Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

All sorts of trials and tribulations await around every corner for us gardeners as I noted the other morning taking a stroll down the garden to the Greenhouse. The Leeks I sowed several weeks ago have been living quite happily in a large log store that I use at the end of the garden for sheltering plants and storing pots. Now I don't know if it was the very windy weather we have been experiencing or, most likely, and inquisitive Fox or local Cat, but the trough was found on the floor in front of the table on which it was sat with most of the contents deposited on the ground. Disaster! I have been able to save a few of the seedlings which I have potted on and hopefully I will have at least a few Leeks, if not as many as planned, to plant out in a few weeks time.................. It really has been a crazy winter with some quite extreme conditions changing from one week to the next. I have taken a lookback though some old notes from my time owning an allotment and I had a number of s

I have touched upon the subject of wildlife friendly gardening in the past on this blog and in the column I write for the Romford Recorder. It is a subject I feel quite strongly about and would, and do, encourage everybody to garden with wildlife in mind as much as possible.   I am writing this piece having just spent half-an-hour watching the Blue Tits dart back and forth across the garden to and from the nest box in which there are clearly a number of hungry mouths to feed. It is very satisfying to watch them pop their heads out of the next box and fly straight to the Runner Bean bed, where they are clearly finding plenty of little beasties to feed to their young, and fly straight back to the nest. At this time of year you do need to remember to check your plants for Aphids such as Greenfly and Blackfly and rub off any you find before they become an infestation. There are hundreds of products on the market to deal with Aphids but the easiest, quickest and most environmentally friend