All in a good days work !

Oh what joy, after 10 days of feeling dreadful I think this horrid virus is finally on it's way. I didn't hardly cough today or blow my nose continuesly as I have for the last week, so I guess it's almost run it's course. I did see the practice nurse yesterday as I had a dull constant earache, she looked down my ears and they weren't infected but she said all my glands were up and putting pressure on the eardrum. I was told to give it 48 hours (tomorrow ) and if it's no better I will have antibiotics. But I hope that by tomorrow all will be gone.


Enough of my tale of woe, now for the real reason for posting. I did a few hours on the plot and have some photo's to share, it's quite amazing how everything is growing now that we have had some decent rain and a bit of sunshine. I got my french beans (Fasold) planted out, but as I haven't hardened them off I wrapped them in fleece and mulched them heavily with grass clippings which were very warm as they were rotting, so I'm convinced they will be fine. What a crazy year this has been, I can hardly believe that we are nearly at the end of May and some things are still not in the ground due to the weather. I still have all the squashes to go out.

Lots of flowers on the Broad Beans

I am expecting a good harvest of strawberries from this bed.


The Swedes are growing well

The, mangetout, radishes, spinach and beetroot are all through

Potatoes earthed up for the 3rd and last time


First real signs of the asparagus kindly given to me to trial from Victoriana Nursery Gardens these are ' Connovers Colossal' , sadly I can't harvest any this year.

Wheelbarrow planted with Pansies this year.

Flower bed freshly dug and dahlia 'Pink Giraffe' among other plants went in today.

I finally got some other colours apart from yellow in the wallflower bed. They were dissapointing this year as they were supposed to be mixed colours as last year.

Looking down the plot from the greenhouse

Tomatoes from' Victoriana Nursery' doing very well, these are 'Abraham Lincoln' and apparently are very large, yummy !!!!

Parsnips coming through, Yeah !! and I planted straight into the ground this year. Again from 'Victoriana Nursery' and are called 'Hollow Crown'

My first attempt to grow gooseberries this was a large 2 year old plant when I bought it last year, so I should have a decent harvest this year (I hope) it's a red variety, but they obviously start off green.

Can you believe that this photo was taken on 23rd March and see second cabbage photo below taken today, amazing !

Cabbages are now almost bursting through the netting.

Well that's it for todays work and planting. I hope in the next week to get the squashes out and the purple sprouting broccoli and the brussel sprout plants hardened off ready to put them into a bed as soon as it's prepared.

An update on the crops.

I have had quite a relaxing day for a change. I got up late (I wont say what time) but I went to bed extremely late last night, so I needed to catch up with my sleep. I had also fed my little grand-daughter throughout the previous night so my daughter-in-law could get a restful night, so I think I deserved a lie in.

The only thing about getting up late is that I can't wait to get out into the garden to see whats going on, does anyone else do this ? I think my neighbour must think I am a little eccentric (or crazy!) as there I was in my P.J's pottering around the garden, pulling up the odd weed, when he called out to say hello!

I went up to the allotment at about 6pm with the intention of just watering the greenhouse, but ending up staying for almost 2 hours. I was digging up marigolds from the herb bed and planting them elsewhere. There have grown enormous, goodness knows why, perhaps it's the' growmore' plant food, I have never seen such big marigolds.

The sweetcorn is looking very healthy with nice thick stalks and growing tall. The spinach beet (perpetual spinach) is delicious and never stops growing, it's great to pick it knowing that it will keep going. Delicious lightly steamed with baby broad beans.

The runner and french beans are growing well up the supports, and the raspberries have doubled in size since I put them in last year. I am very pleased with the onion growth, I was a bit unsure about growing them from seed, but they are trouble free and I would defiantly grow from seed as opposed to sets again next year.

I want to get an Asparagus bed going for next year, even if I have to forfeit potato space. I have been harvesting a neighbours plot for the asparagus., and it has been a real treat. They gave up the plot to move to one nearer their area and no-one has taken it over yet, so myself and a couple of others have been harvesting it. That is until it became really very badly infested with asparagus beetle, they are horrible little things.

The fact that the plot hasn't been given to someone from the very long waiting list is a disgrace, it's been empty now for around 2 months and there are over 100 people waiting for an allotment. Also it's unfair to the next person who takes it over as it is now full of weeds and badly overgrown. Had it been given straight away the new tenant would have had hardly any work to do other than do a plan then prepare the beds for planting. This is an issue that needs addressing all around the country.

Onions and munchkin squashes

Raspberries


Runner beans and French beans


Sweetcorn

Spinach Beet and Calendulas

Yesterdays Harvest,and a visit to Hilliers Gardens

Yesterday I worked for about 3 hours on the allotment. I went up in the late afternoon as it was far too hot to do anything earlier in the day. I weeded, deadheaded flowers, tied up the broad-beans which have grown so tall that they are bending over.
I dug up lots of early potatoes (swift) there were enough for the whole week for the two of us, that was from 3 plants. I picked lots of spinach beet, it's delicious steamed. I pulled a few carrots, but they aren't really ready yet as they were very small and forked. I guess I should have made sure all the stones were out of the bed I sowed them in, still they were so tasty!
I am getting impatient for the broad-beans, so I picked the biggest ones and got a small harvest of very tasty young beans, all steamed together for our dinner, very yummy ! makes it all worthwhile !

Today was again too hot for me to work on the plot, so we went to visit 'Sir Harold Hillier Gardens'. It's not far from where we live, about half an hour away in the car. I don't know why we haven't been before as it's an amazing place, and if you are interested in trees it's a paradise as there are so many species of trees there. I personally am not into trees as such, I love them and our world would be a sad place without them, but I don't feel the need to know about the varieties, or their habits, I just enjoy being amongst them.
We walked for 3 hours and still didn't cover all of it, so we will go back again very soon. I took lots of photo's as there was an 'art in the garden' exhibition with various sculpted pieces and wood and glass exhibits as well, I will post some soon.
Then we went up to the lottie to water, and I planted out my pumpkins and a couple more squashes. I still have lots of leeks, brussel sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli to find room for as they are all getting on now and need to go in ASAP.

Yesterdays harvest

Spinach beet, baby carrots & young broad beans.

Swift potatoes

Delphinium in my garden. The best they have ever been.

I think it could be the comfrey tea I'm feeding them!

Flowers from Sir Harold Hillier Garden's, Romsey,Hampshire.

The Poppies were beautiful

The vegetables.

I worked mainly in the greenhouse today. I potted on the pepper plants and chillies ('hot stuff' & pyramid) The aubergines are growing well and I am trying not to over water them and not getting their leaves too wet as apparently they don't like this. I intend putting them outside at the end of June, and hopefully I will get bigger fruits than I did last year.

The courgettes are flowering and the round Italian ones are starting to get little fruits. The runner beans and French beans are going well and climbing up the poles. The bolliti beans are being a bit slow, but they went in late so hopefully they will suddenly take off. I have been mulching them all with comfrey leaves and grass cuttings.

The munchkin squashes seem to like where I have planted them and starting to produce the first flowers. I have masses of strawberries waiting to ripen and the raspberries are bushing out at an amazing rate. I still have to plant out the broccoli and brussel sprouts and more squashes and pumpkins, but have yet to allocate a spot for them.

I think the potatoes will be ready to dig up next week, I am going to have a poke around in the soil tomorow to see how big they are.

The rhubarb doesn't seem as big and healthy as last year, I need to look up what to feed it with.

Spinach beet, and to the left Mizuna.

Dark green Italian Kale.

The main Onion bed. The small raised bed by the compost bin is also onions.

Sweet-peas, sweet williams and cosmos.

Broad beans, not quite big enough to harvest yet.

In this raised bed is mainly peas (kelveden wonder) and some garlic, and beetroot.

A post at last !

I know I haven't posted for almost a week, but I have been very active on the plot since getting back from the babysitting. I once again took some seedlings with me to my son's. I think he is getting used to my eccentric ways now and just humours me. The basil, Lemongrass and Emilia (Irish Poet) common name("Tassel flower") had all just began to shoot up through the compost, so I couldn't leave them to dry out and die, so they came with me to Surrey.

Little Bertie ( 18 months) was keen to have a look at them with me each morning so fingers crossed we have a little gardener in the making. I already have a little gardening tool kit for him, all in it's own wee bag which I got in the sale last year at Asda.

Today I potted on my sunflowers, coriander, and kale. I have another plastic mini greenhouse now in the garden, which is full up, but at least we have our windowsills back. The greenhouse on the allotment is full of my dahlias, I must take a photo tomorrow as they have really come on. I lost about 5 when we had a severe frost, but I now cover them with layers of fleece.

I planted out the sweet peas today that I had grown last autumn, they have been in an unheated greenhouse all through the severe winter, so hopefully they will be ok. Just to be sure I wrapped some fleece around them as well. They are planted at the bottom of my "goal post". Last year they climbed the 6ft and more, and I was picking them every day all summer. I still have sweet williams growing at the foot of the post, it's amazing that they came through the winter and are now growing like crazy.

I have also put in the remaining parsnip seeds that were chitting. I planted them in-between two rows of garlic, I hope that wasn't a mistake and that they have enough room. If they outgrow the space I will just have to pick them as baby parsnips. I almost forgot ! I also planted some Mizuna and some spinach beet. Tomorrow I will take some photo's as the plot is looking good.

I am off to London on Thursday to meet up with a friend who is over from Spain. I haven't seen her for about 30 years, so I expect we will be talking nonstop ! I can't wait to see her, we lost contact years ago when I moved to Hampshire from London and she and her family moved away.