Done some planting!

Look - a slightly tidier greenhouse!


In the pots are garlic and broad beans.

Managed to plant the garlic into pots and also planted some broad beans into one of the beds which I had previously covered to get it very slightly warmer. Once I had sown the beans I covered them with fleece which will hopefully get them going a bit easier.

I also dug a bean trench down the side of one of the beds and next week I will dig another down the other side. Into these will go the kitchen vegetable scraps providing lots of food for the runner beans.

When I started digging I was surprised how easy it was on the beds that I have dug previously. Growing everything in raised beds is definitely the way to go. I do need to improve the soil as it is 100% clay though and will be digging loads of compost in (well the worms will hopefully!)

Tidying up

I read on the Cambridge city council website that the composted contents of the green wheelie bins is available free if you bring your own bags;

Today Chloe and I went there armed with a little trailer, for which I have made taller walls, two shovels and a load of large bags. When we got there the VERY nice man told me to go to the other end of the site where some other VERY nice men would load it for me!! The whole process took about 10 minutes and absolutely no effort and best of all, no money. - I am going again next week!

We took it to the plot and covered her bed with cardboard first then filled it up with the compost. then put some on some of the other beds.

I tidied the greenhouse and picked up some rubbish to take to the tip.

This was 'before'!!

A View across the plots - Still so much to do........

Buddy - Who doesn't help much on the plot! apart from madly running around, frightening rabbits and saying hello to everyone who walks within a 50 metre radius of our plot!

These are the chillies that I managed to salvage from my very dead chilli plants in the greenhouse before they went into the compost bin. I am quite pleased with them and will be growing them again.

I bought some seeds; (Tomato - moneymaker, sungella, alicante; Pepper - sweet spanish mixed; cabbage - hispi; broad beans - Aquadulce claudia & perpetual spinach), garlic and some seed potatoes (kestrel, pentland javelin & king edwards) this week. I always manage to buy more than I will ever hope to use. I still have loads of seeds left from last year but I have decided to grow fewer varieties and stick to the things we love.

I am ashamed

Hello everyone!

I am very ashamed for the fact that I have not only not put anything on the blog for months, but I have also not been to the plot for ages either! - There were legitimate reasons for this - Finishing my Degree - AT LAST it is done - As I haven't got my final result yet I can't say whether it was worth all the hard work - I should get either a 2:1 or a 1st but will know that on 30th March. I thought that I would be fed up with all that studying but I started another course - A Diploma in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - Quite when I will be able to spend lots of time on the plot I don't know - I think I will be getting the undergardener and children to help. I originally had 3 plots with geat plans for lots of fruit bushes and a mini orchard, but as I am now doing another 18month university course I have decided to reduce my plans a bit and give one of them up - this will mean that someone on the waiting list will get a plot which is OK by me.

I did visit the plot last week but forgot to take the camera with me - It wasn't totally disasterous and I have a cunning plan to cover the beds with cardboard that I have been hoarding, then put compost on top so that the weeds are surpressed and the worms can do the digging for me - good plan isn't it!

I have loads of jobs to do:
Tidy the greenhouse
Cover all the beds & mulch them
Plan plot 2
Collect all the bits for the polytunnel that we want to build
Plant plot 2 with fruit bushes and trees
Build a shed

PLUS

All the normal digging, sowing and planting

Me thinks I might be busy

When I went to the plot last Sunday I met Silvano who is an Italian gentleman who has a plot near to mine he gave me some spinach, beetroot and some parsnips. I ate the spinach which was lovely and the undergardener has plans for the beetroot and this is what I made from the parsnips: After I had liquidised it the result was really tasty parsnip and carrot soup.

YUM YUM

It's been ages!!!

Hello everyone -

I am offering my profuse apologies for not posting for absolutely ages. You know how it is - deadlines to meet, dogs to house train, holidays to go on - not to mention the undergardener and his shenannigans. I have worked out that I have from now until January to get the whole 3 plots ship shape before I (hopefully start my next course) Why is it that dry weather only shrivels that plants you want to eat rather than the weeds?

Here are some pics of what has been keeping me away from the plot: Buddy (after he rolled in deer poo)

No this isn't the undergardener -
A cute looking inmate at Monkey world (Dorset)

Francis practicing civil engineering at Studland Bay

Chloe on her way to Australia!

I am away to a wedding at the weekend in Cornwall so I probably will not get to the plot until next week as I have a wedding jewellery commission to finish before then so I will update you soon.
One of my creations!

leek flowers

The leeks have thrown up flowers so I cut them all and then took them home and put them in a vase. I suppose I should have really waited and saved the seed but so far I haven't got into the seed saving lark - perhaps I will when time is not so limited, I am struggling to keep on top of the weeds and sow the things I should be - never mind next year will be different......







I have managed to get to the plot quite a bit over the past few days.

I have sowed some mizuna, giant mustard leaves, salad bowl lettuce and 3 rows of radishes.

Planted leeks, sprouting broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale and chard. I know it is late for some of the seedlings but I recon if I water and feed them well they might be alright. I also transplanted some rhubarb and put it into the the bed where the garlic was and the rhubarb that I transplanted last year. If I had not moved it it would have been doomed as it was growing next to the shed that is due for demolishing. I split up the crowns planted them spread tou more, put some pelleted chicken manure around them and watered them well so hopefully they will be happier than they were and produce lots of lovely rhubarb next year.

Topiary

A picture of my son modelling the new topiary greenhouse - You've got to give the bindweed something to do - I thought it should be creative - best of all I didn't have to do anything!

Rhubarb rhubarb

Look what I found in the rhubarb patch!

Buddy seemed to think this was the place to be after I had removed all the garlic bulbs. They all got rust but I cut all the leaves off and took the outer layers of leaf from round the bulbs and they look ok. Hopefully they will store well.

One year on...

We have had our main plot for a year now.

This is what the plot looked like in May 2005

















And this is what it looked like one year on

Broad Beans

 

Potatoes

 

onions

 

Hello!!

It has been so long since I posted to the blog - thought I'd do a quick update - weeds weeds and more weeds! they are everywhere, and although I haven't been able to go to the plot recently, I have been sending the undergardener armed with a watering can - and he has done an admirable job of watering - however lateral thinking is not his strong point and the idea of pulling out weeds whilst he was walking past them obviously didn't occur. To say that I was shocked when I visited the plot today is an understatement!

I Have not been to the plot for the past few weeks as we had a new member of our family arrive - He's black, has four legs and is extremely cute!

We have now taken him to the plot - or rather the under gardener has when he went watering but not weeding, and he has been very good, not running off, staying near, and not eating many of the plants which he rather partial to - perhaps I can train him to weed!


This is a picture of myself - the Head Gardener with dog and produce which we picked this morning.




Onions - Unwins earlies (pick and use straight away - no good for storing) Broad beans, the first potatoes we have dug and a cucumber. - Guess what we're having for dinner tonight!

Greenhouse update

Stuff growing like mad in the greenhouse, I have so much to put out into the beds - unfortunately I haven't had much time over the last few weeks as the last 4 weekends I have been either busy or away. I am on holiday over Whitsun so I can see another mammoth plot blitz coming on!

Weeds Weeds everywhere

As you can see it is difficult to see where the beds are - there are so many weeds!

Radish Scarlet Globe - yummy!

Radishes

A picture of the first harvest of radishes which were grown in the greenhouse - I also sowed 3 rows outside under fleece and we have nearly polished off these also - Now I need to sow some more

Long time no see...

Not only have I been busy - almost too busy to post anything to the blog - but so have the weeds! - busy growing. This is a view of the plot looking very overgrown and weedy - mind you we have just invested in a petrol strimmer so that we can zap the weeds between the beds, and have had a go - Things are looking tidier.

Eggs from the hens - the lightest (top) is from Edwina, the brown one is from Florentine and the darker cream on is from Pepper. We are now getting three eggs per day, Tracey and Caramel still aren't laying. 

And the top of the DVD player makes a great heated propogator! 

The patio window make a great place to start seedlings!