The Frantic Gardeners’ Blog

well, harvesting loads of strawberries, mangetout and broad beans - goody! peas get eaten by my 2 little birds!!

lovely bushy potato plants, but as late in, haven’t looked for a crop yet. The toms are happy in their final pots and being tied in as they grow. the odd flower. peppers and aubergines all looking healthy. I think I’ll pot the aubergines into a bigger pot.

Sweetcorn went out too late, and don’t seem to be taking off. the weather has been unsettled, so I won’t loose hope. the popcorn ones have germinated, and although late I’ll give thema try!

finally got all the squashes in. both daughters helped - surprised by the prickliness of the plants. fingers crossed for a good crop, even though late.

how wonderful is that! Unfortunately DD2 also ate several more greener ones. We have changed the envir0mesh to proper fruit netting raised up to give little fingers more trouble! Also had some more podded peas and mangetout - eaten raw in the garden.

I am pleased to announce most of the sweetcorn are in. I should have grown more - might try and pop in a few late ones! Some of the cucurbits also in, and the onions well weeded.

Chris potted up the last toms and they are now in final position so ready to romp! We also sprayed with organic stuff the buildup of blackfly on the cherries, and assorted aphids on the apples.

The roses round the veg bed are looking nice as well, and the elderberry in full flower.

In the children’s plot, noticed DD1’s round carrots are also up. we don’t seem to have a problem with carrot fly - famous last words!

It doesn’t take long to get behind does it!

this rainy weather has been fantastic for weeds, we have a veritable jungle coming up. Some determined weeding ahead I think!

Veg patch

Also coming up are the potatoes, planted under cardboard, which is good. I feel sad that they aren’t all nice and earthed up, but hopefully this will work, and we will put grass clippings on top as well.

The brocolli still don’t look that happy through cardboard, so won’t prob do that to the caulis. They are one of the behind items, as should have been planted out ages ago, so worried that they wont make a head. oh well.

Onions looking good - have kept on top of the weeding there, and we have picked the last of the asparagus. we will need to save seeds or buy crowns for a new bed next year as these have gone past sell by.

however, must turn the huge nettle bed into nettle tea, and then get it ready for the sweetcorn and courgettes and other cucurbits that are desperate to go out. Also in the wings are some leeks and spring onions.

Fruit Bed

well, the strawberries a tempting size now though still green. DD2 picked one, but pronounced it ‘not tasty’. hopefully she will leave the rest alone until red! We have fruitlets on the minarette trees.

The broad beans have flowered well. Though the imperial longpod has far less flowers on it than the sutton. The peas are doing well, and I got the runner beans in the ground today. Unfortunately some pest has had a go at a few of them, so popped some seeds in the gaps. wanted to get the french beans out too, but they will wait till tomorrow.

The squashed florence fennel seems to have mostly recovered, and the carrots are looking healthy. pulling most of the radishes now.

lots of weeding to do!

Under Cover

well, most things are in the right size pot, so that’s a bit of a relief! SOme of the toms don’t look so healty though - not sure why. better find a book to diagnose. the aubergines and peppers looking good. About to clear the final contents of conservatory into greenhouse and dismantle the propagator for this year. just waiting the melon to germinate.

So there you go. Shame I have very few days to do this in. frantic indeed!

We spent most of the rest of the day outside working and playing in the garden.

Fruit bed

I weeded and also did a bit of pruning and training of the minarettes. The cherry seems to have a goodly supply of blackfly on them, so must go out and get some soap solution. The strawberries are doing very well. lots of little green strawblets! must put the mesh on them before birds start to get interested.

the broad beans all in flower, with no obvious difference between those planted in the soil through crdboard boxes, and those module grown and popped in later. the peas are better now hidden with mesh, but a few flowers are appearing, so should change to chicken wire. chris and the girls spread muck for the french and runner bean trenches, chris put in the canes. We have put the runners and french beans currently in modules into the cold frame for final hardening off.

children’s plot

SB and BB sowed some round carrots. Actually there is a half price seed sale on the thompson and morgan site! [cough]SO I bought some more seeds [cough]. SB was ecstatically happy with the round carrot seeds as she has wanted some for ages, as well as the dwarf french beans that can go in her plot! That’s my girl. She danced about with the packets in excitement! Actually, the carrots they sowed in their plot ages ago have started to come up, as have the runner beans [goodness knows where they will run too! might give each a cane!!]

main veg bed

hmmm, this needs some SERIOUS work! the potatoes are starting to come up, a few asparagus spears made it through the weeds! I have hoed the onions again, and popped some sets into the gaps. We really need to sort out some more of it though.

Under cover

well, the cucurbits and sweetcorn are getting keen to see the outside world but it isn’t ready for them - as well as it being a bit early . peppers and aubergines are in the colder bit of the conservatory to get them ready for going out into the greenhouse [both unheated]. The broccoli and flowers have germinated. The toms in the greenhouse are shooting up nicely. Must sow melons and a few etra runners and frnch beans, plus salad bits and pieces. getting there!

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.

We all went outside after lunch to enjoy the good weather. the girls raced about playing games, SB made a potion with flowers, and BB watered things. our fruit trees are coming into flower - the merryweather damson is covered in flowers. Our broad beans outside are getting going, as is the radish. no sign yet of carrots though.

Seed sowing - cauliflower, autumn giant leek, mangetout and peas. [must reinstate gardening blog!] the aubergines, peppers and toms all have at least a few seedlings - unsure at present which are which as only seed leaves! The peas from before are coming up [1 week since sown]. Both girls ‘helped’ me - which is why there is a variable number of seeds in each module, and by the end I have no idea what is where! luckily, they become obvious as they grow.

One of my targets is to get out and do more regular bits in the garden to keep up with things. So we did spend about 1 1/2 hours outside, the girls mostly played in and out of the playhouse etc. I was weeding the strawberry patch, BB helped out a bit

half onions harvested, nust do the rest!

the plum/cherry things are indeed cherry plums, and what we got of them was very nice - luckilly put some inf reezer for chutney making, as came back after a week away to find tre stripped bare!

blackberries being harvested at the moment, figs hopefully nearly ready.

on the veg front, some of the sweetcorn, but not popcorn, courgettes, french beans, toms. Must look and see what’s happening to potatoes.

brassica’s not too decimated, but if still here next year, will invest in netting.

well, we have managed to get some of the weeding done. the sweetcorn are being a bit wierd. The pollen bit is ready way before the cobs tassles are there to be pollinated, so not holding out a great deal of hope. none of the french beans in the 3 sisters bit seem to have germinatd [luckilly we have some elsewhere!] SOme baby squashlets, which I hope have time to grow.

At the entrance to the veg bed is a fig, which is covered in fruits - yummy!!

This seems to have done well. I have kept it nicely weeded, the onions are swelling up well, and will soon be dying back and ready to dry. A lot of the brassicas look good, just apart from the wok brok, there doesn’t actually seem to be much going on! certainly no heads forming. Whats going on their then? Some strawbs though - yummy!