planting progress

At long last the ground outside seems to be warming up enough to start planting out or sowing direct. The sun has started to linger on the raised beds in the suburban veg plot making it a warm and fuzzy place to potter around in once more. Even the comfrey, planted only last week, looks like it's growing strongly.
The Lancashire Lad purple podded peas were planted out in their final position and are looking very contented. They grew over 6 foot tall last year and I struggled to support them on canes - so this year I've put them at the base of a fixed trellis which should support them easily.


The overwintered garlic cloves are looking really strong. I selected the largest bulbs from the 2009 Purple Moldovan harvest and they're certainly looking even better than this time last year (the concept being that year on year the selected variety adapts to the conditions in your own garden).


The Solent Wight bulbs - every last one of them has come up and a couple seem to be developing as multi-bulbs.


The tomato, chilli and sweet pepper seedlings that are growing in the kitchen have been benefitting from daytimes spent in the greenhouse - the all day light should bring them on swiftly and strengthen them further. They're still coming back indoors each evening as i don't think it's yet warm enough to leave out overnight.

And cosy in the sunny kitchen still are my little celeriac seedlings. Gosh they're tiny! One of them produced a teeny weeny true leaf this week but goodness knows how long it will be before they're big enough to transplant - 2012 maybe??

the comfrey patch

There's been a lot of comfrey talk recently on a gardening forum I frequent. I understand it has a number of uses from liquid fertiliser (aka comfrey tea), to compost activator, from potato fertiliser to mulch, so I decided to grow some in the suburban veg plot. Here comes the science bit, so listen carefully. If you're going to get comfrey, you need the 'Bocking 14' variety. This can be obtained only as root cuttings as its seeds are sterile. If anyone offers you comfrey seeds back away very slowly and carefully - if sown in your garden, this stuff will self seed all over the place for the next few centuries and you'll never be rid of it (nor be able to find any of your lovely vegetables among its copious leaves). Bocking 14 is all you need to remember. So anyway, I ordered some root cuttings via eBay, which arrived well packaged, healthy looking and moist. I decided to clear a space behind the compost heap to grow the comfrey - a currently unused area but one that I can access easily to harvest the leaves come 2011. I just have to resist until then as it needs a growing season to establish itself.
I'll have to venture out on a nettle harvesting walk in the meantime for an alternative 'tea' base.

stop press - horticultural update!!

I've got a place on a course: RHS Certificate in Horticulture (level 2) starting in April! Yay!!

what to do when it's raining...again

Looking through photos of my garden from February last year, it's amazing to see the difference - all the crocuses, snowdrops and even daffodils had started to peek through and show off their gorgeous colours. Looking out into my garden today, it just looks grey and the percussion accompaniment of rain on the window ledge does nothing to improve that.
So, I have once again focused my efforts indoors - potted on the moneymaker, roma and garden pearl toms, sown some Lyon 2 leeks and tagetes (the latter to be used as companion plants for said toms in my greenhouse later in the summer) and laid out some parsnip seeds on damp kitchen towel in a propagator. Parsnip seeds are a right bugger when it comes to germination - I had very little success my first year (I think 3 parsnips finally grew from a row of about 20 sown) and then a random seed leftover in the ground germinated the following spring. This year I have a fresh packet from Kings - 500 seeds apparently - so I'm determined to get a decent crop this time around. I've heard of people having success with sowing them in loo roll tubes. This sounds ideal as parsnip and other similar vegetables don't like being transplanted - the shock or damage to their tap root finishes them off. But with the loo roll method, the root isn't exposed or disturbed at all. And being such a fan of loo roll planting (broad beans, peas and sweet peas being my past successes) I think this sounds like a great addition to my list.
This week we also signed up to attend a 'hen party' through the Omlet website - so watch this space in future months for the arrival of feathered friends!

time to germinate

So, my mammoth day of paper potting certainly paid off. Within just a few days, some of the tomatoes and peppers began to germinate in their propagators and most of the chillies were hot on their heels. The germination rate has been 100% for most of the seeds, with lower rates (60-80%) for some chillies and tomatoes which were self-saved or saved by other gardener friends. I have 5 types of tomato (covering the full range of salad, plum and cherry types), 2 sweet pepper varieties and 6 chilli varieties (2 of which were planted only last weekend, so have yet to peek through). There's no way I have space for all of the plants, so I'm already canvassing friends as to who wants what.

The Lancashire Lad purple podded peas germinated very strongly in their loo roll tubes and are now in the unheated greenhouse, swaddled in bubblewrap on the colder nights. They're already 6 or so inches high and looking quite happy. We got an absolute bumper crop of purple mange tout from these last year, so are already looking forward to a repeat of that.


Still awaiting signs of life in the Feltham First pea guttering as well as with a few celeriac (Giant Prague) seeds I sowed. The latter can take a few weeks though so I'm trying hard to be patient. The Autumn Mammoth leeks have germinated well, alongside mixed salad leaves and rocket. And with the presence of all these pots and trays in the kitchen, and no sign of the frost threat diminishing, I decided to invest in a ladder allotment on which to store everything. This will stay indoors during the winter and be moved out onto the patio as spring arrives. Makes a change from lines of seedlings along every available windowsill like last year!

snow time like the present

Hurrah! The snow has gone!!
As pretty as it looked, after only a few days it became a bit tiresome, not only preventing me getting to the office on a few days (during a very busy time) but also stopping me from really getting into the garden. But thankfully the blanket covering has vacated the suburban veg plot.
This weekend was a hive of activity - moreso in the kitchen than on the plot. Paper potting ahoy! All of my tomato, chilli and sweet pepper seeds have now been sown in little paper pots and the seeds trays placed on my lovely heated kitchen floor.


Feltham First peas have been sown - I'm experimenting with the guttering method this year rather than direct sown. I had my builder from last year leave me 2 pieces of guttering cut to 1m length (the width of my raised beds).


The idea is that once germinated and ready to plant out, I need only to dig a shallow trench and then slide out the contents of the guttering, pea plants and all! I now have them filled and covered with holly to keep off any hungry mice.



Lancashire lad purple podded peas along with Autumn Mammoth 2 leeks have also been sown - the former in loo roll tubes and latter in a 5'' pot. I'm hoping to do better with successional swing this year, so I have another leek variety to sow in a month's time. Last years leeks were started off slightly later than planned and so we've had the benefit of them only since November. They've been great as baby leeks though - brushed in olive oil and cooked on a griddle pan - mmmm. Will be nice to see what they're like fully grown this season!

2009 - a review

The first full year of the suburban veg plot is now complete and it seems a good time to look back on this year's harvest to review the best and worst . Some things grew more successfully than others,either in spite of or despite my best efforts.
Top marks must go to the greenhouse plants - tomatoes (3 types) and chillies (5 types). They flourished and fruited from April to October providing us with a cupboard full of green tomato chutney, an airing cupboard full of dried chillies, a freezer full of frozen ones and one or two to-die-for passatas.
Bottom of the class goes to the squash family - pumpkin, outdoor melon and butternut squash. The former didn't last as far as planting out, the second died within weeks of being carefully placed in its own raised bed and the latter went rampant with leaves but not a single female flower was to be seen. But i shall attempt them all again in 2010!
I won't be bothering with runner beans again - we got bored of them after just one harvest, but despite being left to their own devices, the plants soldiered on determinedly. I've saved some beans from them before consigning the remainder to the compost heap, but these will be only for giving away if I can find a willing recipient.
Already my fingers are itching to get out there sowing and I can almost hear the new seed packets clamouring to be released from within their dark cupboard home. I'll ignore them for as long as I can...