Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

Firstly, sorry for the title but I do love a poor pun.  I managed to get a few hours in on the plot Saturday morning in the lovely sunshine which is always a bonus. I was down to my vest and shorts at one point, nice for me, not so nice fof the neighbours!  The Runner Bean seedlings have been planted out into the bed, some were significantly bigger than I had thought, and all look well and healthy as I write on Monday. They were given a real good soaking and I will continue to keep them well watered throughout spring and summer as they are thirsty plants.  The  Sonesta Dwarf French Bean  (yellow) seedlings have moved from the conservatory to the greenhouse as part of their hardening off programme and all seems well with them. The  Amethyst Dwarf French Beans  (purple) sowed direct into the bed have clearly failed - it was pretty ambitious on my part sowing them in March - and I have sowed a number into pots now which have taken the place of the Sonesta seedlings in the conservatory.  O

Sorry for the delay in this post, it has just been a bit manic down at mine one way or another and finding a few moments to sit down and compose some content has proved mission impossible. The good news is, the British weather being as it is, you haven't missed that much!  The best of the Tomato plant seedlings have been selected and planted out into the beds of the Greenhouse this week. So far so good as they say and they appear happy in their permanent home. I have a number of seedlings left over which will be grown on in their pots for now in case disaster strikes in the Greenhouse; I have a couple of friends and work colleagues who already have their name on a few and the spares will eventually be distributed appropriately. Sharing any spare plants remains a greats way to stay popular 😃 The Runner Bean seedlings were moved into the wood store to harden off around 10 days ago and shall be planted out into the bean bed this weekend with the forecast being warm and sunny for my

True to form it was certainly chilly for the Bank Holiday weekend but the worst of the weather never reached me down in the south-east and I was able to get a few things done out on the plot.  I have planted out three rows of the Leek seedlings into the raised bed to be used for veg this year. As I am trying to stay off the soil as much as possible a scaffold plank is laid across the bed which I crawl along slowly and surely. Whilst balancing on my board I quite simply poke a hole every six inches with a piece of bamboo cane, marked at six inch depth so each hole is roughly the same depth and width apart, and drop the seedling into that hole, very gently working the soil back in around the seedling. I do this for the entire row before then watering in well to settle the soil. It is a somewhat time consuming job but once you are focused in on it it is a pleasant little task and the rows look like a proper veg patch all the seedlings in a line straight as a die. I have talked of the Runn

The Easter Bank Holiday weekend approaches as I write and, like you dear reader no doubt, I have a long list of jobs to be getting on with over the coming four days out on the plot. There is though one problem looming large over the master plan, the good old British weather.  Earlier this week I was lunching in the garden in beautiful sunshine, by Easter Monday, if the weather forecasters have it right, I will turning the heating back on as the prospects of zero temperatures are apparently all too real. You can only smile and carry on; at least it appears we aren't going to get the hail some were forecasting at one point! The Runner Beans and Tomato seedlings are all now down in the Greenhouse, a little job I mentioned I needed to get done on an earlier post. Just to emphasis the change in the weather I had to put some shading up in the Greenhouse Tuesday to stop the seedlings getting scorched - that aint going to be a problem this weekend. The sowing of Carrots and more Beans on

I mentioned in a post last week that I planned to get in the Greenhouse this weekend and get to work preparing it for the season ahead and I am happy to report I was able to on Sunday afternoon - in fact I managed to get three-and-a-half hours out in the garden on a lovely if slightly chilly afternoon.  The beds in the Greenhouse have been weeded, as I mentioned before it beggars belief where and how weed seeds get to but bugger me they get everywhere. The soil was then lightly turned over before a decent helping of blood, fish and bone, chicken manure pellets and some new fresh compost was scattered over them in turn; each scattering receiving a light turning over to mix in nicely with the soil. Finally the beds were given a thorough soaking to help get all the nutrients breaking down and getting to work.  Having completed the main job of the day the six Geranium cuttings (Pelargonium if you're posh) that I have been looking after through the winter having taken them from plants

I should start this post by making it abundantly clear I am in no way expert or have any type of qualifications. This article is based purely on my experience.   The world and their wife seem to be talking about health and wellbeing, mindfulness, mental health etc these days and perhaps understandably with all the country has been through over the last twelve months. There are a thousand and one articles in print and online on how to look after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak.  A question I have been asked is has gardening helped me through the lockdowns? In short yes, I think it has.  For months now I have been unable to attend any of the sporting events I usually would, no nipping to the boozer for a few pints with the lads as I would normally at least once a week, no having family and friends over for drinks and a BBQ. In fact, I have gone days at a time with no actual human contact as such other than video meetings on Microsoft Teams and alike. No doubt many of y

 The Runner Bean and Tomato seedlings are growing on strongly in the conservatory, pretty much every seed having germinated. I do have two beans that appear to have failed but I will give them a day or two yet to pop their heads up or the contents of those pots will be consigned to the compost heap.  I will be preparing the greenhouse at the weekend, washing down the glass and a bit of general weeding of the beds, it's surprising how weed seeds seem to get into anywhere, plus I will be adding some blood fish and bone to the soil. It's a job I actually quite enjoy and all being well with the forecast weather being fine it should be a lovely hour or so under the glass getting some warmth into my old bones as well as the soil. There is something about working in the greenhouse in spring with the sun shining that just makes you feel better. Apologies in advance to my neighbours for the singing along to the radio.  I will be keeping an eye on the weather forecast and providing the n