The Frantic Gardeners’ Blog

where I write anything particularly interesting!

i potted up a couple of the tomatoes, and generally fiddled about watering and moving the seedlings in the propagators

After lunch eldeder daughter wanted to use the egg shells to grow cress in - no cress, so they now have basil. I didn’t supervise/help at all, and she quite happily got it all done, watered and ready for the propagator.

She said she wanted to take a ‘window picture’ so here is one by her of me potting up toms.

Next weeks jobs are sowing rest of onion sets, finishing planting the fruit trees, getting the stuff ready for planting peas out, and a flower bed in front of conservatory - not much then!

I promise to write something interesting at some point, but for quick and frantic, this week really is!

anyway, the lettuce and rocket have germinated and the radicchio, also there is 1 sunflower and 1 pea peeping through!

Artichokes hardening off nicely and next week can go into greenhouse [from conservatory] and we can start hardening the first batch of peas.

had excellent germination for both peppers and toms - always good. The lemon pips and avocado have failed us!

well, the caulifower and sweetcorn and asparagus pea are just starting to germinate, and the broccolli has been up for a while now.

The artichokes - only 2 out of the original 6 seeds germinated - are now unceremoniously out of the propagator, as they look like small plants. So they begin the hardening off process, with the conservatory.

We gathered some asparagus seed from the clearing last years fronds, and sowed a complete trayfull - lets see how that does. The asparagus came with the house, and barely cropped last year, so will need a new lease of life. We have let it be this year and given it a feed to see…

chris managed to put in another of the fruit trees today - Merryweather Damson. Again a minarette.

The sun was shining so we were out into the garden to plant and sow. Obviously planting and sowing with just me trying to keep an eye on 2 girls, jollying one along, and preventing the other from random unplamting and eating was not always straightforward. particularly as SB took it rather badly when her planted broad beans were unplanted and trodden on. We did manage to get into a rhythm, with me and BB ?sowing? broad beans [imperial green longpod] at one end of a row, and SB planting them [jubilee hysore]at another. Sb wanted me to help her though, and was put out that if I did, BB would surely rampage. The sooner we have the wendy house for independent pottering about in the better! [it is going in the veg patch.

like a ray of sunshine, Chris came out with coffee, but more importantly cake. We all sat and picnicked, and even BB must have agreed that cake was more tasty than compost.
SB and I sowed a row of mixed carrots [nantes frubund] and radish [scarlet globe]. This being so much fun, we sowed another. We usually have bog all luck with carrots - but that was in Leeds, so lets see how we do here! [I miss Leeds!]

i then hoed approx 1/4 of the veg area, and popped in half of the onion sets [names!] other half to go. I started cleating the asparagus bed of weeds too, but was happy to pass that over the Chris, as SB getting ravenous.

I went off and did some seed sowing indoors for the propagator. Lots of things, as getting to peak sowing! Mussleburgh leeds, spring onions, Pea [misty and rondo], artichoke green globe, second sowing of mangetout [oregon], and a tray of salad leaves [mixed]. SB seeing what I was doing sowed some sunflower [russian giant]

sowed cauliflower autumn giant, and sweetcorn.

Chris built the big propagator whilst I potted up the aubergines and artichokes.We will start a gardening blog I think.

SB and Big really enjoyed sowing seeds together [summer sprouting broc [wok brok], broccoli romanescu and asparagus peas.]

After lunch we went ouside and planted 2 more of the fruit trees. Lovely weather. SB running about and climbing and trampolining. Its good to get out into the fresh air.

Today I also sowed some seeds, but SB declined, so tomato gardeners delight and alicante; peppers Meek and Mild poblana, inferno and big banana; mangetout oregon sugar pod [in root trainers]

And OK, I kown i should be putting these down to fruit, but I think I am going to use the when do you eat them meaning of fruit and veg!

we organised the seed potatoes for chitting. We got the Thompson and morgan favourite half dozen, sarpo axona and a trial one.