Garden week of 24-Apr

Things are going well in the garden this year :)

Herb bed is going manic already.  The mint is going wild at the moment and I have decided to let it go for this year and then in the winter dig it all out and put some concrete slabs in to divide the bed up and stop it taking over.  Most herbs have come back apart from some of the thyme plants and 2 of the sage plants.

Onions were planted in March in sets and put under sun tunnels and have a huge growth on them, lettuce is also coming along well under the tunnels.

Have covered another bed in the tunnels and germinating carrots, parsnips, turnip, swede and beetroot under it.  Peas and mangetout in as well.

This year have special containers for the beans to keep them out of the main beds, and inside the house the tomatoes, cucumber, courgette and squash are coming along.

Got seed beds set up germinating cabbage, broccoli, kale and cauliflower but not much coming from them yet, everything crossed.

Garden week of 30th August

Tomatoes are all grown but are struggling to ripen in the weather, but the ones which have ripened have been lovely.

Had a multitude of cucumbers, not very impressed with the gherkin variety, they grew very large and were prickly, but the cucino smooth ones were lovely.

Still waiting to see any fruit from the Tomatillo or Aubergine but the Cape Gooseberries are showing signs but very small.

Had some great sucess with the onions grown from sets. Ended up with over 50 of them, they were put out to dry in the garage and then bagged up ready for use.

Have had a glut of courgettes and runner beans, the courgettes I have used in as many different recipes as possible which you can find on the site and the runner beans I pick and then put in water to make them crisp (thanks Mum!), then use the bean slicer and chop them up smaller, put in a zip lock bag and freeze to use whenever.

The carrots are starting to come through and we have had a good harvest of potatoes. I am now starting to plan for the winter months, putting sun tunnels over the back two beds to ensure I can produce over the wintertime. I still have kale producing, broccoli, sprouts and cabbage, had some great cauliflowers this year and got leeks, turnips, swede, parsnips and carrots to come - winter veg is mainly going to be cabbage, salad, beans, beetroot and turnip.

Garden week of 4th July

Garden has gone crazy with all the sunshine and rain this past couple of weeks! I can barely believe the plants I have now are the same little seedlings that I photographed 1 month ago!

Currently maturing are turnips, fennel, kale, cauliflower,

broccoli, spinach, lettuce, broad beans, mange tout and cucumbers!

Have had to set seed beds up behind the greenhouse to try and grow more plants to fill in the gaps where I am harvesting from!

Fingers crossed there are no signs of the butterflies yet and the c

age seems to be keeping them out!

Garden week of 30th May

Greenhouse tidied out and all plants selected and potted up. Growing 2 each of the following tomatoes - Moneymaker, Roma, San Marzano, Costoluto Fiorentino, Gardeners Delight. 3 types of cucumber - cucino, gherkin and crystal apple. Cape Gooseberry, aubergines and tomatillos.

The squash and courgette bed is planted out fully now and they are all starting to take off properly.

Already had salad leaves, radishes and pak choi out of the garden and started building the cage for the brassicas to keep the devil butterflies away!

Garden week of 2nd May

Started planting the garden out in earnest this weekend and set the irrigation system up :)

Irrigation System

The amazing 10p system bought from B&Q clearance now snakes between all 5 beds and means I only have to switch a tap on and all the beds get watered. Today purchased a 280l water butt from the clearance shop to store the water coming off the conservatory and in addition to the 200l one I have off the pagoda. Also bought a water butt pump to sink into it so I can attach a hose and power the irrigation system from rain water. Cheap :)

Planting

All seeds for the season have now been sown and the beds are being planted up. This year I am growing the following:

Peas (early, greenshaft, mangetout, asparagus peas

Celeriac (brilliant)

Swede (marian)

Turnip (snowball)

Beetroot (bolthardy)

Carrots (Amsterdam, Autumn King, Harlequin)

Parsnip (white Gem)

Beans (Borlotti, runner, broad, dwarf french, ying yang)
Leeks (Mammoth, mussleburgh, Zenith)

Onions (white, red, spring)

Pak Choi & Choi Sum

Lettuce (many varieties)

Radish

Garlic

Kale (Scarlet, Dwarf, Starbor)

Fennel

Kohl Rabi

Spinach

Cauliflower

Cabbage (primo, golden acre, savoy)

Brussel Sprouts (Red Delicious, Dakmar)

Broccoli (sprouting, marathon)

Courgette (tristar, green bush, goldena)

Squash (pattypan, scallop, cornells)

Pumpkin (Jack)

Tomatoes (moneymaker, gardeners delight, garden pearl, marmande, san marzano, costulo, roma)

Tomatillo

Cucumber (Crystal apple, gherkin, cucino)
Aubergine (mixed, bonica)

Cape Gooseberry

Sweetcorn

Its a fair bit, but looking forward to it all starting :)

Garden week of 6th March

Big changes afoot this year in the garden, 3 new beds added, the one nearest the front on the photo which is going to have some grit dug into it and be a dedicated kitchen and medicinal herb bed (for colds and flu before you all comment!), the low bed at the back of the garden in front of the new big greenhouse is for squash and courgettes so they don't wipe out everything else! And there is a deep trough down the side of the greenhouse that I am going to use for potatoes instead of the tubs.

Dug topsoil into all the beds this weekend to give them a bit more body this year, heard a tip that root veg grow better with a bit of resistance as they have to search further for water, so trying it out!

Planting is still going well, starting on the March seedlings tonight. Have a wide variety of plants now growing on a 2 weeks stagger so hopefully they are all going to mature at different times. Fingers acrossed anyway

Garden Week 30th Jan

Tried to start a bit earlier this year!

Planted my January seeds in sets 2 weeks apart and so far have growing - tomato roma and tomato moneymaker, cauliflower all year round, oregon mange tout and onion rijsberger.

Got the wood ready for the two new beds, one on the left near the swing for kitchen and medicinal herbs and the other in front of the new greenhouse for the courgettes and squash.

Seed potatoes have arrived and are in the garage waiting, and bought a womery and a new composter for the season, looks like we are all ready to go!

Garden week of 24th October

Winter is truly upon on - good news in that I no longer have to water the veg, that is done for me. Praying the celeriac are going to expand, looking forward to pulling them up.

New greenhouse has arrived and is in pieces in the garage, have to wait and see when that gets put up. Still not bought the polytunnels yet, but that is the next task!

Managed to put a couple more sprout plants in with the hope they might grow for Xmas as the other two will be ready long before them, in fact I ate some of them last night!

The corn was both a joy and a disappointment. Joy when I stripped the plants down and got 11 cobs from them, disappointment when I stripped the husks and saw white kernels. Nevermind at least we know we can do it, better luck next year!

Picked - corn on the cob, sprouts, kale

Planted - sprouts, cabbage, turnip

Garden week of 11th October

Been a long time since I've done a garden update, apologies ;) Been a crazy month!

Garden is getting ready for the winter at the moment, the top two beds have been tidied up and the pea supports taken out. Courgette plants have also gone into the new compost bin. Winter cabbages and lettuces have been put into the top beds and I've found some polytunnels that will fit over the top of them perfectly, next purchase I think!

Sadly the greenhouse was a victim of the stong winds and blew down a week ago, not strong enough to survive the fall it had to be dismantled. However, a new 8 x 6 greenhouse turned up in the post this week and is the next challenge to build!

Picked -corn on the cob, kale, munkin squash

Planted - winter cabbages, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower

Garden week of 5th September

With help from mum did some serious masacring of the triffid squashes and courgettes. Took one of the 7 courgette plants out as it had come to the end of its cropping time. Cabbages and Brassicas have been decimated by Cabbage white butterflies, must have 2,000 caterpillars. Had to cave in and use pesticide in the end as they were attacking the sprouts for Xmas and the Purple Sprouting Broccoli.

Dug up the last potato bucket, no more now till Xmas.

Made a fantastic Roast Beef dinner the other day with potatoes from the garden and Kale, broccoli and cabbage!

Picked - Kale, Cabbage, beans, tomatoes, potatoes

Planted - Savoy and spring cabbages, winter lettuces

Garden week of 22nd August

Fought long and hard but dragged the triffids back into order last weekend and everything a little more orderly this weekend. Started digging up the potatoes, excellent fun planting them in tubs because digging them up is like a lucky dip. Did amazingly well and the two red pots produced around 50 potatoes and the first white pot another 30! Planted 6 tubs of Maris Pipers for Xmas, so hopefully home grown sprouts and roast potatoes on Xmas Day. Bought winter curly kale, savoy cabbage and spring cabbage plants as well to give some extra choices on the big day. Sadly the end of the broccolis so dug them out and replaced them with the winter kale. Next week time to take the squash in hand!

Picked: Cabbage, broccoli, courgettes, mangetout, beans, potatoes

First signs of: cucumber, squash, tomatoes (still green), sweetcorn heads, chillis and peppers

Garden week of 14th August

Came back from 2 weeks away and the garden has grown even more! Looks amazing, lots of produce but needs taking into hand a little which is the jobs list for the weekend. Tomatoes have grown so much have collapsed their canes and the squash is getting everywhere! Thanks to Mr & Mrs C, Mum & A. Heather for all their help!

Picked the monster cabbage before I left and the outside leaves alone produced 2 x 1 gallon bags of chopped leaves. The main body produced 3 bags!

Pickings whilst away: Courgettes, broccoli, kale, mange tout

First signs of: Beans!! Red Strawberries, big tomatoes, potatoes

Slugs have eaten: Lettuce, Pak Choi

Garden week of 25th July

Matured - more lettuce ;), courgettes both green and yellow globe, fennel, broccoli nearly there, kale, cabbage, mange tout, peas

First signs of - more tomatoes, squash, cucumbers

Sowed - spring onions, radish, salad leaves

Excited about the first broccoli coming through, looks really impressive. Picked at least 15 courgettes over the course of the week, they are blooming at the moment. Peas and mage tout going well, very sweet. Ate last of the fennel this week, must grow more next year, they were lovely!

Garden week of 18th July

Matured - lettuce, courgettes, mange tout, peas, kale

First sign of - tomatoes, broccoli

Sowed - red spring onions, radish, lettuce

Gave away lots of veg this week! Debating whether to take out every other row of my brassicas to give them more room. Bought seeds for next year for tomatillos, multi-coloured courgettes and a gorgeous pepper plant with black leaves and red fruit.

Garden week of 12th July

Matured - more fennel ;), Little Gem, Rocket, Mixed Salad, Cabbage, Mange Tout, Kale, Carrots

First signs of - courgettes, squash, peas, strawberries, broccoli

Sowed - Pak Choi, Radish, Rocket, Mixed leaves, Sping Onion

Definately need a new planting plan next year, Brassicas and courgettes are taking over, lost swiss chard and some radish and in serious danger of losing swede and beetroot. All above ground veg will be on lower bed next year, all root veg on upper beds.

Garden week of 5th July

Matured - Little Gen Lettuce, Spring Onions, Fennel

First sign of - peas, mange tout, strawberries, courgettes

Learning that the brassicas and courgettes need to be spaced out a little bit more, getting a little too unruly out there now. Looks like the cabbage might need to come out soon too!

Garden week of 28th June

Matured - Pak Choi, Cos Lettuce, Radishes, Mixed leaved lettuce

Lots of stir fries and salads, yum :)