Beans, peas, gherkins, courgettes - all ready to be moved out of little pots in greenhouse!
But we are threatened with frost, -3 - 5, mid week!! Eeek!
So I am off to find those cloches I had.... greenhouse is unheated so I don't think they'll need hardening off if they go straight under plastic!
Only now it is chucking it down - and COLD!
And nothing else has shown a nose yet! I am soaking the trays and keeping my fingers crossed!
Next batch of seed sowing to be done tomorrow! Can't remember what but my organiser will deal with that (hopefully it is all still organised!).
I got this from Amazing and file seeds and a To Do note sheet in each month. It acts as an ever changing diary. Worked quite well last year. I sow, I leave a note in the relevant section for planting out/thinning etc. It can be exciting finding a note about something I had forgotten.
I know, but I soaked my diary, I actually watered it really well, and lost all my notes. So now I am trying this!
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
Well, I have potted on my courgettes, gherkins can wait another week I think.
Peas and beans all really need to be moved on. I'll put them out in the morning under cloches. I'll also plant the second variety of pea in its own square foot. That will be my forst foray into square foot gardening, 2 types of peas and 2 types of beans! Other stuff to follow.
I think early morning gardening will become my norm as I can't guarantee being here inthe early evenings for a while!
I inspected the raspberries and fed them. Scraped off the undergrowth of the gooseberries, checked for sawfly eggs/caterpillars and will top the tubs up with fed compost tomorrow.
Blueberries look sad. I cleaned their pots out and will buy more ericaceous compost tomorrow on the way home. Don't know why I forgot that yesterday!!
I am soaking the trays of tomatoes etc. The compost had got a lot drier than I expected. Don't think I'll use the plug trays again! Unless I can get trays to go under them! All of mine have holes in them! Not so good for soaking
Once they are sorted I will sow the next set of seeds. I am about to sow May's packets..... so I can wait to see what the weather does this week!
Thankfully I took the hoe to the prepared beds mid week. Far too wet and cold to do it today! Another morning job to let the sun kill off the sad little weeds (yeah, I know, what sun??)
I even found a sack of spuds doing its best. I don't really remember havig a third sack.. the 2 we emptied last year were very disappointing. Wonder what this forgotten sack will hold???
Still, things are growing and the weather is trying! Except as I typed that the weather woman mentioned hail stones
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
Right! I have piccies, but not the lead for the camera - I'll be back.
Peas and beans have gone out. I couldn't stand seeing them cramped in their pots any more!
So out they went with a second sowing in the ground just in case!
Spring onions were moved on, leeks will follow soon!
FINALLY the peppers, tomatoes and chillies are coming up in their little seed trays. Well, some of them!
Sown were cauli, cabbage, khol rabi, carrots and some other bits I can't remember now!
And we painted the new chook house - disaster. We tried a spray thing and it was awful. So we have sponged it all down and will buy an old fashioned paint brush for the second coat! We aren't blue any more
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
I'm going to be busy tomorrow, lots and lost of seedlings to move on! I have no idea what I was worrying about!
Sadly I have a tray of tomatoes that I now cannot identify - the label fell out and now I have no idea which type of tom is planted in which row of cells!
So I am winding up the camera and will post some piccies tomorrow!
Yay, proper gardening at last!
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
I find it quite uplifting reading your diary Stef,you aproach your gardening with such zest i find some of your post quite amuseing and a pleasure to read keep it up .My peas have been out a while now and havent had a problem with the cold .Put my runner beans out yesterday and looking a little fragile today but am sure they will pull through,suposed to be a few days of decent weather so will be working extra hard to get ahead.Sweetcorn is the next thing needs moving out but dont think i dare risk it yet
Thanks Bill, I think! It is hard not to be excited by seeds - especially when the day job is so frustrating - teaching 16 - 19 year olds!
I am off shortly to see what I can wreck this time!
I have more seeds to go in so something is going to have to give!
Courgettes and gherkins can be potted on again and a lot of the seeds I put in 2 weeks ago are ready to be uncelled. Hopefully I can get the beds weed free and warm enough over the next couple of weeks so they can all go out!
Apart from that it is very much a free for all. I'll turn on my red radio and do whatever I can think of, including the pictures!
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
All toms are now in bigger pots. I even managed to defintiely identify one sort - yellow tumbling toms. Which is great as I have a colleague who relies on me supplying her hanging baskets!
So, I have toms, aubergines, 5 types of chilli, physallis and 3 of the courgettes all potted on.
The rest of the courgettes will go into work and I will pot on the gherkins as soon as I have bought more compost! Oh! Mustn't forget the white alpine starwberries. And topot up the red ones that keep escaping the pot. I have no idea if the escapees will fruit as they are growing (and flwoering) under bricks laid over sand and that weed control membrane. Still, they can't complain, they escaped after all!
I need to clear the beds now so that the cabbage, cauli, khol rabi, fennel and other veggies can go out - I have enough plastic to keep them warm I think. But I'll buy the stuff for keeping out butterflies before I put them out!
Carrots are coming up in the pot, little tiny shoots. Leeks are in pots and the second lot of spring onions.
When I have made space I shall put in the next series of herby bits and anything else I have got to go in! The next slot in the organiser beckons
The stuff that went out 2 weeks ago is looking OK. Broad beans look string, peas look a little sad but are growing and the french beans just look sad, forgot to look for shoots on the ones I sowed in place! I'll put more peas in and try to remember to get fine beans to go in!
Still haven't done the photo's - sorry
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
I've been out in the drizzle and have planted out cabbage, kale and khol rabi.
I have celtus lettuce and some other bits to go but the other bed has been ravaged by fast growing weeds and I am only have way through clearing them!
When I get brave and the rain slackens off again I shall take out the leeks and whatever else I can identify (note to self: label everything properly next year!).
I also have some flower pots to plant up and some herby bits that are desperate to get out of their pots. And I must remember to put the garlic in the blue pots and then abandon them just outside the back door!
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
Leeks are out, next lots of spring onions pricked out, flower pots done, carrots thinned, herbs potted on, garlic in pots (soft nose rot is such a pain!).
Must remember to support the broad beans, the wind has been a bit strong overnight!
Now, more compost needed for tomatoes, gherkins, chillies, aubergines, physallis which all need potting on.
The giveaway went well. 8 courgette plants disappeared and I got about 20 pots back in return.
I'm about to put out about 20 tomato plants, 5 physallis, 3 gherkins, about 8 chillies and 6 aubergines! Wonder what I'll get back?
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
And now, everything is out of the greenhouse that is coming out!
Well top has pots of carrots, spring onions, sage, marjoram, oregano, salad leaves and 4 garlic - others in pretty pots by back door. Must remember to move the bay down too!
Seeds just in: repeats of salad leaves, spring onions, coriander x 2, sage and some lavender cos I found a packet. Also repeats of turnips, florence fennel, parsnips
And the mystery bag of pots seems to have some mini new potatoes in
Do I need to do more? Oh yes, flowers!!! Must have a think!
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
I have had trugs sitting out in the rain full of weeds. We let them sit and then poured the liquid into a dustbin, lid off, to fester further! Weeds go onto the deadpost (compost pallet bin left by old tenant, utterly unuseable but too rotted in to get rid of!)
This morning I dipped out 2 small watering can fuls and decanted them into the big can, topped it up with water and fed the peas and beans. I had intended to do more but pheeeeeeeeeeew - the smell!
So I went and cooked in the greenhouse. All second set of seedlings now potted on and about 20 tomato and chillie plants put out on the freeby box for anyone who wants them! Extra aubergine and physallis to go out next!
I now need more compost and a few more big pots! The greenhouse staging needs to come out and I need to find the lollipop sticks for the bottom of the tomato pots (they hold the string in the bottom). Actualy I need to find the string too
We also have a young rabbit living in the garden. Dangerously close to the veg patch!! It may get popped into the freezer if it hangs around too long!
Now Mike is off to cut the grass - before it rains again!
Feels like I am a gardener again
1 dumbo rat still without a name; 2 top eared rats Octavia and Ursula 1 Rhode Rock, 1 Sussex Star, 1 Blue Ranger - The New Monochrome Set
