LL's Gardening Diary

[davina112]

LL, they look really good

[lancashire lass]

thank you - I think they would be a bit further ahead if we'd had warmer weather earlier but they seem to be catching up. This morning I could just see the start of buds forming on the Naga Morich so obviously can't be that cold in the polytunnel if things are still moving on.

Today's tasks were perhaps a bit ambitious - I wanted to get the brassica net cages set up ready for planting, dig a trench to bury 3 weeks of compostables (mainly banana skins and tea bags from work) as well as add some chicken manure and a little compost, then make a scaffold and plant the maincrop Roma tomatoes. The squashes that were coming along are still in small pots (plastic drinking cups) so I didn't want them to get pot bound but at the same time, made sense to plant them direct rather than have to repot and plant later. So I loaded the car with all the plants, compost, netting, tools and other essentials and set off at just past 7.30am. It was cloudy and thankfully the wind had died back a little so didn't feel quite so chilly.

The first task was to re-erect the pallet fence that had blown down in winter. The fence not only acts as a wind break but also creates a micro-environment and keeps the bed slightly warmer. Determined that the fence wasn't going to blow down at the first gusty wind, I dug a fairly deep trench, positioned the pallets in place, back filled and compressed the clay soil. Next, to start digging a row where the tomatoes were to go - the bed is riddled with marestail and although I've dug as much as I can and attacked it with weedkiller, there are still fronds popping up here and there, so clearing the bed took a lot longer than I'd like to admit but worth it. There is no doubt that the combined weedkiller and lifting roots out has drastically reduced the population, and even the bits that had survived were small and weakened. The hoe has become a very useful tool to break up the clay clods and afterwards, I dug the trench and layered it with the compostables, chicken manure and a sprinkling of compost.

By now it was already well past 11.00am and the sun was breaking through ... I was so convinced that we were not going to see any sunlight today, I rather stupidly wore dark clothes so I found myself starting to get hot and bothered. Retrieving the canes out of the shed was not much fun as they were right at the bottom under piles of wood but I managed to get a load of 4 foot lengths needed for the frame and put it together. At this point I was deliberating about whether to use bean and pea netting or go for twine across the frame when I became aware of a loud roaring buzzing sound and people were scattering off the plots in all directions, and 3 plots up from mine the couple had run to their car As I looked up, there was an almighty swarm of bees spiralling around in the next door but one's plot, some bees flying past me I watched them for several minutes and although I was not absolutely sure, I was convinced the swarm was not too close to be worried. Still, I gathered my things together in case I needed to make a hasty retreat, and put everything away in the shed. There are a number of hives in the community plot behind mine and apparently there have been several swarms this past week.

I found some off-cuts of netting and decided to go with that - Roma are a bush type plant so you don't really nip off side shoots. However, I did want to keep the foliage off the soil so the idea is to grow them against the frame/netting and tie them to it. As the frame is set at an angle, the fruits should (in theory) hang down and easier to find when harvesting. By the time I'd finished tying the netting down, the swarm had calmed down. Still, by now I was getting tired so decided to leave and not tempt fate. Now that the frame is set up, I can always pop in early in a morning and plant the tomatoes.

I had brought the camera along so I was able to take some photos. First a view of the plot so far - slowly, lots of things are starting to grow so the beds don't look quite so empty:




Looks like a bumper crop of lavender this year I must harvest them this year and use them to make oils (infused) and anything else:



The pallet fence and the tomato frame on the pond bed:



The swarm of bees (trust me, I didn't get too close and used the maximum zoom on the camera lens - shame I didn't have the proper zoom lens with me) The swarm had settled probably about 15 - 20 feet away from where I was working:

[HappyBob]

Wow that swarm of bees looks amazing, and so close to were your were working LL . Your lavander must smell gorgeous when you walk past it, your plot looks really really good LL you must be very pleased with it.

[lancashire lass]

Wow that swarm of bees looks amazing, and so close to were your were working LL . Your lavander must smell gorgeous when you walk past it, your plot looks really really good LL you must be very pleased with it.

I was surprisingly not that worried about the bees (I’ve never been stung by a bee so don’t have a fear) - somewhere I recall someone telling me that although a swarm looks frightening, they are more interested in finding a new home and are not interested in you. As they don't have a home to protect they are less likely to sting, unless of course you foolishly disturb them Still, better not to take any chances and provoke them LOL.

As for the lavender, every time I brush past them, the fragrance even without the flowers is gorgeous. As well as gathering the flowers for my own use, they do attract the bees on to the plot which is important for pollination especially when the squashes and other fruiting plants start flowering. When the apple tree on the plot was in full blossom, those very same honey bees off the community plot were so busy the entire tree was full of bees - I just know it's going to be a bumper crop off that tree this year

As for the plot, well I'm perhaps not as pleased as I'd like to be - the marestail problem is taking such a long time to eradicate – just when I think a bed is cleared it pops up again later when crops are planted up, and as the soil is so heavy, it makes it twice as hard to dig out and deal with. Despite years of digging in lots of stuff (sharp sand, old compost/growbags, manure, compostables from work such as the banana skins and tea bags) this year seems a lot more hard work. Maybe I’m just getting older and feeling my age LOL Because I spend more time digging than getting other jobs done, the plot always has that “messy” look – the wood round the beds look untidy, the footpaths full of bits of plastic to keep some weeds down while I deal with the beds. However, it is nice to see things moving along now and plants starting to take off. The potatoes and onions have definitely shown lots of new growth since even last week, and now that the peas and beans have all germinated it won’t be long before I’ll be eating some fresh produce. Just wish the courgettes would get a move on then I can plant them out – over the summer they become an almost staple diet.

Today’s task this morning was to plant up 2 hanging baskets with tomato plants for the patio. A couple of years ago I grew Tumbling Tom in baskets and they looked spectacular with loads of yellow cherry size toms, but having 3 plants per basket was perhaps a too much and they needed a lot of watering (twice a day at least, ideally nearly 3 times) When you have small tomato plants in pots, it's difficult to imagine they'll get big, and so this time each basket got 2 per basket ... somehow, I think I’ll regret even that many. I’ve planted 2 different varieties per basket – I’ve no idea how they’ll turn out as (1) I’ve never grown them before so can’t say how they grow and (2) they have not been developed for patio/hanging baskets in mind so probably won’t be as pretty as the Tumbling Tom. We’ll just have to wait and see.

[Linda S]

We have horse tail as we call it in our garden and cant get rid, thats why grow any veg in planters. It must be horrendous on the plot Lindaxx

[lancashire lass]

We have horse tail as we call it in our garden and cant get rid, thats why grow any veg in planters. It must be horrendous on the plot Lindaxx

When I was debating on which of the 2 plots to give up, I had the choice of a bindweed and marestail infestated plot, or go for the clubroot and white onion rot contaminated plot. I like to grow lots of garlic, onions, shallots and leeks - every year on the shared plot I expected to dispose of well over 50% of the crop (once, 90% of the onions - I must have planted them in a particular hot spot) During the drought of 2011, the big plot at the bottom of the hill rode it out well due to the heavy clay, but the plot at the top of the hill which had been worked for decades really struggled and I was constantly calling in to give everything a thorough watering. So come 2012 - which plot? One had to go as I really did not have the time or energy to cope with 2. The bindweed and marestail didn't seem so bad after careful consideration LOL.

Not much to post about other than things are still growing nicely - a couple of mild nights has been as welcome as a couple of scorching hot days and made quite a difference. The newly planted sweetcorn are really galloping now so I'm still hopeful the late sowings will catch up. The squash plants are now reaching critical mass - growing big rather quickly and desparate to be planted out on the plot. I can see another Tomato and Squash planting attempt take 2 this weekend, even if I have to go in the rain (I just don't want it windy ...))

The tomatoes in the greenhouse are taking their time at flowering - I've seen those same flower buds for well over a week but no sign of going further. The plants themselves have nearly doubled in size and looking healthy so I'll just have to be patient. The peppers/chillies in the grow bags are also looking fine. In the polytunnel, the chillies seem to have stalled. Well, the hot ones have I should say - the 7 Pot, Nagas, Habaneros ... they are not the fastest growers by any means, but they just haven't made the most of the short "summer" we've just had. The other milder ones such as the Espelette and Padron/Ancho are now about 2 feet tall and really cracking on with LOADS of flower buds just waiting to open. The overwintered Lemon Drop on the other hand is being rather stubborn - according to many websites, it is supposed to be a very productive plant ... apparently not mine. So I've decided to encourage the flowers - I sort of gathered the method when I found some of the first repottings were pot bound by the time I got round to putting them in bigger pots and most had flower buds, and it struck me that producing flowers was a survival mechanism in case the "drought" killed the plant - at least there would be seed for the next generation. So Little Miss Lemon Drop is going on a water free diet to encourage things along now.

As for te polytunnel -what I thought was condensation accumulating along the seam is now definitely a leak along the entire length We had a bit of a heavy downpour last night and I popped down to shut things down for the night when I noticed the dripping yet the cover at the top inside the tunnel was bone dry so couldn't be condensation. I'll have to think of something - maybe run candle wax along the seam? Not sure whether to use the stuff for waterproofing tents as the material is different.

[billnorfolk]

Hi LL you were very brave ,if them bees were near me i would have bin down the lane quick as me old legs could carry me
I have used this before
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardman-Weather ... epair+tape" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
To stick a couple of the flaps shut on my pollytunnel still stuck after 2 years,dont know how difficult it would be to run a strip along where you think the leak is on the outside would probably be best.
Ihave got a new 3metre cover to go on mine ,but keep getting another year out of it ,covers are fairly cheap for these ones off ebay ,and seem to work ok.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Polytunnel-Gr ... 4841aceaba
Maybe get one to fit yours dont know what size it is .
Hope you can sort it can be anoying

[davina112]

LL, your PT is new, surely the company will replace the cover

[lancashire lass]

Hi LL you were very brave ,if them bees were near me i would have bin down the lane quick as me old legs could carry me

LOL - I wouldn't call it brave, but I was cautious. Thanks for the links BTW I had a look and the tape is a possibility (I'm actually thinking of the polycarbonate greenhouse where I have a couple of panels that keep popping out)

LL, your PT is new, surely the company will replace the cover

I did think about that - do you know, I went and had a look on Amazon and that particular supplier is no longer on there. Also noted that just like the e-bay polytunnels, the prices had shot up from £89 to £150 so I'm glad I got it when I did.

To be honest, apart from the leak when it rains, the cover is in good condition and I don't fancy having to take everything apart. To be fair, the downpour was particularly heavy so the sheer force could have knocked water through stitching so I think it's just a case of sealing it properly like you would a tent. I did have a thought this morning - when I took the U-bend off the kitchen sink, I used a waterproof glue to seal the joints and still have a near full pot of it (smelled a lot like Airfix glue/Bostick) so I'll do a test bit on some other part of the cover to make sure it is safe to use, and might paint that on the seam.

Chillies - okay, I'll admit I've got the bug and already planning next year's chillies. It started off with an e-mail with 25% off seeds offer from one supplier and although there were some interesting varieties, I was keen to get together one or 2 of the extreme heat ones that I was unable to get this year so I did a search. I found a small new site with some hot varieties but when the offers were not reflected in the basket, I sent a complaint. Within the hour, I got a reply apologising for the inconvenience and thanking me for pointing out the problems which were put right, and for my troubles got a hefty discount off the price of any seeds plus free p&p. So I bought some different Trinidad 7 Pot strains (including the Brain strain that I was after) It's way too late to sow chillies for this season, but I am tempted to start off a couple of seeds from each to see if I can overwinter them ....

Meanwhile, this morning I woke up to blue skies and early morning sun rise. With much of the weekend sounding like it's going to be raining, I can see my plot plans dragging on so I decided to pop down this morning and at least get the Roma tomatoes planted and tied to the frame I made last weekend. When I got to the site (5.30am - and I wasn't the first one there either LOL), everything looked so green and overgrown - amazing what a bit of rain can do - vacant plots now look terribly overgrown and grasses up to hip height with seed heads. On the plot, beds look like they've been totally abandoned with weeds taking over I didn't have time for weeding but got stuck in planting the toms. And oooooh, I noticed that they've all got flower heads on them so that's good news. Just before I came home, a quick check and my herb plantings have all settled in as I was a little worried that with the wind and dry weather the compost was drying out slowing them down. And as for the garden mint in the pot on the drive way, it's doing ever so well so I'm going to harvest that in the next few days and make some mint sauce!

[lancashire lass]

Yesterday's weather forecast was not encouraging - despite starting off with a glorious blue sky first thing, it quickly became overcast with a heavy shower. However, as the morning progressed, this gave way to warm sunshine with spells of threatening dark clouds but it only rained once, so brief that I didn't even bother running for cover. Although windy, the garden is well sheltered and there was no risk to the polytunnel.

Along the full length of the garden, there is a massive privet hedge (all 100 or so feet of it) For some reason my neighbour stopped trimming the top and allowed it to get tall, which casts a shadow in the garden from about 2.00pm Over the years I've tried to cut it back but I can't reach the neighbour's side, and as it is my neighbour's hedge, I'm not that happy doing it. Anyway, I was getting concerned that the greenhouses and polytunnel were not getting enough sunlight for the chillies and toms, so out came the loppers and hedge trimmer. I managed to lop off quite a lot of growth, some lengths were easily 10 feet while keeping the hedge on my side about 7 feet high. At 4.30pm the sun was still shining in the garden so job accomplished

Today's task was to start planting the squashes out on the plot before they became pot bound - I had quite a few that have been hardening off for the past week or so and they have been growing like mad (there's another batch in the greenhouse still which were late at germinating) The other task was to get the beds ready for the brassicas which are also now getting too big for the pots. As we were forecast warm sunshine, I set off at 6.30am so that I could get most of the work done before the sun got too high (being fair skinned, I burn easily even with lots of sunscreen)

I got stuck in weeding the squash bed - the hoeing I had done earlier in the year had definitely paid off and there were just a few stubborn weeds, mainly the dock that had established roots, some marestail and a smattering of fat hen and speedwell. I had brought along the long handled fork - believe it or not but I've had the fork nearly 2 years and hardly used it, but it came into its own today. Using the hoe or spade would have sliced the roots which re-grow, but the fork teased the weeds up and the best thing - no bending down except to lift the loosened weeds up! I was so impressed with it, I've left it in the car ready for one of my impromptu early morning visits to the plot.

Next I sorted out what plants I had into the different varieties - I had sown 3 seeds per variety but was only going to plant 2 of each. So it was a case of grouping them together, selecting out the best 2 before deciding where they were going. I've made a note of where each one of them are - last year the labels faded and some became unidentifiable ... there were a couple I swore blind were Turks Turban (before the slugs ate them) which I know I had bought seed, but this year when sowing I noticed the packet hadn't even been opened, so goodness knows what it was the slugs had munched on LOL.

So, squash bed partially planted:


My other task for the day was getting the brassica beds ready. I had taken the big roll of debris netting and was a case of constructing the frame. I decided to go with HappyBob's idea with the canes and using old hose to connect the 2 uprights with a cross bar. I had a length of old hose that really should have been binned ages ago so it came in very useful. Well, I have to say that I was very impressed with the simplicity of it and the structure is a lot more stable than I imagined. However, the weeds had popped up with a vengeance, so I spent the rest of the morning lifting them out, along with a few more rogue potatoes (I grew spuds in that bed last year) If they had been just the usual weeds, I would have got the task done a lot faster, but marestail had accumulated along the lengths (probably because the main roots are under the footpaths) and it all got a bit too much and I was tiring quickly. I moved on to the old leek bed which is going to be another brassica bed and cleared all the weeds off that (thankfully no marestail)

By 1.00pm I had had enough so finished for the day. I took a few photos of progress. First, the weeds that have popped up everywhere - here the poor onion bed is just one of many that will need weeding soon



The rhubarb bed is covered in self seeded achocha - it's a strange little fruit that is like a hollow squash, tastes a lot like cucumber and you can dice it up and cook like a pepper. It can turn into a monster when it gets going, with tendrils that grab you. Curiously I had such difficulty trying to get this to germinate when I first tried to grow them, and yet how easy it becomes a weed. I'm going to save a couple of the self seeded plants and grow them on:



The Roma toms planted on Friday:



The first batch of broad beans (Express) are flowering!



More flowers - can you guess what this belongs to? I'm just curious to see the flower when it opens as I'm not really interested in saving seed from it, but I've been told they are quite spectacular. The flower bud is quite substantial:



I think this is a Yucca - I keep meaning to dig it up as it was there when I got the plot, but it seems to be throwing up a flower stem every year now. This time it looks like 2:



My first sighting of a ladybird this year - my first sighting of a 2 spotted ladybird. Round here we have been infested with harlequin ladybirds so seeing a native one is a lovely sight (in case you don't know, harlequins not only eat aphids but also ladybird larvae too, putting our native species at risk):



PS: in case you hadn't guessed, the flower bud is from a leek

[lancashire lass]

Most of the chillies are gearing up to flowering (bar the hot ones except for the 2 plants I had bought) I decided to put the macro lens on the camera and go for some close ups. This is Orange Wonder which is a shrubby ornamental. I've been overwintering a couple of these plants for the past 2 years and is the first to start flowering:



A Thick Cayenne just starting to flower:



Jalastar F1 (a hybrid Jalepeno) with a fruit already




Cherry Bomb - grown from saved seed, but I suspect it has got hybridised with a cayenne (I had tried unsuccessfully to overwinter one grown from the same seed last year and I noticed it had a small but distinctly cayenne like fruit on the plant ... it is supposed to be round, not elongated! So it will be interesting to see how these turn out:



Chenzo - isn't it a pretty flower:



Aji Pulsar:



I saw this yesterday and had hoped it would flower today - it looks like it's going to be a dark purple flower (Black Hungarian):



And the Pretty in Purple looks like it will burst into flower too - these are from saved seed so like the Cherry Bomb, who knows how the fruit will turn out. Normally small grape size purple fruits which are edible and hot, but when they ripen to red they are scorching hot. Another one that usually produces a white/purple flower:



I think the Lemon Drop must have been intimidated by my threats of withdrawing water to encourage blossom - I noticed this tiny bud today:



The unknown/possibly Fresno fruit are growing big. Another overwintered chilli plant which does well on the patio (despite all that rain last year it was covered in fruits) There are a couple of curious shaped fruits - I suspect this may be caused by change in temperature. It sometimes happens quite a lot with tomato plants, producing a little spur on the fruit:




The greenhouse tom (Delicious) in flower - seems quite a big flower. Even the plants look big ... I think I'm only going to be able to have 1 or 2 trusses per plant at the rate it is growing:



The Apple Scented Thyme in flower - bees love them as this little fella shows:



Who is going to eat this first - me or the cheeky blackbirds ...



And finally (I hear you say), garden mint grown from seed:

[Linda S]

LL those are beautiful photos thanks for sharing and keep them coming Lindaxx

[davina112]

The flowers are beautiful.
You have had another very busy day

[lancashire lass]

The flowers are beautiful.
You have had another very busy day

LL those are beautiful photos thanks for sharing and keep them coming Lindaxx

Thank you Normally I'm busy and stressed about mid-May but with such a long cold spring this seems to have shifted to mid-June. Still LOADS to do yet!

How the weather forecast has changed - a couple of days of warmth coming our way from the continent (phew, looks hot over there - too hot for my liking TBH) Last night when I was closing the greenhouses and PT down for the night, I noticed a lot of the pots were starting to look on the dry side so gave everything a liquid feed. Then I noticed the pots on the patio also in need, so more watering. The tomatoes hardening off on the patio have that lovely dark green colour and look remarkably healthy. I foresee a couple of warm days will boost their growth quite considerably so time to be seriously thinking about getting them planted out on the plot. In the greenhouse where I still had a few trays of squashes and cucumber seedlings, I decided to sort out the ones big enough to start hardening off ready to bring out this morning and put them on the patio. And of course there was the chilli and tom flower inspection and playing bee by tapping to knock a bit of pollen about. They got another tap this morning.

This morning I was planning on going to the allotment for a short session but decided to do a spot of repotting instead. I moved the Hungarian Hot Wax (HWH) out and potted them into the big pots holding down the polytunnel edge. HWH actually do a whole lot better when grown outdoors, and of course it has made space in the polytunnel. The benches are still overcrowded and I spied the Kashmiri - the seed was over 5 years old so I went overboard on the sowing not expecting many if any to germinate but ... surprisingly, nearly 90% did. So 19 plants later, I have decided to keep 2 at home and will plant the rest on the plot. They look hardy enough so moved the rest into a cold frame on the patio. The patio is now getting a little overcrowded what with the cabbages, sprouts and calabrese also all waiting to go to the plot as well. So I've decided to book a couple of days off work (Friday and Monday) to make it a long weekend and see if I can get most of it done.

Yesterday I did a bit of research on how to make hot chillies more "hotter" other than their genetic make-up (some years a hot chilli might have no heat at all so is an environmental factor). Everyone seems to have a theory - keep the compost on the dry side, keep the soil moist but don't overwater. Chillies and peppers prefer warmth to strong sunlight, another says lots of sun and light. Use well draining soil, some sites prefer all compost. Most seem to say the same thing about not overfeeding - avoid too much nitrogen as this promotes foliar growth in preference to flower production. But that's more about growing than making hot chillies. I did read something interesting - capsaicin which is the active compound in chillies that stimulates sensation of burning in mammals does not apparently affect birds and may be an evolutionary thing to deter mammals from eating the chillies allowing birds to eat and disperse the seed without harming them. Another theory is that some of the hot chillies such as habaneros grow in humid conditions in the wild, and capsaicin has an anti-fungal property. Foliar spraying is actively encouraged when growing chillies and peppers. A couple of sites recommended increasing sulphur in the watering session - Magnesium sulphate (aka as Epsom salts) is recommended as a fortnightly foliar feed. I find that curious as the chemical structure of capsaicin does not contain any sulphur atoms (see Wikipedia) so not sure where that theory came from ... might do some chemistry research to find out more. The magnesium on the other hand would be beneficial if there is a deficiency in the soil. So nothing conclusive yet - more researching to do I think.

[lancashire lass]

Yesterday's short-lived warm day was just what we needed - loads of plants on the patio had responded to it, with sweetcorn and squashes almost doubled in size. It got to about 25oC by late afternoon in Nottingham so who knows what temperature it got to in the greenhouses & polytunnel when the sun was out. I certainly had to do a lot of watering last night as many pots were bordering on being dry. Despite regular tapping of the tom flowers for pollinating, still no sign of any fruit set. A check on chilli progress and ... disappointingly not a lot happening there either although the Espelette have now started to flower:



Still no sign of those Black Hungarian flowers opening up yet One of the hot chillies looked a little poorly and as I turned the leaf over, underneath were some aphids. Not many, but prompted a bit of pest control and I made up a spray and treated all of them. As bees will not be entering the greenhouse/PT, I don't have a problem using a suitable pesticide at this stage but once fruit have set I will be minimising what I use. As rain was forecast for today, thought I'd try out the glue/solvent cement on the seam of the polytunnel to stop the leak - it was very effective when I was putting the U-bend back together under the kitchen sink so seemed like a good idea to give it a go. A test paint on one of the straps showed no problems so I went along the seam and especially under the flap bit. This morning we had a little deluge and as I went to open up the doors and vents before going to work, .... it worked - the floor was bone dry.