The Frantic Gardeners’ Blog

well, it is only radishes, but it’s the first harvest of sown this year veg [we still have some broccoli and leeks from last year]. They are only grown as a line marker for other seeds - in this case carrots, as the girls, particularly BB walk over bare earth and emergent seedlings.

Under cover

today I potted up most of the cucurbits and about half of the toms. most of those left won’t get potted up - they haven’t made the final cut. I’ll take them to colleagues at work, and if anyone thinks they may survive the journey to legoland I’ll be happy to take them. peppers need potting up soon too, but the aubergines that survived Chris’s neglect don’t yet.

Chris worked hard to finish clearing out the greenhouse, and is going to revamp the staging in time to empty our conservatory before we need to semi dismantle it to fi it.

Fruit bed

still a slight misnomer! this year it still has strawbs and minarette fruits, but also the legumes. The broad beans are doing well. No flowers yet, even though the ones in the fields on the way to work are in full flower. I guess the farmers were more organised than me - it being their livelihood! Something’s nibbling the peas though. not too dreadfully, will keep an eye on them. doesn’t look classical slug though. I also popped in some florence fennel today. Back to fruit, I think I might espalier a bit the minarettes - well, the bits that I should have pruned already! We have lost 3 of the original 8 - 1 never grew, 2 died last summer. Anyway, will maybe get some more, but some side branching like we did for an archway in Leeds sounds a good plan. I did some weeding of strawbs as well.

The girls plot.

they helped me weed a little bit, and the onions are sprouting. of all the sunflowers, only 3 have made it to planting - which is very disappointing! We gave everything a good water though. They also did a bit of encouraging with the other jobs.

when chris finds wherever it is ‘the frantic gardener’ has disappeared to, I will do some garden blogging on there!

Anyway, this year, having reflected on the prime cause of failures last year I decided that

1. I wasn’t going to sow more than I could pot up/plant and keep on top of

2. Since we are incapable of weeding the amount our garden needed, we needed a gardener or mulch. Both of those being expensive, we needed a friend with excess cardboard boxes.

3. Must Feed and Water more regularly

SO this is the feedback for number 2. So far the broad beans seem to be growing very happily through the cardboard. They haven’t been particularly munched by anything and they look nice and healthy.

The potatoes have also been planted through cardboard. Considering we haven’t quite finished planting them all - a great oops, but it is earlies - I have no feedback yet. Today I planted out the first brassicas - early purple sprouting - into holes in the cardboard.

I’m not entirely sure if this is sensible/ will work. But last year so many plants choked in weeds, or got planted out way too late or never because I couldn’t face reclearing the ground that this HAS to be at least no worse!

The obvious positives are a bit less weeding - just thorugh the planting holes until what is in there is the biggest and strongest. Also, the cardboard should act as a good mulch in the summer, minimising the watering.

The obvious negatives are the increased places for slugs to hide and other non beneficial creepy crawlies. That it may somehow inhibit growth - possibly airflow?? Not sure.

Anyway, when have chatted up very helpful friend with too many boxes, the squashes and poss sweetcorn will also be planted through. Sweet corn often makes accessory rootlets from stem though,, so my have big planting holes!!

Anyway, we will see!

We went out in the garden to play and plant. Chris did potatoes [still!!] and I did hoeing and brocolli. Both girls bobbed about helping. The ground is too hard really for them to make good holes though, so got a bit bored.

BB and I sowed some runner beans in modules, counted them - in her own fashion, and played outside while they were out.

Chris planted some of the potatoes - pink fir apple, again wy late, but hopefully will do something. They’re through cardboard boxes, hopefully to keep the weeds down.

Today has been a good gardening day. I put in some more peas, finally put in the onion sets [way late!] cleaned out some of the greenhouse and started potting up the tomatoes. I was helped [sort of] in these tasks by both girls at various different stages. so some of the onion sets are upside down, and some roots detatched to some extent from peas. however it is all a good learning experience. SB also dug up one of our leeks from the garden - i am proud of the leeks, first time they have been successful. I also sowed the first french beans in modules. Chris put some more of merry’s boxes over unused veg bed. The pear tree - and most of the fruit trees still alive - are covered in flowers. I’m hoping that this year will be a good fruit and veg year.

we planted up SB’s flower garden. SB and BB bailed out of digging fairly quickly- the soil was too hard! Its funny that the archaeological dig hole gets bigger and bigger. [both found dinosaur bones and flints today - cavemen. hmmmmm]. Anyway, i dug loads of holes [while they dug for treasure], and SB then planted up beautifully, and watered in. She also sowed up some more of her veg patch - a row of carrots and some onion sets.Chris came back from the supermarket and made us berry smoothies and muffins for a snack - yummy, and dug a patch of the veg bed over. They all then played wild things, and i planted out the peas. I’ve been impressed with the germination rate in the propagator its near 100% of everything so far. I think that’s ‘cos we had the temp up a bit to start with all the harder to germinate seeds, and have now reduced it. The temp control I think has made all the difference. Even the florence fennel has all germinated.

garden stuff - my broad beans in modules need to go in the ground - as do the onion sets [late I know!] and potatoes [ditto]. SOme of the peas are ready to harden off. one of the modules is teaming with spider babies - tiny and yellow and black - prob deadly!! They run up and down the web presumably left by parent and then hide in 2 lumps under some leaves. The courgette have germinated, but not the other cucurbits yet. one sweetcorn germinated!! kirsty’s peas germinated. Must pot up toms.

garden stuff - my broad beans in modules need to go in the ground - as do the onion sets [late I know!] and potatoes [ditto]. SOme of the peas are ready to harden off. one of the modules is teaming with spider babies - tiny and yellow and black - prob deadly!! They run up and down the web presumably left by parent and then hide in 2 lumps under some leaves. The courgette have germinated, but not the other cucurbits yet. one sweetcorn germinated!! kirsty’s peas germinated. Must pot up toms.

Yesterday was a fairly relaxed day. We spent lots of it in the garden, looking at the seeds sprouting, the flowers, and organising SB’s flower and veg beds by the playhouse. Hide and seek and lots of swinging! We need more of Merry’s cardboard boxes for the veg patch! I did some weeding though.
We also sowed some more seeds - our cucurbits [butternut squash, another squash, pumpkin and courgette], finished the packet of mangetout and also the fennel [which might not germinate as such an old packet! All the last lot of peas sown have germinated, and the spring onions. The broad beans are outside in open greenhouse to acclimatise before being planted.

Today, we have sowed the sweetcorn - including some bicolour from kirsty and some self supporting peas. i need to pot up the toms - anyone needing toms passing this way…