Clairesallotment's Blog

Hello there my lovelies. Sorry I’ve be absent for a couple of weeks, but we used up all our data allowance and have been waiting for it to tick over to the next month. Yes we’re on “Unlimited” apparently, but it’s capped at 450, so clearly it’s not unlimited. We’ve been told that’s usually more than enough for any normal family, but we’re not a normal family. So off we go again for the new month, let’s see how long we can make it last this time. And before you ask, where we live, we’re very limited on who we can have (basically only 1 provider).

Moan now over, so back to the gardening.

I’ve been very busy in the greenhouses and the weather has been wonderful. I’ve finally managed to sow all of my seeds that needed to be sown in February, and at the beginning of this week I sowed the following: Melons “Emir”, which are great for the cooler climate, so hopefully they’ll grow well and I’ll have some lovely pairs of melons to show you come the summer…..

I also sowed all of my Chillies, both the sweet and the hot varieties. So let’s start with the sweet ones “California Wonder” and now the hot ones “Longhorn”, “Trinidad Perfume”, “Midas”, “Razzamatazz” and finally some from Wahaca restaurant. I’ll keep you posted on their progress.

I over wintered 6 chilli plants and they’ve been very happy on the window sill in the utility room, but I’ve now moved them into the greenhouses. 3 plants look very good, but 3 don’t look so good. I’ll see how they fair in the coming months and will see if the ones that look a bit sad brighten up.

There are lots of videos ready to go. I was able to edit them and save them on the Desktop, but because we had not internet was unable to upload them onto my YouTube page. But now we’re back with the rest of the world, I can sort those out.

Now to start on the March seeds. There’s loads to do, so I’ll keep you posted.

It’s all go in the greenhouses at the moment, and my seedlings are growing really well. The seedlings that now need to be pricked out and put in individual 3 inch pots are my Cauliflowers “Orkney“.

Come and see how they’re getting on.

I’m going to try this year and do an update at the beginning of every month, if I’m a few days late, please forgive me.

Here’s, hopefully, the first of many….

As you can see from the picture I get very excited when my seedlings start to emerge…..

Everything is starting to grow, and some seedlings are ready to be pricked out and put into individual 3 inch pots. The first ones I’m going to do are my Brussels Sprouts. Come and see how I do mine…

The sowing season is definitely here, and seed sowing is starting to get very busy. This afternoon I sowed lots more seeds, so let me go through it all with you.

I sowed a few more brassicas: Brukale “Petit Posy”, which grew amazingly well last year, and I’m still harvesting them. If you fancy trying something different please give them a go, they’re a cross between Kale and Brussels. Again something else I grew last year and it did really well was Calabrese “Matsuri”. These have wonderful large heads and taste amazing. And finally on the brassica front Cabbage “Primo”. These are good solid heads and are very sweet, and great sauteed.

If you didn’t sow your Broad Beans in November, now is the perfect time to start them off. I always start mine off in the greenhouse, as I find either the squirrels dig them up and eat them, or other wildlife. If you have clay soil or soil that gets waterlogged over the winter you may find they rot. So starting them off in the greenhouse works for me. The variety I’m growing this year is called “The Sutton”.

I sowed a few more Aubergine seeds, these ones I’ve had for several years, but they’re still germinating well. I bought the packet in Spain and they’re white with purple markings on them. Also I sowed a few more Onions “Isobel Rose”, they have white and pink rings in them, so that’ll be interesting to see.

A few flower seed as well. Don’t forget to add a few flowers to your vegetable patch, as they help attract the pollinators. I’ve sown some French Marigolds and some Nicotiana.

And finally today I sowed a load of Tomatoes. This year I’ve chosen a variety of different sizes, shapes and colours, so here goes, are you ready?

“Aunt Ginny’s Purple”, “Black Cherry“, “Sungold”, “Bloody Butcher”, “Indigo Blue Berries“, and “Green Sausage“.

That’s all for today. This should keep me going for a while. Still loads more to do, so I’ll keep you posted.

Surely you understand that? If not, watch this so you understand….

Finally I’ve been able to get my herb bed started. So far I’ve sown a few seeds (lots more to sow in the coming months), and they’re starting to germinate already. I’ve also planted out various herb plants, so hopefully by the time summer comes everything will have grown loads.

Come and see what I’ve been up to.

I am pleased to report that all the seeds that I wanted to sow in January have now been sown. Now I need to start work on the ones for February. Lots is happening in the greenhouses, many of the seeds have started to germinate, and with the weather warming up a little now, hopefully those that have not made an appearance yet soon will do. I’ve been pricking out various seedlings as well. It’s all starting to get quite exciting and Spring will soon be here.

Today I sowed some Spinach “Trombone F1”, some Aubergines “Rosa Bianca” and some Lettuce “Tantan”.

I wasn’t on my own in the greenhouses as Bert (yes I know it’s a boys name, and she’s a girl, but it’s 2019 so who cares), was keeping me company. She lost her little buddy Belina yesterday, so she’s all on her own, and where ever I am in the garden, she’s not far away. Don’t worry we will get more chickens soon, just waiting for a collection date to appear on the BHWT website.

It’s getting dark now, so I’m inside writing this, and then will edit some more videos. Lots more to do tomorrow. And I’m sure I’ll have a little chicken helper again.

We all think of herbs and something we can only start growing in the Spring, but you can grow many of them all year round, either in your greenhouse or on a sunny window sill inside your house.

Herbs, like many other plants, there is a lot of strange terminology to go with them. So let me go through the ones I sowed today.

Chives – Are Perennials, which means these plants come back year after year, and get bigger each time. They will die back in the winter and have a little sleep over the cold weather, and then start growing again once the weather warms up in the Spring.

Basil – Are Annuals, which means it only lasts for one year. It will want to send out flowers and then seeds heads, so if you notice any starting to grow, trim them off immediately and your plant will last a little longer. This happens very quickly during the summer, so keep watching your plants. Once the frosts come, if the plants are outside they will die, so bring them inside the house to make them last a little longer.

Coriander – Again is an annual, and will set seed quickly in the summer. If you want to let it go to seed, you can always keep the seeds and using in cooking. Make sure you use the stalks as well, because they have just as much flavour as the leaves.

Parsley – Which ever variety of Parsley you have they are all Biennials. This means they will last for 2 years. The first year you’ll get loads of leaves that you can harvest, and then the second summer they will produce flowers and go to seed. The varieties I’m growing this year are “Giant of Italy” and “Moss Curled 2”.

Dill – Again is a Biennial, therefore only lasts 2 years. Dill is not grown very often, as it has quite a strong flavour to it. But I think it’s a very under rated herb, and goes incredibly well with fish.

With regards to all these herbs, the more you harvest them the more they will grow, so get snipping.

There will be more herbs to follow.

Some brassicas are in the ground for a long time, so you need to make sure that you are ok with them taking up space for that amount of time. I’m still harvesting some of my brassicas (Brukale and Brussels Sprouts), and today I’m sowing some Brussels Sprout seeds for this coming year.

The Brussels Sprouts “Braemar” are lovely and flavourful. Last year they were quite small, but they did struggle during the very hot summer. Still if they’re on the small side, you don’t have to cook them for so long and they can stay whole.

My Cauliflowers “Orkney” are also very tasty. Cauliflowers don’t freeze well, unless they are part of a cauliflower cheese dish. So make sure you don’t over do it with cauliflowers otherwise they’ll go to waste.

Here’s how I sowed mine.