On Thursday 12th June, the BBC Gardener's World Live show in Birmingham will be ready to open and my Edible Patch raised bed will be fully planted up and awaiting the view of the paying public.
Overall, things seem to be on track. The broad beans have grown well and are in their final containers. I have grown the crimson-flowered variety – mainly for their vibrant flower colour and currently have 68 plants in various stages of growth. This should mean that by the time we're on site, I will be able to display plants both in flower and producing pods.
Last week, a lovely local hedgelayer, Stephen, delivered a batch of 12 hazel bean poles (9 foot tall!), which will form the basis of my 3 wigwams for climbing plants. They are being cut down to size a bit as I am allowed a maximum height of 2.5m in situ.
And supporting the climbers, I'm using a wonderful sustainable product called twool. This is produced from the wool of the Whitefaced Dartmoor sheep. It is used in exactly the same way as the typical jute twine that many of us use around our garden, but it is made entirely in the UK, supports the farming and preservation of this ancient sheep breed and involves 8 other British industries in its production. I recently received a selection box of twool and twool rope from Twool HQ to use in my raised bed display – and it will certainly add some colour to my display. Look out for the Twool stand at Chelsea Flower Show this month if you're attending – their new twool rope is an RHS Chelsea Garden Product of the Year finalist.
Overall, things seem to be on track. The broad beans have grown well and are in their final containers. I have grown the crimson-flowered variety – mainly for their vibrant flower colour and currently have 68 plants in various stages of growth. This should mean that by the time we're on site, I will be able to display plants both in flower and producing pods.
Last week, a lovely local hedgelayer, Stephen, delivered a batch of 12 hazel bean poles (9 foot tall!), which will form the basis of my 3 wigwams for climbing plants. They are being cut down to size a bit as I am allowed a maximum height of 2.5m in situ.
And supporting the climbers, I'm using a wonderful sustainable product called twool. This is produced from the wool of the Whitefaced Dartmoor sheep. It is used in exactly the same way as the typical jute twine that many of us use around our garden, but it is made entirely in the UK, supports the farming and preservation of this ancient sheep breed and involves 8 other British industries in its production. I recently received a selection box of twool and twool rope from Twool HQ to use in my raised bed display – and it will certainly add some colour to my display. Look out for the Twool stand at Chelsea Flower Show this month if you're attending – their new twool rope is an RHS Chelsea Garden Product of the Year finalist.
I'll be interested to see how Twool performs. It sounds sort of stretchy.
ReplyDeleteIt is a little bit stretchy - definitely moreso than jute twine. I'll see how it performs supporting my sweet peas and mange tout as they've started to climb upwards now.
DeleteYour garden will more colorful with the twool. So nice...
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on co-ordinating/contrasting the twool with the flower colour of different plants. Clearly I have far too much time on my hands...
DeleteThe Twool will certainly add some colour to the garden, I shall have to investigate this further.
ReplyDeleteI like the sustainable aspect of it - and I'm all for supporting homegrown businesses
DeleteI'm using twool to tie in plants, wonderfully soft to use, but feels strong to. Love those broad bean flowers.
ReplyDeleteIt does feel very gentle on young plants doesn't it? I'll be using it on my own tomato plants soon, so that will be a real test as I have found that my usual twine is a little abrasive on the young stems.
DeleteOh I imagine this experience must be so exciting and so nerve wracking for you at the same time. Are you out on slug patrol every night? Will keep fingers crossed for you over the next few weeks. This is the second time I've come across reference to twool today - the other was on Janet's blog. So many pretty colours to choose from!
ReplyDeleteYes, on both counts Anna! I've now started to wake up early with a nagging anxiety about things not being ready or slugs eating everything.... The slug patrol is pretty much constant - checking under pots every single day, every time I move them in or out of the greenhouse and cold frame , or move them out of their wine box storage and onto a seed tray for watering. I just don't know where they come from - but at least the chickens are enjoying all the extra treats.
DeleteYour garden must be colourful with twool around!
ReplyDeleteIt's a veritable rainbow outside now Malar - I'm getting very carried away with the mixing of colours in the borders.
DeleteI grew those crimson flowered beans last year (Pennards heritage seeds) - the flowers are fantastic and a good choice for your edible patch! Mine were in a bed with Karmazyn beans (white flowers, great flavour) and a few got cross-polllinated so I had pink and white striped flowers which I rather liked. It all looks very colourful, well done for getting hazel poles and now I'm really going to have to come and have a look! Cx
ReplyDeleteCaro, I love the sound of your stripy broad bean flowers. I've already purchased Karmazyn seeds for next year after seeing them on a number of blogs. I shall have to save some of the crimson seeds as well to aim for that mix. My hazel poles have now been installed in their pots and I've taken delivery of some hazel pea sticks from the same source to support my asparagus pea plants, which are not as tall as I would like them to be at the moment. Hopefully the anticipated heatwave will bring them on.
ReplyDelete