Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

I wrote back on the 23rd August how I planned to sow  White Ishikura Spring Onions  and  Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3  carrots to grow undercover in the greenhouse through autumn and into winter in the hope of having some crops for the long dark months of winter and perhaps even few carrots for the Christmas Dinner fresh from the garden. I also sowed a line of Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3 seeds in the veg patch outside to compare with those in the Greenhouse.  Firstly the outside sown Carrots failed, no great surprise as they are not a 'winter hardy' variety and were sown very late. As for the crops in the Greenhouse I didn't manage to have home grown carrots with Christmas Dinner sadly but will be having some this evening, I am very happy to report 😃 Both the  White Ishikura Spring Onions  and  Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3  are now ready for harvesting; okay a little later than hoped but it's fresh veg off the plot in March that isn't Winter Lettuce or Spring Greens. Th

It had to happen sooner or later I suppose, I have failed a Covid test and find myself somewhat under the weather and stuck at home for a few days. If that in itself isn't annoying enough it was lovely down my neck of the woods on Monday and looks to be set fair for the rest of the week; perfect weather for getting on with all those jobs in the garden, if only I could!  Luckily, I am not suffering anywhere near as much as others I have known and though I am not about to get out on the plot and dig over the veg beds, climbing the stairs wore me out yesterday, there are a few little jobs I can, and will, be getting on with. As room in the conservatory is at a premium I have moved the Runner Bean seedlings down to the greenhouse where they are sheltered, will get plenty of sun during the day, and acclimatise to the colder evenings and harden off somewhat at the same time. The  Leek seedlings have been moved to the woodstore, somewhat more open to the elements but still under cover fro

Following storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin the beginning of March has seen the weather calm down somewhat and at times it has felt distinctly spring like, finally.  A few of the early flowering Daffodils in my garden have taken a bit of a beating, so mush so, and unusually for me, I have had a few in a vase in the house as they had been snapped by the winds whipping round the garden.  The conservatory fills by the day and currently houses Buffalosteak Tomato, Gigantomo Tomato, Runner Beans, Courgette and Leek seedlings along with the Begonia corm that I recently took out of its winter storage (in some old compost in a big pot in the shed) and have placed in said pot but on some new compost. It is covered in the tiniest of little buds and promises a real display again this summer all being well.  I took the opportunity on a quieter Sunday afternoon this weekend to sow some Black Cherry Tomato seeds (a packet received as a Christmas present and that is all it says on the pack) and Limo