How does your garden grow?

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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Mo »

More stop/go on the veg patch clearing. Mustn't bury cold soil (good excuse!).
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Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Mo »

Good to be able to get on with things now that it's not so frosty / soggy.
My orchard is white with pear and plum blossoms, some-one was saying that with things coming on so suddely she hopes the insects are about too, to pollinate. I've seen bumble bees ad butterflies, so I hope she's wrong.
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Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Mo »

Not many of us doing diaries this year, are there.
I wrote my last post in a short-lived heat wave that soon turned cold again. The weather hasn't done us any favours, so wet in spring, then so dry. I'm in the middle of harvesting soft fruit - it's been too hot during the day so went out before 7 am and after 7pm, found that the light (one side of the bush) wasn't quite right for seeing how black the blackcurrants were. Nice breeze yesterday.
The raspberries have been tiny, the canes don't seem to be doing well. Maybe I should have watered. Or maybe not planted spuds so close to the row. Or both.
Plums have set some fruit, but not enough to need thinning, so I won't have a glut. I have several trees and they ripen just when I go away, I have sometimes come back to an overripe crop and had to offer PYO on Freegle.
The rhubarb (Timperley early) is very spindley, I stopped picking it weeks ago to give it time to recover for next year. Maybe I should have watered that too - it usually does well as it's next to a concrete drive so the rain runs down and waters it - no rain !
I've only planted spuds & runner beans this year, after previous failures (peas sprouting then being pulled up by birds). New bean seeds which are climbing up the wigwam merrily.
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KarenE
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by KarenE »

I think the weird weather conditions have really affected growing. This drought won't be helping either. My patio fruit trees are doing badly - not a pear in sight and only one cox' apple on the apple tree. Raspberries are small as you said, the gooseberries have done well and I had a smashing crop of strawberries. Everything else is struggling. This weather is supposed to continue for several more weeks so it looks like a poor showing for squashes and other plants which need a lot of water :(
Karen
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

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Well to add to the weather disasters I've been away for over 2 weeks. Visiting a friend who is hopping around with a broken ankle.
When I left my runner beans were covered in flowers and Czar plums beginning to colour (but only the maggoty ones). I asked my grandson to pick any big beans, but hoped to be back before they got huge. Neither happened. Beans for tea tonight if they're not too stringy.
Some of the plums are a mess, I think some are OK. And not had time to look at the rest of the orchard yet, except to notice lots of little green apple on the drive. It was exceptionally wet and windy it Galloway, looks as if Cheshire had some of each too.
Grandson wants to harvest spuds this afternoon, before I went we did a few roots and he claimed all the big ones leaving me small and tiny to take with me.
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lancashire lass
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by lancashire lass »

Mo wrote:Grandson wants to harvest spuds this afternoon, before I went we did a few roots and he claimed all the big ones leaving me small and tiny to take with me.


{rofwl} perhaps he thinks he's doing you a favour by taking the big ones ....
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

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He did a good job on a couple of rows of spuds while I was up the step ladder. Not a huge crop of plums, I think the spoiled ones were maggoty anyway.
Then he picked beans for me (without me knowing) - the big ones weren't stringy. I had some last night and there are some in the fridge which would have grown a bit if he'd left them.
I'm training him to be useful though, he's 9 now and he liked picking up windfall apples from the age of 2.
Roasting hot yesterday afternoon so I finished picking Czars after tea. The Victoria and Greengage need cleaning up now.
Must wander round to look at the rest of the garden. There are some ripe brambles (to stew with the windfalls?).
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Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

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Well the Victoria plums gave a very small crop. I enjoyed some at the time but only froze 1.5 kilos. Similarly the Czars. My daughter complained about the Greengages, she usually enjoys them while I'm on holiday but I picked them all (all 5) before I went. I think the doubts about pollination were justified. Some of my Conference pears were very thin too - which I believe is also a sign of poor pollination.
Apples & pears have cropped OK. Also the damsons in the field - I picked quite a lot to give away as well as freeze, then had a rest when I'd picked all those that were easy to reach. Came back last week and there was no sign, either on the trees or on the ground.
My beans cropped a bit, not very well, but the wigwam blew over in the storm. Potatoes went in far too late, (and maybe grandson dug them a bit too early) so I'll be buying earlier than usual - I like them to last till Christmas.
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Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Mo »

I must decide if I'm going to weed the veg patch this year and plant spuds. I find it hard to get motivated to go out in the cold & damp. But the seed potatoes will be in the shops soon.
Wandered round the garden today, One primrose in flower, lots of snowdrops nearly open, and a couple of species crocus - but they only look good in the sun, grey when shut mauve when open.
There are still plenty of windfall apples under the Bramley, the birds enjoy them when it is cold. And I still have a few in the porch, though most of the eaters have gone . I love Kidds Orange but at this time of year they shrivel and lose their flavour anyway. I picked loads of cookers & eaters. Gave away boxes of not quite perfect at a couple of dance clubs, another dance club has a charity bring & buy, so took some there and have raised over £100 for Choir funds by taking a box each week (and a few people ordered boxes of different varieties).
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Spreckly
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Spreckly »

Our garden is starting to come to life. We have little clusters of snowdrops under the hedge, in the mini orchard, and in some of the borders. I love them! Spotted an early aconite in the orchard a couple of days since, though a friend has masses in her borders.

The magnolia Susan is in bud, also the white stellata. We have fragrance flowering in the hedge, and our camellias are also budding.

OH is preparing the veggie patch for a polytunnel. He has laid paving slabs to access the area to be built on, bought the wood for the sides and raised beds, so it is quite exciting. In theory this will cut down the area of the existing veggie patch.

Already we have sweet peas shooting in trays in the greenhouse, beans have been planted, and possibly a few other things as well.

We saw seed potatoes for sale in a local garden centre, which we generally don't buy from, instead using a proper plant place some miles away. We go there when we do our weekly shopping, no special trips!
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Mo »

Thinks have come on a lot in the past few days. Noticed daffs, buble bees and a butterfly yesterday. And the rhubarb which had just a few stems and leaves now has enough for me to take a little picking.
I had some half term help, 10yr old grandson enjoys cutting things back so path & drive is less overgrown now.
My granddaughter led me on 'adventures' in the overgrown shrubbery (quarter acre of it), so I took the secateurs along with me there too.
Still haven't started on the potato patch though. Shall I, shan't I.
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lancashire lass
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by lancashire lass »

Mo wrote:Still haven't started on the potato patch though. Shall I, shan't I.


... perhaps clear it ready to plant but it sounds like this unexpected warm spell is about to return to winter.

Mo wrote:My granddaughter led me on 'adventures' in the overgrown shrubbery (quarter acre of it)


sounds lovely )like( I feel sorry for urban kids especially these days - I grew up "exploring" and having adventures in "bush country", we had imagination and had fun building dens from branches over small pits.
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Mo »

lancashire lass wrote:
Mo wrote:Still haven't started on the potato patch though. Shall I, shan't I.


... perhaps clear it ready to plant but it sounds like this unexpected warm spell is about to return to winter.

I haven't bought seed spuds yet (and the local shop that sells them from sacks will probably have sold out of the earlies I like).
The question was more - Shall I concentrate my limited energy on stopping the rest of the acre from reverting to brambles. I've been removing grass from cracks in the path this week.
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Spreckly
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Spreckly »

The seed potatoes are chitting away in the greenhouse. OH has planted his first batch of broad beans out, he will be buying more to plant soon. And the polytunnel is up, and despite strong winds, still standing. It has been laid out inside in sections, half of the strawberries which were already in the ground are inside it.

The polytunnel suppliers sent stakes the size of meat skewers, and very flimsy cord, more like string. These were not used, instead we used more substantial securing.

Most of our daffs are out, the crocus are going over, thanks to the recent heavy winds and rain. We have grape hyacinths flowering in planters, and a tiny patch of aubretia is out in a concrete planter. Lots of plant pots containing a variety of primroses, primulas are outside my kitchen window.

Our "orchard" snowdrops are going over, but the aconites, planted a few years since are now coming through.

I love this time of year.
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Mo
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Re: How does your garden grow?

Post by Mo »

I love aconites. I grew up in a London suburb and they were the earliest wildflower we found in the green lane near us. They are flowering on the verges near me, not got any in the garden.
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