Blog Archives

Monday 29th April

29/4/2013

It has been a very busy but mundane week in the garden and on the allotment. Most of the time I have been watering, weeding and sewing seeds. I bought a new white "pom-pom" Dahlia and planted that in the garden. Sadly our lawnmower suddenly died on me while I was mowing the lawn and I will have to replace that. The yellow Forsthyia pictured above is the result of a tiny cutting that came from a bush that was growing in Mum's garden in Bishops Stortford about five years ago. My eight year old Camelia bush has flowered at last, and produced the lovely pink blooms that are also pictured above.
I have sown some Aubergine seeds on the allotment in trays, I am hoping for some success with these lovely vegetables this year. I have not grown them for a while.

0 Comments

A very busy day Tuesday 23rd April

23/4/2013

0 Comments

The weather has improved enormously and I have been able to get quite a lot of work done on the allotment and my garden at home. On Monday I planted up a small container with about six compartments for herbs. I sited this just outside our back door where Margaret can get to it and pick herbs for her cooking. The Camellia bush has sprung into flower with a lot more buds to blossom, I also have my first tulip flower of this season in bloom.

The allotment is beginning to take shape at last, all of the dormant fruit bushes and strawberry plants are coming back to life with nice fresh green leaves. The over wintering onions are growing well and my spinach is sprouting new leaves. The leeks and sprouting broccoli are now finished and I will have to turn those two beds over and apply some manure.
I planted my second early potatoes today even though the first earlies have not pushed through yet, I also planted a second row of radishes to follow the last row that is now showing through and growing nicely. My allotment friend Tony, gave me some chickory plants as he had a surplus.

I have done a bit more work in the garden this evening. I planted two lovely Celosia plants in tubs and sited them where our garden arch used to stand. They look terrific, I have never grown these plants before and I am hopeful that we will be able to keep them going if there is a late frost. I also replaced an Acer plant that had sadly come to the end of life, nothing lives forever I guess.

0 Comments

FRiday 19th and Saturday 20th april

21/4/2013

0 Comments

YES!! Thankfully the weather took a dramatic turn for the better on Friday. The day started with beautiful sunshine and I went to the allotment to water the seeds that I have planted. I also hoed around the Broad bean shoots that have pushed through the soil and I gave them a good drink of water. There is still no show from the first early potatoes that I have planted, but I have every confidence they will appear and we will be enjoying new potatoes with mint shortly.

At home, later in the afternoon, I mowed both lawns, at the back and front of the house, I edged off the back lawn to make a nice neat job. I am very impressed with the condition of the grass, all my weeding, feeding and taking care of the grass is now showing good results. There are some really nice Spring flowers appearing in our garden and I also photographed a few to brighten up this blog. I spotted and photographed the first ladybirds or ladybugs of the year in the garden.

Saturday 20th April

The day started with a very heavy frost. At 6 am the garden was white, until the sun came up and quickly burned the frost away. Then there was more glorious sunshine and I left for the allotment bright and early. I deposited my grass cuttings in the compost bin and began my usual chore of hoeing and weeding. I then decided to give my soft fruit bushes and strawberry plants a good feed with a liquid fertilizer, I have had good results in the past with this particular brand.

0 Comments

Cold with winds and a little sun

18/4/2013

0 Comments

In spite of the very mixed weather conditions I have been very busy and I did manage to get quite a surprising amount of work done. I have sown most of the usual brassicas, in the blue half drums pictured above, I had a good deal of success from using these drums last year, I simply transplant the fully grown plants straight into the ground when they are large enough to be moved. We experienced very high winds here on Thursday and the allotments took a severe battering with compost bins and equipment blowing around all over the place.
The lovely blue hyacinth flower is growing from one of the bulbs I planted under my loganberry bushes to bring some very welcome colour to the garden in the early Spring.

0 Comments

12th and 13 April Progress and actual SUNSHINE

14/4/2013

0 Comments

On the Friday. I was able to sow some seeds in my new cold frame on the allotment and in the mini greenhouses I have at home in the back garden.
I have tomatoes and hot chili pepper seeds growing in the mini greenhouse with some sweet corn seeds.
All of these seeds are the remains of packets of seed that I had left over from last year, I have my fingers crossed that I will have some success with them this year as well.
On the allotment I planted some leftover courgette and cucumber seeds and placed them in the new cold frame, hopefully we will now have a prolonged period of sunshine to help the growth. We have had no rain of any value for at least a month, just this prolonged freezing spell, so I have actually had to get the watering can out already.

On Saturday the weather made a dramatic turn for the better and the sun was shining wonderfully. I headed straight for the allotment where to my great satisfaction I was able to take these brilliant photographs of a cock pheasant that was wandering around. I have seen this family of pheasants on a number of occasions, but I have never been close enough to get a good shot before.
I then sowed some radishes, lettuce, beet-root and spring onions in rows straight into the ground. I also have carrots and parsnips sown and covered with fleece in my large tubs. Everything is moving along nicely now and I will just have to keep on top of the weeds and keep it all watered.

0 Comments

A lot more action ~in the cold

10/4/2013

0 Comments

10th April
I managed to get both of the lawns mowed today, I still kept the mower blades quite high as I think there may be a late frost even now. I also painted my two wooden plant troughs at the front of the house to brighten and freshen them up. In spite of the long cold Winter most of the shrubs have survived and the Spring flowers are out and in flower. The snowdrops have finished their cycle and they are now dying off.
I did get to the allotment today, hoeing and watering a bit as we still have had very little rain.

0 Comments

Still a very slow start~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~7th and 8th April 2013

9/4/2013

0 Comments

This is the longest cold spell leading into Spring that I can ever remember~ I have not been able to start any of my usual outside planting at all. I have had my early potatoes in now for a few weeks with no show as yet, although perhaps that is a good thing with the frost still around. The Broad Beans I put in the soil are just beginning to push through the topsoil and show some nice tender shoots, I only hope the hungry pigeons leave them alone, they do tend to love the young shoots. I photographed my poor over-Winter, Spinach plants, and some White Sprouting Broccolli, that the pigeons have made a meal out of.
There are encouraging signs of growth and lovely green shoots appearing on all of the fruit bushes: I am sure everything will catch up eventually.

0 Comments

Back in business

4/4/2013

0 Comments

Spring is definitely on the way as our old familiar feathered friends are appearing in the garden along with the Spring bulbs~

Well it has been over four weeks since I have managed to get any work done on the allotment, as we have been visiting family in Australia.
There are unsurprisingly few weeds growing, due to this long cold spell and the long drawn out Winter we have experienced, so far this year. I did some hoeing on my Asparagus and Rhubarb beds, the wind was so strong it was drying out the soil very quickly, and blowing some of my topsoil off as I was hoeing. I decided to water around the base of the plants to stop the soil from taking off in the wind and exposing the roots.

0 Comments

Author

John~~Battling with the elements, pests and diseases in my struggle to keep the garden growing. A constant daily struggle that will be recorded here.

Gardening is such a delightful pastime. I spend time on my allotment almost every day of my life, and the sensation of pure satisfaction never ceases to amaze me. I get so much out of this pleasure, I think the benefits are so huge that the government should legislate and make it more available to everyone. I will list just some of the obvious reasons here. ~~
1) Fresh fruit and vegetables and other produce.
2) Fresh air and an intense feeling of getting close to Nature.
3) Healthy exercise without the necessity of machines that are found inside a gym.
4) The satisfaction obtained by growing plants and watching and caring for them through to maturity.
5) A regular occupation that you can make into a routine, somewhere to go to at a certain time every day.
6) The companionship of like-minded people, with whom you can get ideas and swap tips on your mutual interests.

There is peace of mind in a garden

Monday 29th April

A very busy day Tuesday 23rd April

FRiday 19th and Saturday 20th april

Saturday 20th April

Cold with winds and a little sun

12th and 13 April Progress and actual SUNSHINE

A lot more action ~in the cold

Still a very slow start~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~7th and 8th April 2013

Back in business

Author

Archives

Categories