Tomatoes coming on...

Returned from a trip up north on Monday to find that the tomatoes that were still in a seed bed had grown to about twice the size they were on Friday. They were looking great so thought I'd better get them transplanted into pots asap. My pots are all different sizes (just ones I had lying around the shed) so some of them will need transplanting once more when they get bigger. According to a tip on the Grapevine, you should allow a 10 litre pot per plant. Off to the garden centre again methinks.

Anyway, I repotted them all (about 9 in total, all Gardener's Delight) and put the largest ones in the greenhouse and the rest on the windowsill in the lounge. A few days later, they all seem to be doing okay, although taking some time to get used to their new location.

Also, thinned out my basil, which has also grown loads. I now have three plants and the two transplants have settled well into their new home. May do some more from the original pot as there are still quite a few plants in there.

Jobs for the May Day Bank Holiday weekend are lots more sewings (more carrots, parsnips, nigella, broccoli and cabbage and probably some squash and sugar snaps). Also need to get my wigwams ready for my peas and beans. Unfortunately, my sweet peas haven't even germinated yet - two different types, so hoping they aren't duds. Am hoping to grow these alongside my peas and beans. The beans aren't exactly racing either but at least a few of these have germinated.

On the flowering side of things, all my tulips are out - Red Riding Hood, very pretty and my Clematis Avalanche has finally started to flower and is looking great.

Add your comments

Did you know that you can add comments to my blog entries by hitting the 'comments' text link underneath each post? It would be great to get some feedback and I don't think you need to register to add a comment.

Thanks,

Mel

Easter weekend

Just a catch up on what I got up to over Easter. My main progress was with the path, which I finally got sorted. We decided against pebbles or grave l in the end as Christine quite fancied going with bark chip as it looks more natural. Wyevale had some green-coloured bark in that we thought would match the colour of the shed really well. I put down some weed-suppressing membrane and then just threw the bark chip over the top. Obviously, I didn't buy enough so ended up back at the garden centre the next day! It's all finished though now and looks fantastic - pics to come soon.

Of course we couldn't come away without buying a couple of plants, both Christine's choices this time so we now have a stunning purple and white Senetti in the south-west border and a White Margaritte in the south-east.

We also found some 42 litre green garden trug buckets in B&Q, which I thought would be very useful for growing spuds and carrots in. I just drilled some holes in the bottom and planted the rest of my Charlottes in one and sewed some Early Nantes in the other. They were a fiver each so I'm going to buy a couple more and sew more carrots and maybe some parsnips in them.

I thought I would take the opportunity to get the rest of my potatoes in so I have now planted Ambo, Arran Victory and Desiree in the raised bed. Progress on my first earlies (Duke of York) is great. All five bags now have lots of leaves coming through so I'm starting to get excitied about lovely salad potatoes in the summer! I've also planted out some plug plants I had in the greenhouse (fuschia, argyranthemum and lobelia) under cloches (made by cutting the bottoms off mineral water bottles).

The other thing I did was to make some newspaper pots - a bit tricky at first but very easy when you've got the knack. I have transplanted some tomato seedlings into them and they seem to be holding up fine. I ran out of newspaper after making 9 pots but shall be doing some more next week as I have some more seedlings that desperately need potting up.

On the germination front, my catgrass has finally germinated as have my broccoli, courgettes and one or two dwarf French beans. My nasturtiums are going mad as are two of my pepper plants and there are one or two cabbage seedlings just starting to come through. In my raised bed, the carrots have all germinated and will hopefully start to grow, cat-permitting! I've been covering everything with netting to try and prevent the kitties from using it as a toilet.

That's all for now. More updates next week.

Pots out of newspaper

A couple of sites explaining how to make pots out of newspaper - might save a bit of cash:

http://www.geocities.com/newspaperpots/

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/newspaperpots.htm

Update from weekend of the 8th/9th April

Okay, here's what I did last weekend.

Saturday morning was pretty nice so I got out in the garden to try and get a few more things done. I planted some second earlies (Charlotte) in old compost bags (three tubers in each) and checked the Duke of Yorks. The tubers in one bag have some leaves coming through but not much happening above the surface in the others. I then planted out a Passiflora by the name of Harvey, given to us by someone we know who is moving. It's supposed to be a fast grower but I need to get a trellis for it next weekend.

I pricked out some tomato seedlings (Brandywine and Gardener's Delight) from my first sewing. These are the ones that were distastrous first time I pricked out so I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to keep them alive. Three days later they are all still alive (there's about 8 of them) but some are looking a little bedraggled. However, the three or four strongest seedlings that had second leaves are doing very well so I think that I may end up with a few plants. Stupidly I mixed up the varieties in pricking out so I don't know which are Brandywine and which are Gardener's Delight!

My second sewing of tomatoes are coming on great guns. Some already have second leaves coming, but I'm going to leave them in the seed tray for a bit longer to make sure they don't die when I move them. I also made a third sewing, this time of Tumblers, but I've done them in individual pots so I don't have to prick them out and disturb them. The seed pack was stingy, only 8 seeds so I can't afford to lose any of these plants. That's all my tomato seeds sewn so I'll see how we go. I may buy some tomato plants just in case I don't have much success from my seeds.

In the greenhouse, my strawberry plant (Cambridge Favourite) is looking good with some flowers on it. My lettuce and spinach is germinating and growing slowly - it'll probably pick up though when the whether improves. No signs of life with the other seedlings in there. I sewed a few seeds in the greenhouse - broccoli, courgette and something else (can't remember what but will double check!).

On the windowsill, my peppers are looking good. I have a few very strong seedlings and some that are still quite small but doing okay. My strong ones have second leaves on that are nearly as big as the first leaves now. My rosemary still hasn't germinated but not sure how long it's supposed to take - I gather it's hard to grow from seed so we'll just have to see how it goes. The other herbs are okay but the dill is a bit leggy - it keeled over in the sun on Sunday so had to move it to a different part of the room, but it soon bounced back. It's starting to get sprigs on it as well. One or two nasturtiums have germinated and a cabbage peeked through but seems to have disappeared. No sign of catmint germinating yet though.

Think that's about it for last weekend. It's the weekend before payday so I was too skint to go to the garden centre, much to my other half's relief. She even roped me in to help with decorating the bedroom, although my assistance only really amounted to applying some masking tape!

Next weekend is Easter weekend and I shall be trying to sort out the path around my beds. Going to put down weed-suppressing membrane and then some gravel or pebbles. Also, am checking the weather forecast reguarly to see if we are finally going to get some warm weather as it's been pretty cold the past few days.

More garden pics

Some of the plants in my garden:

Chrysanthemum (Carnival Red)

Campagnula

Hellebore Niger

Hebe

One of the borders

Garden photos - April

At last, here are some photos of my garden at the moment.


An overview of the garden with two raised beds, borders and a small plastic greenhouse.

This is the bed where I will be growing my spuds. I've got my earlies on the go in old compost bags though to save some room in the bed for later.

Edgar loves the new raised beds too!

My new plastic greenhouse, currently housing lettuce, spinach, poppies, strawberries and a few plug plants.

This bed is divided into three plots, in which I will be growing legumes, roots and brassicas. Obviously it's a small bed, so some of the crops will be grown in pots too.

Plants I already have

I thought it was about time I catalogued the plants I already have in my garden. These are plants that were either here when we moved in (November 2004) or that I bought last year. I've divided them up by border.

Back border

Climbers:

Clematis Avalanche Blaaval (2005) - I bought this because it's an evergreen so it still looks pretty in winter; it has small intricately shaped leaves and a beautiful white flower, which is due to bloom at any time

Clematis Niobe (2005) - very pretty purple flowers but I nearly killed it last year so have cut it back and it has new buds on it. It is now very small so may not flower this year but at least I've saved it.

Campsis Grandiflora (2005) - got this from RHS Wisley; saw it growing up the side of the house there and fell in love with it

Parthenocissus Quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper, 2005) - bought this to grow up a shady fence but I haven't got round to putting a trellis up for it so it's against the back fence still. I'm going to get it going properly this year.

Bulbs:

Iris (mixed) (2006) - these have already flowered

Tulip (Red Riding Hood) (2006) - leaves are up and the tulips are ready to flower as soon as the weather improves

Anemone (St. Brigid) (2006) - has some buds on it so is about to flower

Hanging basket:

Ivy (unidentified variety) (2005)

Top Patio

Pots:

Skimmia (Japonica Rubella) (2005) - in flower at the moment and smells amazing

Passiflora Caerulea - Costance Elliot (Passion Flower) (2005) - apparently I should have overwintered this with fleece or indoors but I didn't know that at the time. However, it's still alive so will probably be all right.

Calamondin (Orange Tree) (2005) - may try putting this in the greenhouse this year

Araucaria Araucana (Monkey Puzzle) (2005) - only a tiny thing

Front borders

Side:

Rose (pink, don't know variety) (already here when I moved in)

Iris (mixed) (2006) - already flowered as above

Tulip (Red Riding Hood) (2006) - waiting to flower as above

Front:

Hebe (Variegated) (already here) - it's taking over the place so I'm going to hack it back this year

Anemone (St. Brigid) (2006)

Weigela (Japonica Kosteriana Variegata) (already here) - not in good nick but will give some tlc this year

Fig (2005) - bought last year but ill-treated. It's died back but may come again this year.


I also have a number of unidentified plants. I'm going to take some photographs of these and try to find out what they are.

Also, planning to take some digital photos of my garden tonight and post the images on my blog.

Spring has sprung but there are still reminders of winter

I've been busy at work so not posted an update on what I did at the weekend. Well here goes.

Saturday 1st April

Sewed some carrots (Early Nantes 2) and parsnips (Gladiator) and covered with netting. Cats managed to get through the netting and use the bed as a toilet so have now recovered bed with fleece (it's still a bit chilly at night anyway).

Sewed catmint in a pot and nasturtiums, cabbage and parsley in rootrainers and put on windowsill. No signs of life yet but it's only been a few days.

Checked on greenhouse - lettuce starting to come through.

Sunday 2nd April

Went to garden centre to buy more compost for spuds and potting and came back with loads more plants of course. Here's a list:

Strawberry (Cambridge Favourite) - these came in a strawberry pot so were good value, have put in the greenhouse

Thyme (Common and Golden), Rosemary, Oregano, Parsley - am growing some from seed but wanted some I could use now and also just in case mine don't do so well

Lobelia (Waterfall White Sparkle) - two plug plants currently in the greenhouse

Fuscia (Winston Churchill) - two plug plants, have put in greenhouse

Argyranthemum (Madeira Santana) - two plug plants, also in greenhouse

Fritillaria Maxima - in a pot - Christine chose this one but it'll be me who ends up watering it!

Chrysanthemum (Carnival Red) - again Christine chose these

Delphinium (Galahad) - chosen by Christine too

Can't believe how many of these were chosen by Christine. She said she's starting to get into the gardening thing a bit more also she still needs some convincing. A few more trips to the garden centre should do it!

I planted all these in the garden on Sunday afternoon, apart from the Lobelia, Argyrantheum and Fuscia, which are too small to go out yet. I also planted the rest of my Duke of York spuds so will be starting on the 2nd earlies (Charlotte) next. Will prob get some polypots for these though as I've run out of old compost bags.

Monday 3rd April

Checked the garden and greenhouse. Everything I planted is doing okay and the spinach has now started to germinate.

On the windowsill, I'm having some tomato problems. The ones I transplanted last week are pretty much dead and some of the ones I left in the tray are now starting to look a bit worse for wear. However, I still have some healthy looking specimens and some more are starting to germinate in another tray. I'm a bit worried though that I seem to be able to germinate them fine but not grow them on. Am going to sew my last batch in some pots I have where you can just plant the pot out after. The pots are biodegradable and are an alternative to peat pots, which are not good for the environment. I think the less I have to move the seedlings the better. Also, thinking of buying some plug plants just in case to make sure I get a crop.

My peppers, on the other hand are doing very well. A couple of my seedlings have second leaves coming on and I have more that have started to germinate. They were ages coming but seem quite strong when they arrive. Maybe they worked better than the tomatoes because they were sewn straight into pots so aren't sharing their space as much.

Herb-wise, my basil, thyme and dill are all growing. The basil is looking great but the dill is a bit leggy - might need to do something about that.

The weather forecast for Sunday night is for snowy showers so I hope my plants are all right. Bit disappointed as I thought we were now into spring but apparently it's going to get colder again in the next few days. It seems there are still reminders of winter out there...