Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

It has been a while since my last post for one reason or another so I have quite a bit to report on.  I mentioned in my April posts some of the experiments I had undertaken for the growing season, taking Olive Tree cuttings and sowing Clover into my lawn; so far so good with both I am happy to report. I have two Olive Tree cuttings that appear to be coming along nicely; it is of course a slow process as they are so slow growing, but two of the three cuttings appear to be forming roots. The Clover has germinated pretty well and I plan to add to it over the coming weeks hopefully leading to a lawn that is as much, if not more, clover than grass by 2026. I have also sown some Purple Creeping Thyme seeds as another little experiment to add to the garden all being well. The seeds were sown thinly onto a potting mix of peat-free compost and perlite in a seed tray and gently pressed into the mix to ensure good contact; the seeds were not covered with any further compost or vermiculite, ...

In the lovely spring sunshine we experienced in early April, as well as enjoying the blossom on the Cherry tree and the display of the Tulip Fire Wings amongst other things, I have been experimenting somewhat in the garden.  I have taken three cuttings from the Olive trees I own, I have five in pots on the patio at the end of my garden, in the hope that I may be able to grow two or three new trees from these. I have never tried before so it is very much trial and error. From research I discovered the best time to take Olive tree cuttings is in the late spring or early summer when the tree is actively growing and have the highest chances of rooting successfully. Each cutting taken was roughly 6-8 inches in length and I removed all the leaves from the bottom of the cutting, leaving only a few leaves at the top. Each cutting was then dipped into rooting hormone and the cutting placed into a terracotta pot filled with a potting mix of peat-free compost and perlite, about 75/25 percent ...

Happy New Year! I will start this post with a look back and the feeling of satisfaction I felt when able to serve Christmas Dinner at mine last month with Carrots, Parsnips and Leeks all fresh from the vegetable patch. It is lovely to be able to simply wander down the garden to do the veg 'shop' and children and grown-ups alike all enjoy pulling a few veg out the ground for their lunch. The Eskimo Carrots have lived up to their name and hype and are beautiful despite being under several inches of snow a couple of weeks back and as you would expect the  Parsnip Gladiator  and the Leeks didn't mind the snow and cold at all.  There is little time to rest on the laurels mind you and as the New Year dawns, it is a great time to give the Greenhouse a thorough clean and wash down and on a mild day with a little winter sun shining down it can become quite an enjoyable hour or two spent. A bucket of soapy wat er, sp onge and a soft broom for those harder to reach places is...