Penellype's 2016 Garden Diary

[Penellype]

A temptingly sunny day today, if a little chilly.

Weeded the front garden, finding some surprisingly well grown goosegrass and quite a lot of lobelia seedlings, which I left where they were in case they survive. Noted that the veronica was flowering and the tulips and anemone blanda are showing above ground.

Dug up some of the self seeded pulmonaria in the back garden - its in flower but it is taking over so it has to go. I'm taking the plants to my friend this evening as she has a much bigger flower garden than mine.

Another 20 of the 30 litre buckets arrived - 10 for me and 10 for my friend. I now have enough to cope with all the potatoes . Not quite sure where they will all fit in yet.

Net cover for the gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes is under construction in the sitting room:



I was going to put velcro down both sides but it is really stiff and hard to sew, and I have resorted to stapling it onto the mesh, so I thought it was better to sew up the left side completely. Sewing is not one of my favourite pastimes!

[Penellype]

Gorgeous and very productive gardening weekend for a change (between the snow showers).

At my friend's:
Dug all the compost out of the 4ft x 4ft raised bed and removed all the couch rots I could find. Put some really thick cardboard on the bottom and replaced the soil/compost (this is the remains of an old hotbed, plus the contents of a half-rotted compost bin last spring, which has now formed a lovely dark composty soil). Topped it up with the contents of one of the 2 tomato grow beds from the greenhouse and left it to settle.
Put up one of the plastic tomato houses inside the greenhouse to cover the very early potatoes, which have outgrown their cloche cover. These were some random sprouting potatoes from the kitchen (variety unknown) planted in the late autumn. They are growing remarkably well and the foliage is about a foot high.
Dug out half of the remaining carrots, which are not enjoying having "wet feet". About half of these were fit only for the horses, half of the rest for me and half for my friend. I'll probably dig the rest up next weekend.
Planted 15 pots of meteor peas in the greenhouse (protected from mice with a plastic propagator cover).

Went to the garden centre for some onion sets and compost.

At home:
Rearranged the garage to accommodate compost.
Sowed snackbite peppers - 2 red and 2 yellow in compost that had been in the house over night. These have been put to germinate in the spare bedroom.
Walked round and checked everything and noticed the PSB plant I planted in a 30 litre pot as an experiment is showing signs of a flowerhead. This is ahead of the 3 plants I planted in the soil, sown at the same time but which had to wait longer in their small pots last summer.
Buds on the blueberry bushes are starting to burst. I hope they don't get damaged by frost as we are forecast about -2 for the next few nights.
The Meteor peas and Balconi tomatoes sown earlier in the month have germinated and been moved under lights.

And finally, took these photos of my chives on Friday:



Ladybirds are doing a good job eating the aphids. Yes, aphids, outside, in February.

[Penellype]

Quite a busy week for me with little time for gardening, which was a pity given the (sometimes) drier and brighter weather.

Took the nets off the carrot cage as we were forecast several hours of snow on Wednesday night, but it fell as rain. Moved the broccoli I planted in a bucket into the sunny patch near the fence in the hope it will speed it up a bit.

Planted some more Lady C potatoes in the garage and sowed some cabbages and chervil in the propagator.

Pruned the spirea bush so I can now see the pulmonaria flowers from my desk .

Still harvesting namenia, mizuna, komatsuna, chinese celery, corn salad, carrots and leeks from the garden as well as baby leaves and microgreens indoors. The brokali seems to have come to a halt - maybe it doesn't like the frosty mornings. Onions and potatoes still fine in storage in the garage, and ate the last of the greenhouse tomatoes which have been ripening in the kitchen at the beginning of the week.

[Penellype]

Another very productive weekend.

At my friend's:
Dug up the rest of the carrots and fed the damaged ones to 2 grateful recipients:



Planted 2 more buckets of Lady Christl potatoes in the greenhouse. Sowed some lettuce and mizuna in the greenhouse.
Dug out the old hotbed and removed all the bits of grass and horsetail I could find then spread some of it (now nicely rotted) on the veg garden and covered it with fleece to keep it warm for onions. Lined the hotbed with a new layer of wet cardboard and filled it with a mixture of fresh horse manure (courtesy of the above pair) and straw, trampled it down and covered it with a layer of the old contents. Put a piece of polycarbonate sheet on top and now all I need to do is wait a week or 2 for it to warm up .

At home:
Moved the Meteor peas into the growhouse as they were getting too tall for the grow light garden. The plan is to plant these out in the next week or 2, weather permitting.
Sowed 6 Shirley tomatoes. Rearranged the self watering trays under the upstairs grow lights to give a bit more room as the half pint peas were shading everything. Noticed a couple of flower buds on the peas.
Planted another 3 buckets of Lady C potatoes in the garage - that's all 29 first early seed potatoes planted now. This required quite a large amount of juggling of compost as I am trying not to plant potatoes in compost which housed potatoes last year. The result was that some of the old, sifted potato compost ended up in a square pot which had housed a courgette plant last year, ready for sowing some carrots next month. This also entailed replacing the old copper tape round the pot as it had disintegrated. The courgette compost plus some new hotbin compost, vermiculite and bfb went into the buckets for the potatoes.

Most of this was done today. I just hope I can still move in the morning!

[Penellype]

Despite forecasts of cold, frost and generally wintery conditions the last 2 days have been gorgeous and even quite warm in the sun. I have had to practically tie my hands behind my back to stop myself from getting too enthusiastic with sowing seeds. It is (they say) going to get colder.

Managed to restrict myself to sieving 90 litres of old potato compost ready for planting carrots, trimming the dead leaves off the last bit of crocosmia and chopping them up for the hotbin and pulling out the odd bits of weeds that seem to have appeared over night.

Noticed flower buds on one of the snackbite orange peppers on the landing windowsill that I cut down last year. It has several shoots but they are only a couple of inches long.

Went shopping to my favourite garden centre in the hope of finding strawberry plants but was sadly disappointed. Maybe its a bit early, but I got some there in February last year. Came home with a few bits and pieces that I needed and a bag of "Strulch" to try as a mulch this year. Ordered the strawberry plants online as I don't want to be left without.

Finalized my planting list after a few alterations. So much for growing fewer varieties this year. The current list (admittedly including some varieties that I will only be growing at my friend's) stands provisionally at... 120. Not quite sure how I managed that

[Jungle Jane]

The last few days have been nice & sunny,its also getting lighter now at 6.50am ish when I wake up,usually its pitch black out there. This morning we had an layer of frost covering the grass,it's so cold overnight. I want to start some tomatoes but I have a voice in my head that shouts "IT WILL BE COLD TILL MAY" I haven't started anything yet just a few leeks.

[Penellype]

Finally bit the bullet today and dug up the yellow autumn fruiting raspberries . These have grown too well in their completely shady corner and are now invading the next raised bed. The shelving over them is about 12 years old and is disintegrating. So shelving removed, raspberries dug up and put in potato bags ready to go to their new home at my friend's. The makeshift bed I'd constructed from drip trays and plastic seed carriers has been dismantled and a new raised bed that matches the others put in its place. Soil returned and all looks good once I can get rid of the shelving. About 25 snails are no longer hibernating down there.

From the leaves peeping through the next bed, I very much doubt I have seen the last of the raspberries.

[Penellype]

Another glorious weekend and nowhere near as cold as forecast. Really spring-like in fact .

At my friend's:
Planted out 50 onion sets (Sturon) under the fleece I'd put down last week.
Noticed that the peas and mizuna in the greenhouse were germinating so removed their covers and put them in a sunnier position.
Checked the temperature of the hotbed - its 20C at the moment.
"Planted" the raspberries. My friend said I could put them along the wall or hedge line in the field. Soon gave up on the idea of digging as it was absolutely impossible, so I just put the plants (still in blocks of compost that I had dug out of their raised bed) onto the grass and covered them with some old tomato compost. They should root into the soil underneath (I hope). Anyway they have more chance there than if I take them to the tip.

At home:
Noticed the snackbite peppers and Shirley tomatoes were germinating and moved them under lights.
Attempted to dismantle the old shelving that was over the raspberry bed. Only partially successful. There are times when a strong man would be extremely useful, and this is one of them!
Planted out the Meteor peas, constructing a sort of cold frame with stakes, 1m of plastic netting, canes, a piece of fleece, clothes pegs and a sheet of polycarbonate.
Discovered that the strawberries and one or 2 other things actually needed watering.
Attempted to make a plan of sowings for March to avoid congestion in the propagator and grow light garden.

[Penellype]

Sowing plan for March
Disturbingly I am already running into problems with things being in the way of new sowings I want to make. The most useful containers are in great demand!

Early March (1st-9th):
Carrot Marion - to be sown in a pot outdoors for early carrots.
Carrot Nantes Frubund Fastcrop - 2nd of the indoor pots to be sown for baby carrots.
Leek Albana and Oarsman - yet to quite finalize the plan for these as my leek growing is far from successful at home (probably due to lack of light). Will probably start these off indoors and see what I can do with them.
Mizuna, Namenia and Pak Choi - planning to experiment with growing these in a chiligrow planter for baby leaf salads to make use of the chiligrow before the outdoor tomatoes are ready to plant.
Parsnip Hollow Crown - some seeds to be put to chit to see if they are still viable as the packet is quite old. If all is ok I will sow these later in March, otherwise time to buy some new ones.
Pea Douce Provence - 10 pots to go in the propagator to make a 1 metre row.
Pepper Snackbite Orange - 2 new plants as insurance in case the ones I cut down last year are no good.
Spinach Red Vein - I have a problem here as the saladgrow pot I was going to use is still producing winter salads. Might have to use one of the big pots instead.
Tomato Shirley - there are 2 seeds left in the packet and the earlier sown ones are doing so well I might as well get on with these. They are going to live indoors.
Turnip Atlantic - to be started off in modules under lights and grown as a catch crop in the veg garden when big enough to cope with the slugs.

I may also need to re-sow the cabbage Hispi I sowed earlier this month, which was very old seed and so far hasn't germinated. I have a new packet on standby.

Mid March (10th-19th)
Bean Purple Teepee - last year I had some success with these in pots on the windowsill so I plan to repeat that.
Lettuce (various varieties) - for baby leaves and cut and come again, mostly indoors.
Pea Hurst Greenshaft - 15 pots in the greenhouse for my friend's garden
Potato Charlotte and Desiree - seed potatoes currently chitting to be planted in buckets
Spinach Amazon - same issue as the red vein above.

Late March (20th -31st)
Calendula Apricot Pygmy - in a pot in the growhouse to be planted out in the flower garden. Decided on a dwarf variety this time as the Art Shades Mix I had last year were really too big.
Carrot Nantes Frubund Fastcrop - in a pot outdoors for main crop carrots.
Cucumber Cucino - experimental early sowing (1 seed) to go in the greenhouse.
Kohlrabi Azure Star - to go to my friend's and possibly a few in a bucket at home.
Leek Albana and Musselburgh - to be sown direct into soil at my friend's
Parsnip Hollow Crown (or possibly Gladiator if new seed is needed) - in a bucket at home and raised bed at my friend's
Pea Hurst Greenshaft - 10 pots in the propagator for a 1 metre row.
Potato Sarpo Mira - currently chitting to be planted in buckets
Red Cabbage Kalibos - 2 pots of 2 to go to my friend's
Spring Onion Ramrod - in my friend's greenhouse (I can grow them there, they die here!)

At some point there will be some strawberry plants arriving too. These are going on shelving in and near the fruit cage.

It will be interesting to see if everything works out as planned!

[Penellype]

A few pics from around the house and garden

Grow lights downstairs:



Pea shoots, brassica seedlings and microgreens


Grow lights upstairs:



Tomato Shirley (large and very small), and Balconi red and yellow, pea half pint, carrot nantes frubund fastcrop and pepper snackbite red and yellow. I use different coloured pots to help identify what is what as this saves on plant labels.


On the landing windowsill:



One of last year's snackbite orange peppers which was cut down to about an inch high when it had finished fruiting. If you look very carefully you can see flower buds.


growhouse:



Winter spinach, Meteor peas, everbearer strawberries and some Mitsuba Mashimori.


The Meteor peas I planted out over the weekend, in their makeshift "cold frame":

[Penellype]

A depressingly familiar scene this morning with my paving stones (and gentian and thyme plants) under half an inch of water. The rain is forecast to continue for the rest of the day . I had hoped that a dry week would have created a little leeway for today's rain to drain away, but apparently not. The pond is overflowing too.

One of the advantages of growing most things in pots is that they are not so affected by this sort of thing, so hopefully I will be able to get some seeds started off at the weekend. I have brought some tomato compost indoors to warm up for the 2 largest Shirley plants which are now about 10 inches high and have outgrown their pots. This may mean moving them to the sitting room windowsill if they are too tall for the lights when I have potted them on.

There are now several pods forming on the half pint peas.

[Penellype]

Gardening at my friend's this weekend is going to be pretty hopeless as the place is practically under water. Even the greenhouse resembles a small lake

Contented myself with gardening mainly indoors today. Potted up the 2 oldest Shirley tomatoes into their final 3 litre pots and noticed they have flower buds. Moved the half pint peas onto the sitting room windowsill as they were touching the lights. Noticed that one of the 4 tubes in the grow light is misbehaving - it comes on, but goes off after about 30 seconds. I only bought the thing in January, so I will have to see if I can get a replacement. I loathe this sort of thing, and I discovered the problem 5 minutes after the customer service line closed so it will have to wait until Monday.

Sowed the first batch of March seeds - Cabbage Hispi (in the propagator), Spinach Red Vein (in the garage), and Pak Choi, Early Mizuna and Namenia (in the growhouse). The last 3 of these are making use of the 3 pots in the chiligrow planter as they should be finished by the time I want to plant up the outdoor tomatoes (I hope). This is an experiment - Namenia did very well sown direct in an outdoor pot this time last year and early sowings like this are ready before the butterflies appear so I am hopeful.

Also put some parsnip seeds to chit on wet kitchen paper in a plastic bag.

[Penellype]

The water level had gone down to manageable proportions at my friend's this morning. Emptied the last of the compost out of the remaining gro-bed in the greenhouse and moved it out of the way so I could put up the 2nd of the tomato houses which I use as a 2nd skin for tender plants (2x greenhouse effect). Moved the buckets of Lady C potatoes into there, which makes room for some more potato buckets to be planted up next weekend.
Harvested some PSB and a couple of parsnips to take home for dinner.

At home it was more seed sowing including turnips in paper pots as described in this thread:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...-system-2.html
Also sowed 10 pots of Douce Provence peas and a tub of Marion carrots and pricked out some lettuce seedlings.

Made some gorgeous parsnip chips for tea and had plenty left over to freeze

[Penellype]

A gorgeous spring day today, although still somewhat squelchy underfoot.

Pruned the clematis and buddleia. Put a bag of strulch down around the perennials - this is an experiment as I usually use cocoa shell which has been discontinued. Last year I used chipped bark, which is much cheaper than strulch but has mostly disappeared and I don't really like it. The strulch is a bit brown and has a strange smell which I am not that keen on, but it is supposed to deter slugs and snails.

Sieved some more compost for the next pot of carrots which I will sow next week. Sowed some spinach in the cold frame and planted 3 Charlotte potatoes in each of 2 buckets in the garage. Seriously running out of floor space in there now.

Harvested a good handful of salad leaves (lettuce, mizuna, namenia, chinese celery, komatsuna, pea shoots) for lunch and some nice carrots for tea. Noticed some of the namenia, red komatsuna and mizuna are starting to produce flower buds.

[Penellype]

A good weekend gardening.

At my friend's:
Took some lettuce seedlings to grow on in the greenhouse and eventually in the hotbed.
Planted 3 buckets of Charlotte potatoes in the greenhouse.
Put some weed suppressant fabric down on one of the paths which was growing a lot of moss.
Lots of weeding, mainly the paths.
Harvested some PSB and parsnips.

At home:
Dug up the leeks in the raised bed and ate most of them (very small) - the remainder are resting in a bucket of compost.
Attempted to dig the raspberry suckers out of the raised bed the leeks had been in, without a great deal of success.
Planted 3 more buckets of Charlotte potatoes.
Moved the 2 buckets of leeks to near the hotbin and the broccoli to near the weigela bush and put up a cloche for the potatoes near the apple tree. The 3 newly planted buckets of Charlotte were put in there, well padded with bubble wrap for insulation.
Moved the newly germinated turnips to the growhouse to make room for peas.
Moved the newly germinated peas to the grow light garden.
Potted up the 6 Shirley tomato seedlings into individual pots and put them back under the growlights
Put the newly germinated snackbite orange peppers under the growlights.
The 2 biggest Shirley tomatoes are now on the floor, and will be moved to the sitting room windowsill soon.