The Frantic Gardeners’ Blog

I know, I used that title for the photo post as well, but I do like it We have done a temporary bodge job fence around the broad beans, as we have rabbits, bought last year, and perfect for decimating the veg SO whilst we sort out fencing off a small area of garden for them, we thought we should hide the broad beans from their view. The rabbits do seem to be mostly v v fond of dandelions [no probs there!] .

Maintenance

So I am calling the fence bit maintenance Also DH sorted out a cold frame, so peas and nasturtiums and artichokes happily in there now.

Pricking Out

DD1 has done some of her pricking out. She has LOADS to do

i loathe pricking out really, so will usually attempt to sow either a single seed in a small module up to 4 in a large module so that I dont have to prick out, but can pot on. For the reliable seeds, still 1 per module. I still usually have to pot on, but the plant sturdier then, and no wastage. I hate not using germinated seeds, so tend to prick on everything, and then pot on everything, and then wonder where to home everything. So instead I gamble on good germination and low numbers sown. DD1 , on pricking out and relooking at the size of her patch has realised she has grown way too much. Think we will perhaps continue to pot on spares and sell them on the drive for charity - perhaps the local volunteer run library.

well, we are carrying on and actually the greenhouse is turning into a mini garden of eden.

 Sowing

DH has been sowing loads of herbs and some lettuces [he says he knows which ones and will blog ]

Pricking Out and Potting On

This was the main focus of my gardening this weekend. DD2’s seedlings have all been pricked out into individual modules - 0bviously not by her! She does have 36 foxgloves to house tho in her flower bed, [16 sunflowers potted on before], 24 alpine strawberries and the gourds, yet to germinate

DD1 was going to do hers… but will remind again tomorrow she seems to have sown a good number of most things except sweet peas. might suggest she sows some more.

I also potted on all the remaining tomatoes and the melons. The propagator within the greenhouse is groaning, and the barely germinated marigolds have had to come out to keep the toms in. have a couple in greenhouse to make sure that they do ok with the colder nights before they all come out.

Germinating.

DH’s eryngiums seem to be finally germinating, and when enough appear to have poked their heads out, they too can be removed from the propagator. The pak choi have germinated really quickly, as has the rocket.

Veg beds.

we have to get the first ones done this week, as by the weekend loads of stuff will really have wanted to get out there. Peas and nasturtiums being hardened off currently.

Fruit

lots of buds and leaves on cherries and apples and pears, so that is good. must get a pic [and weed!!]

just being a bit more frantic than normal I have fitted in work, playing and doing stuff [lots] with kids, some sowing and potting on, but no time or energy left for blogging!! [or tweeting which I was going to try and do well this year! maybe slow and steady ] so what have we been doing?

Sowing

Garlic has gone straight out into the veg bed, way too late really but will keep hopeful Various salad potatoes and earlies have been chitting, and now we need to plant them out - maybe this weekend.

today i have sown marigold, dwarf french bean, mangetout oregon sugar pod,  pak choi [purple] and DD2 has sown her gourds.

previously [march 13 ] i have sown some jaguar peas into half gutters to see how that works and also some cauli purple queen, romanescu brocolli and normal white cauli. DD1 sowed all her flowers - mostly stocks but some zinnia, stocks, sweet peas and rudbeckia too. all now germinated .

germinating

we are doing well with germinating so far this year. just waiting for the eryngiums still, but everything else done rather well. was v relieved that the peppers made it

Potting on

i have potted on DD2s sunflowers today, and they automatically look happier. I also potted on the tomatoes gardeners delight - probably a bit to soon as their roots not huge, but because i had 2 per module.

the nights are still pretty chilly here [into the minus anyway] and some of the days pretty hot, so there is lots of running and opening up greenhouse and then running and closing [just remembered the tops, so better go back out!] and have taken lots of things out of the propagator today that are teeny tiny, as they only get to stay in if not germinated or particularly tender.

its still under black membrane wraps, but the peas [celebration not hopeless endeavour] neeeeed to go out, as do the caulis and brocolli [so that i can then do a second sowing! I desperately need some more cardboard boxes, and some timeto do a spot of weeding! it is MUCH easier to do sowing and potting on with children than sorting and weeding. even if the sowing is ‘unusual’ and somethings don’t recover from the potting on!

the greenhouse also needs a bit of a sorting out, as i have potted on some of the toms again, and the yard long beans need to think about climbing up some permanent sticks! only 4 peppers, ah well.

oh, and the propagatory totally backed up! the artichokes have been potted on, as have some of the sunflowers.

for germination - we have had 100% of all the squash family [including the butternut squash from supermarket!] and the runners and celebration [but a solitary endeavour - will try sowing direct]. runners will soon need to go out [protected] and the squashes potted up.

for sowing, today i sowed the first lot of climbing bean blauhilde and cobra in roottrainers, the runner bean sunsomethingorother - to look up! I also sowed the sweetcorn - butterscotch and a supersweet.

I did get to pot up the yard long beans. still giving them a little bit of bottom heat [in the last bit before unheated greenhouse!] Also potted on toms for the first time. a bit early, but usually i am weeks late, so thought it might make a change! looked at the artichokes, and thought they also needed potting on, but my 5 seconds was over. hopefully do them tomorrow. as being a bit soft on the toms and yard beans, no room in the inn for runners and french beans, so will do them perhaps at le weekend.

BTW, for the record, we have a conservatory on the back of the house, south facing, containing a victorian grape that is massive! in summer, it is totally shaded by the vine, but at this time of year the vine leaves are still small and light good. it could be heated, as has radiators, but we object to sending all that heat out as has greenhouse glass windows [with holes] due to position it doesn’t tend to frost like a greenhouse can, but can still get v chilly in jan/feb. in it we have a home made propagator [big chipboard and wood box, lined with polythene, soil warming cable to a thermostat on the outside and elec. filled with sand, and a coldframe on the top. things tend to start in there. if v fragile [or vwintry] some get propagator lids over the trays within the propagator proper - as it were! i have some non-thermostat electric tray propagators as well, that we used a lot in previous house. these tend to be for overflows if too many seeds, or for those that have germinated, still need some warmth and i need propagator proper space. at the moment, these are providing a bit of bottom heat for yard beans and toms. [not for long!]

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!

I potted up the final cucurbits, aubergines and peppers. SB then helped pot up some final toms to take to people. BB returned and also sowed some seeds - calendula and sunflowers.

found chris had put bricks holding environmesh directly on top of my florence fennel, and I have no more seeds. humph!

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.

Have been doing both really. the thoughts of being made redundant seem to have frozen me in many ways at the moment, so thought a bit of gardening therapy might be in order.

So, whilst i drink my medicinal glass of red wine, I’ll blog.

My elder girl and I planted out the remaining brassicas and florence fennel - at 5 she is getting the hang of planting out, though I usually say a brief prayer to Demeter that the plants aren’t too gentle minded. We also planted out 2 extremely tall sunflowers.

We took this opportunity to do a fair bit of weeding and hoeing - another prayer to Demeter that the onions will have some roots left!

finally we came in and gave all the aubergines and most of the peppers their last potting on. No prayers needed here as she is most skillful. they both have flowers, so will hopefully fruit at sometime. chris can do the final tomatoes.
Our cucurbits still all have male fowers only - sigh. Hopefully they will catch up soon. Some peas have germinated in the trench of doom - so will hopefully do better than their dessicated predecessors, and we may have a late pea harvest after all. The broad beans continue to be harvestable.
When we’ve weeded the other onion/garlic bed enough so they are visible, I am hoping that the garlic will nearly be ready to harvest.

This weekend we will try and do some more weeding etc. If time, I will look at packets to see if anything apart from salads worth sowing at this time - ? leeks??

So me and both daughters planted the runners up the wigwams, and also sowed a few more for luck!

We watered everything in well [so its been raining all evening!]

Chris potted up some of the toms.

we’re getting there! [OK, we are way behind! but it was a lovely day, and we were having fun together]