When I grow up I want to be a garden

A (Not So) Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2010-05-09T20:05:00.000+01:00

Yesterday the weather was horrid, in fact it hasn't been so great for the past week or so, very cold which has set back the growing of vegetables and makes me doubly grateful to the greenhouse for protecting my little seedings.

Today the weather was slighty warmer and most importantly it wasn't raining. I decided that the potatos had to go in and so three tubs of four potatos are now happily getting started outside under the pergola where they are sheltered from the worse of the cold. The compost had been out all winter and was very wet so I left it in the sunshine and will abstain from watering until I am happier that the potatos have started to grow and haven't rotted.

I also planted out 20 or so peas which germinated indoors on the damp paper, it amazed me how many turned mouldy or simply didn't do anything. Goes some way to explain why my pea growing efforts in the garden have been so poor.

I then set about (with assistance) to empty all the pots which had last years dead plants in and get them ready for planting up my flowers which i have grown from seeds. This was a fairly nice job which i could do from the deckchair and I got 4 of the Irish Eyes sunflowers planted up. I hadn't hardened them off so I will see how they do, hopefully there won't be a frost for a few nights. I also sowed some Chinese Forget-Me-Nots in the rose tub (which has aphids again), and added tall cornfowers and quaking grass to the pot which had grasses in last year.

I weeded the herb bed and all of the pots, the mints are slowly coming back to life - the apple mint is very slow but terribly pretty. I rescued a rose seedling from the gravel at the back of the garden, it couldn't stay where it was and so i thought i would try putting it in a pot and seeing how it gets on, together with the dogroses from the school last week I have three varieties in my garden. Only the nursery grown rose has aphids!

I decided to come in and sort out dinner (slow cooked beef and mustard cassrole) and by the time that was done it had started to rain.

Again.

Germination Part II

2010-05-04T19:51:00.000+01:00

Well, where to start!

Firstly the majority of seeds although much slower than their original expected timescales they have actually germinated. I have a butternut squash and a gourd as well as 3 out of 4 courgette plants. I have 9 out of 10 runner beans and all bar one of the Harlequins, the maskotska have a 50% germination rate and I will have to resow to get the 6 i need for the hanging baskets.

The peas have again been abysmal, i planted 50 Meteor and i have had 4 grow up, closer investigation has discovered the others rotted in the tub. I have started some Kelvedon Wonder on paper towels indoors which have now germinated, i am leaving them another day and will then try to transplant them.

Flower wise I have been quite successful, the sunflowers really need transplanting on tomorrow into larger tubs, they are dwarfs so I am going to plant some on in the greenhouse and the rest out in pots with some protection. I also have harebells, marigolds, lemon balm (slightly sickly but 1 is there), parsley (yippee!), and teh sweet peas are coming on in leaps and bounds looking really strong. I have also has some success with teh ones i planted directly outside around the old willow. Those ones are slower growing but with the weather we have had over teh last few days i am confident they'll be ok.

The crab apple is doingbrilliantly, a million and one blossoms, the vine, elstar eating apple and acer are also doing very well, as is the rose. The herbs are doing well and the honesty is bringing lots of bees.

Onto the other thing which has been brewing a while - I had my first Magic Garden placement this afternoon at a local primary school - here is the aim of the project which has been running since 1997.

"The aim of the Magic Gardens Project (MGP) is to promote the appreciation of quality food by providing knowledge of production. Our aim is to encourage the notion that to grow food yourself is surely one of the best things which can be introduced to children and adults alike. Staff at the Magic Gardens Project teach these values in primary schools and Sure Start centres through environmental education and practical gardening classes."

Today I did spend most of my time weeding, and then assisting with the after school gardening club, the vegetable patch they have is really 'magic' and they have lots of different spaces to use such as the wildlife garden, the pond (with tadpoles), the bird hide and the open spaces. As I have mentioned before I am interested in Forest Schools and although the time isn;t right for me to go further down that path I think the Magic Gardens project will go some way to letting me learn about children and the way they learn in an outdoor environment.

Germination

2010-04-26T20:12:00.000+01:00

Last week was a bit manic, we had the house painted (will load pictures soon) and the house looks a million dollars. In addition I had rather a lot of freelance work arrive towards the en of the week so my lunches in the garden became lunches at my desk looking at my garden. The temperature dropped to 1.3*C but so far we have avoided any frost in the greenhouse, which given the slow rate of germination is a good thing.

Satuday I went walking for a hen party along part of the Norfolk Coast using the coasthopper, lovely weather but maybe a smidge warm! We had a picnic at Burnham Ovary Staithe and then walked back towards Holkham, not the longest of walks but a good one.

Tonight I escaped out to the garden to discover I have the following germinated;
1 Runner Bean
2 Marigolds
3 Courgettes (Midnight & Black Forest)
4 Harlequin Tomatos
6 Cos Lettuces,
And a million sunflowers, zinnias, mesembryantheums! ALso sweet peas are coming up and normal peas, although very patchy, given they were all sown at eth same depth at the same time it seems a little odd.

Hammock up, up , up and away!

2010-04-17T19:40:00.000+01:00

Overnight Low: 3.8C Daytime High: 31.9C

Christmas 2008 I bought Hubby a hammock from Natural Collection, Christmas 2009 I bought him the hooks to put the hammock up as the hammock had not moved out of the wardrobe for a year. Today the hammock went up and heres a picture of happiness! I had a go too and its is sublimely comfortable. We had dinner outside tonight - a first for the year!

Greenhouse got really warm today - still no evidence of seedlings but hopefully next week I will see some shoots. Marigolds should have come up by now!

A day of compost

2010-04-16T23:00:00.001+01:00

Overnight Low: 5.3C Daytime High: 23.1C

I ate lunch again in the garden today - every day this week! I have pretty much got everything tidied up now ready for the grand house painting next week I am so excited!

Today I didn't do a huge amount, suffering slightly from yesterdays overexertions. I did lay a path out of old bricks, and one wheelbarrow and a 60litre bag of the new compost which we made onto the veg patch to make a courgette bed (L shaped in photo below) and a carrot/salad bed (square shaped) which will be fabric netted to a height of 70 cm to avoid carrot fly and also stop the ground drying out so the lettuces aren't as likely to bolt. In the foreground my garlic is to the right and my shallots to the left sheltered by the honesty. I have been collecting earthworms to put on my new beds and i will cover them up until they are ready to be planted - it will be several months before the courgettes are big enough to go out.

I am also looking for a new blog template, so watch this space! I want something more ephemeral, subtle and with greater control over the image placment

and i might - just might have had a furtle under the soil of some of the pots to check germination is taking place. patience never having been a virtue of mine!

Damn Grape Hyacinth (muscari)

2010-04-15T21:56:00.001+01:00

Overnight Low: 6.1C Daytime High: 25.8C

Spent all day 'weeding' the front of small tiny irritating weeds and grass which invade the concrete and gravel. The house is being painted next week and I want to try and get the whole outside tidied up and looking pretty ready for the new arrival. I had to wear my ultra excellent straw gardeners hat becuase it got so hot in the sun. I am delighted by the fact that for the first time since planting the Rosemary out the front has flowered - i will post pictures soon.

The afternoon saw me return to the back and sweep the concrete by the veg patch, and the patio outside the shed as well as digging out the grass and weeds from the path. Then I turned my attention to the annoying grape hyacinths which manage to come up through the weed matting we put down under the gravel. They are a real pest, because the leaves bruise so easily they look ragged and untidy against the gravel and are right in the way of the pergola space. Other than dig the bulbs up (which I do) is there any way to get rid of them?

No germination as yet in the greenhouse - there is a frost predicted for Monday evening, I will have to wrap all the plants up carefully although hopefully the green house will protect them a little. I am more concerned about the new herbs I put out and the passion flower which I removed the fleece from yesterday.

Lunch outdoors again today though - 4 days in a row!

Will they? Won't they?

2010-04-14T22:35:00.003+01:00

Overnight Low: 8.0C Daytime High: 26.2C

This is a picture of the greenhouse after I had been out to play today. I have sown additional seeds, mostly flowers and mostly old seeds from our trip to Heligan in Cornwall in 2008. Hence the title of the post - will they germinate or not?

The Zinnia, Aster, Ox-Eye Daisy and Mesembryanthemum are sown in big pots inside plastic bags to try and up the temperature to enable germination. The Sweet William, Marigolds, Parsley, Harebells and Lemon Balm are in my white plastic pop up seed try which enables me to extract easily the plants which need potting on while leaving the roots of the others untouched.

The only other plants to be given very special treatment are my sweet peas, seen inside the propoagators. This year I have spent very little on seeds and gardening materials. I did buy some new seed labels and Parsely seeds which are notoriously difficult to germinate anyway and wanted to start with the best possible chance.

I am wondering about a little sideline in money earning - maybe pot up 20 or so tomatos (I have the seed left from last year) and extra butternut squash, as well as cucumbers and rom them big and string before selling them for a pound or so each through hubbys work. Having taken a gander at the offerings at a few garden centres its obvious that the only seedlings available are bog standard run of teh mill types where as I have some really interesting varieties.

Tomorrow I'm going to get the soil in the tubs for the potatos to let it start warming and turn my eyes to the weeding as opposed to the fun planting. I have been advised by my yoga teacher to practice my squats so I will do this while weeding. Then I'll have lots to take to the dump on Saturday (we don't compost our weeds) when I have an extra pair of hands!

Rain and Flapjacks

2010-04-13T19:53:00.003+01:00

Overnight Low: 5.0C Daytime High: 26.3C

The greenhouse seems to be really making a difference to the surrounding temperature, obviously keeping the wind off the plants is great but I need to find a way to store the latent heat in there overnight. I have collected a lot of plastic water bottles and tomorrow I am going to fill them up and leave them lying in the sun inside the greenhouse - hopefully it will work as a heat store.

I did some more planting today, having eaten lunch outside (now if I can do that everyday between now and July I'll be impressed) I skipped off to the garden centre in search of some sunflower seeds and more parsley - can't seem to find Rue anywhere anymore. I found some sunflowers named 'Irish Eyes' which are a dwarf variety suitable for shubberies (tee hee) and pots. They are also edible as young buds so I may try some in the vegetable garden.

Getting home I realised I had promised 'him' some flapjacks so I sorted those out with a very quick recipe.

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110g margerine

110g soft brown sugar

225g soft rolled oats

3 tablespoons of syrup

150g sultanas

Warm the oven to 180*C. Heat the margerine, sugar and syrup together in a saucepan, when melted and gooey pour over the oats and sultanas. Put in an 8" square dish and cook for 20-30min. Remove and draw a knife accross to cut into squares, allow to cool

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Then I got out into the garden, at which point it decided to rain. So I resorted to my deckchair in the shed and sowed

24 Sunflowers 'Irish Eyes' - dwarf variety
24 Lettuces 'Cos' - will also do some of these in the ground under the fleece polytunnel but need to prepare the ground first and allow it to wrm up a little.
6 Chilli Pepper 'Hot Tepin' - I wanted to try these as they grow as a shrub and have very pretty bulb shaped chilli fruits. I'll probably keep a couple in the greenhouse and have the others outside in pots - they have to be protected from the cold and frost at all times - can live to 30years old!
6 Gourds - Seeds from either last year or the year before, I will see if they germinate and if they do I'm going to grow them over the pergola on strings with the pots in the bathroom roof.
6 Sea Hollys, beautiful plants and very attractive to bees appartently. I am going to plant a couple in the back but most in the front as they are more likely to be able to deal with the south facing aspect. These seeds are from Heligan in summer 2008, as are the Globe thistles below, I hope the seeds haven't dried out.
6 Globe Thistles - these are specifically for the cats. I am going to place them at the entrance to the lawn so when one of the little sods tried to get past it'll get prickled.

Spring Cleaning

2010-04-12T23:26:00.005+01:00

Overnight Low: 5.7C Daytime High: 25.2C I like my new toy.

This morning was bright but cold, after lunch I decided to clear out the shed and the sun came out - glorious! Grabbing my tools and my seed box I started to sow seeds and finished with;

10 Runner Beans 'Celebration' - two year old seeds but cropped well and by planting early if they don't germinate I can replace with 'Painted Lady' which were last years poorer cropping variety.
4 Greenhouse Tomatos 'Harlequin' - fabulous croppers, by reducing the number of plants I actually gorw in the greenhouse I hope to improve the crop.
6 Vine Tomatos 'Matkotska' - a new variety but I'll reuse the hanging baskets from last year and grow them around the edges of the pergola.
1 Butternet Squash 'Cobnut' - an old seed but going to try in a lined deep pot and see how I get on, my little sister makes the most jawdroppingly good soup from butternut squash (and cream - reather a lot of cream!).
2 Courgettes 'Midnight' - a very dark skinned variety, last years seeds but trying again for a better crop by planting in the veg patch rather than tubs.
2 Courgettes 'Black Forest' - these are the climbers from last year and I hope to get some decent crops off them this year, again by planting in the veg patch and not in tubs.
36 Peas 'Meteor' - winter peas but inspired by a few coming up of my pre winter sowing I redug one of the long thin tubs we used last year for onions and mixed in panty of home compost before covering with fleece to raise the germination rate and keep mice and pigeons off.

I have lots left which I want to sow, carrots and spring onions will go directly into the ground. I will do half and half for little gems - some outdoors inder the polyfleece tunnel and some in the greenhouse. I do need to do some tidying of the front garden which if the weather hold tomorrow I may do then. The tulips are now appearing in the front to the delight of the bumbly bees. which I am pleased to say I have seen many of. I am going to let just one borage grow at the back of the veg patch this year, along with cornflowers and limnanthus. I also have the honesty which is growing big and strong in the veg patch and will hopefully really bring bees in this year.

And then there are our wedding flowers as well to plant :)

Sunday Mending

2010-04-11T20:05:00.000+01:00

Today dawned reasonably bright and sunny and therefore had to spend some time in the garden. Its the law. The perspex I bought to mend the greenhouse was very expensive but necessary and its been lying on my living room floor for the last two weeks, it wsa cut up and screwed carefully to the southern end of the greenhouse. If we were here longer I would be very tempted to replace all the polythene with perspex - 'he' pointed out if I'd done this to begin with it would have been cheaper to buy one rather than build one.

Then having dug over the last of the vegetable patch and put up the new extra tall beanpoles in a wigwam shape ready for the runner beans, I turned my attention to the sweetpeas. With poor germination rates I chose to soak the peas overnight in warm water before planting out in deep biodegradeable tubes, I have planted some straight outside into the willow pot which will allow them to grow up along the dead branches and worked quite well last year.

I also placed the sweetpeas inside propagators inside the greenhouse which should guarentee the temperatures needed for good germination. I have planted a mixed heirloom variety this year which should grow between 6 and 10 foot high, perfect for the trellis to break up the appreciation garden from the production garden.

I swept out the greenhouse and arranged the empty pots ready for planting. I have also fixed the electronic thermometer so we can start to get a direct reading each day, watch this space!

Easter Monday

2010-04-05T22:08:00.000+01:00

Today was freezing! Really cold but last week I was determined to get help from 'him' in the garden to move a big table and get various bits and bobs done. I dug over the flower bed and deadheaded everything, the fennel has yet again come back in force. I have to confess to weeding from my deckchair now as the baby bump has become too big to ignore and almost impossible to kneel on the ground!

I also dug in about 80% of the green manure and then covered it with weed fabric to keep the cats off, the last 20% beat me and I just couldn;t bend anymore - frustrating as I was determined but decided to be sensible. Having weeded the garlic very carefully by hand I was really pleased to see that there was 100% germination and the glorious straight green shoots are looking string and healthy despite the continued coolness of the soil. The shallots have also germinated well, unlike the broad beans which are stunted and only two show signs of flowering, I will replace the B beans with runner beans well spaced as soon as possible to get an early crop.

The Japanese Crab Apple, Elstar eating apple and Acer are budding well and amazingly I have some herbs which have survived through the harsh winter - Parsley, Marjoram, Mint and Applemint. I have additionally planted up some Lavender, Bay, Thyme (x2), more Spearmint and a big Sage into the old flower bed where this year I will cultivate flowers and herbs. The vine looks healthy but no shoots yet - still too early.

Out the front the tulips are coming along well, the daffs have barely shown their heads and the myrtle is sufferng from frost bite. One of my tasks this week is to weed the front where I will top dress the myrtle to try and give it a bit of a boost. The Japanese Cherry is coming along beautifully, the flowers come first followed by lime green leaves which turn red to last through th eyear. This year a giant sweet pea (self seeding from 3 years ago) is twined through the Cherry which is a little odd but hey - who cares.

Tomorrow sees me mend the greenhouse with perspex (tools allowing) and hopefully get the first of the beg crops started in the greenhouse. I am concerned however that it is still too cold at night for little plants, even in the greenhouse. I have held back on planting out the potatoes for a similar reason.

Good Friday

2010-04-02T20:16:00.000+01:00

Today was the first of our joint tentings of 2010 - I have had a great day out on the river a few weeks ago in the canoe but today we went with a crowd of people and many dogs up to Sheringham Park for a walk along to the viewtower which 'he' didn't climb due to his dislike of heights but I went up and in great tradition saw the North Norfolk Steam train pass by below - choo choo - in clouds of steam. We then headed for the coast and walked along to Sheringham whereupon we walked down the High Street searching for lunch, somewhere to seat 12 people and 9 dogs is hard to come by. Luckily the Lobster had plenty of seats outside and a great lunch was had before trekking back in less than perfect weather. Will most certainly do the walk again soon as it was a really good one.

Spring is on its way

2010-03-30T12:54:00.001+01:00

Symbolised every year by my Japanese Cherry which is in the front south facing garden coming into flower. The buds have been ready a few days but it has taken it time flowering.

Hello garden my old friend, I've come to grow in you again

2010-03-21T17:47:00.000Z

Last week I made a list of all the things which needed doing in the garden before I could get down to the proper growing season. The list was long and to make myself feel better about it I typed it up and made the font small enough so that the list could fit on one page of A4, since then i have had to add to the list but it was a step in the right direction.

We went up to our local garden centre today, the sun was so bright and warm and the entre is enclosed on three sides by trees so its almost like sitting in a forest. We are quite partial to the meals at the little cafe and today with the sun on our backs, birds singing and some very bumbly bumblebees pottering around while we munched on a toasted snrwich it was heaven. I also picked up the only two packets of seeds i have had to buy this year (tidying the shed and cupboards over winter brought forth a vast array of seeds!), my tomatos, Harlequins for the greenhouse and Maskotka for the pots and hanging baskets.

With bright weather and only a couple of wet spells since last weekend I was itching to get out today. A quick assessment showed that the garden has managed remarkably well over the winter, the main casualties being the greenhouse (plastic ripped beyond patching on south facing end) and the acer which is 50% smaller after one half was broken off by a falling birdhouse. The net around the vegetable patch has been torn in several places allowing cats in which they have taken full advantage of - i am continually frustrated by my garden being used as a cats toilet.

While very understanding husband cleared up all the poo I surveyed the 'green manure' and considered how I would get this dug in most effectively, I grew it mainly in the areas where I knew I would be planting courgettes this year so I am hopeful I will get a much better crop. Until the net is fully repaired I decided I would leave it as ground cover. We then dug out the bottom of the compost bin, a fair amount of mess was made in the process! However the rewards for the garden and for the bank balance are clear to see. We have over the last year created an amazing deep rich loamy compost fit for kings (and their plants). Although some things had to go back into the bin we have about 120liters of compost which is ready to go and a wheelbarrow load ready to be put on what was the flower bed but I am making into a herb garden this year.

I now sitting here feet up with a cup of tea watching the weather forecast to see when I will be able to get into the garden this week to carry on digging and mulching, the lighter evenings are ensuring the plants make the plants make the most of the sunlight. There are several clumps of daffodils coming up and I will have to be careful not to smother the later varieties already planted in the soon to be herb bed. I also want to get rid of all the old leaves on the cordyline and last years growth and seeds which have died back. The borage has seeded almost the entire veg patch, I am hoping to move one or two of the seedlings out of the vegetable patch into deep pots and the herb bed as its a bee magnet!

An Independant Crocus

2010-03-02T14:15:00.001Z

At least I think its a crocus!

I have a little patch of crocus in my front garden which greet me every year without fail, I have tried to move them out of the various paths into the bed but they prefer the path. This one however has taken it to a whole new level being almost in the steet!

I feel Spring might have Sprung. After days and days of rain and grey skies we have glorious sunshine and I have noticed several bulbs surfacing. I have been pleased to see my compost bin emptying and rich compost at the bottom which I shall hopefully dig out once teh ground has dried a little. A fortnight of sunshine but cold nights would really help my veg patch.

The garlic is coming up strongly now and the very late broad beans i put in December are doing really well. The others will have to come out, there is no way they will be strong enough to bear good crops and I have a space issue this year. I also need to dig in the green manure before it simply turns to lawn. My actual lawn has turned to moss with cat crap thown in for good measure. This year we may lay down some turf or may reseed with hardier grasses. The greenhouse has also ripped badly, now need to get some tough polycarbonate sheeting to screw on the end and make it windtight. It has done better than I expected, only the south end which has been exposed to the most sunlight and weather (wind) has ripped to the point where it cannot be mended.

Now I really need to send off for my seeds but that would involve finalising my list....

Potatoes

2010-02-26T11:01:00.001Z

Are not bought, nor chitted. I have learnt from my lessons of last year and decided to leave them in the garden centre where they belong before i go and buy them to chit. This year I have chosen to just do charlottes in tubs as an early potato as we had more success with them and money it tighter with less to waste. This year the garden must be productive. I have set aside today to draw up a list of the items to buy, while bearing in mind that the garden needs to look pretty to be able to sell it. I like to draw out y plans as it makes them easier to visualise and i have my notepad and coloured pencils - so stand by for a wonky effort. Gardening I can do, drawing i cannot!

The 2litre water bottles I have been saving are going to be used to heat the greenhouse and also (as they are breeding overnight it seems) to be used to improve the flow of water to the plants roots by cutting off the borrom and burying them upside down next to a thirsty plant. This is mainly for the benefit of my beloved who can then wander the plot filling up the bottles, there are reasons why I shan't be carrying large volumes of water up and down teh garden but I'll save those for another day.

Stirrings

2010-02-13T20:56:00.000Z

So more snow. Yup. Its the third (or fourth?) lot of snow since december and although it didn't hang around it has finished off the broad beans, their strange skeletal shapes is a range of brown and yellows add a little backdrop to the veg patch, although i would have preferred to have some damn broad beans early this season!

The shallots have come up but are half hearted and yellow rather than the deep green thick shoots i got with the later planting last season. I will see if they recover and reshoot but it may be that they also need to be resown. However the garlic is just peeking above the ground and so i hope it might end up being successful, having read more about the 'ideal' conditions i should have planted it nearer the fence where it is drier but we shall see.

While poking around the ground to see what else may have died/survived against the climatic odds i discovered a fat healthy almost looking like it was born to grow in the depths of winter - limanthus. Poached Egg Plant. Well I never. HOW???

I have been saving 2 & 5 litre plastic bottles to use as heat storage for my plastic greenhouse. I was going to try it last year but never had the space, this year i am going to just grow 3 tomato plants but train them properly so they produce the same amount 5 did last year. I'm also going to work harder with the tumbling tomatos to grow them in more unusual places - watch this space............

Sloe Alcohol

2010-02-10T22:00:00.004Z

Wow - its good. Flavoursome with a hint of tartness and both the gin and vodka have the most wonderful colour to them. They are now stored away safely for the next few months to mature and will certainly be used for presents this year.

Damn weather

2010-01-29T15:03:00.001Z

More snow is falling as I type, there have been a couple of flurries so far today but it is now giving a good dusting of the sheds and pergolas as I look out of the back window. One of my favourite Christmas presents was my wireless thermometer which we are currently using in the back room to try and figure just how much colder it is in there than the rest of the house. At the moment we're pretty certain its freezing each night and so haven't tried to put it outside!

The broad beans i planted in October have given up but they get an A+ for effort, when the deep snow melted it became obvious their lower leaves were damaged but now most have shrivelled or fallen over. I will plant up a second batch in early February. The shallots are looking spindly but have survived and even though I had to look pretty hard yesterday when I went to check on the compost bin I think that at least one of the 12 garlic cloves I planted has germinated. The green Manure which I sowed has done brilliantly and I am looking forward to digging it in. However the winter peas get a -E for effort with none of them germinating, having sown them under our fleece tunnel i am quite shocked that these have done so badly.

The earthworms have taken refuge in the compost bin now, each time i lift the lid up then its a wriggling hive of activity which is great. I think one of my first spring jobs is going to be to lift up the bin and gradually extract the proper composted material from the bottom and dig the rest in. I am not certain what has encouraged our bin to start working but i suspect the worms and the increasing amount of 'woody' material we've put in has helped.

So the Thompson & Morgan + Marshalls catalogues are open on the table and I have a cup of tea and slice of cake to help me work out what to grow this year. We are now thinking of moving house so my beloved garden will quite obviously not be coming with me, although the chance to have a proper shed/greenhouse/compost stack/vegetable patch is tempting me. I don't want to spend too much money on seeds because I can't take the plants with me if (when) we move, however i do need to plan ahead in case we don't find anything we like. I think the list will go something like this, peas, runner beans, courgettes, tomatos, carrots, onions, early potatos in tubs and spring onions. And lettuce.

I might not be able to take the plants with me but I can take the slug protection copper tape, the fleece polytunnel and maybe even the tomatos in baskets. We'll have to see. Overall the idea of getting dug into a new garden thrills me but the idea of leaving my little garden I made with the help of a few friends does make me a bit sad.

Under the weather on my birthday

2010-01-08T20:26:00.000Z

Last time I wrote we had had some snow but not excessive amounts, I was additionally feeling rather tired and somewhat under the weather but put this down to the early start for my last day working in Suffolk. The beans were doing ok and the garden semed to have got through the frosts, the shallots were coming up and I was choosing from my seed catalogues.

New Year was heralded in with me coming down with severe bronchitis, I made it until midnight but faltered fairly soon after that and the last week has been a haze of honey with lemon, coughing, antibiotics and generaly feeling sorry for myself. It seems that the garden has been suffering in a similar way with some extraordinarily long lasting snow and heavy ice. I got some new boots today and they are so funky I just had to go investigate the garden.

Wrapped up warm I discovered that the fleecing i had wrapped around the acer, hibiscus and apple had frozen solid and (luckily) fallen off the shrubs. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that they will bud in teh Spring. The beans which in our pre-Christmas snowfall were merrily poking out of the top of the snow have given up and become buried, along with the shallots, garlice and honesty. The only things which seemed to be actually enjoying the snow were two green pea shoots which were waving around happily in the breeze.

My polytunnel which was about £15 has become a solid frozen icicle and although I got the worst of the snow off I didn;t want to rip the fabric and so couldn't tell how the peas underneath are doing. We are forecast several days if not another week of sub-zero temperatures so i think it will be a while before i can properly survey the damage to my plot.

New Years Resolutions included a determination to make the plot as productive as possible, and a final nail in the coffin of the supermarket for sourcing our food - especially fish and meat. My halfway house has been to get meat and fish straight from the counters rather than packaged, but I really really want to stop doing this and getting all our food direct from farmers markets or local food shops. Budget also comes into this, obviously, with only one of us working, but i can cycle to various shops now to get food.

Reflections

2009-12-29T20:20:00.001Z

Watching the new BBC version of the triffids last night while reading a great garden book which was a Christmas Present led me to thinking about what to grow this year. I thought I would do a recap of the varieties I planted up and how we got on with what must have been one of the dryest summers for a while. 2008 we had far too many courgettes and beans, this year we had one small courgette and enough beans for one meal! We did very well with potatoes, onions, shallots, tomatoes and carrots which had all been inadequate the year before (2008), so here is a recap of what we planted and wether it worked.

Potatoes
- Early Crop - Charlotte's - Blooming marvelous, tasty and had we watered more regularly i suspect we would have had an even better crop. We used potato growbags/trug with hole drilled in and overall very successful. This year we will make a heavier mix of compost/soil which we hope will retain water more effeciently.
- Main Crop - Rooster - rubbish - we got the dreaded scab and the slug problem finished them off. Again this was due to sporadic watering and also down to us just not knowing how to treat the new stams. Massive crop - just inedible sadly.
Peas
- Kelvedon Wonder - they grew & something ate them! One day they were there and the next they were gone. This year i am going to build a plot within my plot for broccoli/carrots/salad and line with fine mesh to keep away caterpillar/mice and the bloody great pigeons we have round here.
Beans
- Runner - Celebration - I went with Painted Lady instead and although the seedlings grew quickly they became very susceptible to slug damage and under watering. This year I will be creating a wigwam and the 7sisters technique to retain moisture.
- Broad - Masterpiece - I went with Aquadulche and they started very promisingly but these were a very early victim to my over enthusiastic planting up of the plat and a salutory lesson that by squashing in more crops they get mould and rot. This year I have planted up at the correct spacing in a different section of the plot!
Sweetcorn
- Sunrise - Great fun to grow - need to be planted in a grid not a line which i did and i prepared the bad but the water issue was a real problem, the cobs did well but overnight went from being edible to dry and i just didn't have the experience to judge when to pick.
Onions
- Red Baron - These did really well and then one day just stopped growing so we started to use them and even though they were little they were fiery! Wow they have heat - will be growing these next year as well.
Shallots
- Jermor - One of the best crops & pretty to have in the bed as well - we companion planted with the Chantenay carrots and both did exceptionally well.
Carrots
- Atlas - These didn't in all honesty get a fair chance as they were used as a sacrificial plant to protect our Red Barons (which they did brilliantly). I will try these again but probably under protection.
- Chantenay - Again - one of our very best crops - planted with the shallots these cropped for months. We will definately grow these again this year.
Leeks
- Edison - Like the atlas these didn't get a fair chance - the wedding was around the time these fellow should have gone in the ground and they held on for a while and then one day i realised they were only going to be good for the compost so on they went.
Courgettes
- Black Forest - a small compact bush! - RUBBISH! We didn't get even one courgette! And all 8 plants germinted but nothing happend which after the glut of last year was just crazy. We did try them in tubs and i suspect that their roots need much more space so don't try these in containers!
- Midnight - Tub based climber - RUBBISH AGAIN! And this one was really purchased as a pot plants and yet although we got fruit they grew to about 3 inches then the ends tunred brown and dropped off. This year I will be trying something more robust.
Butternut Squash - in a pot this year! We didn't in fact grow butternut - somewhere a sensible voice inside my head suggested space might be an issue! We did try a pumpkin but it got attacked by aphids and died over many weeks which was heartbreaking.
Tomatoes
- Growbag & Greenhouse - Gardeners Delight - In fact we grew Harlequin which took a while to get started in the greenhouse and just like my neighbours they took ages to go red this year but my god we were harvesting them for months and months - we had the last lot in a salad for 10 people on Christmas Day so we will 100% grow these next year. The ones outside suffered from a lack of water as i tried an organic growbag which just didn't hold any water at all - but the bees liked the flowers so we did well in that respect.
- Hanging Baskets - Garden Pearl - Again I changed my mind and grew 'tumbling toms' which were a vine like tomato and we grew them with marigolds in hanging baskets around our pergola. It was so successful that we will be doing exactly the same thing again this year.
Cucumber
- MarketMore Not hugely successful, I think that again the lack of water was an issue as both the plants were grown in the organic grow bag which simply refused to hold onto water.
Lettuces
- Cos & Salad Mix - Never got round to these!
Spring Onions
- Guardsman - I can't remember what we grew but I think it was white lisbon, I'll check but they were damn hot little onions!
Peppers
- variety tbc depending on greenhouse - we got some free yellow peppers - only 5 of teh 8 germinated but all gave us a pepper which sadly failed to turn yellow but i think this was feeding incorrectly!

I did plant for bees in a big way this year, the spectacular mistake was BORAGE - it actually took over my entire veg patch and used many of the nutrients that the beans could really have done with - my neighrs borage grows to about 18 inches - mine was topping 6 foot. The bees it did have to be said absolutely loved it. I successfully grew honesty (Lunaria), Limnanthes (Egg Plant) and Marigolds from seed which i was pleased with. I also grew Sweet Williams (though only 3 of the 12 germinated), Aqualigia which was vaguely successful and managed not to kill the geraniums.

The factor which increased productivity was the greenhouse which was totally brilliant although the November gales have left it a bit holey and I will have to upgrade to much stiffer polycarbonate sheeting this year when the weather warms up. The wood needs attention in places and one of the structs needs bracketing. The tomatoes totally took over causing the damage to the wood, this year i will be stricter and nip the sideshooots but i just wanted to see what would happen if i didn't snip them. The aubergine I bought failed to do anything other than becaue haute cuisine for the local slug population who devoured it.

The factor which we hadn't considered was a dry start to the year and I think that most of our plants suffered from a total lack of water. This year we are going to put in another cheaper butt. I also intend to grow hardier crops and mulch. Watch this space for a proper herb garden as herbs might like to be dry but in pots they simply need so much water they become more expensive than shop bought herbs!

Winter Preperations

2009-10-06T22:21:00.000+01:00

This weekend saw the start of the flu season in our house. Which was a real shame because it was a beautiful weekend for getting out into the garden and i had veg which i wanted to get on the ground. I decided that fresh air would kill me or cure me and proceeded to cut down the grasses (they spring up in the spring), empty the hanging baskets and have a general tidy up. The general tidy up also led me to dig up the last of the Chantenoys for my sisters dinner party (7 guests including us = much potential for carrot eating), prop up the wonderful cornflowers so that they don't rot and get another large pot of Harlequin tomatos from the greenhouse. And compost all the old sweetcorn stands

After the carrots and two 'balls' of shallots had been dug up I thought about the green manure we bought and decided that as I was still standing I should plant up the winter veg. This took a bit of planning and eventually after reading the instructions properly and spacing things as they should be to reduce the risk of moulds I got the 10 Jermor shallots planted up. Along with the Aquadulche broad beans, garlic and winter peas the veg patch does look quite organised. I also put the cloche up to get the soil ready for some winter salad leaves and late carrots. If I find any which I haven't totally nissed the boat with! Will also be planting up some sweet peas to over winter next weekend.

And after that I felt really ill!

Pinch Punch first day of the month

2009-10-01T21:33:00.000+01:00

1st October.....a good day for anything which moves as it is apparently Wolrd Vegetarian Day - and by total conincidence I haven't eaten anything non-vegetarian today.

1870 The first official issue of the post card was made in Britain by the Post Office together with the introduction of the halfpenny postage stamp.
1908 The first Model T Ford was introduced by Henry Ford.
1974 American fast-food chain, McDonald's, opens its first British outlet in London.
2000 Last commercial Hover Craft flight across the English Channel.

I can't really believe the nights are creeping in already! However they are and there is no getting away from the fact that if I don't get those springies and potatoes started soon they won't get the soil warmth to germinate. However it does have to be said that we are still heavily cropping the greenhouse tomatos and carrots. The crab apple seems to be quite happily settling in (finally) although the elstar is startingt to lose its leaves. The Christmas I would really like an outdoor tap fitted so we can water the garden - i know we are on a meter but the garden can't go through another dry summer like last year.

wordle

2009-09-29T14:05:00.001+01:00

Lazy Sunday

2009-09-27T23:15:00.002+01:00

Sometimes domestic bliss appears from the most unplanned sources.

This morning we got up late - we haven't for ages and when we did eventually stir we discovered just enough ingredients in the house to make a pretty decent brunch which even included fruit juice and fresh coffee.

Then we headed out to find pine cones, (part of my christmas craft endeavors) and went up to the plantation by Wyevales garden centre where we wandered through the trees and again i really wished I had my fast camara to capture the birds and squirrels which were everywhere. The trees were amazing and it was very peaceful - leading me to conclude my tranquillity research was right describing even small places can truly be oases of calm.

As is happening so frequently at the moment I saw something amazing in the woods. Picking pine cones is a very peaceful activity and involved scouring the ground carefully but also moving carefully so as not to cruch any good cones. I noticed a squirrel jumping down a tree which seems to be moving oddly so I watched a little more carefully, in the mother squirrels mouth was a small baby squirrel with small ears and a little tail which was waving around as the mum bounced along the ground before bouncing up another tree. Lovely.

After collecting a few cones (will photograph tomorrow) and after he'd nibbled at a few sweet chestnuts we headed to the garden centre round the corner where we spent an hour browsing and eventually bought some cut price flower seeds, and some shallots, garlic, winter peas and green manure for the veg match as well as a fleece cloche. I am hoping to spend the next couple of days tidying and preparing the garden for winter.

I then had to go off and run a few errands and he stayed at home to wash the car and managed to fix the oven too. Getting back I put a beef casserole on and made a crumble from mums apples, did some recipe hunting, and checked on the sloes before we make sloe gin & sloe vodka tonmorrow evening. It really is the little things which count - fresh food & good wine!!!

Tomorrow I promise - I will spend some time in my garden!

Perfect Day

2009-09-26T20:36:00.017+01:00

We have spent the last few weekends exploring Norfolk and avoiding the city centre crowds, we didn't really need anything and with the heat of the summer gone then September has been very pleasent for bike rides and general outdoor things, not much gardening has been going on but that is all about to change. However there comes a point where work shirts need to be purchased and we had to source some borax to improve the ecoballs.

We headed into Norwich to attend the Japanese Day at the forum which was a tenting and also really good fun. We watched a sushi demonstration and got to eat some too, and 'he' was lucky enough to actually get his food at Wagamama while in actual fact they forgot mine which I wasn't too impressed with. I do think that Wagas is a great place to eat but the Norwich franchise is appalling and i seriously recommend that people try Shikis if they are after a traditional Japanese menu.

The lunchtime hiccup was forgotten once we got on our bikes and headed 11 miles out of the city to South Burlingham for afternoon tea with family. The ride was glorious and fairly traffic free, cyling through Brundell, Strumpshaw and Lingwood I realised I had never ever visited these villages. After tea and cake and looking at wedding pictures we headed home through reds and oranges, it was a truly fabulous sunset and I wished I had my camara with me.

Stopping at Thorpe St Andrew by the river we ate fish and chips watching the sunlight fade and as the houseboats started up their woodburners a pall of pale smoke weaved across the river. Cycling slightly more slowly home we made it just as the light went completely - looking on the map we worked out that we had in fact cycled 25 miles!

Carpe Diem

2009-09-25T20:11:00.006+01:00

Following my redundancy in April, I have been re-employed in the Suffolk coastal town of Lowestoft - the 12 hour days were starting to get too much so I now only work three days a week and today was one of them. I leave at 7am and get home at about 6 if I work through my lunch hour, it feels as though I lose touch with the outside world and so enjoy the walk to and from the station through the city up through the Cathedral. Today however we decided that we would walk the 'Riverside' walk which starts by the Complete Angler and winds its way under willow trees to Cowgate past Pulls Ferry.

The first section was peaceful, but the often forgotten section from Bishops Bridge through to Jarrolds mill past Cow Tower (seen above) was really beautiful and it made the whole world ok and was a wonderful start to teh weekend - we saw a family of swans and found a fabulous hidden pond which i never knew about. Turning to take the photo above we thought we were having something thrown at us when we realised we were standing under a conker tree! Never one to look a gift conker in the mouth we gathered a few up and i might try to use them in Christmas decorations. Seeing as how my hunt for pine cones is going really badly, they used to be everywhere when i was little, where oh where have the little cones gone?!

CPRE Food Event

2009-09-24T19:40:00.005+01:00

We spent yesterday evening at a very fascinating workshop about local food and the impacts it has on the area which was hosted by the CPRE at the Workshop on Earlham Road - its all to do with Mapping Local Food webs click here for more info!.

This was partly a tenting in terms of us getting out and doing things together, but it was also very interesting to meet people who might think along the same lines as us and my lil sis came along as well so it was great to catch up. There were structured activities to gauge people opnion on how local food affected the environment, society and economy and the buffet was stocked with local produce. Which was delicious.

Indian Summer Part II - Sloes!

2009-09-20T22:42:00.007+01:00

Today we (nearly) lept out of bed in search of the elusive sloe. We have come to the conclusion that we will be having a traditional Christmas and celebrate all we love about Norfolk & English winter traditions. My Sarah Raven Christmas book has been well read and we've decided that we would try and make sloe gin & sloe vodka for Christmas, and having been told in some quarters that they were over, and other quarters that they wouldn't be ready yet we weren't sure if we'd missed the Sloe boat.

It was a cool start to the day but by the time we got up to Itteringham where we had asked a friendly farmer to help us to locate some sloes it had got really quite warm. In fairness I didn't know what a sloe looked like and so once the townies had been dropped by a hedge bursting with sloes we were left to get stung, scratched, prickled and generally made to work for our sloes. I was really surprised by the size of the little beggars and also the tenacity with which they clung to the hedge, the sheen on them was translucent and they are really pretty.

After picking some rosehips (not enough as I discovered when we got home) we headed up the Wolterton Park Harden open day where we immediately sought out lunch. The garden is rented out by the owners to a couple who grow enough to run Barker Organics. After lunch we toured the organic garden learning quite a bit about biodynamic gardening in the process. Growing up we were taken to almost every estate kitchen garden in England (well it felt like it sometimes) and while the Barker garden does not resemble one tiny bit the traditional national trust tidy type kitchen garden I can honestly say I have never been in a kitchen garden with so much wildlife. I saw a goldfinch for only the second time, robins, bees,(honey and bumble), and the various sunflowers were amazing, although they didn;t have any black ones like we grew this year.

After wandering around the stalls where we saw a whole host of amazing produce and crafts made in Norfolk we meandered home to an amazing supper of organic sausage, apple (mums tree), and Norfolk onion casserole. With it we had mustard mash made with our potatos - i can honestly say it was the best mash I have ever tasted! We had carrots plucked from the ground moments before going in the pan - he has to go and pick them by torchlight as the evenings have started catch us unawares.

By next weekend I hope to have my cloches which i'll need for winter growing - because of the veg patch dimensions then I have to cut accross my normal beds but if thats what it takes to get veg over the winter then so be it!

Oh and the sloes? 2.85KG - about 6 75cl bottles worth - Roll on Christmas!!!

Indian Summer Part I

2009-09-19T21:20:00.001+01:00

We have had a lovely day relaxing with the amazing weather which I feel is giving us a second chance to get a crop out of the veg patch, I have decided on Carrots, Potatos, Onions, Garlic, Shallots, Broad Beans and early sowings of a few companion flowers. I spent the morning on a few errands, stopping at the HFG (Horstead Farm Group)Farm Shop at Beeston where I bought some Pinneys Smoked Salmon for a few luches, some blueberry lemonade (which was 'interesting'), cheese scones for him and some corn thins for me which are truly delicious. The food is good value and we like to buy local, it will be this which I think pushes us into getting a freezer.

When I got home we ate lunch in the garden, and surveyed the last of our crops. The tomatos are still going strong, as are the carrots, and the onions are storing ok in the ground. I picked up the last of the shallots to keep indoors and discovered that teh sweetcorn should probably have been eaten last weekend as they have now started to turn. Never mind - they did remarkably well given how little water they had and we got 9 cobs which could have been eaten. The beans, courgettes and peas were a HUGE dissapointment this year and next year I intend to keep a much closer eye on them.

The day was rounded off by an early evening BBQ at a friends - local food at theirs too and it tastes just so good. I know scientific studies have shown that there is no difference between organic and non-organic but the taste is just outstanding. And its noce to think it hasn't had to travel. Had we been a little more organised we would have biked over there but perhaps another day.

Splish Splash

2009-09-13T21:28:00.003+01:00

After yesterdays outing we had a lazy morning sorting out food for the week (which we have found significantly cuts down on food waste) and deciding on plans for the day. Plans for a paddle on the river in my cousins canoes were decided upon and I went off in waterproof trousers to do a couple of hours on the River Bure down river of Belaugh.

The river was a nice height and we had decided before setting off to try and find the entrance to the Crostwick Beck but this was twarted by gates accross the entrances to lots of interesting inlets. We did however discover Nortons Broad which had very unsportingly had a huge gate instaled accross the channel to stop us reaching it. We are fairly certain that tidal water cannot be owned so I might write to ask the Broads Authority and ask about Dobbs Beck.

On the trip we saw a kingfisher which was so very beautiful and two herons which were remarkably tolerant of our presence. We saw fish glide under us as we set off and as we paddled closer to Wroxham we duly thanked the fishermen who pulled in their lines so we could pass. Canoeing is a very eco friendly way to travel - and so quiet that even the most easily spooked wildlife will allow one to paddle quite close.

Green Build

2009-09-12T19:52:00.005+01:00

The dawned bright and dry and after getting up early to make the picnic we set off for the 10.45 to Sheringham from Norwich station with our bicycles. The train was very busy & we were pleased we had booked our bike reservations yesterday.

Getting off at Roughton Road we were struck by the incredible peace of the station (the platform is effectively a bridge over the road), and checked the map before heading off to Felbrigg. We met up with family when we arrived and toured the event discovering a HUGE tomato, owls made from milk bottles and after checking out the norfolk food stall we decided it was lunchtime and sat down to eat some cheese rolls, pepper crisps, homegrown tomatos, fresh fennel tabbouleh and REALLY delicious cakes!

Post lunch we investigated the owls and after discovering the bird box stall we decided to make some bird boxes for £3 each. Then we asked some pertinent questions at the Edwards cob tent (we both love cob/glass deisgns) see http://www.edwardscobbuilding.com/, and spoke to a lovely person on the NNDC pledge tree who is currently building her own house and had useful ideas as to how we could get the land we want to live in. We saw recycled wooden kitchens, picked up some really fun cardboard cut outs which I'll post the link up for when I pick up the leaftlet http://www.mini-scrapbox.co.uk/.

Pedelling back to the station I was struck by the surrealness of the platform, I put a few ladybirds who were in danger of getting squashed on some bramble bushes and 'him' was so struck by teh quiet he stated that it was this kind of quiet he wanted. There were birds singing and I suspect roughly twice an hour the silence would be broken - but it was a glorious day out and definately a tenting. Coming home we tok the last of the tomatoes for dinner and I think we'll have the last of the carrots tomorrow.

Next week - foraging!

Pictures to follow :)

Historic Moveable Feast

2009-09-09T23:18:00.001+01:00

Was a feast indeed!

Autumn?

2009-09-06T20:34:00.002+01:00

The weather has changed this week - it is cooler and has been wetter but most noticeable is how windy its been. In addition our food has changed, we have had a couple of casseroles and tonight we had our first crumble with the apples foraged from my mums garden - I picked them from the tree at mums we used to have a treehouse in, and the bramblebries from the railway yesterday.

However our crab apple is really greening up with even a few blossoms, and i'm going foraging either this week or at the weekend after Green Build 2009. This is a fabulous source of information for green builds and although I've not been to it at Felbrigg I hope it'll be reasonable weather and we'll be going up by train.

Foraging by Bike (Not really a gardening post!)

2009-09-05T22:43:00.010+01:00

We went on a bit of a cycle ride today..

35 miles!

We decided to get out for the day and explore some of what Norfolk has to offer using the old Marriott's Way line from Norwich - Themelthorpe - Reepham - Aylsham then Bure Valley Cycle Path from Aylsham - Buxton - Colishall - Wroxham. This was definitely a tentings expeditiona to get out and enjoy the countryside and I am pleased to say it was really fabulous.

Starting out at half ten (the result of a few beers the night before) we joined the Marriotts Way proper at Halfords Roundabout at ten to eleven, a bit later than planned! We were amazed at the clearness of the river at the first crossing and only the fact that we were meeting someone further west stopped me from some serious poohstick fun. Cycling on we quickly left the traffic and at twenty past eleven we stopped for a drink on the bridge before drayton to admire the conservation work on Costessy meadows.

We then had quite an adventure of getting the bikes up and down on and off the old railway to navigate gaps where the line had been built on, this didn't pose any serious problems but care did need to be taken on eth stony slopes up and down from the trail. The stretch through Thorpe Marriott was really a wide tree lined avenue, the feeling of being in a forest with the ghosts of trains going past seemed more real here and all the way through to Attlebridge where the line came to an abrupt halt opposite a campsite set up in the old station. The map we had was the OS 134 25000 and not detailed enough for us to realise we had to go slightly north, then west to rejoin the trail, signage wasn't good at this point.

Coming up through Lenwade there was a real feeling of landscape conflict with wide open lakes next to massive industrial sites with vast gantries and enormous waste tailing's. Pushing on we stopped for a drink and to meet up with my cousin at WHitwell Station just before the "Themelthorpe Curve" . By this point we had almost cycled halfway and my legs were really beginning to tire, after another couple of miles on reasonable track we stopped to eat lunch in a field, the tomato's I had picked from eth greenhouse this morning were delicious in our rolls. Although it was indeed warm in the sun, there was a cool breeze and most of the railway was covered in green making the cycle way something ever so slightly mystical.

Moving through Reepham we came off the trail for a few meters before cycling a very diferent landscape up to Aylsham, the ground was much sandier and we could tell we were crossing between river valleys rather than up or down one. Looking around the hedgerows were groaning under the weight of sloes, berries and rosehips (AKA sloe gin, sloe vodka, rosehip syrup & bramble wine) and had I been better prepared I would have brought much more back with us. Getting to Aylsham my cousin left us and we took a slightly reduced pace around Aylsham before suddenly arriving at Tescos where we stocked up on more liquids.

We then started on the Bure Valley, we just missed a train as we were leaving and kept hoping for another to pass us but as the miles were eaten up this seemed unlikely, I used to live at Burgh and we paddled the river from Dunkirk in Aylsham to Mayton Bridge for my hen day so its a stretch i know very well. I spent much of this section looking for familar buildings and really enjoyed the totally different perspective we got from being high on the embankments. We crossed the mermaid and looked down on its clear waters where fish could be seen basking, and we admired the little station at Buxton. There were lots of butterflies and dragonflies and just past Haubois we saw a train - wow they move!

Soon after we stopped for a breather, although the Bure Valley section was shorter we were quite tired and so I collected bramblebries and he sat in the shade and watched me! We decided to then really push on to try and catch the 16.27 from Wroxham back to Norwich, riding the bikes back up from the station was done cautiously as we were both a bit saddlesore by this stage!

It was a lovely day which was even better for my cousin being able to join us for part of the route and we also managed to find a whole tub of bramblebries - or blackberries to the uninitiated, these were intended for a blackbry and apple (from mums garden) crumble but after resting for a bit there was no way on earth i was fit for cooking. I shall instead cook them for supper tomorrow evening - a reminder of our day on the railways.

The C word...

2009-08-31T20:54:00.003+01:00

Yes - I'm sorry - I have already started to think about Christmas - its four months away and yet I am beginning to think about veg we could have with our christmas dinner and how I can best use the space which I have to grow some winter crops. Part of this comes from the Rocket Gardens winter Veg plants - but the other comes from a great book called "The Diggers Diary" in which discussions are had about growing potatos for Christmas dinner. The main concern seems to be frost damage and insufficient shelter, the Guardian Organic Spetember allotment diary is well worth a read.

The orange potato bags we bought to grow the charlotte earlies in seemed to work very well and they would fit inside my greenhouse which with some fleece lining would slmost certainly be frost proof. I think it would be fun to serve up homegrown potatos on the (almost) shortest day of the year - along with the cabbages, kale, sprouts and maybe carrots. Apparently "Autumn King", Berlicum" and some Nantes varieties can be planted in early autumn ready for winter but need overwintering under cloches when the temperature drops. Beans are also apparently possible.

This has got me thinking about the veg patch & ways in which i could perhaps make it more seasonally suitable. There are still plants growing in it so I can't make too many changes just yet but I am wondering about changing the access onto the plot & putting up a better 'fence' which would give more wind shelter - also which I could use to build winter protection in the form of fleece cloches.

And I haven't even started on the things i want to make for christmas such as chutneys, jams and preserves, cushions and recycled gifts. By which I don't mean giving away presents I've received - I mean making things from other things. I really want to decorate the house and I dont want to use lots of plastic and paper - bit of a spoilsport really!

Tentings and Tagines

2009-08-30T17:22:00.005+01:00

While on our honeymoon in the deepest darkest depths of Cornwall we decided that we should come up with 10 things (or Tentings) which we each wanted to do, and then a seperate list of things which we wanted to do together. The speed with which we arranged our wedding was amazing but it had meant everything else (including the garden) was put on hold for 5 months. That pretty much meant civilised conversations about anything other than weddings wer a thing of the past as well.

It was fun coming up with the ten things, one which 'he' put down was to try a new recipe every fortnight - this started out quite hard but in fact became easier to the point that we now only repeat a recipe if we really really liked it rather than becasue we couldn't be bothered to look up a new option. This has meant we have been getting the most out of our fabulous tagine which it would be fair to say has revolutionised the way we eat and big bonus is that 'He' has really got into cooking as well. The tagine has been used on average five nights out of seven, a lot of mediterranean dishes and british stews/casseroles do very well in it. So much so that I am thinking of asking for another ornate ones for Christmas this year.

Another upside of the tentings has been our visits to museums and places we wouldn't normally go. We are off to the Norfolk Heritage Moveable Feast in a few weeks which should be awesome, not least because the first course is served at Dragon Hall where we tied the knot 3 months ago today. We have planned picnics and cycle rides and we have at long last sorted out the junk room into a TV den where we can relax and chill out. WE took an afternoon off last week and went to Wroxham Barns, amazing locally sourced food for lunch, followed by a trip around the Junior Farm where we watched calves be fed, eyed up the delicious piglets, looked after the breeds of chickens, talked to the donkeys and stroked the sheep. The highlight was cuddling a guineau pig which was ginger and adorable, so much so even he stroked it!

I recommend it - sit down with tea, cake and no distractions and write a list of ten things you would like to do. They don't have to involve changing your entire life, (from small acorns mighty oak trees grow), i have put on mine that i want to bake an edible loaf of bread - at the other end of the scale I want to travel Japan. We are overall more positive and moving in a better direction due to that rainy afternoon in Cornwall where we hit upon the idea of tentings. We have new cusions in our TV room and a table runner with gorgous beads to match (handmade), we have ruby sunflowers brightening up the dining room and a fresh spiced banana cake which was made today for afternoon tea. I have red, pink, blue and purple fowers in the front garden along with a myrtle which symbolises Love and Marriage.

Where did August go?

2009-08-29T16:36:00.001+01:00

When I started this blog I was decided that I would try and write in it as much as possible and that the time spend it my garden would be documented and I could then use this to show progress over the year. Ho Hum! Haven't been up to much in the garden in July and August other than just keeping it ticking over. We have have a few successes along with some failures this year. mainly because of the dryness and also because my office moved to Suffolk and teh travel has been wiping me out. I did make teh grand decision as of teh 1st August to go freelance two days a week and this has been working well but in fact I have been rushed of my feet so where my husband and I though it would reduce working hours they have actually increased!

Apart from the success of working for myself a few days a week at least, Garden Successes are the regrowth of the passion flower, the amazing growth of the Vine and rose around the pergola, the random squash which a collegue gave me to grow and tomatos - not the big fat moneymaker tomatoes but the rich sweet delicious harlequins which have done even better outside than they have done in the greenhouse - this is the same variety which sainsburys sell at £1.99 for about 10 and we have tonnes of them. They don't keep so have to be eaten quickly and I have been wondering about making some into chutneys. The little tumblers have also done well perched up above the ground in hanging baskets.

We have also done magnificently with our shallots which are potent little fellas, the red onions are scrummy if a little small and our Spring Onions are also on the hot side, the early charlotte potatos and carrots (Chantenoy not Atlas) id well and were delicious. The sweetcorn have grown well having about 12 cobs on 8 plants, I only lost one after planting out.

Definate regrets surround other plants where the lack of water was a problem. The Roosters potatos have done better in the tub than in the ground where slug damage and scab took their toll, a similar problem with the beans which had only a few flowers although they are another story. The Acer and Crab apple have not done as well as we had hoped, and the pumpkin never really recovered from a terrible aphid infestation. The leeks never made it into the ground and teh courgettes have been appalling! Afetr they are supposed to be teh easiest things to grow and yet i have no use for the courgette recipes I have put together after last years glut. Very odd - I think I'll leave 'fancy' varieties alone next year and stick to the basic varieties which i think can cope better with less experience, water and poorer soil.

We have been very Bee friendly this year, part of the reason for the garden being neglected was the quanities of bees we brought onto the plot with our borage (big plants - 2m tall!) and the hyssop. The poached egg plant brought hoverflies and the cornflowers have been a continual remider of our wedding as they were a big part of my bouquet. The led to it being rather difficult to get access to the plot as we had bordered it with all the bees favourite flowers.

The digging over of the plot happened today when husband got the fork out. With many of the spent plants taken out we realised that to leave it fallow until next spring would be a cruel waste and so we're going to get a Winter Rocket Garden, although I could start off many of the plants my greenhouse is rather stuffed with toms and peppers and so we'll give this method a go.

The other positive which has been evident of late has been the development of ten tings (I'll do a seperate post) and us really finding our feet with cooking. I am beginning to realise how unusual our little family (2 at present but watch this space over the next year) is in that we sit down to a home cooked meal every single night. Admittedly there was a very delicous portion of chips and scampi one evening last week however that was all the more delicious for it being unsual! Helpng us in the kitchen is a fabulous book published by DK called Healing Foods for special diets. Ignoring the fact that it is for special diets it is awesome! Full of quick and interesting foods, most of which go very well in our tagine which is another fabulous kichen cookpot. In fact thats another whole post! Maybe I'll catch up woth my postings this weekend!

http://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/

Down to Earth with a Bump

2009-06-26T16:07:00.003+01:00

wow its been a long time since i posted, over six weeks - and what a six weeks they've been. The wedding was lovely, the weather was gorgeous and apart from a couple of hiccups then it all went as we'd hoped. The weather in Cornwall was fabulous and although it took a couple of days for us to chill with the still we did have a great time and the luxury of the first week blended into the holidayishness of the second week really nicely. We went to eden again which was even better this time, and it reaffirmed my feeling that to be happy and healthy and in love are so important. Anyway there were a few spritual moments as we wandered around cornwall and the eden project on the last day was entrancing. I even adopted a lobster called star :).

Back to the garden, our very loevly next door neigbour kept it going for us so when we returned the plants were all doing well. The peas have overall been a dissapointment and teh broad beans haven't given me anything like eth crop i had hoped for. The runner beans i started in teh greenhouse are now doing well, but i'm pleased i planted some additional ones as well. The carrots are so far ok, can definately tell that there are two types in there, springie are almost ready to start eating and teh courgettes are doing well - they had a ucky break before we went away when i planted them ALL out - 8 courgette plants, what was i thinking!!!

potatos are a bit of a mystery. the roosters in the ground have flowered & produced ball shaped fruit. The roosters and charlottes in the tubs however have produced no flowers and look 'thin' which is the only way i can describe it. Neighbour suggested dugging one or two up - might just try that. Note to self - BORAGE - grows BIG - like really really big! Bees love it though, they are buzzing away everywhere!

the other surprise was returning to work - the company started up again just before we got married but we have had to relocate to lowestoft which is over an hours travel away and £40 a week on the train. It'd be cheaper to car share but my car is now pretty much dead after its amazing road trip to Cornwall and won't make lowestoft and back - although we're getting a new car i don't want to have to put such a heavy milage on it in such early days. so train it is - choo choo.

Unemployed.

2009-05-05T21:30:00.002+01:00

The plug was pulled on my company last Thursday, we were given a few days grace and expected a rescue plan which had been promised but it seems that isn't going to happen for some time if ever and so as of about half past four today I don't have a job.

Three weeks before the wedding.

I got very very stressed about it over the bank holiday and felt very odd about everything, as my little sister will testify to. I think now that I'll put all my energy into the wedding because there are a hell of a lot of things to sort out, and also into the house and garden which now needs to really pay for itself.

All very strange. At least we had rain today and I'm going to be brave and leave the greenhouse roof open tonight to try and harden some of the plants off a bit. Going to plant some beetroot tomorrow, I know its late but reading my Victorian Farm book last night the pickled beetroot recipe looked oh so good!

A Hard Days Work

2009-05-03T18:44:00.005+01:00

Sun was shining today but it has definately been cooler overall, the beans, pumpkins, cucumbers and honesty had a good night outside. It was just as well that I hardened them off because there is a ground frost predicted for tonight and I only discovered this after I put half a dozen in the ground to mark out a line between beds.

I have had a busy afternoon - after we went up to the garden centre for lunch and to get a few pots (Acer and Hibiscus were potbound) some more compost and some other bits and bobs then we HAD to do the food shopping which I did as fast as I could. Got home and wrapped wire around one of the pergola posts and then trained the rose up the post (annoyingly found a much better rose pot up at the garden centre today) which was a painful exercise as teh rose did not want to be trained! While we were up at the garden centre i did get some organic slug pellets because they are decimating my crops. I am pretty certain we don't have hedgehogs and any slugs i do find i put outside the garden under a cherry tree and few doors down where the birds tend to gather. I saw a female blackbird on the fence the other day so I know we do have birds in the garden.

I needed a polytunnel for the salad bed but being an awkward gardener my beds are not 3 meters long and 1 and a half foot wide, therefore i decided I wouldn't spend fifteen squid on one of those extendable cloches but try to make one at home. When I got back I delved around until I found three old curtain tracks (the plasticy sort) which when bent have a nice dome shape to them and then spend a happy hour constructing a cloche which is tied at each end, one side is buried in the soil and the other side weighted down with rocks/wood. I've planted more Chantenoy carrots, Springies, Niche Salad Leaves and orange radishes underneath, I might use it as a halfway house for some of the veg to harden off. Will have to be careful to water enough.

And also repotted the Acer, the Hibiscus and the Camilia which through my own faukt has not had a good year. I was bought it in Jaunary and I think it had been very sheltered in its previous home, it was doing ok then caught a frost so as the greenhouse was finished by then i put it in there. This seemed a good plan until one day it got scorched and then when i put it outside we had a very severe frost - the one which killed off my stunning trellis passion flower. So the plant doesn't really like me! I managed to leave the garden centre with just 1 living addition to the garden - An Aubergine - which i managed to drop on its head as i got out of teh car - so it probably doesn't like me either!!!

Don't Water the Dandelions!

2009-05-03T10:14:00.004+01:00

I love this picture! It reminds me of Alice when she was gardening rather than being in Wonderland. I found it the other night when i was trying to find a cartoon to illutrate ny thirsty plants when they had got back in from a grand day out. I did ask the authors permission to link to it and he (Craig Houghton) has said yes, so enjoy the detail and remember that although they are weeds Bees and Hoverflies think they taste great.

A Grand Day Out

2009-05-01T22:58:00.002+01:00

Woke up this morning with a little headache, the result of spending last night drinking to drown my sorrows. Well - the fact that I don't know wether i'll have a job this time next week anyway, which four weeks before my wedding is fairly interesting timing. Its more important now than ever before to get the garden producing food for us to eat.

The onions and potatos are coming along a treat, the second row of peas in the potato patch seem to at least have started, the ones the other side of the garden are a washout. We have a real ant problem, the full scale of it only just hitting home, i think they might be the reason why we're getting such dire germination rates. The Spring Onions and Carots in the veg bed are doing badly, have resown some lines today after spending a few hours weeding the veg patch. I also potted out the Yellow peppers from their seed try into individual pots where they can grow much bigger. Broad beans are infested with ants which i'll try to get rid of tomorrow with cinnamon and talc (works apparently)

One evening last week I potted up the herbs i had bought when i got the trees, which incidentally have just lost their petals, and they (the herbs) seemed to be doing ok. Today however i noticed many of teh oregano leaves have turned brown. My next door neighbour who knows everything looked it up in his vegetable growers book and seems like it was frost damage. I thought I'd covered the plants every night there was a frost forecast but it seems that one hapened which i didn't realise. Luckily the Acer is ok.

The tomatos are getting bigger and stonger, although next year i'll start them in teh greenhouse rather than indoors because they get a bit spindly - it'll be another three weeks before the tumblers go out methinks. The seeds started in the greenhouse are all very big and strong, the pumpkins and courgettes in particular. In fact today as it was such a nice day and i wasn't at work (see first p for explaination) I got all the seedlings from the greenhouse (except the toms) and sat them in the veg patch so that they could start to harden off, midday the sun got so hot i had to cover the greenhouse and when i put all the seedlings back in again they were all veeeeery thirsty but it was good for them overall. They will have to get used to coping without water on tap, after all we've had no rain in weeks and my butt (so to speak) is empty.

Have discovered the borage is coming up nicely and I have lots of honesty plants to put in the border, tonight half of them are being left out to harden off. The sunflower seeds from last year have a stupendous germination rate and are now being dug out as they are Giants and i have rescued half a dozen or so to pretty up the borders but that veg patch is for veggies!!! The sweet peas are coming up around the old dead willow and I have high hopes that they will do well. Just need to keep eyes peeled for frosts. All of the sweet peas which i grew indoors have given up and died. They just weren't strong enough.

There'll be a trip to the garden centre before this bank holiday is out, i need more compost and some cinnamon and other (organic) anti slug measures. A few big pots for the pumpkin and courgettes are also required. My runner beans are doing great but something is munching them in the greenhouse and my moneys on a slug! In the garden (as opposed to the veg patch) the chinese laterns are coming back in force, the hyssops are doing well, the fennel has gone bonkers - as has the fuschia but it doesn't have the shape it had before.

Mucky Gardener now off to bed! Wish I had more pics but I'll take some tomorrow, I found this which made me laugh - kinda how my plants felt when i watered them :)

Tree planting

2009-04-18T22:16:00.003+01:00

Here is my fabulous tree, I'm very very happy with it, we dug a big hole and lined it with ericaceous (!) compost and then watered the hole well and put the tree in. Admittedly I had spent quite a bit of time twisting the tree to get the best aspect - we have resown the lawn with meadow grass to get better coverage.

Vegetable wise the onions are doing just grand, and the carrots are coming up to. Poor germination rate on the peas although my grandma told me tonight that i should plant four for me and one for the mice. I don't mind having mice although I'd be surprised if we did have any due to the high number of cats in teh area!. I think the broad beans are safe from the cats now although they do seem to be under slug attack. The greenhouse is positively buldging at the seams and the lovely grasses from Kew Gardens have also germinated. I am going to wrap the sweet williams and aqualigia seeds in more fleece and move them to teh warmer end of the greenhouse.

Tomorrow is another day in the garden.

That was the holiday

2009-04-13T19:05:00.002+01:00

and I think I have done some stirling work in the garden - covered a lot of ground you might say. Didn't get anything done yesterday of note, other than have a gentle wander around when I got home last night. Today dawned grey so I decided that B and Queue was where I needed to be, we did need a new mower because the old one was very heavy (it was my grandfathers) and couldn't cope with the circles, it was on lend only so I did feel it was time for a more lightweight version.

Being female a decision like that obviously wasn't mine to be made (heavy sarcasm here) and 'he' vanished off to get one - I browsed for insect net to keep the carrot fly down, and on my travels found a nice organic chilli plant and six fat geraniums which will add a bit of colour to the garden, they're currently in the greenhouse waiting for a few more weeks before i put them out under a bit of fleece.

On getting home we had lunch and before the last crumb was finished the mower was 'in construction' and I decided that I'd go up to Wyevales to investigate Red Sunflower seeds and herbs which i never can grow from seed. When I got up there I got some parsley, lemon verbena, oregano and my sunflower seeds. I also got some more bamboo canes and another long greeen tub for putting the rest of the onions in. I didn't bargain for falling in love.

With a tree.

Two trees to be precise. An Elstar (eating apple) and a stunningly beautiful Japanese crab apple which is going to be delivered tomorrow and I am crazily excited. The two trees together with the herbs and other things were quite expensive and I definately spent my entire garden budget for the year!

So I got home with Elstar, who might be nicknamed Ellie, and sheepishly brought her outdoors to show him - didn't admit to the crab apple until a bit later. Decided to pot up a dozen runner beans after seeing the ones in the garden centre have already got started, and then potted up a dozen of the red sunnies, and then cursed the neighbours over the way whose party was thumping bass for hours and hours. Then I had a stirling idea, having seen the amazing (expensive) oblisks for growing things up I noticed that the twisted willow which died ages ago but which has a great shape would be great for growing sweet peas up. Decided to plant up the rest of the Emerald Ladies round the old willow and i'll see what happens.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T20:51:00.000+01:00

The Easter Bunny was obviously impressed with my efforts last year in the garden and so along with a chocolate tractor I got a very picturesque book called "Grow Vegetables" - I recommend it :)

Tirsty Garden gets more than it bargained for!

2009-04-11T19:07:00.005+01:00

Well this morning rolled by and when I opened the back door was hit by the smell of spring - that fresh sort of smell where everything is growing. I checked everything had made it through the first night of being outside and got the seed packets out to see what else I could grow now. Tomatoes seem much happier in bigger pots, the Harlequins are definately going to be bigger plants than the 100's and 1000's, already they are sturdier and a much deeper green.

The honesty I planted has finally started to show up, and the leeks have too - the ones I planted three weeks ago to the day, the ones i planted a week ago inside have also started to appear. I don't know wether its temperature or compost type which has made teh difference. A hasty move in the greenhouse resulted in one of the cucumber seedlings getting dropped and I can say with certainty now it won't be long before they appear as well. The onions are racing ahead, and teh Atlas carrots have finally sratde to show although the Chantenoys in the veg patch itself haven't apeared yet.

I decided that a few more plants could be started so sowed the Kew Garden Grasses, Heligan Sweet Williams and Heligan Asters and Heligan Aquilegias, all covered in teh greenhouse to raise the temperature and start them growing big and strong. We need some flowers to replace the daffodils when they start to die off. The Fennel is growing bigger and better this year, I also planted out some summer & autumn bulbs which I had left in eth bottomn of my trgu from last year - I've no idea if they'll germinate!

Also decided to sort the Acer out - It has a bad case of aphids and being a young plant i was a little concerned it wouldn't cope - plus it encourages ants. 'He' sprayed it yesterday but when I checked it this morning then there were still just as many. Decided to follow mums advice and found an old toothbrush and one by one brushed them off and into a pot of soapy water - if I do that every day for the next few days it should give the plant a break. Downpoyr this afternoon gave everything a really good soaking which is exactly what the doctor ordered, have discovered a possible engineering problem to ensure water from teh greenhouse roof drains off in the direction of the ever thirsty potato plants!

Good Friday

2009-04-10T16:40:00.003+01:00

I have been getting more and more tired as the past few weeks have gone on and so I purposefully decided not to plan anything for Good Friday and have a 'day off'! When I woke up I saw the sun was shining and decided that a little pottering around the garden was the order of the day. 'He' helpfully offered to go and get the food shopping leaving me free to potter.

The little tomato plants have been getting very spindly upstairs so I decided to repot them and put them in greenhouse along with the leeks which have started to show up - they take a long time to germinate! The potatos have also started to peel above the soil in the tubs and this was the sign i need to heep some more soil on top of them - 2 inces at a time apparently to get the best crop. Although opinions do differ. I also put the sweetcorn and sweet peas out - the sweet peas have bolted sadly including the old variety from Heligan so I doubt they will produce many flowers. I have a few extras which i will sow in the garden to attract the bees and hoverflies after the soil has warmed up enough for them to be sown straight in.

Then I decided that the sweetcorn bed really did need tending to, I dug down to about a foot and sieved the soilthen top dressed with about two inches of compost - then found all the worms i could and pu them in that area, hopefully by teh time corn is big enough and strong enough to go in eth soil will be much richer. The potatoes in the ground are coming up as are the shallots - seem to have a very variable germiniation rate with the shallots, the onions are running ahead but theres no sign of the spring onions or carrots yet. Anyway - now very tired, and still bowled over with the progress we've made in less than a year :)

I have also discovered that something (money is on the sunflowers, Courgettes or B'nut Squash) has managed to self seed from last year, the little sprouts are doing very well and i decided today that such determination couldn't be rewarded by killing them so rescued them and repotted them as if they are any of teh above they'll be taking up way more space than i have rom for! And theres loads of them!

More Planting

2009-04-07T19:10:00.002+01:00

Got home from work and it was just too nice not to get out into the garden. I got the seeds out and decided that it was high time the courgettes (both varieties) went out, so i planted up four of each. I am trying out Midnight which is apparently a compact variety but I'll believe it when i see it, and Black Forest which is a vine or climber. I also planted out four cucumber seeds, have gone for a standard marketmore variety and will try three outside and one in the greenhouse. I also planted out my secret seed present which was bought for my birthday and is apparently a GIANT variety - that will most definately only be allowed into a pot to grow!

I am now seriously toying with the idea of growing on top of the pergola, it is quite sheltered up there and i could easily reach the plants using a stepladder, I could grow the pumpkin up there on a slatted system. I was also considering growing the peas in guttering and allowing them to drop down rather than grow up. I really want to sedum roof the bathroom, although that can't happen until after the repairs to the paint are done. It seems that this is the year I will need to repaint the back of the house.

Oops

2009-03-30T22:57:00.002+01:00

Peas....

Plamted them as well yesterday - about 50 of them up and around the garden but damn me if I don't have oodles left! Will have to find a way of growing them elsewhere too. DId wonder about in pots on top of the pergola with nets hung accross that they could grow through. Would give us shade and a HUGE square area of extra planting!!!

I could have used that hour!

2009-03-29T23:18:00.004+01:00

I was supposed to working on our wedding all day today. We had to go 'up city' to sort out a wedding list and then when we got home i felt it would be sacraligous not to spend a few seconds in the garden, i was supposed to be doing our invitations but thought i'd just spend an hour outside.

SO I donned my wellies and started by planting up the rooster and charlotte potatoes in the tubs and also in the ground - i hope that we get a reasonable crop, our soil is still improving and potatoes are such a hungry crop. Then I planted the shallots, and the chantenoy carrots to go around them, following this i sowed some spring onions in the next bed and sowed more chantenoy around those. Then I sowed some atlas carrots in teh onion bed as there are one or two of the onions just peeking through the soil in the tubs.

Not content with this i decided to sow some companion plants, Borage, Limnathus and Cornflower in the veg patch and then decided to try getting the honesty and thistles started in the greenhouse. The temperature was 22 degrees when we got home today, quite a lot higher than it was outside! The seeds indoors are ok although I am concerned the tomatoes are getting leggy even though they are in great light. The sweetcorn have put in an appearance(funny looking things) and the sweet peas have a mixed germination rate.

Then I discovered it was quarter to seven and very much past the time when i should have been sticking things together and writing addresses - gulp. Still - at least we won't starve!!!

And the winners are

2009-03-24T18:37:00.004Z

The Marigolds! Which have sprouted in the greenhouse, i think i have about half of the seeds showing so far, I'm pleased that they have started to come up because there was a harsh frost two nights ago and obviously the greenhouse offers just enough protection. No signs of the leeks yet, or any of the sweetpeas, sweetcorn, tomatos or peppers.

Fingers crossed. Oh - no signs of the broads beans either, I think I might have to start some off in pots. This is the veg patch waiting for its veggies to go in - this weekend I promise.....

Fish Friday

2009-03-20T19:57:00.003Z

We were allowed home fifteen minutes early today because of the great weather so I got home in time to check the temperature in the greenhouse. It was about 4 degrees C warmer than outside which when I block up the gaps will hopefully keep the frosts out. I decided to remove the fleece on the garden because i want the top dressing to work itself in, it helped to just get things tidied up and made the imminent planting seem so much nearer. This weekend is very busy with wedding arrangements and Mothers Day so I don't think I will get out there to do much.

After I got the veg patch tidied up a bit I sowed the leeks which i have put in the greenhouse to get started, I only sowed about a quarter of the seeds and it will be interesting to see how they get on, I'll plant the next lot in about 4 weeks and the next lot 4 weeks after that to get a really good crop. I bought Edison leeks which can be used as baby leeks and as maincrop which means I need lots! I also got eth marigolds sown and put them in greenhouse too.

After that I turned my attention to the sweetcorn and three varieties of sweet peas, I am growing all of them in individual fibre pots as they hate their roots being disturbed. I'm not convinced some of the fibre pots aren't too small but if nessecary then I'll put them in bigger fibre pots ir in eth ground and cloche them. We are halfway through March now and so eth APril sowing season is nearly upon us.

Then I went and cooked poached eggs with smoked haddock, fabulous food for a hungry gardener. Currenty watching BB2 Vertical Gardens programme, very pleased that I have decided to try growing climbing courgettes, hanging basket tomatos and will grow beans over teh trellis again to give depth to the gardem. Our new climbing rose has started to come into leaf and the wonderful Acer is budding with promise, but the daffodils are just teasing me now!!!

Wheeze....

2009-03-19T19:46:00.000Z

Was the sound of me appearing around the gate this evening, I rode home silly fast to get back before the light went and get started on seed planting. No time to get the sweet peas and sweetcorn done but I did get 8 tomatos sown of each variety (Harlequin and 100's and 1000's), I also got the Golden Bell peppers planted as well before I lost the light.

Bzzzzz BUZZZZZ Buzzzz

2009-03-18T19:27:00.002Z

Cycling to work today was really glorious, still a bit nippy on the extremities but the birds were singing and buds are appearing. There are lots of daffodils around and everything smells so much more alive. It makes me realise that a whole year has passed and winter is over. I am sure that it is cycling which has brought me so much closer to the seasons passing, when the clocks go back next Sunday I am sure that will be the moment at which my body clock feels normal again.

Saw a bumblebee today wallowing through the air, I moved out the way sharpish but hadn't realised how early they woke up. I cycled home so quickly from work and managed to get the tomatoes sown but the soil isn't very warm, hope it sorts itself out as i need happy strong tomatoes. Have bought a thermometer to go in the greenhouse but realised tonight i have to get the drill out and so thats a job for the weekend. I need to be certain that the g'house is frost proof before i put eth sweet peas out there.

Great News

2009-03-17T15:40:00.001Z

Was leaving this morning early and realised that a bee was getting very excited around our Japenese Cherry in the front garden which is just starting to bloom. Made me smile that all is right with eth world - or at least our small patch of it.

Day in the Garden

2009-03-15T19:03:00.003Z

I am sitting in my very grubby clothes waiting for dinner to settle before I go and have probably the most well earned bath this year. The Greenhouse is (bar shelf painting) finished and it took not a few hours as I expected but over seven and a half. 'He' has been responsible for feeding me today and lunch was pasties and dinner was pizza! I am really pleased with the finished product but wish I had leant to cut in a straight line with a saw in both directions! Heres a picture of it, realised that i need to get some more seed trays (don't know where they've all gone) to go on the shelf.

This is from inside the shed - it will look really lovely when we have plants growing inside.

While I was building my greenhouse, 'He' weeded the lawn (we have a sycamore two doors down and the seeds have a phenomenal germination rate), we then weeded the flower beds - doubtless the cats will now have a field day - and then 'he' set out the beds in the veg patch. I was really hoping to get the tomatoes and sweetcorn started today but just ran out of time. We did top dress the soil in the veg patch and that needs a week or so to settles in so perhaps not such a bad thing. I've been through my ample seed collection and decided that as companion plants I'll do Honesty (Luneria), Limnanthus, Cornflower and a couple of globe thistles. Not to mention the sweet peas! I have three types, Grandiflora from Heligan which I'll grow in the front garden, and Elegant Ladies and a shorter variety which I'll grow in the back garden and in the veg patch. I have lots of flower seeds from Heligan which all require growing under glass before being replanted in the garden, hence another reason for the greenhouse.

I'm off to play with my rubber ducky.

Painting in the dark.

2009-03-11T20:09:00.004Z

Last weekend I was just too tired and very busy to bring the blog up to date, plus the weather changed so I couldn't take photographs of the work I did. I finally started work on the Greenhouse spending all of Saturday and half of Sunday (after an excellent lie in) buying, measuring and constructing the frame for the greenhouse. I built the roof frame, one side and the front out of pine, it stands about 65cm deep, 1.8m wide, 1.2m high at the front and 1.6m high at the back with a corrugated plastic roof which lies the wrong way and which may need

So - where did painting in the dark come from? As I mentioned the weather changed last weekend on the Sunday afternoon and the downpour meant the weather proofing paint wouldn't dry so I had to leave the frame in the dining room. I also painted it in there and we now have green on our carpet to go with the red when I painted the walls! I did put paper down but clearly not enough. We have visitors tomorrow evening and I knew I needed to get the frame outside but I could only do that if I built the other end of the frame and got the whole thing painted and outside.

I abandoned cycling today and left on very good time, got home, grabbed the tools and made the other end. I made the end frame and got one screw into the main structure and the damn drill ran out! Put the drill on charge and started to paint the unfinished wood, by this time i was losing the light but managed to get every bit of wood protected. Picked up the drill and then had to start trying to get the screws in to bolt the frame together and also to the shed in the dark! Then had to touch up the paintwork but couldn't see what was and what wasn't wet - hence ended up very mucky!

The final piece of the puzzle was to protect the roof frame by reattaching the corrugated plastic. To do this I had to detach the solar movement light and balance it on the shed roof and then wave at it whenever I wanted to screw a roof bolt into the frame. I didn't get all the bolts in because I ran out of drill battery AND patience!!! Now I have to buy more wood to make the shelves although I want to think about where they are going to go for best effects.

March the First!

2009-03-01T17:24:00.004Z

Happy to say goodbye to January and February, I always find them difficult months to get through and find March a very positive month for getting things done around the house and garden. I knew i needed to get the broad beans in as i was late enough anyway, and that a bean trench was the way to get a good yeald. So dug a deep trench and lined it with cardboard, backfilled with compost and soil then planted the broad beans and netted them. Dug the trench for the runner beans as well but they won't go in for a little while yet, hopefully the trench will help save water some the hot summer we might get this year. It was majical standing digging out in the garden, the air is invigorating, I was amazed to see that even after the digging we did last year and a season veg growing I had daffodils from the old lawn growing through the fleece!

Given that the weather is set to be cold for the next week i'm holding off on the planting of the sweet peas, I'm redoing my garden plan for planting because i'm going to grow the climbing courgettes up trelis in the main garden, and the Kelevedon peas will also be liberally sown. We love peas! After all the digging it was nice to sit down and set the potatos up for chitting, we are truly returning to the victorian farm as the boiler has broken and we have no hot water (or heating) so its a case of boiling loads of water for a much needed bath.

The greenhouse hasn't progressed a huge amount this weekend, partly due to the wedding plans taking up time and also my relucatnce to take the car out today to buy more wood. I wanted to have a home day to get things done, i even got round to sorting out my overcrowded wardrobe and doing my sewing homework. In five weeks of the dressmaking course this is the first time I have managed to do any sewing outside of the lesson!

The bulbs are beginning to appear now in the back, but I think I have a low success rate overall. There is just one tete-a-tete out the front where there would normally be lots and lots, I seem to have something eating most of te bulbs as they are coming up - Mice?

Potato Problems Part Deux

2009-02-28T15:09:00.000Z

The forlorn looking potatoes (Charlotte earlies and Rooster Main Crop) were carefully put in bags this morning and taken back to the suppliers, the roosters being much worse than the Charlottes. After being told that they had been kept somewhere too warm and that the stock they had on the shelves was perfectly ok I meekly pointed out that there were in fact no instructions on either pack for storage, this seemed to do the trick as the nice man told me to go get a couple more off the shelf.

Whereupon we discovered over half of the roosters had sprouted pale white shoots just as mine had, the charlottes were ok and we eventually found a good bag of Roosters so I went home a happy bunny. It really does pay to return seeds and sets if there are problems as garden centres (this wasn't a big chain) are there to help and should have staff knowledgeable enough to answer most questions. Both bags are now sitting in the dining room waiting to be chitted tomorrow.

Bad start to the potatos

2009-02-27T19:33:00.003Z

Activity on the garden has been slow, mainly because of the upcoming nuptials but also due to long days at work although the fact that its light when I get home in the evening is great. Last weekend we went to B&Queue to get the ingredients for a greenhouse, i had no idea how much wood i would need and so have to go back this weekend as i ran out unfortunately. Bad Planning. Took me a day just to get the roof sorted out. going to build the rest this weekend hopefully and then do the doors teh weekend after.

Anyhoo onto the potato saga. Knowing i was leaving it late to get my potatoes chitted i got them out yesterday morning and to my complete horror they had sprouted thin pale wobbly shoots in all directions which had gone through the nets they were kept in and they are all pathetically squishy. I have rung the place where I got them from and they've said they shouldn't have done that and to bring them in - i hope i get to swop as theres over £8 of tatties in tatters!

Getting very late to put the broad beans in but going to try this weekend to get them in. The bulbs are beginning to come up (no sign of the snowdrops this year), but my beautiful rosemary and french lavender at the front are already suffering from rosemary beetle which has stopped both from flowering last year and left them pathetically straggly. Very sad. I'm have resorted to using a bee friendly pesticide just to try and give the plants a break.

Haven't dared check the weather yet for this weekend, i might carry on regardless!

Waiting Game

2009-02-05T19:37:00.003Z

Well it has been a while since I had a chance to do anything in the garden so have been concentrating on my upcoming nuptials. The snow over the past few days has been lovely, although cycling to work through it has been a challenge and meant I'm missed most of the photogenic opportunities in my small patch! My Thompson and Morgan seeds arrived this evening, I ordered everything on the 24th Jan but the Marshall order hasn't arrived yet and I'd really like to get my leek seeds in.

My birthday present went up a week ago - its an amazing snail weather vane, I absolutely love it!

I got a book for Christmas called the diggers diary - its brilliant & i read it every night before bed to remind myself of what i'll be doing just as soon as the sun comes out and the seasons turn.

Vegetables Investments set to grow...

2009-01-24T22:46:00.005Z

We ordered a climbing rose "Alexander Girault" from Peter Beale's about 2 months ago and the bare root plant turned up yesterday. After my first wedding dress fitting (very exciting) I bundled a slightly hungover fiancée into the car and we zoomed up to the garden centre to get "a pot" and "some compost".

Over an hour later we left with a car full of very useful things and a substantially lighter purse, (we did get a deal on the compost as we needed lots). We are going to try and grow our potatoes in trugs and large potato sacks. In total we got a thin deep pot for the rose (which is what we went for!), two long narrow containers to grow the onions and atlas carrots in and a ceramic frog to scare the snails and slugs (i did put all my christmas vouchers into the cash till, so felt this was an ok purchase!). In addition I got some sweet peas (as they really need to go in) some charlotte and rooster seed potatoes, some onion and shallot sets, some red hot pokers for 'him' and a garden thermometer (still want a soil thermometer).

Was really amazed at teh people who were buying seeds today, I try not to stereotype people who garden, but some of the people i saw getting veg seed today surprised me! And I really loved how children were getting involved, listening to one little one choose cat grass because he wanted to grow a cat was a highlight!

Then I came home and ordered the rest of the required veg from Marshells. If I can then I'm going to string the veg patch tomorrow - seems so long until i can really get started!

Swish

2009-01-08T22:34:00.003Z

Nothing to do with gardening but Ice Skating was fantastic - so much fun and i met up with a friend who I hadn't seen in months and months, hopefully going to make it a fortnightly occasion with various people joining in when they can.

So - in the words of Frank Turner - "Get up, Get Down and Get out there" - pick an activity you have always wanted to try and find a friend or two and just go and do it - I've waited 25 years to try Ice Skating. It doesn't matter if you fall over as I did or if you find you don't like it - just try it and they you will know. (Here endeth the lesson lol)

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-01-08T18:32:00.002Z

My birthday has rolled around again - this year I decided that with me wanting time off in the summer I would go to work - hmm, that wasn't fun! I am going ice skating tonight and over the weekend I intend to spend my birthday vouchers on timber for a greenhouse, which I can then start to build. I have some ground preparation to do first which won't take me long at all.

Have been bought some fabulous books, one called the Victorian garden, another self sufficiency book which is very good and a green website book for the wedding and life in general. I don't get my other presents until the weekend but I think one of my vouchers sent from relatives north of the border might be spent on a soil thermometer as I think that could prove to be very useful. I need to repair the net around the veg patch as well as I found a cat on it yesterday morning trying to get to the soil and when I shouted it ripped another hole.

Last of the cake

2009-01-06T22:28:00.003Z

Well the Christmas cake is finished! It doesn't seem to last long but it is lovely to have a slice for afternoon tea or as an evening snack. This year I used the apple and ginger jam that we made in October to stick the marzipan to the cake and I think it added an extra bit of spice. Mum has such a glut of apples every year that I bought my sister (who is very seriously into wholesome food) a book called "The apple source book" which has lots of fab apple recipes and storage ideas.

I bought the first packet of seeds today - Broad Beans - which I am going to plant out just as soon as this cold snap lifts a bit and I can dig a bean trench. I'm going to keep a close eye on how much I spend on seeds this year and work out how much money we save. I stopped at two garden centres on the way home and found some greenhouse material options for construction at the weekend - just going to raid the salvage yard first.

Snow!

2009-01-05T22:04:00.002Z

I haven't seen a weather forecast for a few days, and my next door neighbour looked over the wall yesterday afternoon as i was oiling my bike and casually mentioned that it was forecast to snow - i confess i checked the veg patch was covered and then forgot the warning. Apparently its important for the soil not to get too cold.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I got up to cycle to work in time to unlock at 8 to find a reasonable covering of snow on the ground. I checked I had enough grip and proceeded on my way up the hill - oh it was cold. Halfway to work a snow storm descended and by the time I got to work I had snowdrifts in my elbows and looked like the abominable snowman. It took hours for me to warm up!

Just three days and it'll be my birthday, now if i could have some snow on my birthday I'd be very happy!

Headstart

2009-01-03T22:52:00.003Z

I decided that after almost crippling myself digging the veg patch that i should get on with planning what to grow this year. Having spent hours thinking about which vegetables will be best suited to which area of the ground based on light, shelter and trying to stick to the companion planting guidelines and surfing various seed sites I have a few ideas. So - in no particular order I've looked at what we had too many of (courgettes and beans) and not enough of (potatoes, onions, shallots, tomatoes and carrots and come up with these varieties.

Potatoes
- Early Crop - Charlotte's
- Main Crop - Rooster
Peas
- Kelvedon Wonder
Beans
- Runner - Celebration
- Broad - Masterpiece
Sweetcorn
- Sunrise
Onions
- Marco
Shallots
- Jermor
Carrots
- Atlas
- Chantenay
Leeks
- Edison
Courgettes
- Black Forest - a small compact bush!
- Midnight - Tub based climber
Butternut Squash - in a pot this year!
Tomatoes
- Growbag & Greenhouse - Gardeners Delight
- Hanging Baskets - Garden Pearl
Cucumber
- MarketMore
Lettuces
- Cos & Salad Mix
Spring Onions
- Guardsman
Peppers
- variety tbc depending on greenhouse

To help bring in the hoverflies and bees I'm also going to be planting chives, honesty (Lunaria), Limnanthes (Egg Plant) and Marigolds.

Took me all day that did. It also made me realise that seed companies are missing a trick, its all very well having 2kg bags of seed potatoes to sow up 35m stretches but I don't have that much room in my plot! I wish they sold smaller amounts of chitted potatoes and onion sets - rocket gardens have the right idea but the combination of plants isn't quite right for what we will use. Here is the plan for my lean to greenhouse -

Lest I forget

2009-01-01T22:49:00.001Z

I saw so many birds today, the chirping was constant the whole time I was outside, nice to know the cats haven't got them all!

First day of the new year

2009-01-01T21:05:00.008Z

and I spent it in the garden, absolute bliss, after waking up with a mini headache I started to clear away the sunflowers from last year which I had left out for the birds. I dug, I weeded, I planned my planting and I repaired my net fence which had suffered badly from cats and uncoordinated boyfriend. This year I'm planning to replace the hastily erected net fence with some timber and wire panels, light enough to lift but robust enough to keep out the cats. I left plenty of sheeting over my well dug soil, but I bet that won't keep those damn cats out.

I came across the concept of square foot gardening today on another blog "A Kitchen Garden in the Suburbs" - sounded brilliant and I think I'll adapt it slightly for my plot. Worked out my plot is 12m squared so a nice size, will probably try and plant in metre plots rather than rows this year. Also found a use for the huge concrete slab which we dug out of the garden, I'm going to build a simple cold frame onto it - insulated of course - but that will allow the first plants needing protection to grow while I take my time finding materials for the greenhouse. I'm trying to decide whether I use polycarbonate double wall stuff, or glass, or corrugated plastic for the hinged roof - much to think about. I might go off to the salvage yard and see what I can find for inspiration.

Planted the rest of the daffodil bulbs today, a few had started to sprout so I don't know how well they will take given that its been a month since I put the first batch in. There was a note on the back of the snowdrops packet saying that they can take a full year to establish so be patient, that would explain why none of the ones I planted at the front came up last year.

Happy New Year!

Hic!

2008-12-28T19:51:00.003Z

Well Christmas is gradually fading away for another year, Santa + friends gave me a wonderful selection of amazing books about carpentry, gardening (and most importantly) cooking! I have the river cottage cookbook , and the Sarah Raven cookbook as well as the ultimate woodworking guide which will be fantastic for my greenhouse. The ideas in my head need to start being planned on paper.

I also have a gardening diary and a super gardeners trug for carrying all my tools and seeds, in addition to a couple of very useful gardeners DVDs. 'He' spoiled me rotten and got me lots of fun things too, one of which is a special bike computer which will tell me the time, temperature, speed and distance cycled (all very encouraging things), I haven't been on my bike for a few weeks so I suspect it'll be like starting all over again.

We spent Christmas in Yorkshire this year, my first ever Christmas away from family, and although strange it was very relaxing. We had glorious weather on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day and so Boxing Day we walked round some of the Bolton Abbey estate. It wasn't a garden as such but there was so much wildlife and we decided that we would plant a tree as soon as we got home to encourage wildlife into our garden - we think we'll go for a crab apple local to the area. When we got back I went straight out to the garden and all is in order, the water butt is very full and I have lots of digging over to be done, I think i might get some good rich farm manure to dig in before i start planting - heres to a great veg patch in 2009!

Its Christmas already!

2008-12-19T22:47:00.002Z

The garden has been somewhat neglected again recently, shopping and visiting family has taken up the majority of daylight over the past few weekends, although i had a fascinating conversation with the man in the Holt bird ventures shop (well worth a visit) http://www.birdventures.co.uk/index.php is the website.

Have seen a blackbird in the garden!

Heres to a very good garden year in 2009

Shiny Happy People

2008-11-26T18:42:00.006Z

I have been awarded an MSc with Distinction.
Thats about as good as it gets.

Snow falling down around me

2008-11-23T20:14:00.005Z

Todays snow was a bit more impresive. Here is a picture of a cold but serene buddha and the back garden. Most of the snow is still here and it will make my cycle ride to work much more interesting tomorrow morning - I ave to go shopping on the way home as well so if it freezes it will be very good fun. I have told myself that if I fall off more than three times before I get to end of the road then I'll come back and take the car!

Here we snow here we snow here we snow......

2008-11-22T22:43:00.002Z

Woke up this morning to the noise of snow, if you think about it you'll know the noise i mean, its more the absence of noise and the muffled phut of snow on the window. I was so excited by the gradual dissapearence of the garden the only option was to leap out of bed and take photos. I then decided that snow-cycling would be fun so I dragged 'him' out into the city on our bikes. The roads were ok, and there were only a couple of slippery bits. In fact the cars were generally having more problems than us. My main issue centred around the jeans i was wearing (wet and cold = no fun) and the snow showers made my bike seat wet as i was in the shops.

Still it was a very productive outing and I got to go to the butchers (sausages were a million times better) and the grocers, got two decent sized well balanced meals for two people for under £10. Also made me realise how much we'll save when we start getting veg out of the ground again.

Which leads me to my idea of snow gardening, i had quite a bit to do today outside and before going out decided that when i go back from the city I'd get on with it regardless of the white stuff.

Hmmm. That idea lasted about as long as the warm cup of hot chocolate in front of the fire!

We are not alone.....

2008-11-18T22:48:00.004Z

Just because I am so impressed with myself I am posting a picture of my evenings hard work. In honour of WOrld GIS day 2008 tomorrow I have made my team at work a small fairy cake iced to look like the earth, they are rather cute but icing constraints on a cake an inch and a half accross did require some imagination. And patiance, the finished result loks a bit surreal!

Butt installed

2008-11-16T17:44:00.004Z

The sun shone yesterday, so having bought the ingredients for dinner (anglian potatas, carrots and cauliflower with Irish beef) and made the casserole I felt I had earned some garden time. It took me a couple of hours to get the gutter up, downpipe fixed and a level platform for the water butt to stand on. I then found that I had to drill a 25mm hole in the water butt which I didn't have a bit for so hacksawed out instead. Looks good though :)

Then of course I had to test it and it works! I don't know how long it will take to fill up the butt, but I left enough space next to it so that we can expand if we need to. I've also decided on a design for the greenhouse/cold frame and I'm asking for timber for christmas to make that and the new internal fence for the veg patch; not to mention the anti butterfly frame for the brocoli. I WILL have purple broccoli and cauliflower next year!

Happiness Happening

2008-11-09T22:28:00.004Z

I have spent the last two weeks getting on and off trains and spending more time in hotels than at home. This has been totally due to work and led to me missing the CPRE Green Awards event held at the Norwich Assembly Theatre last week, and my partners nephews 5th birthday party. Both worthy events which i was sad to miss and sending me deep into the doldrums.

Yesterday my very clever mum took me up to Sheringham to brush away the cobwebs whereupon I had the best fish and chips ever, looked around a proper ironmongers and bought my first Christmas present. Which reminded me how close to Christmas we are getting! We went out today to look for a box for me to put on my bike when I cycle to work so that I can get shopping on the way home without cripping my back, and we got lots of daffodils, narcissus and snowdrops from the garden centre. When we got back I spent a happy few hours pottering around the garden tidying up and planting some of the bulbs for a spring dispay. I would have planted all of them but I lost the light.

Which takes me to the happiness factor, having spent the last few hours surfing the internet to look for useful/beautiful things for people for christmas (influenced by william morris) I discovered a post which was entitled "5 things that make me happy" and after the last few weeks i think i managed to do many of my favourite things this weekend (in no orer of favourites!).

1. See the sea while eating fish and chips (Sheringham)
2. Play in my garden & ride my bike (two things but noth outside and shed connected!)
3. Read my eco magazine and find useful leads to solve problems (ike what to do with the 2 tonnes of earth we dug out of the garden)
4. See/Speak to almost all my family
5. Spend time with my lovely boyfriend

Then theres the things i didn't get to do but really enjoy, like cook up a storm, watch the stars, see a movie, drink with friends, read a book, sew, plan travels, have a campfire (bonfire), make a cake, go for a long cycle ride.....

Try it - make a list of 5 things which make you happy & do some of them, after all if 37.5 hours a week are spent at work, 42.5 if counting lunch breaks and there are 168 hours in a week - 75% of our week isn't spent at work.

Soup

2008-11-01T13:47:00.003Z

Inspired by my sisters amazing butternut squash soup I decided that (as an aspiring domestic goddess) it would be nothing for me to whip up a soup and fresh bread for our saturday lunch. Its 2 o'clock an no sign of the bread yet but the soup is almost ready.

Its not quite as good as my sisters soup was, I think simmering the squash in the stock and then using it is better that my option of roasting the squash and then adding it to the stock afterwards. It does also have white wine added and i so often find that this can make this too sweet. The bread was an unmitigated disaster - It had a lovely crust but teh doughwas still dough in the middle. I had my suspicions while it was supposedly proving that the room wasn't warm enough to acivate the dough and it seems that was the case.

Next time i think i'll make a smaller amount and get a better temperature in the kitchen first. 'He' seems to be talking about a breadmaker but i think we need to make it by hand first. Next door makes all their own bread, and it smells fabulous. Although that is four hours of my life i'll never get back i'll know to go with instinct next time - both for the soup and teh bread!

Compost is coming along nicely - I've taken to getting some more paper in there as the mixture seems to be a bit mushy so far. I'm going to wrap it up over the winter to ensure that the bugs keep bugging (so to speak). Output from the waste free week ws just three meat trays and a coupld of plastic wrappers; we could have done better but only if we hadn't eaten pasta, rice, meat or fish. Or used milk, and quite honestly, life without tea isn't an option!

Waste Free Week!

2008-10-24T21:41:00.008+01:00

This does deserve a mention, as I've already said since our compost bin arrived the amount of rubbish we put out has been cut dramatically. Additionally since I finished my MSc and started planning meals and weighing portions there aren't even any leftovers! I'm being a bit braver with best before dates as well, I bought some delicious reduced sushi from Sainsburys on Wednesday, and it was fine yesterday as a starter with my tuna pasta. I also used an egg today which was a day out of date - i did check it with the water method first however.

All in all I have had a good practice week - the polystyrene from meat and fish does bother me however. I haven't used plastic bags for veg at the shops for donkeys years - if i need potatoes and they are really dirty i'll get a mushroom bag (those can be composted).

Heres the best solution I've found to plastic bags, this is my onya above, I got it at the Eden project in the summer. For veg I'm asking for one of these from Santa fotr Christmas - Onya Weigh Check the onyaside and onyaback bags too. Such a brilliant idea :) Still doesn't solve the issue of those plastic trays (other than go vegetarian again). I have also (it being waste free week) decided to make some morsbags http://www.morsbags.com/ as I want to get started with my sewing machine and this seems the perfect way to recycle some worn out sheets.

Ride, ride, ride your bike

2008-10-23T21:32:00.006+01:00

gently up the hill - merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream. Especially when speeding past all the cars waiting in the queues, and when i ride home over the hill and watch the sun set over norwich. I only started last week and so far have been rained on once and almost frozen twice, however I am appreciating being outside and enjoying the freedom of cycling. Work and back is about 8 miles round trip every day and I'm hoping that it will lead to me getting rid of the car completely.

The only issue at the moment is getting food shopping so I'm investigating a cycle trailer or home delivery once a fortnight for all the heavy goods, and looking at a freezer for better meat and food surplus storage. Trying to weigh up the 'green' credentials of each option. I think that green living could be my next 'project'!

The veg patch has well and truly gone to ground for the summer, I'll spend this weekend on the last of the clearing up and digging in some good fertiliser. Our compost bin is doing really well and the amount that we are putting in the wastebin has dropped massively - the plastic seems to be the big issue - especially with meat. Not entirely certain how we are going to get around this - a friendly butcher putting things in containers for us mught be the answer but contamination week on week does worry me a little. Suggestions would be very welcome. At the moment I'm saving the plastic trays for planting next season.

Heres a reminder of the summer sun(flowers);

Jam Jam Jam

2008-10-19T20:43:00.003+01:00

Well this was fun - oh so much fun!

Our mum has a glut of apples, they have done really well this year and my enterprising sister has exchanged lots with various farm shops in exchange for fruit and veg (most places in Norwich I've asked will do this). There is however many pounds worth left over. I was bought the amazing SelfSufficientish bible as a present and in it was a recipe for apple jam. Our father used to make themost amazing jam and every autumn when we were little our kitchen was converted into a jam factory, he used to make jams and jellies from greengages, plums, damsons, and some funny little round green things whose name i've forgotten. Mum used to make buckets of peach melba sauce which is in fact made only from raspberries.

So wondering if jam making is gnetic, yesterday my little sis and I got down to the very messy business of making apple and ginger jam, we did 8lbs of fruit and ended up with about 10/11lbs of jam. It took two of us 4 hours from start to finish and I think we'll be trying other fruit. Next weekend I'd like to make some beetroot chutney, and i think we might plan the veg patch around what we can and can't preserve. Our cousin gets hundreds of plums and next year we'll pounce on them and jam them. It does take time and effort, and the jam sugar is about £1.50 a Kg (about 2lbs). We got about 20 jam covers from Roys for about a pound, although these could be bought cheaper in bulk i'm sure. The really wacky thing is the variety of pots we found, ex tomato juice glass jars are superb, as are beetroot pots.

We're doing waste free week this week but not entirely certain how to avoid the packaging which meat (even the hapy organic chicken) come in. Ideas welcome. Our compost bin is no up and running, just in time to put all the cleared veg plants in. Tasty though the squash was, we only got one HUGE butternut, and one little one, I think next year we'll just stick to one plant and not four - they take up serious room! A colleague of mine grew his squash up a vine & it was a much better use of space.

Take a look at Rocket Gardens whose web site is great and they will happily answer questions quickly and clearly. Its a brilliant idea, we don't have the room to get plants started propoerly but Rocket Gardens get the plants started in their greenhouses and harden them off for ready planting. We were going to get the winter veg garden but in fact I'm going to put some fertilizer in the ground and get the soil better prepared for early planting next year. We're in two minds are to where to plant the onion - in seperate troughs or in eth soil with eth other veg. 'Him' is worried about mould.

Autumn Feast

2008-10-12T20:35:00.001+01:00

Where to start.

Last Tuesday my sister asked if we had any veg to make soup with, our huge butternut fitted the bill completely and (as we were invited to dinner) we donated the squash and with it my sister made the most delicious soup. Not only did it feed 5 people that night, the leftovers were frozen and there was enough left to feed 3 people for lunch on Saturday when we went away this weekend to Suffolk. Completly changed my mind about soup - i always hated it!

The courgette plants are still going, but the other veg have almost finished. We got atrociously lazy about picking the green beans and so we are letting them go to seed. The sunflower heads are over and we are leaving half for the birds and will collect the other half for us. I did the same with the carrots as apparently the flowers can be useful to the garden wildlife.

Bye Bye Courgettes

2008-09-20T19:35:00.002+01:00

The end is near for the courgette plants, they have grown so big that there isn't enough air flow around the leaves and they have mildew so they need to be taken out. The squash leaves are beginning to die off and we will harvest our butternut squash soon. The suash and courgettes have cross pollinated (i think) and we have some very odd looking veg growing!

The beans are still cropping well, enough for two more dinners this week although that will probably be all. My sister has had some more veg after the first lot went down very well. The carrots I cropped today are stumpy (what happens when thinning doesn't get done) but taste delicious. Last night I realised at about 8pm that we needed veg for kebabs, out I went with a torch and picked a fat courgette - a great feeling to have such fresh food available.

We've really enjoyed the past few weeks of crop gathering, and we know with better planning we could crop for much longer. Over the next few months while we have no crops in the ground we are going to try out the River Nene Vegetable Company which according to a friend of mine is very good. Check out their website, they do deliveries over a wide range of East Anglia, I'll post how we get on.

Ahhh

2008-09-08T20:17:00.002+01:00

Have spent a few manic moments on the web I have come to teh decision that the peas are simply dying off - they were late in and i don't think that they got a fair chance at growing - note to self to get them in earlier next year. I've having lots of fun (in between finishing my MSc) drawing up a planting plan for next year, it does rest on us still being here next year of course!

If I can get the greenhouse built then I'm going to do some major tomato growing and try to grow an eggplant as well. I think I'd like some little cherry tomatoes and also some bigger plum toms, I have a rainwater harvesting system all figured out as well using 2 litre water bottles. all very cool - a little project for the winter me thinks.

Post Holiday Greens

2008-09-08T19:26:00.003+01:00

Well we got back from a week in Cornwall to find that the veg garden has taken over the whole top of the garden - its really very impressive. I went out there yesterday and cut enough beans, courgettes (+ 2 marrows), tomatoes, carrots and beetroot for us for the week and a lovely fresh veg box as a moving present for my sister (so much more useful than a vase!). We have two very fat butternut squash but we aren't sure how to tell when they will be ready to eat.

The best thing about the garden now is that our giant eden project sunflowers are now in full flower - they wave gently in the breeze as they are so tall. It really brightens the garden. Sadly I am losing one of the mints, the thyme and the lovely vine - i'm not sure what to do but i'm sure its because of all the wet weather we've had this summer. The pea plants have turned brown and yukky, everything was ok before we went away, but i suspect a form of mildew so might have no option but to treat.

The Eden project has given us lots of ideas for gardening next year, we're going to do better at the companion planting, and try onions and potatoes. I might even try to grow a pumpkin for hallowean next year - i'm going to put down a little path down the centre of the patch and sow plants which don't want to be swamped - carrots, onions, leeks, beetroot & beans one side and then the courgettes (2 max!) the other side bounded by peas and potatoes. I've also decided to try and move the shed and build a greenhouse - news not recieved with much enthusiam by 'him'!

The veg patch surrenders

2008-08-26T21:08:00.004+01:00

When I got home tonight from work I went out to the garden, picked two handfuls of runner beans, a fat courgette, three beetroot and some fat stubby carrots which should really have been thinned. Then I cooked them with some new potatoes and fat gloucester old spot sausages from Dewing farm shop on the coltishall road, it was SO good (and inexpensive), i'm probably not going to ever be able to keep and kill a pig to eat but i'm quite happy to grow the veg to go with someone elses pig.

Look! Veg patch delivers!!!

Candlelight

2008-08-25T21:04:00.001+01:00

The garden at night - I have had these tealights for over a year knowing exactly where they would go, we sat outside under the stars and had a glass of wine. Very civilised!

One day there was no veg - and the next day

2008-08-24T20:22:00.001+01:00

we were wondering where all the space went.

Here we have beans on eth trellsi, squash in front of the trellis, and courgettes nearer to the forground - there are beetroot to the right and the carrots to eth left, oh and the sunflower which i though wouldn't germinate are now about 8 feet high.

Lawn!

2008-08-18T20:14:00.002+01:00

This is a retrospective post - i took this picture to show how the pergola looks now that we have (almost) finished the gravel, it takes oh so much gravel to fill this garden!

This garden seems to have taken so long to do but now that the plants are growing and its possible to see the softening of the harder edges then i realise that we have made real impact in only six or so months.

Cool & Refreshing

2008-07-28T22:26:00.001+01:00

Have just been out to do some late night watering and lit a candle under the candle pot and it looks amazing.

All calm and peaceful - and cool - finally cool.

And yet more Plants!

2008-07-27T21:08:00.001+01:00

The weekend started well, hot - thats the only word for it! I went out to study on Saturday and 'he' started on the pamments - they look stunning and very natural although until we get the gravel down for real then it won't look finished.

The trouble with getting some plants was that it became obvious over the course of the week that we needed more! So on Sunday we went out to the Woodgate nursery again, stunning place, loads of interesting plants and great ideas. They have lots of interesting ideas about companion planting and I finally got my hands on some marigolds for the veg patch (they distract insects from my veg!) but I did get a bit carried away and it was touch and go wether we would get everything in the boot of the car.

When we got home I carried two of the boxes through the house to the car along with two bees and a couple of hoverflies who were so excited by the prospect of nectar that they buzzed along beside me - a bit hairy but they were only interested in the flowers. But after planting up this is how it looked;

The terracotta star thing is a candle light, heres a view from the side, we've a real mix of plants here but I like it.

And the grass? Its finally growing - patchy but its is grass nonetheless.

Plants....

2008-07-20T21:30:00.000+01:00

The veg patch is coming on a treat although I do with my runner beans would get a move on and start going upwards, the courgettes and squash seem to be getting the general idea about producing veg sometime before Christmas! After planting a passion flower, some tall grasses, a standard fuschia, a little blue plant whose name i've forgotten, a sage & a creeping thyme, a southernwood which I hope will keep away insects and some stunning sedums which will be put into the gravel to spread.

Garden weekend

2008-07-18T21:15:00.000+01:00

Decided after last weekends crazy study marathon that I;d have some time off to attend to the garden. Got up early and went out side to weed the front garden (it gets so hot thats the only time i could do it) and discovered teh reason the plants were dying in the pots.

Round the back the patio has er been laid out even if its not actually been put down properly, we went to a garden nursury near Aylsham this afternoon and bought some amazing plants but had to leave them in the car when we got back because it wouldn't stop raining! We went from the nursery to a tea shop in Aylsham and the sponge cake was to die for and we had a 'right proper' sized pot of tea. As you can see Buddha is watching over the building works.

Nothing Happening

2008-07-13T21:10:00.001+01:00

I spent the entire weekend (8 - 6) both days working on my project, believe me when I say I'd rather have been outside!

No sign of the grass coming up yet, maybe I'm being too impatient!

Was that the weekend?

2008-07-06T22:24:00.003+01:00

I have been struck down with the lurgy this weekend & if it wasn't for several very important meetings this week I would not be considering work tomorrow but needs must and all that jazz.

Here is the garden so far, 'he' spent an age sieving the soil in the circles to put the lawn seed down onto and then moments before the operation was due to be finished with careful scattering then the heavens opened and we had to make a run for it. I spent the morning making tea, and dozing in the deckchair to supervise operations. We put buddha out as the weather is nicer, sort of an 'on the home straight' moment really, well it was until the rain started!

Next time....the lawn, the flowers, the patio and the gravel!

Summers Here!

2008-07-05T18:00:00.003+01:00

Heres a picture of my new pergola - I am so happy wih it - I think its blooming marvellous & it makes the garden look bigger.

I spent 3 hours weeding my veg patch today & happy that the beans are coming up at last along with the squash and the courgettes. The beetroot are looking a smidge wibbly and the rue have simply dissapeared.'he' almost finished the logs, we spent 2 hours in B&Q today getting plant fertilizer, soil improver (non smelly manure), lawn seed and topsoil for the lawn. We also got a fab lunch at their wittards cafe which was rather good.I also got some happy hippy slug destroyer which won't hurt hodgehegs and liberelly sprinkled it about. Next weekend we are going up to Cawston nursery to get plants.

We'll definately be getting a vine for the pergola, some trailing plants to soften the logs, some honeysuckle to go over the trellis and loads of other funky plants which will be able to grow in the poor soil. We've a list of grasses which we like as well which should give the wildlife some seeds and provide autumn colour. Next year I am going to get so much more out of my vegetable patch. I'm going to be getting some herbs to put straight in the soil under the pergola, and some daffodil and crocus bulbs to put under the lawn for spring.

Oooooo it'll be luverly!

No Pergola

2008-06-27T18:09:00.002+01:00

After the weekends log construction then we were eagerly awaiting the pergola but it had to be delayed until Monday. Which is sad but these things happen. I've been strugging to bring the beans up - the dwarf (short) beans are goinging but never developing their first set of leaves so are then dying - I think I need to improve the ground and get everything started earlier. The second round of courgettes are starting to come up but the promised rain hasn't happened so they are a bit dry. The Rue seeds, carrots and beetroots are coming up well.

I've been advised on the gravel - wickes - and I have to peer over a wall tomorrow to see some highly rated gravel in a neighbours garden. The lengths this garden is sending me to! It'll all be worth is in the end - now if i could just get those beans to grow like the weeds.......

June Gales

2008-06-22T21:38:00.003+01:00

Got up at the crack of dawn today to close the window owing to amount of noise the local bird population was making - this is a good thing - but not at 3.30am. At a (slighty) more reasonable hour of 8am I got up to earn my brownie points so that when 'he' woke up I could go out and play in teh garden. The challenge today is to get the log borders in for the lawn edging before the pergola is put in on Tuesday (so excited) the circles are about 220cm across and theres two of them so we got logs at Homesbase 10% day yesterday as they aren't cheap.

Just for anyone's interest the way to discover the circumference of a circle is Pie *Diameter.

Isn't it.

'he' got started on the making of the circles while I went to Homebase to get some more logs. Its cost quite a bit to do, I wish I'd found a cheaper solution now but I wanted those curves!

Heres the finished result!

The gales blew over a tomato plant and a few of the runner beans which were just starting to recover, some of the green beans have started to come up from the second sowing but none of the runner beans have germinated yet. The squash are picking up but I could have fitted so much more in I'm a bit miffed with myself. Theres always next year I suppose!

Damn Slugs

2008-06-19T21:46:00.002+01:00

Went out this morning and found all three of my courgette plants had been eaten off at the base of their stems. Don't know wether it was slugs or snails but have had to plant again - have doubled up this time at each planting point and will take out the weeker seedling when they get established. Next year I'll harden teh plants off sooner as i thing thats one reason why they haven't got big and strong. Its strange because I normally have more success with courgettes than any other veg.

Beetroot are coming up nicely - very pretty seedlings, and the carrots are just beginning to appear. No sign of the Rue yet but I'm hoping to make a hedge out of them. The reseeding of the dwarf beans hasn't shown any signs of germinating yet but I'll give it another couple of days - just one of the broad beans has come up, they are taking longer outside, i hope that nothings eaten them, I think I have a tendancy to plant seends too deep.

I recommend the gardening blog on the BBC Garden site - loads of handy tips and helpful peopal, I'm certainly going to be planning my veg garden better next year, maybe even a herb cicle in the middle.