No April showers this week!

 Hello,

I hope it's been a great last couple of weeks for everyone. I've managed a lot in the garden but I wouldn't say that it looks that way. Most of my work is hidden in one of my greenhouses and the rest is on film from my camera traps.

The greenhouse:

The shelves are creaking under the weight of the seed trays and pots but I've still got plenty going in. I've not been too successful in some seed germination - mostly flowers rather than fruit and veg but there's still plenty of time. I remember being at Kew Gardens a few years ago on a glorious day in May and was looking at the seeds for sale in the shop when a woman passed me by and said rather loudly "it's too late to think about seeds". She couldn't have been more wrong and I hated her for not stopping to talk to me. There's always some seeds that can be sown in any month. Some actually germinate in cooler temperatures. Anyway, enough of my gripe! The top greenhouse has been my busy place. I've sown more salad crops, including rocket and lambs lettuce. There's also French beans and cucumbers. 

Lots of pak choi seedlings!

Hanging baskets:

I've also got some old hanging baskets that I've filled with edibles. The only thing I'm not happy about is that the baskets came lined with plastic that after only a year's use, are worn out. Disappointed with myself for buying them really - I should have stuck with wire ones that I could line with something environmentally friendly. So, these baskets are filled with cherry tomatoes and cucamelons. I love cherry tomatoes and luckily there's some great varieties that grow determinately, which means that they will grow to a certain height and stop. I also love cucamelons. A lot of people who I know that have grown these aren't so keen on them but I think they're great in a salad or simply on their own. You also don't need a lot of plants to get a good yield. There's only one basket with four plants, which should be enough for my family this summer.

Looking rather small still and not used to the outdoor temperatures yet, my cucamelon basket is hanging up safely in the greenhouse for now.

This is a young cherry tomato plant. Like the cucamelon basket, the tomato baskets will continue growing under glass for now.

Wildlife:

It's been a very busy time for the blue tits. They have a nest box which I have connected to a camera. Sadly, the camera is quite old and only has black and white images, but I can still see the nest fairly clearly. At the last count there were nine eggs and an adult is now sitting on them all the time. 

I'm also elated from other images taken from the ground level bird bath. The camera trap there has taken video and photos of a goldcrest. This bird does frequent my garden but never before caught on camera. I once stumbled upon a male dancing for a female and thought I'd captured it on my camera but when I eventually decided to download the footage it wasn't there! The camera trap did me good! The same camera also captured greenfinches - two of them together. This is fantastic as we had these delightful little birds in the garden when we first moved in. I would grow sunflowers for them but over the next few years their numbers dropped until there were none. Now at last, they are making a comeback and I'm hoping that I'll see more. They look healthy from the film, so fingers crossed!

Lastly, I've also been putting food out for the hedgehog as it's been quite dry. I only use kitten biscuits. please, please, please never put out milk or the hedgehog food that you can buy in the shops as it's not good for them at all. Better still, don't use any chemicals in the garden. No pesticides are required if you have plenty of wildlife as the wildlife will do the pest control for you.

Nine tiny blue tit eggs waiting to hatch.

Jobs for now:

I'm going to emphasise watering - especially if you ave planted something new in the garden or have pots. Mature plants should be okay as their roots will be deeper down. 

Lately the RSPB have issued warnings about bird feeders. They aren't saying don't feed the birds but what they are saying is be responsible. Don't feed peanuts or seeds from 1st May until 31st October. Clean your feeders. This is why I may not have seen greenfinches for so long as their numbers dropped due to disease. Keep them clean and clean bird baths too. 

There's still lots of seeds you can sow such as herbs, carrots, beetroots, courgettes, beans. Flowers too, such as calendula, marigolds, sunflowers. The list is long so choose what you'd like to see in your garden so you can manage your seedlings.

Enjoy the rest of April - keep gardening!

 

Fresh Start

Hello and welcome to my blog!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Well, it's been a few years. Mostly because a lot has happened at home (not that I'm making excuses) but I really wanted to start again and pick up where I am in the garden.

Not a lot has changed, to be honest. I still have my polytunnel and greenhouses. There's still a pond in the back garden and still plenty of wildlife thriving.

I don't know about you, but I'm finding that time is flying by! It's already April but I'm happy to say that I'm now catching up with everything at last. At the beginning of the year my husband was in hospital and I'm not going to lie, it was an awful time. Luckily, after a scary moment, he recovered and we now know what's wrong - vitamin B deficiency. 

Let's have a look at what's been happening in the garden:

Planting - 

I've been adding lots of extra plants to the front and back gardens, including Euphorbia, Ceanothus and Hydrangeas. With the front garden, I want to create something that will produce a mix of colours and attract wildlife. There's a bird feeding station and two bird baths there, while by the front door there are some pots to have even more plants.

The back garden is slowly being sorted out but I've lost a small tree over winter. I don't don't know why I lost it but it was a dwarf willow. I had been regularly pruning it and it had water but somehow it died. I will find a replacement but a different species, maybe a shrub. Underneath it is a ground level bird bath, which is popular with small birds species such as house sparrows and dunnocks, so I don't want to lose that cover for them. 

I've also been preparing my veg patch. A new difference is I'm creating a permanent fruit area. I've already planted some currants and gooseberries. A few more of those to go and some jostaberries. There's some blackberries there, which I've cut back and which I'm going to try and train to grow in two lines.   

Pots - 

I've been pruning and adding fresh compost to a lot of my potted plants. On the patio there are some small trees (olives and a magnolia) and lots of Chilean guava. As I don't use any pesticides I tend to check for weevil larvae in the soils. It's easy to spot them and take them out. That then gives me the chance to refill with new compost at the same time to boost nutrients in the pots. 

I bought some new plants recently and added them to a pot where I previously had some annuals. Here I have planted carnations and hardy fuschias.

After adding fresh compost I now have some new growth on the Chilean guava. My whole family love these fruits and I particularly like them in a soya yogurt or just on their own!

Years ago I had blueberries in pots and sadly now have just the one. I rescued this one and trimmed all the dead stems, then added new soil to the pot. It's started flowering now and although there's not a lot there to expect, it's a great sign that the plant is much better.

Wildlife - 

The camera traps are coming out! So far I have spotted our hedgehog in the garden, busy as always. He likes to have a drink at the ground level bird bath. I sometimes leave out kitten biscuits for him if I think that he needs extra feed.

The birds have been busy too. The robin follows me in the garden for any mealworms etc. She has a nest at the moment (back of the garden). The blue tits have also built their nest, where I have a camera next box. So far no eggs but in the past, they have sat on eggs from around the second or third week of April so nearly there! This year also sees plenty of house sparrows. My best moment so far though, was spotting a green finch! It's been a long time since I've seen one. They used to be so common when we first moved in and it was a joy to plant sunflowers for them but then they stopped coming. I put this down to trichomonosis, which is a disease that has reduced the green finch population. I hope that we are getting an increase now. I'll keep you posted on that and add any photos if I manage to capture some on camera.

Jobs - 

So, for this weekend I've been sowing seeds mostly. 

Here's what you can do during April:

• Sow any seeds - fruit and veg under glass if they need warmer temperatures or outdoors for plants in the garden that are hardy.
• Clean any bird baths and feeders - this should be done regularly. I mentioned the return of the green finch in my garden, but if you don't keep feeders and baths clean diseases spread all too easily, which can cause a decline of bird populations.
• Keep protecting tender plants if frost is forecast.
• Indoor plants can now have more water. I have started to feed my houseplants as they are waking up to warmer weather now. 

Some seeds that I sow are tiny! These snap dragons (antirrhinums) are very small, so I use a cocktail stick that I dip in water to catch individual seeds and pop them in a tray of soil. 

Steve bought me this lovely miniature rose for Easter. This will join all my other plants in the dining room. 

So, I'm hoping to keep on top of this blog now and will let you know what's successful and what isn't!

For now, enjoy Spring and a very happy Easter to you all.

Look who's sprouting!

 OK, so I originally planned to do a lot more this week than I have actually done but unfortunately I've been a bit unwell! Even so, I managed to get out into both the front and back garden to carry on with various jobs. I still feel a bit deflated though - I was hoping to get lots more done. 

The seedlings

So far, so good with most of my sown seeds. There's so many tomatoes growing in the house and the shelves are heaving in the polytunnel with the weight of so many seed trays. The broad beans are coming up, along with the peas (although the peas are much, much slower). Despite being on a downer about my (lack of) achievements outdoors this week, the sprouting seeds have made me smile. That's the beauty of gardening - seeing new life burst out of the soil. 

Peek-a-boo! Here's one of my broad bean seedlings. Although in the polytunnel, I do still add extra protection from frost. 

Take a close look: there's definitely a pea sprouting here!

Moving on from the germinated seeds, I did also sow more flower varieties and some fruit and veg varieties. There's alpine strawberry seeds sown for my new forage garden (next to the new wildlife pond). I did try to grow some from seed a couple of years ago, but alas, it was not a successful event! Hopefully, I'll have better luck this year. If I don't get alpine strawberries from seed again, then I'll take some from my mum's garden as she has plenty (I'm sure she won't miss a few). 

The New Forage Garden and Wildlife Pond

Not much has happened here this week. I've been gathering small logs cut from trees in my garden to pile up around the pond, to try and give it a natural edging. The pond itself is now full of rain water and the next step is to add the stones I purchased and then find some plants to add both in the water and around it. There has been a camera trap set nearby and I do check to see if anything has decided to reside there but so far nothing. It has only been a week though! I will also add wild blueberry plants and wild garlic in the forage garden. 

Just some of the logs I was placing around the new pond today. They may not stay there and I do have stones to and plants to place as well. 

The Front Garden

Not one to enjoy seeing useful items simply being thrown away, I picked up some freebies on a giveaway website (for people who have good items to give away). These were stone garden ornaments, including a small bird bath. The front garden isn't very big and half of it consists of a drive (there when we moved in). I already have a bird bath there with feeders and there's hedging plants, including roses, holly, escalonia and weigela to attract wildlife to the front garden. There's lots of house sparrows that enjoy visiting daily, along with gold finches, blue tits, dunnocks and starlings so I think it's only fair to give them more space with lots of plants and extra water. 

The other stone ornaments were two tortoises - one which could have plants growing from it. Having nipped down to my local nursery, I purchased four small alpine plants to fill the new planter. Here's how it went:

Here's the lovely planter, still needing to have plants.

A few small alpines were purchased to go in.

Here's the new (second hand) bird bath in place.

Here's the filled planter looking good!

And just because I want to share this photo, here's the other ornament.

It's great to be a part of something that doesn't involve throwing too many things away.  There's plenty of websites and apps that you can be a part of to help reuse or recycle something and it can give you the opportunity to have something nice for free. 

I'm aiming to feel much better in the next few days so I'll promise that there'll be more to see next time!

  

Marching on

It's been a busy week and I won't lie to you - I'm glad to finally have a rest! There's always lots to do but I seem to create more and more jobs for myself, despite organising things better this year. So, what have I done? There's been some work for wildlife and plenty of sowing. Here's what's been going on this week:

Wildlife Gardening

The plot of land that  was earmarked for a forage area has now started to take shape. The land for the wildlife pond has been cleared and dug and I've put in a liner (using sand as a base to make sure that the liner is cushioned a little.  To fill it with water I used rain water from the top two water butts, letting gravity do the job for me. It's always a good idea not to use tap water as this contains too many nutrients that can cause algae to grow and upset the natural balance. I also think that chlorine is no good for amphibians and as we get frogs and newts in the garden, it's only really sensible to use rain water. Stones and gravel was bought to place around the pond but at the moment while I'm letting the liner settle in, I won't be adding decoration around the pond for a day or so. What has been added is wire netting on one side in case any wildlife falls in and can't get out. That way they can climb out with the help of the wire. Finally, I placed a camera trap to overlook the pond to see if we get any night time visitors. 

Not very attractive yet but it's a start. 

The blue tits have been checking out the nest box and I've switched the camera on in there to watch their progression. They've been quite noisy in the garden and they're not the only birds around. The other species that are prospecting for nest space are the starlings, great tits and blackbirds. There'll be others too but these are the birds that I've noticed getting ready for breeding season in my garden. 

No Dig

This is coming along really well. I had mentioned before that I might need to buy in some organic compost but so far the veg plot is filling out nicely with just the homemade compost.  

I'll have to dig out some of that grass, but I'm hoping that the cardboard will keep out some weeds.

There's nothing like freshly added compost to get you smiling!

The robin watched me all the time but never came down to look for insects. Instead, as she sang so gently and kept me company, I gave her some mealworms later on. I'm challenging myself to complete the no dig area by next weekend. 

More sowing

Flowers and veg seeds to sow have been on the list of jobs this week. At Christmas I was given a seed advent calendar from my husband and so I've got some lovely insect friendly flowers to grow! So far all my seeds trays are either in the polytunnel or the windowsills at home. As the polytunnel shelves will start to heave, I'm going to clear some space in my green houses and set about adding more seed trays there too. 

This weekend I have sown:

Malope

Rudbeckia

Calendula

Marigolds

Summer Squash Patty Pan

Courgettes

Marrows

Pumpkins

Winter Squash Crown Prince

Sweetcorn  

Marigold seeds are sown on the surface of compost - these ones are seeds that I collected from last year's flowers.

It took less than a week for the tomatoes to start germinating!

Haven't quite got round to all of this just yet!

So now I'm going to have dinner and put my feet up! I hope that you've all had successes with germination this month. Until next time x

Planning and Sowing for 2023

 This year sees me planning a bit differently to other years. I've always liked to experiment, which is something that I will carry on doing, but I will also try to concentrate on getting bigger yields or the fruit and vegetables that I love to eat. There's also a change in how I'm gardening. So what's going to be different?

No dig

Last year, I started a no dig plot in my back garden. Having seen and read what Charles Dowding is doing, I must admit that I'm a fan of no dig for several reasons. Crop yields are better, I like the idea of not having to hurt my back with turning soil and the impact on the environment in a positive way far outnumbers everything else. So, on my plot I've been laying a little straw, then cardboard and homemade compost on top. The only downside is despite having a couple of compost heaps, I don't think I'll have enough so it looks like I'll have to buy organic compost in to top it up. 

Creating a forage area

This will be the big project for this year. I was hoping to do this for some time but never had the opportunity. An area of the garden that used to house my ducks (I have no more ducks now), is empty and in need of sprucing up. I wanted something that was going to encourage wildlife and give me some fruit and veg back, so I'm creating a second wildlife pond for the garden and will be planting native wildflowers along with perennials that I can pick. There's already a hazel tree there, although the local squirrel always beats me to it on picking the nuts, but I aim to add bilberries, wild garlic, alpine strawberries and somewhere for mushrooms. This won't be an easy task I think, but I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Container growing

This year I'll be growing more in containers too. I didn't get the best out of my potatoes in the garden last year, so I'm going to grow them in large bags instead. This way I get more room for other plants in the veg plot. There's also dwarf fruit trees, but these are still very young so I'm not expecting much this year.

                                                 

                          Some more container growing: coriander seed germinating in a hydropod in my conservatory. 

More, more, more

I have to admit to myself that although it's a nice idea to grow lots of different things, I need to be a bit more realistic in my goals. This year, there'll be more tomatoes, onions, beans, sweetcorn, squashes, chillies and soft fruit. I will have other plants too, but there'll be harsh words with myself if I get carried away again! The idea is to be able to grow lots of certain veg to be able to store it. I have some passata, garlic, chutneys and pickled/dried chillies from last year but it soon runs out. Wouldn't it be nice to have enough for the whole year?

Did I say I wanted lots of tomatoes?

This is what I want more of this year

 What I'm already sowing

There's some differences in methods this year. I'm only just starting to sow seeds. In previous years, I've started off as early as January, with the aid of heated propagators and lighting. With energy bills going up, I don't want to pay more for using electricity when I don't really have to. So, I've started sowing tomatoes and chillies into windowsill trays. These trays were bought a few years ago and I got a few more from someone giving away theirs over winter last year. That way I can use the warmth from the house and the lighting too. That should encourage the seeds to germinate. 

I didn't have seed cells in the free window sill trays I got late last year, however I did have some cardboard cells that fitted well into them. A plus for the environment if it weren't for the fact that they came wrapped in single use plastic.

I've also got peas and broad beans sown in pots and loo rolls in the polytunnel. The broad beans are coming up already! I will sow another succession in the next couple of weeks. Broad beans are so easy to store. Once I've picked them, I like to simply store them in containers in the freezer. I also love to grow peas, although not necessarily for cooking with. I find that peas are great to pick at the time that you want to eat them, so that for me is simply a lovely treat, which the rest of my family enjoys too.

My tips for this time of year:

• Start sowing as March is creeping up on us.
• Keep cleaning bird feeders to prevent the spread of disease. Our birds will need all the strength they can get to prepare for their breeding season. The same goes for water too.
• Prune mahonia, winter jasmine and buddleja
• Spread some compost around the beds
• Plan your fruit and veg garden!

Spring is in the air

 

As the weather is warming up, I've been in the garden most weekends now and must admit that I've been spoiled! My husband bought me a new 6x8 greenhouse for Mothers Day. It's a polycarbonate one rather than glass. He's built it for me so I'm just beginning make it my own! I've still kept my old one that we inherited when we moved to our house, so that will get a refurb too.

 Anyway, here's what I've been up to so far:

Wildlife

I usually mention wildlife last when I write but there's been so many developments here that I wanted it put first this time. Spines McCoy, our male hedgehog, has woken from his hibernation. He frequents our patio so I've put out two camera traps and am accumulating some fab footage of him. I shall post that here next time. 

The birds have started nesting! I have starlings at the front of the house and blue tits in the nest box at the back. The blue tits have a camera so I've been watching them build a warm nest. We were due to have new guttering put in but the company got delayed (something about manufacturing issues) so we've had to put that on hold because there's no way I'm having the birds disturbed this time of year. It is illegal to destroy bird nest sites and although that's not what the guttering company would do, their work would disturb and probably frighten the birds away. When the company fix the guttering at the front of the house, the hole where the starlings nest will be gone so they have agreed to put up a new starling nest box that I'm making in it's place when they do the work.

I've also started seeing other bird species come to the garden. Finches are making a comeback at long last. I put out a nyjer feeder and now have two gold finches come and feed on a daily basis, but I've also spotted a chaffinch and a green finch. 

Mrs R, my resident robin has been working hard alongside me, picking up any bugs that I uncover. I see her more in the garden now and at weekends she waits for me at the door. I must admit that I do give her live feed occasionally but I try not to make her dependant on me. 

I've also spotted firecrests in the garden. Quite frequently heard but not often seen it was a delight to see two last weekend in my big tree. I think that they were courting. Unfortunately, I haven't got a good camera lens for distance so my pictures are a bit blurry! I did capture some film too - that's yet to be edited but like the camera trap footage, I will post it next time.

Onions and Shallots

These are still in their pots and trays as I want to see how well they do in a very controlled environment this year. They are being grown organically and I'm feeding them with worm tea for the time being. They have been moved out of the polytunnel (as that's about to burst with all the seedlings and cuttings) and are in the veg patch growing on very well. 

Tomatoes

I've got so many varieties growing this year and some will go in my new greenhouse. For now they have been transplanted in to bigger pots but not their permanent homes just yet. There are some still waiting to be moved into the raised beds in the polytunnel. I'll need to arrange room for them all very soon though. Currently most are at a height of 30cm and are looking healthy.

A young tomato plant in a bigger pot. Trialling the new peat free compost variety here.

 

The Wormery

My worms are increasing in numbers and producing so much worm tea. I've been collecting 2-3 litres every week over the winter and they've not slowed down. This is what I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm hoping that the results of feeding my plants with worm tea will be great. I feed the worms every week with leaves, kitchen scraps etc. The best thing recently was that when I lifted the lid up during the warmer weather, I found that the rat tailed maggots had finally become adult hoverflies and they all took off! As promised, I'll be working on a larger wormery this year. I'll also be testing the worm tea to see what nutrients it holds.

Other jobs

Lots of seeds have been sown and continue to be sown. There's a focus in my garden on companion planting and wildlife friendly plants, which should encourage lots of different creatures to benefit wildlife but to also benefit me. 

I'm making other natural feed other than the worm tea. There's plenty of bindweed about so I cut a lot back and place it in tubs with rainwater and cover them. Sometimes I add nettle too, which I've found really affective as a feed.

Not to be ingested by humans! Stacks of worm tea.

I've recently purchased another variety of peat free compost and am loving this one. It's made by Harmony Gardens and I love the crumbly feel of it. I've used it to pot on the tomatoes and for sowing more seeds. This variety is quite fibrous and should have good water retention. I'll let you know how I get on.

This will be the third variety of peat free compost that I've used this year.

The pineberries are starting to produce flowers so I'm counting on a long season with these. The other strawberry varieties won't have any flowers yet. 

Pretty flowers that should turn to tasty pineberries over the next few weeks!

In the meantime I hope you all had a great Easter weekend. Keep gardening x

Get set, sow!

Well, it's been pretty much the same old in my green house and polytunnel. I've been reusing all my old seed trays to continue with sowing seeds in preparation for this year. I've also taken part in the Big Garden Bird Watch, which is something I found enjoyable and relaxing. It was great to catch sight of winter garden visitors such as the Black Cap along with some gregarious bird species like Long Tailed Tits and Blue Tits. 

Sowing

I've finally started seeing some growth in the heated propagators. The tomatoes that I had sown last week have made a good start and I'm pleased that it's going well so far. This time I've carried on with the remaining tomato varieties and have sown some chillies and aubergines. These are all in windowsill style trays that fit neatly on, yes you guessed it, window sills. This means I can have them in the house and the warmth should do the trick. 

Pencils come in handy as little dibbers!

Wildlife

As it's still very cold out there, I'm not touching anything in the garden that could be home to wildlife. It's really important to make sure that you don't disturb anything that may be hibernating and that includes insects as as well as reptiles and mammals. 

I've been cleaning and topping up the water in the bird baths more frequently as they have been freezing over and early mornings I've woken up to see birds struggling to find a drink. As a rule, I always use rainwater for the bird baths. This is because it's free of heavy metals and chlorine, which is not good for wildlife. The same applies to ponds. 

Bird feeders have also been cleaned and topped up. I've got lots of coconut shells with suet and seed mixes. When they are emptied (and the birds pick them clean), I will find another use for them - an experiment closer to summer so look out for that.

I bought some Rosa rugosa for another wildlife hedge. These came bare root, so I will plant them out in a month or so. They should provide food and a home to a variety of creatures.

Wormery

The wormery continues to give me worm tea but at the moment I have stopped filling it. The worms are not as active as they used to be and I'm putting that down to the chilly weather. The wormery is in a sheltered spot, but I will need to move it in spring when I get my new greenhouse. Thanks to Freecycle, I already have paving stones for the flooring. With a wormery, you'll need to place it somewhere where it doesn't get too hot or too cold. I'm still to decide where it'll go.

Further prep

Admittedly, I haven't done much with the no dig patch of late. To be honest it's probably down to a mix of having little time and being a little lazy when I have got time. Around 60% of the patch is completed but I'm also starting to fall short of compost, so a little planning needs to go into what I'll be doing with that.

Well, till next time!