A couple of hours gardening

The sun is put and there are things to do in the vegetable patch.

         

Cabbage seedlings            

Cauliflower seedlings          

Cabbage seedlings

Cabbage savoy and cauliflower romanesco have been transplanted out and netting installed over the bed.    

     

Spring onions

 

Beetroot  

Leeks  

Marigolds 

• Leeks and spring onions are growing slowly
• Marigolds will soon be ready to plant out
• Lettuce seedlings have been transplanted alongside the cabbages

Seeds to sow.

1. Nasturtiums cells in gh
2. Radish direct to bed
3. Lettuce mixed in trays in gh

March Madness

It is the beginning of March and the February snow has now gone although there is talk of another bout soon.

The garden is just starting to recover  from the dormant winter period and the first signs of spring are here. The birds thought February was spring and with the warm spell at the beginning of the month they were out in force, then the snow came and they had to divert their efforts into finding food. Now March 13th they are back in Spring mode.

Daffs and Crocus

Cowslips

I always start Tomatoes and Peppers in February but I left them a bit later this year and the tomatoes have now sprouted along with Lettuce, Cabbage and Cauliflowers. The tomatoes are still in the conservatory, in here it is not getting below 9c at night. This will hold them back a bit until we move into April.

Tomatoes and Aubergine

The Lettuce, Cauliflower and Cabbage have been moved to the greenhouse which is not heated but because it is a lean-to, it very rarely gets below 1c at night.

Cauliflower and Cabbage 

I have sown some flowers, Marigolds, Lupins and Nasturtiums which have germinated indoors and I have moved them to the Greenhouse to slow the growth down. If you keep them indoors they get very leggy with the lack of sunlight, but moving them outside slows the growth down and they are not searching for daylight.

Marigolds at the front , Lettuce behind

Nasturtiums 

Outside the Strawberry bed was dug up and the strawberry plants sorted and thinned. They were then planted back using the strongest young plants, hopefully the crop will be a bit more consistent this year.

Last Years Lupins ready to go out

All the other beds have been cleared and fertilised ready for the new season. The fruit trees were pruned in December. I have three small blueberry bushes in the greenhouse which I repotted before Christmas, they are now starting to bud and they will be moved outside within the next month.

All the beds cleared

Blueberry

The New Year has Arrived

It is late February and just as you think about the new growing season this happens. Snow and freezing weather forecast.

Indoors I have lettuce, Cauliflowers , Savoy cabbage, Marigolds and Natsturtians in cells. The Marigolds, Cauliflower and Cabbages have sprouted.

There are Leeks sown in the greenhouse which are not showing yet. The Blueberries are starting to bud.

Today the plan was to sow Tomatoes and Peppers indoors. Well despite the weather I think I shall go ahead. However I am a bit worried about the Romesco Cauliflowers because I have sown all the seeds and I cannot afford to lose more than a couple and they are all a bit leggy.

The second lot of Strawberries

We just had a look at the strawberry bed again and there were quite a few ready. Dessert tonight will be Strawberries and cream.

 

Pumpkins transplanted

After three days away we were confronted by some wilting peppers in the conservatory. Before we left some leaves were curling. I put it down to heat or sun scorch. I have cut the dead leaves off, the rest of the plants look ok.

The carrots are starting to show, so I will sow some more.

Courgette

Pumpkin

 It is also time to thin out the greenhouse. I transplanted 1 Courgette outside along with 2 Pumpkin plants. This week I need to get the peppers and Chilli sorted. The larger ones are nearly big enough for the 10" pots. I also have some brassicas that will need moving from cells to pots or larger seed cells.

Mini Pop Corn

Strawberries in flower

The Potatoes in tubs are just showing

Peas

The greenhouse also needs setting up with the water trays to help when we are away.

Pumpkins have Germinated

The Pumpkins are the first to germinate, I have one Squash, one courgette and one french bean also showing.

 The Blueberry plants are in flower this year so we may get fruit

 

There is a lot of Blossom on the apples which is incouraging.

 Swiss Chard has a little way to go but some have been transplanted out already.

 These are the brassicas, Brussels, Cabbage, Cauliflower and Kale.

Training Peas

 

Last year I sowed peas and left them to  it. We had peas but they were very low and packed together. Now this is fine if you have an agricultural hybrid but we just grow the standard varieties.

My first peas germinated and were planted out in March, but the second batch, to replace poor germination have only been outside a couple of weeks.

They need something to grow up so I thought I would use old bean poles horizontally above each row. They looked good but a bit high so I have now suspended some wire grids from them the the peas should reach before they get too tangled.

 

I also repotted my chilli seedlings so I have four of each variety, however I really only need two of each. These will go back into the conservatory until they are a bit bigger.

 

The mini pop corn that was such a disaster in February has had a better germination rate for the second batch. I have transplanted them out and I will probably have enough.

 

The Cherry Bomb chilliest that I over wintered have started to flower in the conservatory, so if the fruit is good I will do the same next year.

 

 

The broad beans and field beans are growing quite quickly now and I have the French bean poles all ready. The apple trees are coming into flower and it looks as if it could be a good year.