Last year (2020), a while after the end of the first lockdown, we ventured into a discount store (Home Bargains) for some essentials – including 2 tins of white exterior gloss paint. I had plans for painting the back gate, the garage side door and my husband’s shed door.
But I never got around to it!
Continue reading “Weekend Workout: Magic Paint”With the new shelving in the Potting Shed filling up with vegetable seedlings and chitting potatoes, and a planned trip to the Recycling Centre next week, I’d been thinking about sorting out the Tiny Greenhouse. As Sunday morning was warm and sunny, we made a start.
The first job was to remove the bubble wrap I had carefully pinned to the inside last September in the hope I could grow salad crops over winter. Even with the additional insulation, the seedlings/salad leaves I started off were either eaten by slugs or went dormant until around mid-February – so while I have my thinking cap on for next winter – I’m already planning for summer and autumn.
I’m pleased I will no longer have to fight my way into the greenhouse through these layers of bubble-wrap.
After a good brush down, it’s almost back to normal. This year, I will grow some of my tomatoes in here, just to see if I can actually get them to ripen rather than pick them green and ripen them indoors.
And with the front border in mind, I have sown some flower seeds.
Continue reading “Weekend Workout”A gentle word; a promise given; action taken.
Let the removal of the jasmine commence . . .
A job well-done – and I didn’t have to do it!
I’ve said Thank You and handed over a large container of climbing green beans.
A sunny start this morning, though the wind is picking up and clouds moving in from the south. I’ve already taken my morning walk along the lane and done some work in the garden; removing leaves and any flowers/tiny fruit from my tomato plants to allow ripening , as instructed by the nation’s favourite gardener on last evening’s Gardener’s World.
I love the colours of this Strawflower, which I intend to cut and preserve in a vase. And there are more to come, a darker one and a pale silvery-pink. They have a great texture too.
Livingstone Daisy – one of several from my 29p packet of seeds from Lidl
I thought I’d take a photo of a white-tailed bumble bee enjoying the nectar on this Autumn Joy. But I later found I’d got more than I bargained for.
You can see where this Lagurus ovatus grass got its common name of Bunny Tails.
My pitcher plant has a flower! It’s not fully open yet and it’s proved difficult so far to get a clear image. I think it need to go back into the greenhouse to help with the aphid problem on my pepper plants.
There won’t be many more weeks before I run out of flowering plants to photograph and share here through The Propagator’s Six on Saturday club, but I’ve a few to share still, and I fully expect to see the start of crocus bulb shoots in a few weeks, unless the heatwave forecast for Sunday and Monday confuses them.
NOT the local Mafia (or, as we’re in Wales, the Taffia), but a look at the problems caused by my neighbour’s overgrown trees.
First, the vew from my study window – for the wider angle looking across the conservatory roof. The brick shed is ours, the greenhouse and field is the neighbour’s. as are the trees.
In June 2019, I made a start on a project that is finally almost complete. This began with the removal of a raised bed in the shadiest part of the back garden, via the building of the Tiny Greenhouse and now the final corner. Click here to see what it looked like in 2018.
We were left with this ‘spare’ piece of ground, where the round compost bin had stood for 20 years. But then our beer spare fridge finally gave up the ghost in February (almost gassing us in the process), and we were forced to buy a new washing machine after the bearings went on the old one: so with all Recycling Centres closed until a few weeks ago, this (↓) was the view from our kitchen window – until now. Continue reading “Weekend Workout”
With blue skies, no wind and warm weather on Sunday morning, it was time to tackle the small section of Raised Bed A to remove the flowering garlic stalks and create a space for my brassica seedling which have been hammering on the greenhouse walls begging to be let out. Continue reading “Weekend Workout”
This is the first time I’ve grown garlic. I bought three organic bulbs from the supermarket last September, split them, and planted them – some in pots, some in a raised bed. In spring, I transplanted the pots into the other raised bed. Continue reading “Weekend Workout”
I’ve pulled up all my radishes – but not to eat. A separate post which follows will explain why. I have replaced them with a different variety which, hopefully, will produce the small and tender roots that I love. To protect them, I’ve used this old supermarket basket.
I’ve already harvested some chard leaves and spinach. Online guidance says to pick chard when stems are around two inches long. Mine only just met that criteria. I’m currently growing it in troughs, though I could transplant some into a raised bed. I’ve moved it onto the patio step where, should the sun ever shine for more than a couple of minutes, it will reap the benefit.
While away on holiday, anything I hadn’t time or room to plant out was placed on a gravel tray. Thankfully they survived so I’ve potted on some Brussels Sprouts and tomatoes – mystery varieties labelled A and B as I still don’t know which is which until they fruit.
I’ve also sown Little Gem lettuce into a seed tray, sown cress seeds, and put some more spinach seeds into some three inch pots – 5 seeds per pot. All from packets of seeds I got free with a gardening magazine.
Then I had a look at the garlic I planted last September.
Some of the stems had already fallen and the top of a bulb was visible in one case. Hoping it was the top of a very large ‘iceberg’, I decided to dig one up. I got two.
If smell was a guarantee of size, these should be huge, but they’re not. These were the ones I planted directly into the front of Raised Bed A. I’ve replanted them into a pot in the hope they might fatten up a bit more.
The garlic in Raised Bed B was started off in pots outside and planted into the bed in Spring. I’ll give them a few more weeks before I check again.
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The first job on Saturday was to move my Tumbling Tom cherry tomato plants from the raised bed. I’d planted them with Cosmos as a companion plant.
9th June
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