Last summer I ordered Charlotte potatoes from T&M to grow for Xmas but I had an email to say they were out of stock .. so thought ok have a rest over winter no worries ... ordered my seed potatoes for this year and they turned up this morning .. along with the Charlotte's that were out of stock .... I now have 80 tubers in total .. I've put the Charlotte's in the greenhouse to chit I'll keep an eye on the weather and cover with fleece ..hoping to get a really early crop using the heater once they are in bags .. also put the compost in greenhouse to warm up..
Sorted out my seeds today.. I had so many given to me last year that my tin was bursting ...I took all the open packets and mixed them up in an envelope and when the weather is right I'm going to spread them along the bank across the road to see what grows ....
these are all going to the scouts ..
and this is my organised tin ready to start sowing
Ooh Jannie lovely, and I love the seed box, I am going to have to find something now, I too will be looking for some seed potatoes, can I put them in an unheated greenhouse as long as I protect them
It's a bit early really .. but worth a go if you've got something you can protect them with .. if it looks like we are going to have a really cold spell I'll get mine into the compost and leave them shoot in there... you don't have to chit them.. it just speeds up the process and saves planting ones that aren't going to grow and are liable to rot away .. .. who dares wins
The weather is starting to really hold us up with our courtyard project ..hubby took last weekend off to take up the decking but the screws were frozen solid .. one of the arches is ready ..it's standing in front of the shed at the moment..
the paving stone is arriving this week ..this is the one we've chosen.. I think it will weather well Hubby is working this weekend but we've decided if we can't get the screws out this week to save the boards ..we have to get them up one way or another so we'll saw through them between the screws and use them vertically for the planters.. I think it will look better anyway
I have ordered some mini fruit trees to go in the raised planters.. a plum, cherry and peach.. and a grapevine to go over one of the arches .. the mini fruit trees will be interplanted with bush tomatoes and salad crops ..the other planters will have rasberries and strawberries which I have in pots ready and a selection of herbs which I'm going to sow this week .. can't do much in the greenhouse this week .. except grow pretty frost patterns
Valentine's day is the day I traditionally sow my Broad Beans and finally managed it at 6.30 after grandkids went home .. I have sown a different variety this year called Express .. it yields up to 34 pods per plant ..I'm still wary of the mice so have sown in cells in the greenhouse.. I've also sown an early tomato which is new to me called Bajaja ..each plant should produce up to 700 ½oz sweet juicy fruits .. it is a small bush plant so I'll grow on indoors till the weather warms up ..I will leave my usual varieties for a couple of weeks .. going to give the greenhouse a scrub this afternoon as the grandkids are only here half day today ...also going to put the cover on my little polytunnel as I'm going to grow my courgettes in there this year and hopefully avoid the mildew they suffered last year in our wet Welsh summer .......Starting to get the old butterflies in the stomach feeling now the season is starting
Spent a couple of hours in the garden this morning .. got the raised bed dug over and the polytunnel is now in place over it ..the potatoes are sprouting well .. so as soon as the next cold spell is past, they'll be planted in there... Sown Dill, Thyme, Parsley, sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower .. they are upstairs under one of the velux windows for the time being as I need a cool greenhouse to keep the mini peach tree and grape vine that arrived this morning .. also turned the compost, washed the pots and cleared a space for the patio paving ..which we delayed ..and is now being delivered next Tuesday .. so we've got to dismantle the decking this weekend.
Still raining !! .. I wish we'd had the weather the rest of the country has had.. but it honestly hasn't stopped raining for a week!! ..no chance of a hosepipe ban in Wales this summer! .. anyway, the paving for the courtyard has arrived and we have made a start dismantling the decking, the screws are coming out better now the frost has gone.. need to clean and saw the wood up then it can go out of the way, in the log store, ready to build the planters.
The mini fruit trees are far too advanced to be left outside so I've got to keep them in the greenhouse for a while
It has been a beautiful day for a change .. haven't managed to do any work in the garden as the grandchildren were here till after lunch ... but we did manage to have a good wander around looking for signs of spring .. lots of buds opening on the blueberries and gooseberries and and signs of life on the strawberries ... the crocus are out and the daffodils are starting to open
there was one little worker in the garden today though ...
Had quite a good day yesterday .. Planted 4 rhubarb crowns in the empty space behind the arbour seat ..don’t know why I didn’t think of putting them there before .. ideal really. ..Transplanted caulis, cabbage and sprouts ..will keep them in the greenhouse a little longer .. Then I potted on the mini fruit trees as I think it’s going to be a few weeks before the raised planters will be ready for them .. Also sowed a few more tomatoes and some mixed salad leaves and planted out 6 rows of potatoes in the poly tunnel ..will put the Charlottes in bags today so I can grow them in the greenhouse … weeded and turned over the AF patch and emptied the greenhouse of perennials which I've grown from seed ..will plant those out today.. Hubby had the day off so the decking is all stripped off and the boards sawn into lengths ready to make the raised planters .. Only the frame left to dismantle ..would have been so much quicker had we not wanted to reuse all the wood.
Despite a busy day yesterday .. nice man came to service caravan .. we managed to get quite a bit done in the garden .. Hubby has put in the new drain to serve the courtyard.. a lot of really good soil came out of the trench he had to dig ..so that will be going into the planters which is the next job .. all the wood is cut ready so just a matter of assembling them.. which will be on hubby's next day off .. so not 'till next Tuesday!!! .. have to say I don't like this part of projects ..when it gets worse before it gets better
I pottered in the greenhouse and managed to get some of the bedding plants potted on into trays .. broad beans are up .. looks like they've all germinated .. lobelia in trays on right and charlotte potatoes in the bags
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.. you sure we're not related 
..this is the one we've chosen..
.. haven't managed to do any work in the garden as the grandchildren were here till after lunch ... but we did manage to have a good wander around looking for signs of spring .. lots of buds opening on the blueberries and gooseberries and and signs of life on the strawberries ...
..Transplanted caulis, cabbage and sprouts ..will keep them in the greenhouse a little longer .. Then I potted on the mini fruit trees as I think it’s going to be a few weeks before the raised planters will be ready for them ..
