Karen's 2015 garden diary

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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by KarenE »

Hi LL, I might have to look at premier seeds, I usually buy mine from Wilkinsons in their end of season sale or through the year. Usually they are pretty reliable and I haven't had problems germinating squashes. I have been sowing in March & April, all in the greenhouse and with propagators on. I think I overwatered the first batch as they rotted, but have been careful with subsequent batches. I had a fish around their containers yesterday and there's no signs of anything happening, maybe it was a dud batch. I've kept them in the greenhouse anyway just in case something happens. I've sown 2 different varieties of pumpkin and 1 of squash.

Hoping to fix the fencing this weekend and get the salads and pak choi planted out, so I can sow the next batch. Lollo rosso, romaine and little gem. I also have a pot full of rocket which has sprouted up (was supposed to be rocket & lambs lettuce but I think that seed was past it). I do love a rocket and tomato salad with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, but this rocket is so peppery it brings tears to my eyes (!) so the chickens usually end up with it.
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

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Well everything is done and planted out apart from some betroot which I need to get up to the allotment. At home the patch is fenced off and I've sown 2 tomatoes, and various salads and pak choi. In the greenhouse 2 more tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, quite a few cherry toms I had going spare that sprouted up and 2 sweet pepper plants that I bought plus some strawberry plants. I've also moved my blueberry bushes up there just to see if I can get some berries off them before the chickens do (they are now banned from the greenhouse). Definitely no raspberries this year from the garden as the chickens have demolished them - I'm thinking of digging them up anyway as they have taken over 2 plots, and looks like very few red gooseberries will be coming my way as Little Willow has perfected the art of bounce-flying and has stripped all the fruit before it's even ripened! First time they've ever bothered with the gooseberries }hairout{

3 baskets of cherry toms and 3 of strawberries hanging in the garden, and one more pumpkin to be planted out (it's a spare and damaged so it might not survive)

At the lotty I think the wild birds have also stripped the green gooseberries, ah well never mind(don't really like them all that much anyway). We rebuilt and extended the fruit cage and have another good crop of strawberries (some ready for picking now!) and a decent lot of blackcurrants (sadly it looks like we broke a fruitfull branch fixing the gazebo) and the rasps look good too.

I've planted dwarf and full size french beans, 2 pumpkins and 2 squash up, as well as loads of sweetcorn, a yellow courgette, some potatoes, onions, more celery, 3 more tomatoes and another cucumber. There's plenty of room there. I am thinking of replanting my dwarf apple and pear trees at the end of the season, and I may pop some ginger root into grow as well - I have some buds which I've been meaning to plant out for ages.

I bought the pumpkins and a squash, no luck at all growing my own which is unusual. I also bought the celery, more sweetcorn and the climbing french beans - I hadn't planned on it but it looked like I was losing a few of my beans at the lotty and there was a special offer of 3 packs of veg for £5 at a local garden centre so I snapped up the beans, sweetcorn and celery. I'm going to try earthing up thje celery to blanche the stems.

In the entended fruit cage is my brassica plot - the peas did nothing as usual, but the cabbage, caulis, broccoli (purple and normal) and sprouts are looking good.

Some heads on the artichoke already, I really must try and cook one this year instead of wasting them!

I put a lot of work in weeding the plot, and splitting it down into manageable areas with paths, and for the first time I feel like I've got a proper organised plot! )c(
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
Freeranger
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by Freeranger »

Sounds like a lot of hard work there.
I have loads more left in my garden now we no longer have hens to scrat it all up again!
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lancashire lass
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by lancashire lass »

)like( looks like you've been very busy
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

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As everyone else, we are suffering with the terrible prolongued rain. We have several very old and very massive climbing roses that have grown (before our time) out of control and scrambled over our fence and into the laneway that runs alongside our house and had been trained to grow as a canopy across - again not by us and I have pruned and pruned every year as much as I could reach, but me & my husband always have huge rows every year as I want it gone and he loves it. Anyway it's gradually shifted further over the laneway and last week collapsed completely with the weight of the rain, so on wednesday it is meeting its doom and being chopped right back. This is a major job & we've hired a gardener friend in. We've had to prop it up with wood so people can get through the lane.

Our garden is quite big and was extremely overgrown and neglected by the previous owner and we've done our best but it needs major work every year - it's very hard to keep on top of unless you get a start in January and this year I was late because of my injured hand - although we did get it vaguely presentable for the royal visit from the henpal mums and dad :)

Everything else in the garden is battered and bruised, although I have taken the opportunity to get the shears out this week onto the box hedging and the other shrubs I don't know the names of, plus snipping back some other climbing roses (even at the risk of it being the wrong time of year)

I'm following a few of the diaries and talking about my garden as well as the lotty ;)

There are about 5 gooseberries left on the topmost branches of my bushes in the garden - thanks Willow! They're not even ripe. As saidf elsewhere, nothing at all on the patio pear and cox apple - I don't think the cox even set any blossom.

A quick trip to the lotty this week to check damage revealed that the onions are doing quite well and the french beans seem to have settled themselves (they were looking very yellow but have bucked up) and the sweetcorn is looking healthy - I suspect it won't be a great year for cobs unless we get a radical change in weather for the rest of the summer. All of the squashes are looking very sad, they have not enjoyed this weather at all. Might be a rubbish year there as well.

But on the positive side, I have loads of raspberries fruiting (even though I decided not to cut the canes and they are summer fruiting) and the strawberries are also ripening nicely. I've already had a couple of punnets, must be an early variety, and I need to get the rest of the ripe ones before they rot in the rain.

Fingers crossed we get some sun!
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
Freeranger
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by Freeranger »

Well you've stopped me feeling hard done by with the weather!
We're used to lots of rain, but the warm spring followed by cool early summer is what's caused us problems. Mostly now we're feeling guilty about the bees, so I'm going to plant some late spring flowerers and early summers to try and get more continuity for them.
I'm with hubby on the roses, I'm afraid, even if only for the bees and insects. The same happened to our catoneasta - eventually imploded under its own weight and the wind.
I also identify with not having started early enough, and I think much of my effort this year is going to be in getting on top of things throughout the summer - beds prepped, cold frames & greenhouse built, weeds smothered etc. ready for a good go next year.
I think that it's inevitable if you're rescuing a wilderness that some things will get done at the wrong time, but summer pruning is OK for most things, I think, as long as you are fairly gentle and keep the savage bits for spring. I'm sure there are exceptions, and am leary with e.g. rhodis.
One day, hoping the bits will all join up and that the garden will all look right at the same time!
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by KarenE »

Hi Free, we have loads of roses in the garden already and if we are to have them, I would rather they were in the garden than hanging out of it! The ones that are in the laneway aren't even very nice roses to be honest. I did say we could put bush or standard roses in the border instead but he won't have any of that, and I think it's a very reasonable offer considering I'm not a huge fan! We have 2 climbing roses on our patio which are nice due to my severe pruning over the years and we have another gorgeous red rose there too which is overshadowed by 2 massive trees (which again I want hard pruned back so I can actually reach them). I don't think he believes me when I say the best thing for climbing roses is some hard pruning, even though he seems to think that the patio roses miraculously grow well every year by themselves :-D
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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Mo
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by Mo »

Well hard pruning is something that no-one can argue with once it's done - moan about but it's still done (till next year)
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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lancashire lass
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by lancashire lass »

KarenE wrote:and the sweetcorn is looking healthy - I suspect it won't be a great year for cobs unless we get a radical change in weather for the rest of the summer. All of the squashes are looking very sad, they have not enjoyed this weather at all. Might be a rubbish year there as well.


Memory might be short but the weather this year is very similar to 2012 - I can remember weeks of rain just as now and I had my doubts about the sweetcorn and squashes too, then just days before the start of the Olympics in London, the weather changed and both recovered well thereafter. So don't give up hope! It might be an idea to give them a high nitrogen feed as the rain will have leached this out of the soil and they are both hungry feeders. I do remember losing a lot of potatoes down to blight (hopefully this year my plan to grow them under cover will protect mine - not as a foresight to bad weather but simply with nowhere else to grow them in the garden)

I'm a great believer in heavily cutting back growth to rejuvenate plants - the elders in my garden look so much healthier after a biennial trim though it does mean that they only flower and produce fruit in the 2nd year but seem to be much more productive as a result.

Fruit trees - most of mine flowered during the warm Easter period especially all the apple trees ... with being off work that week and spending most of it in the garden, I never knew just how fragrant all that blossom was. And there were plenty of bees around too. I need to check them all to see which ones have fruit - last year I barely got any Discovery apples so I'm keen to see if this year will be the opposite - but I have seen plenty of apples developing on the ones nearest the house. There are no plums this year as they flowered when the temperatures had taken a dive soon after the blossom was out.
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

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Having got over the shock of our laneway rose pruning (it is SOOOOO much better!) hubby has got the bit between his teeth and is now pruning like mad the massive tree hanging over our patio. We have branches coming out of our ears now.

We have also earmarked a huge spirea and a holly which needs to go in order to repair our driveway and gate, so that will be another huge amount of light coming into the garden. He is talking about planting fruit trees there instead (I've said compact or dwarf only)

While he's been bustling about pruning and painting our windows, I've spent the day flaked out in the garden as it's much too hot to do any actual work. I'm hoping its a bit cooler tomorrow so I might get down to the lotty for a bit of hoeing and some strimming and nettle digging.

I did nip up there earlier this week and got another huge punnet each of raspberries and strawberries. At least another 2 punnets of each still to be picked (not ripe yet) which has been great. I've been making eton mess and tomorrow I'm going to try millefeuilles (shop bought puff pastry) with fresh fruit and a raspberry bakewell tart, which will also use up some of our millions of eggs.

I might even be able to squeeze a few gooseberries off the tree - the very toppermost ones that the chooks haven't been able to fly up to.

Lettuce are looking good and ready to eat. Lots of trusses on the cherry tomatoes, and a few on the heritage varieties which haven't grown large at all, it'll be interesting to see if they get a spurt on now the warm weather is here. I wonder if they cross pollinated with the cherry toms last year, and I've saved the seeds from that. The cucs in the greenhouse are also starting to sprout growth, and my 2 (bought) sweet pepper plants have some great fruit forming already.

At the lotty everything was looking good apart from the tomatoes, so I will take LLs advice and give them a feed. The squashes were a bit sorry looking but hopefully they'll buck up (with a feed too)
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

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Been up to the allotment doing some weeding - I got struck by the horrible summer cold & out of action for a fortnight, on top of a pulled neck that lasted 2 weeks before that, so everything is very overgrown - gutted as I had been doing so well geting on top of it all. But I've managed to start getting some control back and the soil has been lovely to work with so fingers crossed I can make good progress this weekend. Half of the plot is weeded again.

The squashes, sweetcorn, beans and brassicas are doing well and will be much better when not having to compete for weeds. We've already had some french beans. The toms are still a bit sorry but they'll have to work it out. I planted a few more small ones that had grown in the greenhouse (no idea what they are, probably moneymaker or roma) so we'll see how they do. I had the space so why not.

The fruit has been amazing, although it looks like the strawberries are finished. I have a suspicion someone has nicked a load - not birds as they can't get in - as last time I was up there before I got ill there were quite a few ripening and lots more coming. Not a berry in sight now. The raspberries are doing really well, and the gooseberries at the allotment have also been fantastic. We have been eating gooseberry and raspberry crumble which has been tart to say the least!

The courgette at the lotty is not so good and looks like it's been battered but it has 3 fruits on it so hopefully it'll buck up.

At home, we have a Bloody Butcher tomato ripening in the greenhouse already! Lots of tomatoes appearing and the cucs in the greenhouse also doing well. I should be picking in a few weeks. And I finally have a crop of blueberries to harvest, due to my tactic of putting them in the greenhouse and barring the chickens.

I'll be up to the lotty again for a punnet of rasps and of goosegogs, and to check on the onions and potatoes which should be com,ing up for pulling soon.

In Wilkies this week just in time for their first seeds reduction so picked up a few bits - mainly flowers, which I might grow at the lotty too, but also picked up some borlotti beans, multicoloured beetroot, yellow cherry toms, spinach, sweetcorn and squash seeds for next year. )t'
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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Mo
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by Mo »

It does get out of hand quickly.Trouble with gardens, any illness or holiday seems to come at just the wrong time - when something is needing attention, or just coming ripe.
Glad you are fitter now.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

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Thanks Mo, I feel fine now although the horrible cold has left me with a lingering cough. Up at the lotty this week late in the evenings to do an hour or so weeding - I'm pulling up the net round the fruit cage and weeding there, as the weeds (mainly couch grass, ragwort, bindweed and scarlet pimpernel) are growing through and taking over. It's pouring down today and I was hoping to get down there to do a load but not in this weather! Still, it's a bit cooler which is good!
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

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Bit behind with the lotty again due to the bad weather (!) and we've had visitors for a week and a half which meant I couldn't escape (as much as I'd have loved to) so I am heading that way in a bit. We've had a great crop of gooseberries and the raspberries are stil going really well. Strawberies finished ages ago but there are so many strong looking plants I am going to have to clear some out, so that bodes well for next year.

Got lots of blackcurrants off 2 bushes so I've made blackcurrant, raspberry and gooseberry compote which I've been using as a base for bakewell tart which has been gorgeous! Also got some blackcurrant vodka on the go which is the base for kir royale - this is the reason I am growing blackcurrants, as my home made version was delicious last time I made it! )hic(

French beans have been wonderful and of course are still coming. I've got a load to blanche and freeze, and loads still coming.

The weeds have exploded again at the allotment - it's the blooming scarlet pimpernell, I think I may have to blitz with weedkiller at the end of the year as digging out doesn't seem to slow it down. The tomatoes really didn't do anything, neither did the cucumber (but the 2 in the greenhouse are pumping out massive fruit like nobody's business!) and the courgette looked ropey but might have bucked up a bit. Not sure the sweetcorn are going to be up to much - the cobs are small and tassels already turning brown.

I have 2 big pumpkins already, havent looked to see what else is going on underneath all the leaves, and the onions are doing quite well.

Wilkies had their massive seed sale reductions last week - not much left by now, but I grabbed some packets of flowers and some red onion seeds - thought I'd give them a go, although I will probably get another set next year. I do like red onions in greek salad, and now that the cucumbers are going mad and the tomatoes are ripening, it's perfect time for greek salad.

The sweet peppers in the greenhouse are doing well (shop bought, I will try germinating again next year, maybe indoors where it's warmer) and we picked the yellow pepper this week - much tastier than the shop bought ones! The greenhouse ones on the 2nd plant are red.

All the brassicas at the lotty are eaten, although the cabbages look like they are starting to recover. The caulis and broccoli have been an absolute wash out. I'm going to have to get fine netting over them, next year if I want any. Hopefully the sprouts have time to recover.

It does feel like autumn has one foot in the door already. This has been a rubbish summer really, weather wise.
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

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Just up at the lotty for some strimming - ended up doing some weeding too which was probably a mistake as it's so hot!

Looks like the broccolli may be recoveringt here are tiny heads on there so might get something! The sprouts are also forming - a bit early though - but the caulis definitely a bust. Might have to get a finer mesh over them next year

The raspberries have been brilliant this year, they are still going! The tomatoes never took off but I have more than enough back home, and the Bloody Butcher are ripening early and are lovely - deep red inside and quite sweet. Definitely a keeper. The St Pierre are strange - some of them have massive fruits on, some just starting to ripen but they seem insipid and watery inside, so not impressed if they are a heritage variety. I think next year I'll stick with roma, bloody butcher and if I can find them, san marzano. Plus tumbling toms for cherry

The cucs in the greenhouse at home are also mad - they are coming at me from all sides now! Brilliant greek salads, and I've been infusing water with it too which has been nice. The chickens are getting lots as a cooling snack. I've also made chinese pickled cucumbers (with one of my little red peppers too) which are gorgeous, and I'm having a go at raita later. Got some poppadoms in )t' I think next year I might just have the 1 plant...

The french beans continue to be brilliant - we have frozen loads, and still more to come. The squashes are coming to life now, I have 2 big pumpkins and some smaller butternuts appearing, so they should be good.

Started to lift some of the onions too.

The courgette really hasn't done well this year - nobody's seems to have done much this year. Usually people are giving the things away but not a sniff this year. And the sweetcorn will probably be a bit ropey - I picked a cob, kernels were missing but those that were there were lovely and big and tasted lovely, but definitely not formed properly.
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
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