Fruit, Veg, Flowers and Slugs

Signs that spring is on the way are all around the garden. Crocus are just coming into bloom, Daffodils are popping up all over, the pots filled with bulbs are just days away from the first flowers, it was a lovely place to be this weekend. I also made some time just to sit and enjoy the garden, from the relative warmth of the conservatory, and half-an-hour or so was lost just watching the Sparrows, Starlings and Wood Pigeons squabbling on the bird feeders.  I also spent some time in one of my happy places this weekend, the potting shed, busying myself sowing Leek and Runner Bean seeds into fibre pots. The two seed trays of Beans, eight 8cm pots on each, are currently in the dining room by the French Doors to get as much warmth and light as possible with the two trays of Leeks, fifteen 6cm pots on each, on the table in the conservatory tucked up warm under propagator lids. Spring really is just around the corner.  Cheers 🍺

There is an old saying regard Fools Spring and though still a bit early to consider it to be spring this weekend was a very good example. A nice day Saturday it was still bitterly cold at times, I was doing a little Pike fishing and can assure you it was woolly hat and thermal vest weather. Rain can overnight and Sunday was blustery and dull. The plan was for a bit of work in the garden but it was windy enough that with the wind chill I decided to retreat into the Potting Shed and Garage.  Two new lily bulbs were added to the white border, one in each corner, these being Tower Lily Pretty Woman , and all being well they will grow to six-feet plus with up to thirty blooms on each stem the blooms reaching up to 8 inches in size.  The first few seeds have been sown and are indoors on windowsills to keep them snug and warm until they germinate. Two varieties of Tomato were selected, the Gigantamo and the  Buffalo Steak being the ones chosen as I want to get them off and growing as early

We probably all have some plastic that we use in our gardens and gardening but with a little thought, and often simply returning to the good old practices used for hundreds of years before plastic was invented, we can greatly reduce the amount we use and hopefully one day eliminate all together. If you do have plastic, I have several plastic seed trays for example, please take good care of it so it can be used year after year. My seed trays are cleaned after every use and stored in a cupboard in the potting shed out of direct sunlight when not in use so as not to become brittle as some will if left in sunlight for too long. I have a plastic watering can that is equally cared for to insure it can be used for many years yet; a galvanised watering can is high on the wish list. Below is a list of a few things we can all do to cut down on plastic use in our gardens.   Biodegradable Fibre pots. I have been using fibre pots for a few years now and the benefits are multiple . I sow many of my

The  six  C hrysanthemum Silver Princess  bare roots have arrived and will be planted over the weekend into what is becoming, slowly but surely, the White Border.  I often have a fair few seeds sown by this time of year and it feels a little strange having clear window sills and space in the Conservatory, there is usually a number of pots dotted about indoors by late January. I have been a little surprised by the lack of fibre pots (I will not use peat pots anymore) available in the major DIY and Garden Centres. I had a delivery just this morning from B&Q of a couple of new terracotta pots and saucers plus four bags of Soil Improver Manure but they had not a single fibre pot option available online. The local Horticultural Guild Trading Huts don't open until later in February so I have ordered some off a company called Nutleys Kitchen Garden found online. It's a small online operation that  was founded in 2008 by grow-your-own enthusiast Jo Nutley apparently . They have so

Firstly, as we were rain free in my neck of the woods at the weekend, the  Lillum Casa Blanca  bulbs are in. I have placed one in front of the two bulbs that were already in-situ forming a nice little triangle of lilies with two new bulbs planted either side around a foot apart which will hopefully produce a lovely backdrop to the border come summer.  As mentioned in the original post a few days age I have been thinking of other plants to add and have ordered six C hrysanthemum Silver Princess bare roots which are  clump-forming herbaceous perennials that have single daisy like flowers that should bloom from early summer through autumn. I have also ordered a packet of  Chrysanthemum Polar Star seeds, completely new to me, they are an annual with  tricolour daisy flowers described as a  white bloom with an intriguing inner yellow halo surrounding a central darker cushion. The picture I have seen they look great and will sort the White Border perfectly.  As it was a nice sunny if chilly

I have decided to create a 'white border' in the garden, basically by making over one of the existing flower beds. It is a classic case of having a bit of time on my hands on a cold and wet January afternoon sitting in the conservatory and coming up with a great idea - all I have to do now is make it happen!  I already have two Lillum Casa Blanca lilies at the back of the border in front of an eight foot fence. I like these a lot so I have purchased five more bulbs from J Parkers which will be added to the back of the border. Lilies aren't everyone's cup of tea but I like them, Lillum Casa Blanca especially for their huge white blooms, and they certainly liven up a boring old garden fence when in full bloom. I have also purchased a new Myrtle (I mentioned in an early post I had consigned the old one to the compost heap) and all being well this specimen will be happier in the border than the old one was in a pot and I have learnt my lessons in regard pruning and care for

A totally self absorbed post I admit but the first of my monthly columns in the Romford Recorder has been published - www.romfordrecorder.co.uk  if you happen to live in this part of the world you can read mu musings once a month in your local newspaper.  I was also busy in the garden at the weekend for the brief moment the rain stopped as the C ornus  sanguinea  'Midwinter Fire' ,  Dogwood  plants arrived from Thompson and Morgan so were planted into the border without delay.  Cheers 🍺