garden unless they have a bit of shade. Then I realised I hadn't enough poles to make the other two bean wigwams so I left the back garden to itself and went to the plot (after walking the dogs).

The plot has become rather weedy so I spent a while hoeing the paths between the beds. Some look better now but I have a lot still to do in that department. Also the nettles and grass on the bank, and the grass paths, are very long now and DH will come and strim them for me today...thankfully!

I also prepared a bed for the cabbages, Brussels and cauliflower plants raised in modules. I ran out of time to plant them and that'll be done today.

I also took some Limnanthes (poached egg plants) raised in modules, for planting out underneath the raspberries. They will help keep down the weeds there. I read that they are good companion plants for raspberries and they will also self seed.....a bonus!

I bought some currant bushes last week, red- and blackcurrants. These will go where I have the globe artichokes now. I find that having grown the beauties I don't really enjoy the vegetables enough to give them so much room. I'd rather have more fruit in their spot. We love summer pudding, and with the raspberries at the plot, and the strawberries at home we have all the necessary ingredients.

When I got home yesterday I could hardly walk. A bath and an evening spent sitting knitting didn't improve things, and I had a bad night.....so Ibuprofen to the rescue....! My back trouble stems from an old injury (a chap fell on me from a roof and crushed three vertebrae). I can't actually do it any harm by pushing it with work so I tend to go at it until I can't move then stop. Sometimes I can't get going again next day....we'll see!

So....strimming today, and weeding, and planting out, and going to Busy Bees for some more poles for the back garden wigwams......

Sorry no photos.....will do some today.

Wisley...on Monday this week.

On my way to Kent to visit my Mother I always drop in at Wisley to check on the progress in thevegetable garden, particularly this corner with its 3x3 plots. The first one is the British Veg version, the other is the Oriental veg garden. I posted the plans of these gardens five weeks ago, on 7th April.


I have no idea what this blossom is but it was exquisite.

Maincrop in!

Sorry no photos....a shower came as I did the last spud so I ran for it. Gotta walk the dogs now it has cleared up so no show at the plot now til Wednesday. I am very glad though to have got them in at last. The moon appropriate day for them will be tomorrow and Tuesday but I hope they will forgive me for doing them 12 hours too soon!!!! LOL

I had too many for the designated area for spuds according to the rotation plan, so I put 9 tubers into the carrot/beetroot bed. I had allowed too much for them anyway.

Backache!

Yesterday being soooo beautiful I had to do something in the garden. I really need to get in my maincrop at the plot, but the best days for that is Monday and Tuesday this coming week....but I will be away then so decided that this afternoon, as late as possible, will just have to do. That left yesterday to work in my kitchen garden at home.

One of the deep beds, which had the field beans in over the winter and will be for peas and salads this year, had rather sunken, solid soil. It needed loosening a bit and some more soil added to bring up the level. I have loads of compost in the making so it was time to start looking at it and turning the piles. One lot was ready so I started sifting it. I don't know why mine is so twiggy, but obviously I need to be more careful what I put into the heaps in the first place!!!

I did half a bed's worth and felt that it wasn't going to be a good idea to do any more as my back was twinging.

After dinner I felt I just had to get outside and the patio slabs were getting a good crop of weeds between the cracks. So I got down on my knees with the little weeding tool and dealt with that.

This morning I woke up so stiff that I couldn't lay there any longer. I must ease it somehow before this afternoon as the spuds really do need to go in today.

Tomorrow I am off to Kent to visit my Mum, with a coffee stop at Wisley along the way. I will run up to the veg garden to snap the 3x3 beds for your delectation!!! I can't stay long this visit because I have a heavy schedule of stuff to do in Kent before I return home to the island on Tuesday.

Water!!!!

Oh have we been busy! As it was fine today we decided that it was time to get on with installing the water butts to make maximum use of all the free water that drops from the clouds onto our little bit of England. We had butts sited last year to collect the water from the back roof of the house, the shed, the sunroom and the greenhouse. But we hadn't any way of collecting from the front roof....which actually faces the prevailing winds....so obviously gets the bulk of the rain.

So...as we now have a suitable drill end for making holes in plastic drums we got on with it.

Firstly I had to empty all the butts. They were mostly low because we have been irrigating the greenhouse with what we had (we are metered here on the IOW so we don't use tap water if we can possibly help it.

Then we put this one against the shed. This is a bit Heath Robinson, but it is tucked away. I have set it high enough to make it easy to fill cans from this one.
This one replaced the one that was here last year. Long time readers of my blog will remember that our water butts all collapsed last year and we were given replacements by Blackwall free of charge. The only problem was that the replacement kits were not so tall as the previous ones and they used to overflow when full. Irritating! So we moved this bigger one in which needed a hole drilled in it and did it to the exact height needed for the inlet from the downpipe.

I need to get another hose connector for the tap on this one. It will be a back up for the greenhouse irrigation system.
This one takes the water from the sunroom roof. It is set up to irrigate the greenhouse continually.
These two are the new ones which take the water from the front roof of the house. They are just inside the back gate and are fed by a hose through the fence to a rainsaver fixed on the downpipe jut around the corner of the house. I was a bit doubtful whether this one would work, but a watering can poured into the gutter produced a gush moments later in the butt.

These two have an interlinking kit.

I need some hose connectors for these taps so that these can also be back ups for the greenhouse irrigation.

When we are doing anything that requires a bit of physical effort and precision drilling we argue a lot!!!! I'm glad none of you could hear us! Fortunately (for us...not him) the neighbour on this side of the house is deaf.

Water continued

Here is the guttering I rigged up a couple of years ago to take the rainwater off the tunnel. This winter the plastic I use to bridge the gap between the tunnel and the gutter blew away as the adhesive tape I was sold for the job was rubbish. I have got some new tape which works....the polythene is a little thinner than what we had here before, but it was all I had on hand and will do for now..The water butt at the end is easily accessed from the back door of the tunnel and is perfect for filling cans to water the pots and staging.

The bed in front of the tunnel is my new-ish asparagus bed. I grew these from seed and will be able to harvest them next year. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Carol Klein at Berryfields last night...their asparagus isn't even showing through the soil yet. I can't believe our climate here is so far ahead of theirs.

I do feel sorry for Joe Swift with that awful allotment he has taken on. There is so much weed, and he chopped it up so small with that rotovator, that he will be fighting the weeds forever.

I just don't "get" the big triangular beds he has put in....I suppose it makes a talking point. But planning and crop rotation can be problematical with strange shapes like that.

Mini-greenhouse/cold frame

Look at this lovely thing I got for £14.99 at Lidl's yesterday. They call it a "hobby greenhouse", I call it my new Cold Frame! It is quite sturdy, and very easy to assemble and disassemble.

It is too wide for my veg beds but I haven't a large enough place to stand it elsewhere at the moment. I don't need that bed for another few weeks as it is the designated bean bed for this year.

This morning I have potted on the tomatoes I sowed recently. They had become very leggy in their rootrainers, so I have put them into the deeper rootrainers and topped them up with more compost. They seem happier now. I have got far too many for my plots, but I always supply my sister with her tom plants and I have just about enough for us both.

I also potted on some red geraniums got from B&Q yesterday. They look so good in a row of 12 on the sunroom windowsill when they are flowering, and 2x£3.98 isn't a lot for a full year of pleasure. When they finish I put them outside the following year and get more pleasure out of them.

Another picture of it!

I like the fact that it has a net screen....keeps the cats out! They will sit on seed trays....why I don't know.

A couple more pictures

This is the other polytunnel bed. Under the cloches are some Courgettes (Little Gem) hoping for an early crop. I know I'll have to hand pollinate them.
The irrigation hoses are partly buried. I was waiting for them to settle into their shape before wrestling them into the ground. Must get on with it now.
My brassicas...almost ready to go into bigger pots. Tomatoes behind...for the tunnel. The outdoor ones are still indoors waiting for me to transfer them from modules into 3inch pots. Perhaps tomorrow.

Progress at the plot, and at home.

Look at my spuds in the tunnel. These were 5 Kestrel which I didn't have room for at the plot. They were planted the same day as the ones at the plot...look at them. They are smothering my strawberries....I planted them too near. Behind them are some trays of flowering plants for my front garden, also some for the plot (poached egg plant for under my raspberries). Behind that are the Growpots waiting for the tomatoes.

I sowed all my squash seeds today, and the sweetcorn. All in Rootrainers. The sweetcorn are Sweet Nugget, and Tuxedo (Kings Seeds). The Squashes are
4 modules each of
Uchiki Kuri,
Virginia Rooster (Heritage Seed Library)
Bon Bon
Pumpkin American Tonda
Gourd Golden Nugget
Squash Pink Banana
Marina di Chioggia


This afternoon I was able at last to get some of my pre-sown modules planted out at the plot. The shallots are in....on the left of the picture, and the broad beans...to the right. I sowed that whole bed of broad beans last autumn, but only two actually came up...the bigger ones in the top left corner of the bed.

Up at the back of the plot is the long bed with manure on ready for the squashes, courgettes and pumpkins. Then the two beds with the dries up grass on are the early and salad spuds. Kestrel are showing already...titchy compared with the ones in the tunnel...see top picture. The next grass covered bed is Charlotte. The next bed has the onion sets in that I planted a couple of weeks ago. Nothing showing yet there .

Up to the right the dark patch is the bed where I will be planting my Desiree seed potatoes, together with the next one. This will be all one bed this year rather than two separated by a pathway.

The bed behind the broad beans is for beetroot...still not sown. The one behind that is for carrots....some sown, but the succession sowing is now overdue.
In the next photo you can see the raspberry canes coming up well along the fence at the back. In front of that is the rhubarb....flourishing.
And in front of that are the globe artichokes which have produced all winter. They are putting up new shoots so I'll be cutting off all the older stuff soon.

As you can see there is a load of hoeing to be done on the paths between the beds, and some of the beds need a tidy up too. We have had a lot of visitors this last fortnight, but I am getting back to it now.
This is the Montana that I am training over the archway into the kitchen garden. I had one at my old home which I miss....so here is my replacement. I want it to grow thick and heavy.

Tomorrow is another "fruit" day according to the moon so I'll be planting out the peas and sweet peas in the kitchen garden.

Wisley

A comment by Matron on yesterday's post reminded me that I've forgotten to post about my visit to Wisley a fortnight ago. I took these photos of the plans for their 3x3 beds this year.
You'll see that they have started another bed (alongside the first one) for Oriental vegetables.
I might have a go at this in '09 (beds are all planned out for '08) but I'll watch their efforts this year with interest first.

A terrific day today.....sun, sun, sun!

It started a bit chilly but has warmed up to be a beautiful day. So I have been working on the back beds. (It is a bit difficult to believe that the photos in the previous blog post were taken only two days ago!)

Firstly I moved all the peas, broad beans and shallots that I started in modules in the tunnel, out to the fleece cloche to start the hardening off process.

Then I cut off the field beans which were green manuring the rh bed seen here. The bed seemed to have a lot of bindweed in it so I have tried to kill that with some weedkiller. If that doesn't work then I'll dig it all through again. I left the bean roots in so that the nitrogen fixing goes on.

The newly cleaned bed behind that one (with the tepee) was gladioli and some salads last year. I retrieved all the glad corms this morning and really went through the soil to get out the bindweed roots. I have now sown some Robinson's Show Perfection Peas that I got at Chelsea last spring. I've sown two per cane hoping that at least one comes up. I'll pour some meths around the stakes to discourage mice. I haven't got any petrol so it'll have to be meths....hope it works the same.....!

The marigolds you see in the bed to the left of the tepee have flowered all winter.

It was really really nice to be back in harness.....really really nice!

An added reason for good cheer today.....DH put the nets out last night in the bay near us and left them for the tide to go in and then out. He was delighted to find 6 Sea Bass in the net this morning ranging in size from 1lb9oz (scaled and gutted) right up to 2lb10oz . All now in the freezer as the boys (3 x 15 year olds) who are staying with us are going to take them home when they go as souvenirs of their holiday.

Hello Snow!!!!

We have lived here 4 years now and this is the first time we have had proper snow...look at it! It started at 8.30 this morning and by 10am was 3 inches thick on the lawn.
It won't last long because the outside temp was a good 8deg C before the snow arrived. However I am unlikely to do any gardening today....!

I did manage to get to the plot a couple of times this week. I planted the Charlotte potatoes and my onion sets on their correct moon days. I also mulched the Kestrel potatoes (a few tubers just showing tops) with a really thick layer of grass mowings from the home grass. Given what we've got coming down from up there today I am glad I gave them that protection!!

I also had a good hoe round, and promised the plot some better attention this week coming.

At last.....!!!

At last the weather and the opportunity coincided. Today was glorious weather, sunny and windless, and I managed to grab a couple of hours this afternoon (after walking the dogs for miles along the beaches) to finish off tidying the front garden. Now that is out of the way I can get my mind fully involved in Allotment planning.

Tomorrow morning I must sow some tomato seeds....before 11 am according to my moon calendar. Some of the ones I sowed the other week haven't germinated, so I'll try again. Also the Gardener's delight for growing outdoors need to be started off. Then on Tuesday I shall put in the rest of the spuds at the plot as that is the perfect moon day for planting them.

Wednesday will be a full day at the plot....weather permitting.

Thursday I will be otherwise engaged, but Friday will be available....now all I want is for the weather to play ball.

The row of Kestrel second early spuds that I planted in the polytunnel are up already. I am hoping for an extra early harvest of them.

Frustrated

I am getting very frustrated with the weather. The sun only seems to come out when I can't get to the plot. When I set aside time for it the rain arrives. Take today for example.......the afternoon free.....so it rains. I have done a bit of potting on in the polytunnel here at home but otherwise nothing.

After I got rid of the chest infection I have only once been to the plot....and harvested rhubarb and broccoli. I had a good look round and other than a bit of weed removal it looks OK. The early spuds