Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

The internet will be full of listicles over the coming weeks with present ideas for Christmas. You know the sort of thing: Top Five Gifts for the Gardener. Top Ten Tipples for the Christmas Table. Top Ten Presents for Teenagers. Top Five Presents for DIY'ers etc...................... Now I am no retail expert but I do know what I would like from Father Christmas this year for the garden, providing of course I have managed to make it onto the Good List.  Below is my list. I don't expect you dear reader to purchase me anything, I post this purely to, perhaps, give you an idea of what to purchase the gardener in your life this Yuletide.  1. A new Lawn Mower . I have never owned a cordless mower and think it is probably time I did. I actually quite enjoy mowing the lawn, unusual I know, but if there is one thing that spoils a good afternoon mowing the lawn it is a tangled power cable! 😠 2. Terracotta Pots . I like to think I am anything but a garden snob but if I do have one thing

It was a chilly day down my way Sunday but one of those lovely sunny afternoons which as long as you are suitably wrapped up against the cold is lovely to work in. I dug out the old West Ham woolly hat and a thermal vest and ventured bravely into the cold.  I mentioned earlier this month that the clearing of leaves will be high on the list of jobs in November and as you can see from the photo below I've had a few fall in the garden over the last few days! It might not be everyone's idea of a fun afternoon but once you get going raking-up leaves can be quite therapeutic and gives you a little cardio workout to boot. Okay, it's not like going on a ten-mile run but you can get a sweat on plus you do get a feeling of a job well done when finished.  I decided to cobble together a Leaf Mould bin; as described in the What jobs need doing in the garden in November post it doesn't have to be the most elaborate of structures. As you can see from the photo I have  simply wrapped

It may surprise anyone new to gardening but November can be a very busy month in the garden and it's not just all about raking up leaves; that said, you will be raking up leaves! November is a great time to be planting Tulip bulbs ready for a display next year. I have usually have Tulips in pots allowing me to change displays each year and in truth very few of them come back year after year and those that do often disappoint coming back smaller and not flowering as well. You can get away with it, and I have had bulbs in borders for two or three years in the past but generally you're better off planting new bulbs this time of year in pots for late spring, early summer next year. I often sow Sweet Peas at this time of year in pots, keep them indoors until germinated and then over winter in the greenhouse. This way you get a head start on spring sown seeds and get your first flowers earlier in the season. As yet I haven't actually done either of these jobs, I may not, but prob

The vegetable patch is beginning to look a little sorry for itself now in November. The Green Manure mix sowed a few weeks ago has really shot up, I possibly sowed a little to thickly, but it will do no harm and does at least add some foliage to the plot at this time year and is of course doing a very important job. I mentioned in a previous post how Green manures stop weeds spreading and prevent nutrients leaching from the soil over winter. With the amount of rainfall we have had at times in October I am very pleased I sowed the mix! The plants will be cut down and lightly dug into the soil come spring.  The Runner Bean plants are pretty much done for with the last having been picked at the weekend. They have been brilliant this year, I have bags and bags of them frozen to get me through the winter. I will leave the plants for a week or two as they die down to let the leaves fall off; makes it much easier unravelling them from their supports. All the remains will naturally be composte