2021 Calender

[burnie]

New thread for a New Year, link to old thread here
2020 Calendar - The Grapevine (growfruitandveg.co.uk)

[Penellype]

January photos



Nothing much to see here. No idea why the photo is so blurry - I took it twice but there was no improvement.



Although everything looks green, it is frozen solid. A few of the antirrhinums on the right are still green.



Salad leaves and carrots have been uncovered as snow was threatened which could have collapsed the nets. The carrot cage frame has rusted through in places and needs attention.



Not a lot to see here.



Just empty pots here, with an antirrhinum seedling in one of the buckets, which may or may not survive the winter.

The whole place could do with a good tidy up, but it has been so wet and then so cold that I haven't really had an opportunity.

[frogga]

As I moved house during 2020 and have got the house sorted now, 2021 will be the year of the garden, so starting yesterday I am.taking a picture each day from the back doors to see how our garden will change over the year.

I did manage to build a small chicken run and a plastic greenhouse in the last few months, but the plan is for a large vegetable patch, some fruit trees and a couple of raised beds to all be ready by march to get growing.

I'm just hoping that it doesn't look like a damp mess in 12 months time 😂.

Andrew

[Penellype]

February

Apologies for the quality of some of the photos - it was a very bright sunny morning.



Nothing much happening here.



Some rather frosty grass - everything is frozen solid.




Still plenty of carrots in the carrot cage and winter salads in the black trays. The long horizontal poles on the carrot cage were rusting through and have been replaced with 2m aluminium ones. The doors of the growhouse are frozen shut. No idea if the begonias inside will survive.



Froze strawberry plants, buckets of stored compost and a very unhappy summer calabrese which has refused to produce any sideshoots this year.



More buckets of stored compost. The little pots on the shelf contained lettuces which got aphids and were ejected from the house. I really should tidy them up!

[Penellype]

March



Still not a lot happening, although if you look very, very carefully to the left of the terracotta pot, you can see the first little blue pulmonaria flowers.




Apple tree is still fast asleep. The apricot tree has been moved out of the corner to the other side of the euonymus hedge.




The salad leaves have not handled the cold particularly well and a lot have died. The survivors are tough and almost inedible, but hopefully may produce softer new growth soon. Carrots are still providing most of my veg, there is also a kale plant in the carrot cage. Strawberry plants in the growhouse have been joined by 3 small blueberry cuttings, although I have no idea if they will grow.




Strawberry plants and a lot of buckets of compost. The apparently dead calabrese plant is producing a few green shoots. The buds on the blueberry bushes are starting to break, but there are very, very few flower buds. I'm thinking that perhaps they are not liking being in the buckets now that they are so big, hence the attempt at some cuttings.




The bed for the Meteor peas has been dug and covered with bubble wrap - I will move the mesh support across when I plant the peas. The apricot tree is in the far corner where the top gets about the same amount of sun as it did, although the bucket is in shade. The tree is covered in flower buds, but whether they will survive the cold is highly doubtful.

[Jungle Jane]

March
I haven’t picked my broccoli yet but I fed them some BFB yesterday,I took these photos just now there’s a lot of pots waiting

[Penellype]

April

Finally starting to look a bit more like spring



Pulmonaria is now in full flower, but worryingly there are almost no bees - usually it is covered in them. Weigela is starting to break its buds.



Apple tree is starting to break its buds and the white currant bush seems to have taken on a rather attractive spiral shape (totally unintentional on my part!)




Seedlings in the growhouse (peas, beetroot and cauliflowers), spinach under the net and Lady C potatoes in the quadgrow planter. Still some carrots in the carrot cage although a lot of them are rotting - not sure if this is because they got too cold or too wet. Kale at the far end is bolting. 4 buckets of Charlotte potatoes on the raised beds have been covered with bubble wrap. I will put up a plastic cover when I have planted the Desiree.



Blueberries have quite a few leaves now. Buckets on the raised beds are waiting for Desiree potatoes. The cabbage at the far end is Spring Hero sown in 2019 (yes 2019, not last year) which looks like it might be edible at some point!



More potatoes under the cloche - these are in a sunnier position in the hope of producing some early new potatoes - 1 bucket of Lady C and 2 of Charlotte. Meteor peas beyond. The apricot tree has nearly finished flowering and there are a few spent flowers that have not fallen off. Fingers crossed I might get an apricot this year! Chives and garlic chives in the pots are growing.

[Jungle Jane]

April
I took these photos on Wednesday,bees love the broccoli flowers,it looks like a big bouquet . Close up of the onions & garlic in the raised bed

[Penellype]

May, although you wouldn't believe it!

Photos were taken early in the morning, hence large parts of the garden still in shade.



Nothing much to see here. The strawberries in the Hozelock planter haven't yet developed flower buds.




The apple tree has loads of blossom, but most of it has probably been damaged by frost. The white currant next to it is absolutely covered with flower trusses.




Strawberries and seedlings in the growhouse. Potatoes under the bubble wrap just starting to emerge. Spinach under the net is growing slowly. No sign of germination in any of the 4 buckets of carrots yet.



Potatoes on the raised beds have not yet started to emerge. Apologies for the picture quality due to low sun.



More potatoes under the plastic cloche - these are doing slightly better as they get more sun than the others. Meteor peas are growing well. The apple and pear trees in the pots under the arch have no flowers yet again (3rd year). I will very probably consign these to the allotment where they can be planted in soil, as even though they are meant to be patio trees, they are clearly not going to be much good in pots.

[Penellype]

June!



Still nothing growing by the fence - I haven't decided whether to put tomatoes here as I often do or give it a rest and plant some flowers. The pot hanging on the fence is a pot of french beans that have been growing indoors and are producing a few beans, but have been moved outside to make room for peppers.





Currant bush will need pruning soon. There are plenty of little apples on the apple tree and bedding plants were planted over the weekend. Tomatoes will be going near the fence as this is the sunniest part of the garden.



Strawberries and some remaining seedlings (mainly bedding plants and leeks) in the growhouse. Red veined spinach is starting to bolt. Lady C potatoes in the quadgrow planter are finally starting to grow. Carrots and calabrese in the carrot cage. The pots in front of the growhouse are overwintered dahlias which are now growing.




Strawberries on the shelves are in flower. The potatoes in the shady raised beds are very slow this year.




These potatoes (Charlotte and Lady C) are in a much sunnier position and are growing well, having just had their plastic cover removed. The Meteor peas are covered in flowers and the first pods are starting to form. The apricot tree against the fence has lost all its fruit again, but is doing a lot better than the minarette apple and pear under the arch, both of which are not looking happy and have never flowered (this is their 3rd year here).

[Jungle Jane]

June in the Garden

The weathers lovely for plants now On the patio I used some net curtain tied to a chair to make a shade for my courgette & squash till they harden up. I haven’t planted much out yet but it’s all there on the patio. Potatoes are growing well now & strawberries have taken over that bed in the last photo,I need to water them although they’ve shaded all the soil

[Penellype]

July


There are 2 tomato plants inside the supports - the 3rd plant which was in the middle is currently in a pot on the windowsill of the window above the hotbin, having been chewed off at ground level a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully it will have recovered enough to join its friends soon.



Plenty of fruit on the white currant, which has been netted to deter birds. The apple is not doing so well and I am not anticipating a large crop. The 2 surviving Sungold plants are growing, after this photo was taken I planted out a 3rd between the apple tree and the others.



Lady C potatoes growing well in the quadgrow planter. The spinach in the planter next to them has finished and been removed. The growhouse contains a couple of strawberry plants, a few late begonias which may not grow and 2 pots of leeks which want taking to the allotment and planting. Carrots are starting to grow fast and the net is now on the fruit cage to protect the framberries.


Potatoes (Charlotte nearest and Desiree) are now flowering - they are nowhere near as big as usual, apart from the ones in the quadgrow planter at the far end. The strawberries on the shelf are old plants and are not doing at all well this year. I have much better strawberries at the allotment. Blueberries in the fruit cage are forming more fruit than I expected, which is not saying much.



More potatoes - these are Lady C and Charlotte, about ready to harvest as new potatoes. The white net is a temporary cover to keep the cats off while I decide what to put here - the Meteor peas were removed yesterday. I was intending to plant tomatoes here but for various reasons I don't have enough. Cucumbers at the far end are starting to flower. There is a row of Hurst Greenshaft peas out of picture on the left which are starting to flower. The minarette apple in the pot under the arch has decided to produce its first ever flower, in June/July - there is only one.

[Jungle Jane]

July
I just took these photos today

[Jungle Jane]

July
The first tomatoes & cucumbers,some pots with a mixture of plants

[Plot70]

I took the dual wall covers off my old squash bed on the 29th of may and have had 3 marrows the size of large courgettes already. They stopped swelling to full size.
The fourth one is is forming to full size by the looks of it.