Wednesday 23rd June 2010

Posted on June 23, 2010 by clairesallotment

Another hot day today (I’m not complaining). Planted out my dwarf french beans today. When I opened the packets they all had a mouldy film across them, I had 3 packets and only 6 plants germinated. I keep all my seed packets exactly the same way every year, in an old shoe box on the kitchen shelf. Never mind. Planted more tomatoes and made sure I watered in well. If you want to put some flowers on the plot I suggest Foxgloves. They last for several years and attract bumble bees. I love them.

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10 Responses to Wednesday 23rd June 2010

frazzledsugarplummum says:

June 23, 2010 at 10:17 pm

Hi Claire,
What is a hot day in the UK? just wondering. It is Winter in Tasmania so everything is growing a little slower here but I am dreaming of the all out effort I want to make for tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelons next season. There really isnt enough growing days here for some things but even a small success will be better than none. Too bad about the French Beans being moldy. Foxgloves hey? will do. Those ones at the Gardener’s World Show you had on your vid were incredible. Did you purchase any? Thanks for the tip about gooseberries and thorns: that will make a difference as to where I plant them. Digging up my lawn this year. I collect rain water in large rubbish bins…60 litres and bottles. I would like to connect them. I also water with a watering can so I don’t waste any. Happy gardening.

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- clairesallotment says:
  
  June 28, 2010 at 1:27 pm
  
  Well it should be 22/23 ish, but yesterday was 30 (hottest day so far this year) and today is 29. It’s getting a little cooler this week, but is still above our average. It’s very humid and hardly any breeze. My parent have it hotter in Spain, but it’s a dry heat, and they have a breeze, which is much more pleasant.
  I’ve got loads of foxgloves in my garden, so I didn’t buy any. I think they’re beautiful, especially when the bees buzz in and out them. I had 1 plant last year that grew about 5 feet.
  
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gardenlady says:

June 25, 2010 at 2:56 pm

First of I wanted to thank you for taking the time and making all those wonderful and informative videos, I really love to watch and I have learned so much because of them. This is my first year growing and thanks to you and other people on you tube I am learning a lot. I grow my veggies on raise beds because the soil in here is horrible, second I have dogs and little kids, my backyard is on a slope and final because we have clay soil it just doesn’t drain too well.
I wanted to comment on the seeds beign moldy, in my area it gets pretty hot and humid expecially during the summer months so what I do with all my seeds is I keep them in a box and them place them in the refrigerator, I have read and heard that this way seeds can keep for a lot longer, and since my garden is not huge I can save the leftover seed and use them in the following year.

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- clairesallotment says:
  
  June 25, 2010 at 3:54 pm
  
  I’ve hear about keeping seeds in the fridge, but I’m sure my little boy would end up eating them. He’s 8, but is always hungry. They were the only seeds that went funny, I think that perhaps the packet got damp before I brought it. Have you thought of making your garden into various levels? I know it’s a huge job, but that way it would be easier to manage, and drainage would be less of a problem. My parents had a garden that was on a slop and that’s what they did. Just a thought.
  
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gardenlady says:

June 25, 2010 at 4:08 pm

Yes thought about it, but my backyard is not too big and the raise beds just work nice to keep the dogs out ( they are old) and also the kids from stepping on the veggies. It took me about 2 days seriously to try and dig some holes just to be able to plant some fruit trees and blueberry bushes, the soil is just that hard. Also with raise beds I can just make my own soil and did not even have do dig the hard clay soil underneath, the worms believe it or not still found their way into the raise beds.

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- frazzledsugarplummum says:
  
  June 25, 2010 at 10:18 pm
  
  Hey Garden Lady…I know just how you feel. Solid clay with granite. I had to go to raised beds as well because of that, slope, a dog and kids. It was a good move. I have two olive trees to put in and keep putting it off because of the effort it is going to take to dig holes. lol Claire’s vids are the best.
  
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  - clairesallotment says:
    
    June 28, 2010 at 3:17 pm
    
    My parents have olive trees in Spain, the ones you get off their tree taste so much better than shop ones. They have to soak them for ages before they can eat them. I love the olives you buy with raw garlic in them. You can grow olive trees in the UK now. Maybe when we have a larger garden I’ll get a couple.
- clairesallotment says:
  
  June 28, 2010 at 3:31 pm
  
  Every year the soil will improve. If you can at the end of the season get loads of manure to incorporate in the soil. This will improve drainage and break up the soil. The worms will do the hard work of bringing the manure into the soil. All you need to do is fork it in lightly.
  
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  - frazzledsugarplummum says:
    
    June 28, 2010 at 9:08 pm
    
    Thanks for the advice Claire. Will do. I am only now working on the soil in the lawn…since I decided to dig it up for plants. lol My olives are soaking. Picking heaps of mushrooms and they are very tasty. I hated mushrooms before I grew my own. They are nothing like shop bought ones: even the kids are eating them. The excess goes back into the garden. I was inspired to try them from your vids and example. Thanks for that.
clairesallotment says:

July 2, 2010 at 6:05 pm

Home grown mushrooms tast so much better than shop ones. They have a more nutty flavour. Enjoy your harvest.

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