The Frantic Gardeners’ Blog

have sown the toms - tigerella, gardeners delight and ilidi [a yellow cherry] with the girls. hopefully will get a good germination rate! Also sown the peppers - big banana, a black coloured one ?poblano - must check. they are late, so here’s hoping! also jalapeno. and also late, artichokes! the girls seed sowing technique means a very variable depth, but most things seem to survive.

Must now revitalise the propagator though. As the science experiments the girls have done show, warmth and water are the essentials.

chris has dug over the fruit bed, awaiting arrival of raspberries and of goosegogs. [the blueberries will go in the tubs]

broad beans done - through the cardboard again in a square foot type pattern. i am also trying carrots through cardboard this year. means that i am planting in stations rather than rows for a change, and wasn’t sure how many seeds per station, so will prob have to thin out terribly. just hoping that this will reduce the weedage! have planted flyaway [carrot fly resistant].

both girls helped me, the youngest by putting in the broad beans, and the oldest by putting the bricks on the cardboard to stop it flying away. An elemental idea, only thought this year, was to precut the holes on the comfort of my sofa, rather than grovelling on the ground with children throwing themselves across my back. much less stressful!

mulches R us - the rest of the veg bed a sea of black semipermeable membrane. we are going to lift, weed, dig and sow as we need each bit . As many things as poss will be grown through cardboard or newspaper with grass clippings on top. fingers crossed!

but we beat the bluster and went out to sow broad beans. that is me and the smallest undergardener! We are sowing through cardboard again this year as it was so succesful last year. they have gone into one of the bits that last year were nettles. a good choice i thought for the cardboard! i have sown bunyards exhibition, and we have [must look and add!] as well. we only put in half, as it was so cold and blustery that the wee one got a bit fed up. Anyway, its a start!

we have blossoms on the patio peach

[guess what our current glut is!] Actually, it surprised me how very much tomato makes how little dried tomato in oil!! Hopefully will be lovely.

Also still harvesting french and runner beans, peppers and aubergines, with stored onions to use too - very Italian!! Our pears nearly ready…

Oh, and our grapes are ready!!! woohooo

And what a rainy while it has been too. The sweetcorn not looking too happy as a bit waterlogged.

beans and peas done really well. we have been harvesting loads of broad beans and strawberries. the french and runner beans are flowering. Soon we will harvest the first potatoes - lovely.

Florence fennel is bulbing up wonderfully, carrot tops looking healthy.

The greenhouse is luxurient too, with flowers on peppers and aubergines, and toms ripening.

Pears and plums and cherries ripening, and loads of grapes on the vine. Our weird red leaved ?wild plum type trees are full of sharp but edible fruit. lots of chutneys to make!

Still sad for the sweetcorn though.

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!

but… we did harvest the first peas today, strawberries are getting temptingly red [and are covered up!] there are pods on the broad beans too.

harvested a few more asparagus spears. potatoes are very leafy. cucrbits going out tomorrow.

propagator can be dismantled, as 100% melon germination, growing on a bit before going out. Also have the spare beans for the canes, and further spares can be sisters for sweetcorn and cucurbits

lovely sunny weather isn’t it.

So the french beans went in. I had some gaps so i put in some italian yard long beans from t and m as seeds, and hope they will germinate now the good weather here.

Also did some weeding - not quite as much as i needed too though!

Chris put cardboard down over the area we are going to put Courgettes and Cucurbits in, and will plant through.

Did harvest a few more asparagus spears, and can see some peas podding up - goody!

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!