How Does My Garden Grow?

Back Border

Having found time to do news from the allotment – and it is still raining (Hooray!!) I shall do an update on the garden too. Back in the late winter I put a lot of flower seeds in my lovely heated propagator, they were given the usual two chances 'join us or die' (Sons of Fenris Gardening School – that's from Robin of Sherwood – well the Sons of Fenris bit anyway) and most of them chose to join us, although some decided to die later. I had lots of Rudbeckia Cherokee sunset; Nigella Persian Jewels; Ostritch Plume Asters; Shasta Daisies; Oriental Poppies and Evening Primroses. I have planted a lot around the garden and put a lot into a friend's garden (with permission!). The Penstemon never appeared and the few Electric Daisies sadly died. Better luck next year!

One basket

I have planted up three hanging baskets – and this year two of them are splendid – far better than any I've ever done before. I have added some of that Westland 'Grow Sure' to all the pots, baskets etc this year and I think it has made a difference. All the herbs have been repotted as they were all looking rather sorry for themselves. The planters which some of them occupied have been replanted with flowers. I did have some potatoes in planters but they have been harvested and replaced with flowers too. A lot of the plants that I have used were heading for the compost bin at work as they were too poorly to be sold. All they needed was a bit of a tidy up, potting on and lots of food and water.

Harlequin Buddlea & Rudbeckia

Front Border

I have steadily been adding a border to the front garden to disguise the long fence which is there. Last year was so dry and the soil is so bad that most plants didn't survive, except of course the good old fuchsias! This year I've added some of the aforementioned flowers which I grew from seed as well as more fuchsias (you can never have too many!). To add height and structure I’ve planted out my little Olive tree and an Acer which had no home. I may also put in a Mountain Ash which has outgrown it's pot.

In the back garden the border is slowly filling out – but the soil is very poor so again only the toughest make it.Last years Canterbury Bells put on a marvellous display in the spring. Again I've filled in all the gaps with the flowers I've grown from seed – at some point I hope they will all burst into a mass of flowers!

Not so Difficult Corner

Round on the difficult bed, which is far less difficult since the edge was boarded, things are going quite well, new fuchsias have been added and last year's Lobelia is still flowering!

The coalshed bed is looking glorious with the naughty fuchsias (which hardly stopped flowering all winter) joined by two new Fuchsia Divas and Lady Boothby growing tall at the back. Rather than witter on any further I shall say the rest in pictures.

Naughty Fuchsias

The Sink With Everflowering Calendula

Rejects!

Buzzing Escallonia

Tall Fuchsia

Buddlea Alternifolia

Herbarium

Fuchsia Paula Jane & Old Lobelia

Compost Plants

Not fit to sell

Mulch Ado About Weeding

Storm Brewing

I haven’t posted anything since the end of March – I have been so busy gardening & working there has been no time, it's all systems grow! However today we are having a break from the sunshine with some lovely rain falling, something we have not had enough of recently. Down on the allotment the perpetual battle with the weeds continues. When the plot was rotavated I knew it would be storing up trouble by chopping up the roots of many perennial weeds but the area to be dug was very bit & I didn't feel able to dig it all over by hand. The weeds have duly returned but they come out easily for the most part.

Bean Tunnel

I have two new invaders to deal with this year. Firstly Sycamore seedlings, there is a tree at the edge of the field which has not caused much of a problem before but all the seeds have blown onto the plots and sprouted this year. On worked plots that’s ok because they will just be dealt with like any other weed but where the plots are empty we could have a forest of pesky sycamores spreading more of their seeds until we are overrun! Fortunately most of the vacant land was ploughed up earlier in the year which may have killed some of them, it certainly had no effect on the tough perennial weeds which have returned with vigour.

The other invaders are rogue potatoes – last year the crop was very small (in every way) and I think a lot got left behind and now they are coming up everywhere! I've been growing potatoes with everything!

Brassica Heaven

Looking back to the last picture blog I had just started planting out the broad beans – today I put the last of the crop in the freezer! I had three varieties, Red Karmazyn, Aqua Dulce Claudia and Imperial Green Longpod. I think I'll stick with the Longpod & red ones next year – lovely colours and excellent flavour. I actually managed to grow some peas this year!! A huge harvest resulting in about 12oz of peas! That's 12oz more than previous years. I must find out what I am doing wrong, it's probably not enough water and dreadful soil which are the problems. I am trying to improve things but I think it takes more time & money than I can spare to improve the soil. I'll just keep plodding on – I shall grow green manure again this year to help improve nutrients & soil structure.

This year I have grown far more brassicas than previously, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli and Romanesco Broccoli (or cauliflower if you prefer) that's the green pointy rather alien looking one, I think it is quite beautiful the more you study it. These are all happily living in 'Brassica Heaven' – a cage I constructed using some very fine green mesh & fence posts. It keeps all the nasty beasties out and filters the sun making it a lovely place to go weeding, although the frequency of that job should be lessened by the mulch of straw which I have put in there.

Fruit, Herbs & Tomatillos all mulched

Straw is the latest thing I'm using to combat weeds & drought. It worked very well round the strawberries so I looked online and found it quite acceptable to use liberally on the rest of the allotment. Of course truly Organic gardeners would need to be careful about where it is sourced from but I do not claim to be fully organic so a local farm which was selling bales for £1 each was fine for me. A kind gardening neighbour also got me a couple free of charge so the allotment will be well covered when I'm done.

Special treatment for Blueberries

I've got a lot more fruit in a larger area. I've moved some stray strawberries near to the others and added gooseberries, black currants and red currants. The fruit area is now bordered with some herbs for the bees to enjoy. The Blueberries have never been moved into tubs as planned. I bought a soil testing meter and checked the plants at home which had been replanted into ericacious compost last year. I was dismayed to find that the soil was no longer acidic – that explains why the Camellia was looking so miserable. I checked the soil on the allotment and it read the same (I have some doubts about the accuracy of this tool). I decided to leave them there and give them special feed for acid loving plants and have mulched them with pine needles. Only time will tell how effective this will be.

Tomatillo

Further down the plot there are climbing and dwarf French beans and runner beans growing on the rose arches again; carrots, parsnips, pumpkins, courgettes, butternut squash, celery, onions, shallots and tomatillos. The latter are a totally new crop for me – supposedly very easy to grow and high yielding. Their Latin name is Physalis philadelphica – relatives of Cape Gooseberries they are from the nightshade family. They are used a lot in Mexican cooking rather than tomatoes. So far they have proved very easy to grow, I have several on the allotment and have kept the remainder in the greenhouse. The Squashes not only have a mulch of straw they also have personal irrigation. Ollas are traditional clay pots which are sunk into the ground and filled with water which then seeps out gradually giving a continuous supply of water to crops. I am using milk cartons which I've punctured with a pin – maybe a bit too enthusiastically as they seem to leak too quickly but I can replace them with others if necessary.

Squashes with mulch and irrigation pots

Left Tomatoes

Cucumbers and Tomatoes

Up in the greenhouse I have the usual tomato plants, this year I am very proud to say that I have grown them all from seed – usually they all fail and I have to but in late replacements. I have Ailsa Craig and Moneymaker for the main crop then a late addition is Red Pear which I got with Grow Your Own magazine. They are all big and healthy and there are plenty of fruits forming. I also have cucumbers – Crystal Lemon. I planted six and all three in one pot failed completely so they have been replaced with Cucamelons – another one new to me. These very vigorous vines bear fruits the size of grapes which look like tiny water melons, they are said to taste of cucumber with a hint of lime and can be eaten fresh or pickled. Although I've kept them in the greenhouse they can also be grown outside but I didn't have a suitable space so left them inside.

Courgettes and first broad beans

On the whole things are going far better than last year, at least I have some broad beans in the freezer and have harvested peas and courgettes. There is still much to be done and much to look forward to.

Beautiful and delicious