Saturday 27 February 2010

An allotment visit update

I made a brief visit to the lottie yesterday, mainly to take more kitchen scraps and bits to add to my compost bin up there. It was lovely to see millions (OK a little white lie, but honest a lot) of big fat worms doing their thing and making me some lovely compost.

There was nothing much going on up there, but I noticed the rhubarb peeping out of the ground, very exciting ! I love rhubarb and we have about 4 different varieties, but I can't remember which ones as I didn't write them down and the tags are long gone.



Then there was this gorgeous Hellebore that a neighbouring plot holder (who was giving up their plot to move away) gave me last year. She also gave me a white one which is just in bud. I am so lucky as these are very large plants, so lots of flowers.



The garlic is doing very well, we are still using last years which is plaited and hanging in the garage.


I have potatoes chitting on the windowsills. I'm not growing as many as last year as I am making room for the asparagus which is more expensive than potatoes in the shops, so I would rather grow things that will save on my shopping bill.

Also on the windowsill I have my broad beans and some sweet peas that I sowed yesterday, so nothing to show of those yet. But the seeds I saved from the beautiful Cerinthe plants that I grew last year, were planted about a week ago and they are doing well and are up, each day another one peeps out I have ten so far and another just coming through. I can't wait for them to look as lovely as last year, they are so beautiful.

'Cerinthe' seeds above and the plants from last year below.

The onions that I grew from seeds indoors are now growing well and in the mini-greenhouse outside. I cover them in fleece every night as I don't want to lose them after all the attention they got as they were growing. I also put the poppy plants out there as well, they are sturdy little plants now. I just hope I am lucky enough to get the elusive plum colour one.

That's about it really! I'm being nursemaid for the next 6 weeks to the hubby who has had an operation on his foot and wont be fully mobile for at least 6 weeks. For the first 2 weeks he has to keep the foot elevated as much as possible, so I'm at his beck and call (that saying looks odd written down !!)

Have a good week-end everyone and It's almost MARCH Yipeeeeeee !!!

10 comments:

Pam's English Garden said...

Lovely post, Maureen. You seem to have a lot going on ... so exciting! Nothing in Mum's garden last week as it was covered in snow most of the time I was there (see my post). I'll be starting my seeds soon. First time I have tried growing from seed (you motivated me) so wish me luck. Pam x

Joanne said...

Hi Maureen sounds like alot going on already at your plot.
I am envious of your garlic I never seem to do well with garlic perhaps I plant it too late if yours is growing so well already.
Good luck with your new job for the next 6 weeks it won't be easy on either of you.

Jo said...

It looks like everything is springing into life again. Glad you got your sweetpeas planted, mine are through now. Hope your hubby goes on ok and doesn't tire you out too much.

Damo said...

Your well ahead, I'm a real novice at flowers and the sweatpea seeds are still in the packet, uhm I need to get a move on!

Maureen said...

Ahh thanks everyone for the comments. PAM, JOANNE, JO,DAMO.
I didn't get any time today to plant anymore seeds that I know should be sown, I have to be nursemaid and we had family to lunch, so I am taking a well deserved break to read some blogs, so I will be over to visit soon.x

CarBasics said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Kella said...

Everything sound like it right on schedule, I'll be pooping back to update my blog this week as I have been busy now that I'm feeling much better.

Hope hubby is feeling well and that its is also going well post op..

Prospero said...

Hi Doc. I appreciate your well intentioned suggestion about my starting another blog. Honestly, I barely have enough time to deal with this one - so I think another blog is out of the question. There are many "garden blogs" out there and I'm not sure I'd really be adding anything new to the mix. Blogs, like people, strive to find their own voice. Naturally, this often entails change. I'm happy enough with my blog at the moment, though I often begrudge the time it demands. I'm sure you feel the same way. There are only so many hours in the day.

You're absolutely right about Angelina, though. I've been wanting to take some pictures - but the weather lately has been horrible (persistent gales and hurricane force winds). She's almost 12 years old now. Of course, she's not a puppy anymore - but she's still my baby.

As a consequence of the winds, there hasn't been much happening in the garden either. All my trees are burnt up by the wind and things are generally quite grim. I have ordered some seeds for the spring season. They should arrive soon. I'm hoping the weather will have smartened up by the time I get them.

Lisa said...

When UK gardeners say "fleece" what do they mean? Here, fleece is either the shearings off of a sheep, or that plasticky-fuzzy material that jackets are often made of. Clearly, you mean some kind of insulating cover, but I'm still confused.

Maureen said...

Hi Lisa & Rob, I can well imagine your confusion. When we speak about fleece here in the UK we mean a horticultural fleece which is a thin but very warm and insulating fabric which allows light in but keeps the frost out.
Here is a link to explain it to you (better than I can !)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horticultural_fleece