Clairesallotment's Blog

Saturday morning was filled with house chores and food shopping, and the afternoon was filled with a bell ringing competition, so there was no time in the day to pop out in the garden. So on Sunday after a little morning ringing (usual) and then a tip trip (not usual) first thing, when I finally got home I was in the garden for the rest of the day.

I finished pricking out the “Elefant” leeks that were large enough. Give it a week or so and the smaller ones will be large enough.

Here’s a video to help you….

The weather is a little interchangeable at the moment, some days are cold, others are lovely and warm. The poor seeds don’t know if they’re coming or going. But some are popping their heads through and are being brave. My first Melon is saying hello so hopefully the rest will follow shortly.

The chillies are also thinking about it but again I think they’re waiting for warmer weather.

Still I had lots more seeds to sow so here goes……

Brassicas first. Brussels Sprouts “Trafalgar”, Kohl Rabi “Kref” and “Green Delicacy”, Calabrese “Ironman”, Cabbage “Greyhound”, Broccoli “Green Calabrese”, Celery “Green Sleeves” and Swiss Chard “Fordhook Giant”.

Whatever brassicas you are sowing, they need to be sown in the same way, this is how I sow mine….

Italian Giant Leaf Parsley is a wonderful herb to grow in a pot either inside on the window sill or outside in the garden. I tend to sow some each month from March through to about September, that way I have a continuous supply throughout the year…..that is unless any bunnies that find their way into the garden don’t eat it first.

Hopefully this video will help you with sowing yours…..

Salad leaves are another one to sow little and often. I’ve got lots of different varieties, so I sowed just a couple this time “Mild Salad Leaves” and Endives. Next month I’ll sow some different varieties.

Here’s how I sow mine…..

Next a few flower seeds. Flowers are incredibly important in the veg patch as they attract pollinators. The ones I’ve sown this month are “Summer Picking Flowers” and Poached Egg Plant…well I do have chickens after all. I sowed these on moist compost and then sprinkled a little more compost on the top.

All the above were sown in seed trays, but the following I sowed in small square pots. I sowed two seeds per pot at diagonal corners. If both seeds germinate, don’t worry about separating them they’ll grow quite happily together.

Winter Squash “Hunter” and some Pumpkins. I’ve mixed all my Pumpkins together, so it’ll be interesting to see which ones I have. Which ever variety you have they need to be sown in the same way. They’re all edible so it doesn’t matter what I get. Make sure you don’t mix ornamental gourds in as they’re inedible.

Here’s how I sow mine….

A few more flowers but this time Nasturtiums “Tall Single”. These I tend to have growing up the canes with my French and Runner beans as they really do bring in the bees. The flowers and leaves are also edible, but they will also grow perfectly well in hanging baskets, pots and up any structure.

And finally the first sowing of the Peas “Shiraz” are the variety I have this year. But whatever variety of pea, mangetout or sugar snap you have, they need to be sown in the same way. Again these I’ll sow a few each month from March until September that way I’ll have a good supply through out the summer and into the autumn.

Here’s how I sow mine….

Apart from spreading a bit more manure and having a quick weed that was all for Sunday. I’ll keep an eye on everything in the greenhouses and hopefully next weekend they’ll be more to do. For many of you who ask me if my greenhouses are heated, the answer is no not artificially. I have bubble wrap on the inside, and use the sun for heating. I don’t use heaters or electricity of any form to germinate my seeds faster. I find that if you let them germinate naturally they seem to be stronger. Maybe that’s me, but that’s my view.

If you missed my March 2023 update then here it is…..

Happy Spring everyone, the clocks change very soon and we’ll finally be in British Summer Time!!!! Yay!!

Have a great week and see you soon xxxx

Well we’re now into March, although the weather seems to think it’s January.

Still there’s lots of things to do in the greenhouse and garden, just lots of cups of warm tea and millions of layers are needed. We seem to have some baby bunnies that have made their way into our garden from the field at the back. Not sure how they got in, but I’ve caught 2 so far and put them back in the field so they can find their families, the other 2 are still at large. I think I’ll have to bait the humane traps with some carrot later on.

The seeds I sowed in early February are growing well, some better than others. So in this video I’ll show you what I’m doing this month. It’s a case of little and often at this time of year. I hope you find what I’m showing you helpful.

If you want to encourage little ones to get out into the garden and start growing then Lottie and Dottie are here to help them on their journey. Click HERE to go to my Etsy page. The books are going fast at this time of year and I am running out of my Pumpkins and Sunflowers books, so get them while you can.

I also have my Claire’s Allotment Essentials guide available for those gardeners who are a little older.

Below is a list of all the seeds and links to all of them that I’m sowing in March. Just click on the name and it’ll take you straight to the website:

From Moles Seeds – Brussels Sprouts “Trafalgar”, Kohl Rabi “Kref”, Calabrese “Ironman”, Parsley “Italian giant”, Lettuce “Mixed”, Winter Squash “Hunter”, Pumpkins, Nasturtium “Tall Single Flowered Mixed”, Peas “Shiraz”, Throw and Grow “Summer Picking Flowers“, Radish “Logo“, and Carrots “Paris Market Atlas”

From Mr Fothergill’s – Cabbage “Greyhound”, Broccoli “Green Calabrese”, Celery “Green Sleeves”, Chilli “Cayenne”, Salad leaves “Mild Mixed“, “Salad Bowl Red and Green Mixed”, and Spring Onions “Guardsman”

From Kings Seeds – Kohl Rabi “Green Delicacy”, Swiss chard “Fordhook Giant”, and Endive “Pancalieri”

Thompson and Morgan – Radish “French Breakfast 3”

Country Value – Poached Egg Plant

Chiltern Seeds – Lettuce “Crisp Mint”

Hope you find all that helpful, don’t forget you’ll find all sorts of videos to help you on my Claire’s Allotment Youtube channel. There are over 500 videos to choose from. Click HERE to go straight to my channel.

Happy gardening xxx

So another gardening year has begun and there is lots to do. I’m going to start making videos again this year, but only at the beginning of each month (while the growing season is upon us, not much really happens in December and January). I’ll be telling you what I’ll be doing that month and showing you various little bits.

Over the winter it has been a busy time in our garden/household. Sadly we lost Victoria, my beautiful little afternoon cuddle buddy. I miss her she was so beautiful and kind hearted. She’s now sleeping in one of my raised beds and will help my plants grow.

So we have 4 brown ex-battery hens and a friend of mine down the end of our road had 4 white chickens that they could no longer look after due to work commitments so I’ve got those as well. They’re still living in separate houses, but see each other a lot. I’ve divided one of the brassica cages up so they are close to one another but can’t fight. There was lots of noise today when I did this for the first time and some fluffed feathers through the wire. Hopefully soon they’ll settle and I can put them in all together and get my patio back.

So while they were playing, and complaining, in the brassica cage I was in the greenhouse sowing various seeds. I’ll list them all for you and put links to the various varieties, slightly further down is my new video to help you, if you need it.

The weather was a little on the chilly side, but sunny so that made a huge difference. Because of the bubble wrap on the inside of the greenhouse it was quite warm inside there, although once the sun started to get ready for bedtime, it started to get a little chilly, but fortunately I was finished by then and was back inside.

Even though it’s only February there is a lot to do. I’m not wanting to even look at the March box yet. I still have a few veg in the garden from last year which I’ll harvest soon, namely Leeks, Celeriac and Celery. I’ve dug up all the beetroot, but need to cook those before I freeze them.

I’ll do the seeds in groups of things that go together, so here goes…….

Broad Beans “Aquadulce”. Melons “Sugar Baby”. Parsley “Italian Giant” I’m sowing some now and will sow more each month then I get a good supply throughout the year. Rosemary. Celeriac “Prinz”. Onions “Globo”. Leeks “Musselburgh” and “Elefant”. Tomatoes “Gardener’s Delight”, “Pantono”, “Supermarmande”, “Maskotka” and “Minibel Cocktail“, “Giant Tree”. Sweet Peppers “Blockie Mix”, “Rainbow Mixed” and “Corno di Toro Rosso“. Chillies “Padron”, “Cayenne” and “Longhorn”. And finally a few flowers Pansy “Giant Fancy Mix”. Papaver or Poppy “Red Field Poppy”. And last but by no means least two varieties of Hardy Geraniums “Orchid Blue” and “Reflections” because these are Hardy Perennials they’ll keep growing every year and just get larger and larger.

Here’s the video I made that will hopefully help you with your sowing…….

I will be doing lots of little updates on Facebook on my Claire’s Allotment Facebook page, so keep an eye out for those.

You can also get ahead with knowing what’s coming next year by purchasing my bumper gardening “Claire’s Essentials” book HERE, or any of the little individual “Claire’s Essentials” books HERE

Lottie and Dottie are also getting ready for this years growing season so you can help your little ones enjoy gardening as much as you do with these lovely books HERE. Don’t forget you can also get them signed.

Happy Gardening everyone and all the very best for this coming year xxx

The garden is a bit like a class of school children. When the teacher is around they all behave perfectly, but if the teacher is away and a supply teacher comes in, then they mess about…..I know because I was a kid once.

Now I was away on my little holiday for 7 days, yes just 7. Not 2 weeks, not 1 month. Just 7 days. The garden decided to go completely loopy in that time.

Yes apparently the rain was “Biblical” so Mark said so everything got a good watering, but they all seemed to misbehave.

The fairy garden is just a mess as my Palm Cordyline decided to shed all of its brown leaves. I just need to pick them up and reshape the small shrubs and have a little weed. Not sure how many of the plants I’ve lost over the hot summer, but if I have spaces I’ll just have to buy more plants, oh no what a shame.

You may remember we had 2 wild bunnies in our garden, they came from the field at the back. I managed to capture one before I went and released it, but the other one was being quite aloof. Mark did catch it while I was away, but clearly was too loud when he saw it and it got scared and managed to wiggle out of the cage, bending the cage slightly as it struggled. We’ve not seen it since so maybe it found it’s way out our garden.

I gave the greenhouse a good tidy up, harvesting the last remaining tomatoes and peppers.

I’ve now cleared out everything and they’re all tidy and ready for the winter now. Just some flowers in the greenhouses that will keep fine and only need watering occasionally.

While I was on my canal holiday I bought myself a little wooden basket. This is perfect for harvesting veggies for dinner and I put it to good use right away. How long it’ll stay clean is anyones guess….not long knowing me.

The chickens came out in their extra little bit of a run and a couple of them bathed in the afternoon sunshine. I’ve got an empty brassica cage now, so they can use that as their new playpen. They’ll only be allowed in it when I’m out in the garden, they do have a run attached to their house so they have plenty of space to play. But I did give them a quick go in the brassica cage this weekend and they loved scratching around finding bugs. One of my chooks dug herself a huge bathing holes and even rattling corn wouldn’t make her move, so I had to go in and pick her up bless her.

My two grape vines that grow either side of my arch have done amazingly well this year. The grapes are small and have seeds in them so they’re perfect for making grape jelly (jam) with. The bunches are impressive this year so I harvested them all and will wash and freeze them.

When the weather is cold and damp and I can’t get out in the garden I’ll take them out and make jelly with them. I think last year I got about 2 tubs full, this year it was a little more.

“One day when I grow up,” said the little courgette. “I’m going to be a marrow.”

“But if you do that,” said the gardener. “I’m going to slice you in half longways, scoop out your innards and fill you with some mince and onions.”

Which is exactly what the gardener did for Sunday dinner…… And sprinkles some bread crumbs and parmesan onto for good measure.

The End……Did this blog suddenly get a little too dark?

Happy gardening!

I had a little holiday recently. I was hoping to keep you posted on where we were during my week away, but the wifi on the canal boat was a little hit and miss….well more miss than hit. Sometimes it’s great that way because you can really get away from it all.

What more could you want than to spend 7 days on a canal boat with 7 other people, all of us bell ringers. I know to some people that would seem like a nightmare, but for us 8 it was heaven. This was the second time I’ve been on a canal boat, the first time was last year.

Our boat was called “Josephine” and what a fine boat she was to at 70 foot long. We had 2 bathrooms, so a “Boys” and a “girls”. Places for us all to sleep, a lovely little kitchen and lounge/dining area.

You all have to get on well with each other, and muck in when it comes to opening and closing the lock gates. What you have to do came flooding back to me immediately, although to start with I forgot a few little things, but nothing major. There were those who wanted to steer (I wasn’t bothered as I did that last year), Jane did most of the cooking and what a fabulous job she did, especially with the oven on board that if you opened or closed the oven door too quickly it got scared and went out. Jane cooked us meat pies, casseroles, pasta, all sorts of tasty dinners. The kettle was always on the boil and tea was a constant. Paul did a couple of wonderful fried breakfasts which you needed to keep you going with all the walking we did from one lock to another. I’m sure I came back fitter, but slightly fatter.

Because we are all bell ringers Jane and Len worked out the route and also 6 towers that were all in walking distance from the canal.

During the evenings, and sometimes during the day the deck of cards came out and I learnt all sorts of different games…..still can’t understand Cribbage though. We never played with money, but played with matchsticks. I know that sounds slightly wrong, but you know what I mean. Usually before any game there was a chorus of “Oh I need my glasses!” We also played Bingo and Beetle Drive. Bizarrely Beetle Drive is made by Gibson Games and the lovely man who taught me how to bell ring back in 1986, his wife is related to its founder. Us ladies (there were 3 ladies and 5 men on the boat) also had an afternoon of crafting, we tried the get the men involved but they wouldn’t. I made a mermaid.

When it got to about 4pm, sometimes a little sooner, it was time for nibbles and a gin. We had several different flavours and it was very enjoyable.

We started off from the boat yard was in Napton and we travelled about 45 miles before we had to turn round and come back. So 90 miles in total for 7 days. We went through a couple of long tunnels. One tunnel took us just over 20 minutes to get out of, the other took us 42 minutes. “Could have rung a quarter peal in that time” was said. Coming out of a long tunnel was beautiful.

On our little trip we rang at the following towers: Napton on the Hill, Braunston, Weedon Bec, Cosgrove, Blisworth, Priors Marston. The first 5 towers were beautiful and easy to ring, the last one had character……that’s a nice way of saying they were a little awkward. But they all sounded beautiful.

There were loads of blackberries ready, and not wanting to waste any we picked some to go in our pear crumble one evening and a load more so I could make some jam. I didn’t have a recipe, but it’s not difficult, just add enough sugar until it tastes right.

The last evening we had dinner at the local pub which was wonderful and then after our final sleep on the boat we packed up the cars Friday morning and all made our way home. The little group of our car (Jane who was driving, tall Paul and myself) stopped off at IKEA to get a few bits and of course you can’t go into IKEA without buying some Swedish meatballs, packets of sauce and lingonberry jam.

Home to a lovely wide, double bed. It’s difficult when you tend to lie on your front in bed and you have to sleep in a skinny bed. I don’t think anyone fell out of their beds, I nearly did but not quite.

Thank you all for such an amazing time. We expected it to rain for most of the holiday but we only got two heavy downpours that were very short and some light drizzle, and that didn’t spoil our time.

Back home to see if the garden behaved itself while I was away…….Anyone for a quiz?

Sorry for not being in touch for a while, but the last month what with one thing and another. I’ve been out in my garden little and often, but that’s generally just been me tying in and side shooting my tomatoes, weeding, pruning, harvesting, planting out various flower plants and the obligatory watering of everything. I’ve been grabbing the odd 30 minutes I’ve had before I go to work, and then a little time after work while the dinner is cooking. The weekends have been full on with one thing and another and Mark and I were a way for one weekend as well. I’m working on a few Saturday’s, just as a temporary measure to get someone garden tidy before they sell it as well. I’m fully booked all week so that was the only option.

But this Sunday was all mine! Just ringing in the morning and then as much time in the garden as I wanted. The ground is very dry, we’re in serious need of some rain, we had some fine drizzle this morning but that’ll evaporate now the sun is out. I’ve taken the outlet pipe out the washing machine so the water syphons into a very large bucket so that goes on the garden as well. If push comes to shove then I’ll syphon out the bath water, but that’s a big trek through the house with watering cans so isn’t easy.

So back to everything I did on Sunday…I did stop for a couple of ice lollies on the way…..

I cut down the potatoes. The leaves are starting to turn from green to yellow so they’re nearly finished growing. I’ll be digging them up as and when we need them now.

We also seem to have a couple of small wild bunnies in the garden again. They’re from the field at the back and have made it into the garden. I’m not sure exactly how they go it, but I suspect it’s at the very back of the garden behind the chicken house. Hopefully I can encourage them to go back the way they got in. I do have a couple of humane traps so when, or if I catch them then I can release them back where they came from. Yes I know that some of you are going to say they’re vermin and should be taken to a vet and have them put to sleep, but I’m just putting them back where they originated from. We live in the country, I mean really in the country, so it’s something we have to live with. Out here we live along side nature, and don’t try and fight it because we won’t win.

Now because I was in the garden, the chickens feel that they should be allowed out in their extra piece of run. Fair enough I suppose, mummy’s out playing so they should as well. Now Sunday was fairly hot still, not as hot as earlier in the week when we reached 38 degrees where we live. And yes I did work and yes I’m slightly crazy. I was fine thought, I put a cold wet flannel on my head under my cap and a cold wet towel round my neck and the ends down my t shirt. I have to admit I did look rather fetching. I finished at 3pm both days as where I was working they were all very concerned about me. Still when I got home I went out in my garden to do a little weeding.

The chickens got so excited to be in their extra run they hurried out and started to dust bathe. They soon realised it was a little too hot for them in the sun, so promptly hurried back inside their run and in the shade. When the shade finally came over their extended run they went back out to play.

My onion tops have started to flop over so that means they need to be harvested. So that was the first job for the day.

They should pull up very easily, but if you’re worried about pulling them up, then just use a trowel to encourage them out the soil. Once they are all up, you can either lay them on the soil for a few weeks and let the sun start to dry them out, or if you have room in your greenhouse put them in there, or even in a garage or shed would be perfect. Just make sure you lay them in a single layer and there is space between them. If they are too close the air can’t get around them and dry their outer skins off. Check weekly and if any are going soft then use immediately. This year I’m drying mine on top of my brassica cage. We’re not due any rain for the next couple of weeks so they should be fine. They’re all good decent sizes this year, all grown from seed and the variety is called “Globo”. I’ve grown these for several years and they don’t disappoint. If you’re going to store you onions in a hessian sack over winter then I would suggest drying your onions for at least 6 weeks.

Then it was on to my garlic. Again the tops have all gone brown and these are a little further down in the soil than the onions were, so a trowel is definitely needed to harvest these.

Here’s a little video I did a few years ago about harvesting garlic which I hope you find helpful…..

So this year, just like my onions I’m drying them on the top of my other brassica cage. Because I sowed them in the autumn of last year they had a very long growing season and turned out really well. So we’ve got lots of decent sized bulbs to keep us going. I’ve just got the last few bulbs from last year to use up and then I’ll start on this years ones. I won’t plait them as I can’t be bothered, so will just tie them together with some string and hang them in a frost free place and cut off the bulbs as and when we need them.

For the rest of the day I just did some weeding. I’m systematically going through all the beds. I’ve now done 2 of the large beds, just the other 2 large beds and the small ones to go.

I also planted out a few spare plants I have in my greenhouses and made sure that the tomatoes had been side shooted and were tied in properly.

Here’s a little video I made a few years back with information about side shooting …….

Just before I finished for the day I went round the garden to harvest various veggies for dinner. I am very please to say that the only thing on our plates for dinner that evening that I couldn’t grow were the sausages. Believe me if I could grow sausages I would. So in the mixed roasted veggies consisted of: onion, garlic, carrots, beetroot, courgette, potatoes and chard. The olive oil was from my parents olive trees. It was yummy!

Hope you’re having a wonderful harvest and please share lots of picture of your achievements.

Take care xxxxx

After the last couple of weekends being frantic, one with ringing for the Jubilee, and the other with a retirement party and collecting George from university, I finally had a weekend to myself and at home. Saturday morning was busy with shopping and getting pet supplies, the chickens eat so much. The afternoon was house chores and we had a BBQ in the evening which I managed to get it all cooked before it rained. There are 6 of us in the house at the moment so that’s a lot of food for a BBQ. Still the best thing about a BBQ is the left overs for the next couple of days.

Sunday, after morning ringing, I was out in the garden. I let the chicken out in their extended run and 6 out of the 7 decided to have a dustbath in exactly the same place. Now when I have a bath (not in dust but in water), I like to have a bit of space, but clearly they all love each other so much they want to squash together.

The heavy rain over night had watered the garden beautifully, but the outside tomatoes had been bent over a little. We had thunder and lightning as well, but I wear ear plugs and an eye mask in bed so didn’t see any lightning, but heard the first bit of rain and a slight rumble, but then went back to sleep. So the first thing I did when I got in the garden was to tie up the tomatoes inside the greenhouse and outside in the garden and side shoot the ones that needed doing.

Not all tomatoes need side shooting. If they’re a bush variety then don’t side shoot as that’s where the fruits grow from. If they are tall growing tomato plants then they do need side shooting. I know that some people plant the side shoots and get new plants, please feel free to do that if you like. If you’re growing your tomatoes in pots, and those pots are sitting in trays, just put the side shoots in the tray and when you water goodness comes out of the side shoot and is absorbed by the compost and into the plant. I’m guessing you could also soak side shoots in water for about 24 hours and pour that on the tomatoes that are growing outside, I don’t see what harm it would do.

The side shoots are the little stems that grow between the main stem and a leaf.

Here’s a video out side shooting that you might find useful….

I then finally managed to plant out my Sweetcorn. The first batch I sowed, only 2 plants germinated, so I sowed some more and they did much better. I bought more seeds, so maybe the others were a little old, I’m sure I’d only had them a couple of years. Sweetcorn needs to be planted in a block and not a straight line as they need to pollinate with each other and it’s best done in a block. This year I’ve planted mine out in-between my pumpkins and squashes, so they’re in a block, but not in straight lines.

Here’s how I planted out my sweetcorn…..

And finally I harvested a load of rhubarb, this I will cut up and put in the freezer. I gave the rhubarb crowns a very good water and feed with Shropshire Seaweed Fertiliser.

That was all for this weekend. The flower beds will need to be tidied and watered. Time to get my butt pump out instead of walking backwards and forwards with watering cans. The large raised beds also need a little tidy, but those will be jobs for this week. Hopefully I’ll be able to pop out before I got to work and when dinner is cooking I can pop out again.

If you follow me on my Claire’s Allotment Facebook page to see what I get up to during the week.

Have a wonderful week ahead and I hope you get to play in your garden to.

TTFN xxx

For those who don’t live in the UK this weekend was a 4 day Bank Holiday. We don’t usually get these, but we were celebrating our Queen being on the throne for 70 years so they added a couple of extra days holiday in.

Being a Bank Holiday and being self employed, if you don’t work, you don’t earn any money. So with that in mind I did work both the Thursday and the Friday. If you’re thinking that being a 4 day weekend that must have been relaxing (even if I was working 2 of those days) think again. I don’t think I’ve been busier. Not only working, but on the Friday, Saturday and the Sunday there was lots of celebratory bell ringing for the Jubilee. I’m sure that many of you heard church bells ringing over that weekend, and that was the reason. Basically it was a chance to ring loads. I’m not going to go into too much detail, but needless to say I was backwards and forwards ringing here and there all weekend. I rang some celebratory ringing at my home tower, 5 quarter peals (the shortest took 39 minutes, and the longest took 46 minutes to ring) and 1 peal (which took 2 hours and 46 minutes). All these sessions were of constant ringing, and your brain is working at 100 miles an hour concentrating so hard. There is a bell ringers site that you can view these on, but for the privacy of the other ringers I’m afraid I can’t give you the link. But if you’re a ringer you’ll know where to look.

By the end of it all, my fingers were very sensitive and sore, but I only ended up with one popped blister on one finger so that was a bonus. The only way to help your fingers after ringing so much is to wrap them in bendy micropore, I use Mefix, but by the following morning most of them are fine again and the tape can come off.

I sent a photo to my parents and sister of my hands wrapped in tape and my sister replied with a picture of Dobby from Harry Potter saying, “Dobby had to iron his hands!”

With all that bell ringing I wasn’t able to get anything done in my garden, just a little done in the greenhouses. I managed to plant up all my tomatoes.

Last year I grew them all outside and they all got blight, so this year I’m growing most in one greenhouse, and the rest outside.

They’re all potted up into 10 litre pots so their roots have plenty of space to spread and grow. If you don’t have 10 litre pots then slightly smaller will do fine, or tomato grow bags. The bamboo canes don’t go down very far, so I have to attached them to my staging frame which works brilliantly. The ones outside I’ve constructed a solid frame and attached them to that. Hopefully this year I’ll get some tomatoes at least and they won’t get blight.

Here’s a video with a little more information….I know I say 2 litre pots in the video, which will do fine, but if you’ve got larger pots then even better…..

Hope you managed to get lots done in your garden this weekend and had a relaxing 4 days off. This coming weekend is just as busy as we’ve got to collect our son from university as he’s finished his first year already. He needs to move out his uni digs so we have to pack everything back up, put it in the car and bring it all back home for 3 months before taking him and all his bits back to his new digs in September (he’s sharing a house with a few other people). Hopefully if they all get on he’ll be there for 2 years. I thought things were supposed to get easier when they got older?

TTFN

Claire xx

Where has this month gone? Where has this year gone? I know the older you get the quicker times goes, but this is ridiculous.

Another weekend and lots more to do in the garden which is brilliant. Saturday morning I tidied the pots and containers out the front of the house, giving them a good water afterwards. The Perennial Poppies are starting to bloom which is wonderful. I just love their delicate petals, such a shame they don’t last that long.

Once that was done it was a tidy up of the car boot. It tends to get messy during the working week so the weekend is the perfect time to sort out anything that needs to come out and have a good tidy up.

I then had to go out and ring for a couple of weddings so that took up most of the afternoon and when I got back a little after 4.30 it was time for a sit down and a cup of tea. Emily and Kai are making dinner tonight so I’ll see what little things I can get done before dinner is ready. I love the fact that I don’t have to cook on Saturday, it just gives me a day off and I can get on with stuff in the garden.

But before I went out I also managed to get my Spanish Melons potted up in 3 litre pots. If you only have 2 litre pots then that’s fine.

Just fill the pot with multipurpose compost and firm it down. Carefully turn the small pot that your melon seedlings are growing in upside down. Make a hole in the centre of the compost in the large pot and carefully pop the melon seedlings with all their compost in the hole. Gently fill around the plants and water from the bottom so the compost pulls up the water encouraging the roots to grow down.

I also planted out my Dwarf French Beans, they won’t need staking and are perfect for planting at the end of a raised bed.

Here’s a video to help you…..

As I tidied up the greenhouses I found hiding next to some Poppies a tray of Rocket. To be fair the leaves do look fairly similar at a glance. Now I’ve filled up most of the space in all the raised beds, so where to put them. Now Rocket doesn’t last that long, so the ideal place would be next to something that won’t need to be harvested for a while. I have 2 rows of Carrots so decided that would be perfect.

The roots of the Rocket don’t go down very far so that won’t effect the Carrots, so I snuck them in between the two rows and hopefully they’ll play happily together.

My Climbing French Beans have been rather slow this year, I don’t know why, but I planted them out this weekend anyway, and then added some more seeds into the holes as well. Hopefully I’ll get some French Beans as I do prefer these to Runner Beans. French beans you just pick, nip the top off and then cook. Runner beans there’s all sorts of faffing about to do.

A little bit more sorting in the greenhouses and moving of plants around. Getting some plants sorted to take to client’s gardens this week. Hopefully by the end of next week most of the flowers would have gone.

So a successful weekend, another busy week ahead, but before I pot up my tomatoes I need to buy some more compost.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and have an amazing week!

TTFN xxx

Yes I know it’s unusual for me to blog mid week, but there is a lot to do in the greenhouses and out in the garden.

So before I go to work I try and pop out in the garden and do a little something. I also pop out again when dinner is in the oven. Little and often at this time of year is the key.

It’s that time of year when you have to shift bits around in the greenhouses as some plants have to stay in, others are going out soon and there is a lot of tidying and organisation to be done. I like to think of it as doing a puzzle, so a little bit here and a little bit there, you can’t do that, until that is done. So slightly chaotic but organised chaos.

So for the past couple of days I’ve been planting up my Sweet Peppers in their final pots. Now unless you live in a hot climate these have to spend their entire life under protection. I’ve planted mine in 3 litre pots which gives their roots plenty of space to spread and grow. Again because they are peppers they need to be planted shallow, so don’t bury the stem under the compost.

I then put the pots in trays and water from the bottom, that way the compost will soak up the water encouraging the roots to grow downwards. They will need staking as the plants will get heavy with all the fruit that it produces, so I’ve attached a bamboo cane to the metal frame of my staging and then the plants loosely to the cane. Don’t tie them tight because the stem will get larger and fatter.

Once the plants start to produce flowers then start to feed them. I use Shropshire Seaweed fertiliser which I find works brilliantly.

Here’s a little video with a bit more information for you…. (I know I say 2 litre pots in the video, and I’ve just said 3 litre, but either will be fine)….

Have a wonderful rest of your week, and more adventures this weekend….but not Saturday and I have 2 weddings to bell ring for on that day, so see you Sunday.

Happy gardening xx