Archives: journal

Dug up the first of our new spuds from the ground, we took up 2 plants and were rewarded with 4.2kg of spuds! we had planted 14 plants in the ground so all going well we should be looking at about 28/29kg of new spuds! we will be well happy with that, if you keep a few of the smaller ones ( golf ball size) and plant them in bags around the beginning of September you will have new spuds for the Christmas dinner, and you cant beat the flavour………………. 

Buzy digging the early potatoes at the minute, was stuck for some veg for dinner yesterday evening when I got home from work & took a chance on pulling some carrots. To my surprise, they were just big enough and they tasted so sweet! Yummy with the roast chicken and gravy!!

 

Took this shot of the Potatoe bed the other day…. As I am using the spuds, I’m filling the bed in with veg for autumn/winter harvesting. Some cauliflowers and kurly kale plants in so far….

Hmmm… the leeks I have sown in the glasshouse are well up but seem to have slowed down now, they’re about 4 inches in height. Just not ready to be transplanted yet.

The Purple Sprouting Broccoli seeds I have sown are bursting out of their seed trays, oh it pains me but I must thin them now, what a waste!

J

Had a friend who is a landscaper come out and look at our wilderness last night. He gave us lots of ideas for dealing with all the changes in levels, and made it all sound very do-able. Now I am just biting my nails, hoping the quote will be at least slightly do-able! It would make such a big difference if we are able to get it to a basic manageable state.

As part of the process, we have put together some draft plans for the future. Very exciting. First steps first, though. We are going to have to get some help (and make an investment) to be able to develop it as we want.

Wandered around tonight, taking some photos of things I enjoy seeing. Have a look at July Flowers folder if you have time. Also a new kitchen garden folder.

I did a lot of tidying up in the garden today. Any lilies that have gone over, have now been moved to a hidden area of the garden. I moved a lot of pots around to fill up any gaps.

I watered everything and fed anything in the greenhouse. Vine is climbing out the window. The grapes are coming on nicely. So are my peaches. They’re a bit on the small side but I guarantee they will taste perfect. Peppers are getting bigger by the day.

Today I was suposed to be cutting back all the ivy behind the greenhouse. That didn’t happen. But I did cut back any ivy that was covering my arbour. It certainly looks a lot better. A friend of mine gave me a climbing geranium a few years ago. I thought it had died. But luckily I spotted it before I cut it. It’s nestled in behind the ivy. And nearly ready to flower. This will be its first time to flower. I can’t believe I nearly cut it down. My agapanthus are just bursting to flower. They look like they’re going to explode. I love them. I have a big blue one and a small white one. White one needs a bigger pot, I think. I gave my rhododendron ‘gold flimmer’ a light trim. It was looking very untidy with all the spent flowers on it. I have more pics on my ‘july 09’ album.

Cath gave me a sweet little plant today which I have discovered is a Polygonum capitatum. The book says this is a tender variety used as a bedding plant. I planted this one and the Phlox into a bed and put all the others into larger pots .

He was very friendly. The owl has a sensor and ‘hoots’ when you pass it. The kids think its so funny!

My back garden was like a wilderness, with long grass it looked really awful. So… last week my dad was cutting hay and suggested that he cut it too.

So today I have a new improved view from the kitchen window!!

Trevor got the grass cut and we started digging a new bed. Very productive day!!

here are my tomatoes in the tunnel. to my surprise they are ladden with fruit,cant wait for them to turn red.

if any one can tell me what is the best thing to do with those plants they are fruiting but they look terrible. i brought them outside in june and they did terrible.

new cabbages to replace the other ones. i planted greyhound. they appear really fast, and boy did they appear. i also planted violas and foxgloves

just some more photos of my garden

more sunflowers

more photos

the window boxes and hanging baskets need alot of tlc tomorrow after all the rain at the wknd

Good start to the new project – landscaper said he would call at around 7.30 and he arrived bang on time – how often does that happen. He had very clear ideas about what he feels will work and what will not – I had it in my head to get rid of all the trees he advised us however to keep most of them  as ponds in the open are harder to maintain – the idea although hard to visualise will be pools of water starting at the top of the slope flowing from one to the other gradually down the slope. These pools will be  surrounded by planting   Hostas, Astibles, Dierama, and a tree fern among others. We have agreed that we are going to do the hard landscaping ourselves well that is the intention anyway so we now have to dig out the ponds and he will come back when we have that done. While he was with me he had a look around the garden and gave me a few tips – i woud have loved to hijack him for a week!! – he advised us to plant Aliums under our apple trees as they prevent scab.  He was impressed with our cabbages and the fact that we have no caterpillars yet – he suggested mixing lettuce leaves with water as a deterrant to caterpillars. Growing basil beside tomatoes but I am sure all you experienced gardeners knew that already. I have a fig that is not doing very well and he told me it never would until I move it to beside a wall and restrict it’s roots. Anyway we are on holdays from Saturday for a week so hopefully might get started on this on our second week off. 

There was much excitement at my house today when a delivery arrived at 8a.m. Normally no delivery man can find our place without phoning for directions so it took us completely by surprise to get a ring on the door at 8a.m.

It was my birthday present of carnivorous pitcher plants. What excitement! There was a tall thin box and, once the top was opened, I could see a really large pitcher plant peeping up. In fact the sarracenia I received was a whopping 93cm tall! There was also a small darlingtonia and a very sorry looking nepenthes (going to ask for my money. But the sarracenia specimen is magnificent, with flowers as well as pitchers.

I was disappointed, however, that the sarracenia compost mix I had ordered was clearly not enough. After some indecision and consultation of the specialist book that had come with the plants, I realised that I could make the sarracenia mix myself. So down to the garden centre I went for perlite, moss peat, orchid bark (for the nepenthes mix) and a glazed earthenware pot in a light colour (darlingtonia). I got the moss peat at the Farmers’ Co-op in the end.

Home again and it was time to pot up my new purchases, which had all arrived bare root. I also potted on my sarracenia from Bloom as it was obviously in a mix of peat alone. And after a good watering with rainwater (refrigerated rainwater in the case of the darlingtonia), it was time for a photo or two.

8pm Note

Just in case anyone things I am suffering from teenage boy syndrome, I should clarify that I think sarracenia and nepenthes are very attractive plants (and of course unusual). Next year’s challenge will be to incorporate sarracenia and darlingtonia in an attractive bog garden. By the way, the large sarracenia ate a bee this evening!