Clairesallotment's Blog

Now this hasn’t happened for ages, but nothing was going on this weekend. No cinema, no bell ringing, no seeing family. It was just me in the garden for the entire weekend. Obviously there was the usual shopping and household chores to do, but most of those were done on Saturday morning. It was then just me and my plants….it was beautiful.

Mark and I fixed the top of the wooden box which our oil tank goes in and I gave it another couple of coats of paint. The hinges had broken and new bigger ones went on. Yes we have oil based heating and hot water, and gas canisters….we live out in the sticks. We do have mains water and electricity, but sometimes the water gets switched off and we’re not told, and we have frequent mini power cuts. But you get used to it after a while and I never reset the timer on the oven or fridge freezer because it’s pointless.

But we do have wildlife all around from bunnies hopping around the back field and round the front and scooting across the road in front of the car, peacocks calling to each other, sheep and lambs in the field down the road, rhea’s grumbling as you walk past and a myriad of different birds flitting about, some small, some medium and some marsh harriers and the occasional owl and bats. The local swans in the stream are now teaching their babies about the Green Cross Code. Us locals drive sensibly, it’s the out of villagers that drive like idiots. Drive past them really, really slowly and carefully.

I got loads done in the garden so here goes. I know it’s early, but I’ve checked the weather and we are not due any more frosts in the south east of the UK so my Runner beans can now be planted out. The French beans are quite large enough so I’ll leave them for a little longer.

Here’s a video showing how I plant out mine…..

I then planted out my Cucumbers, all the varieties I have are outdoor ones so the beans are growing one side of the arch and the cues are growing the other. Hopefully they’ll meet at the top and make friends. I want to walk under my arch harvesting cues and beans all summer long. I have small dreams and little things make me smile.

When planting out your cucumbers, dig a hole a little larger than the pot they are growing in, carefully remove the plant from the pot and put it in the hole. Fill the soil around the plant and lean it against the bamboo cane. As it grows it should cling to the cane, but you might have to help it to start with.

The greenhouse needed another water, and now after the rain we had on Friday all my butts are full!! Yay!!

I wanted to get as many veggies planted out in the raised beds this weekend, because I’ll need to pot up my peppers, melons, and tomatoes very soon.

I planted out the remainder of my leeks. Planting these out is different from most other plants, so here’s a video explaining it in more detail…..

My Celeriac is growing really well. It started off slowly, but once I’d pricked out the seedlings and put them in individual pots they suddenly had a growth spurt. I’ve planted each one about 6-8 inches apart from each other so hopefully I’ll have something to harvest later in the autumn.

Celery went in next. I’ve planted these on the other side of the bed to the celeriac so I don’t get them confused. They look exactly the same, well they are closely related to each other. I suppose you could call them second cousins. This is the first time I’ve grown celery so it’ll be interesting to see how they get on.

The last bit of space in the back bed is for the Sweetcorn and the cucurbits (courgettes, pumpkins and butternut). This year the first lot of Sweetcorn didn’t germinate so I sowed some more a week ago. One has only just started to pop through the soil. If no more has arrived next weekend, then I’ll sow some more. Doesn’t matter if the sweetcorn goes in a little later as I can just fit it in amongst the cucurbits.

Here’s a little video on how I plant out mine……

Apart from a little bit of weeding that was it for this weekend. The greenhouse has a little more space in it now, but I’ll soon fill that up when I plant my peppers, melons and tomatoes in their final pots, but that’ll be a job for next weekend.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and a wonderful week.

TTFN

Claire xx

This weekend wasn’t as hectic as last weekend, but there was still a lot to do. Saturday was the usual shopping, bell ringing for someone’s wedding and then a bell ringing striking competition. There were 7 bands (teams) ringing and you get judged on how many mistakes you make. The fewer the better. I am pleased to report that the band I was ringing in came 1st!! Yay!! We got 37.5 faults, the band that came 2nd got 40 faults, so it was close. We get the special cup for a year.

Sunday, after a little bit more ringing…well it is Sunday morning…, I was back home and back out in the garden to unwind. I need some time in the garden at the weekend, it re sets my brain for the coming week.

I got loads done. Firstly I let the chickens out in the brassica cage and all 7 of them started to have dust baths. They huddle together in little groups. It’s bizarre as there is all that room, but they end up together.

I then watered the greenhouses where most things seem to be growing really well this year so far. More beans are popping through the compost so that’s great.

My parsnips this year, not one germinated. I’m not sure why. The seeds tend to only last a couple of years, so maybe they were old. So in their place I planted out some more Lettuce and some Spinach.

I planted out my Chard in a row next to some onions.

Lettuce, Spinach and Chard all need planting out in exactly the same way, so here’s a video on how I do mine….

And most of my Italian ParsleyI planted out in pots next to the herb patch. I still have a few plants left, but will plant that out somewhere else, most probably in a trough, as I have one in the greenhouse. The more you pick the more will grow.

A little bit more weeding and watering and then it was time for lunch.

After lunch it was then time to get my brassicas planted outside in the cage that the chickens like to play in. Now if the chickens had their way then they would eat all my brassicas in about 5 minutes, but I clearly don’t want that to happen. So the chickens are now back in their large run which is attached to their house, and the brassicas are playing in the playpen now.

Give the chickens a load of credit, the soil in that bed is so fine and beautiful. They’ve scratched it about and pooped a load of goodness on the soil, so that’ll help the brassicas grow. I got all my brassicas out the greenhouses and placed the trays in the cage before deciding where they all should go.

All brassicas need to be planted out in exactly the same way and here is a little video showing you how I do mine….

After tying the peas to their canes and a little more weeding and tidying it was time to start the BBQ. It’s our first one of the year and we were having sausages, chicken and ribs on it.

I’m planning on having loads more this summer, and eating outside in the garden when we can. The weather stayed dry right up to the very end when I was cooking the last slab of ribs. But it was only a few big blobs and nothing too heavy. Still I put on a light jacket just incase.

We are supposed to have rain and maybe thunder later tonight, but knowing the clouds they’ll decided to forget about us and float on by. I don’t know what it is about where we live, maybe because we’re right by the coast, but rain tends to miss us a lot of the time. You see it drifting over and get really excited, but them it goes “No, nothing for you today.” As long as the little we get tops up some of my butts then I don’t mind. It doesn’t take that much to fall as the roof is very large and it’s surprising how much collects.

FYI we didn’t get any rain over night, not even a drop, and therefore no thunder. We might get some Tuesday night instead.

Happy gardening and BBQing!

See you soon xxx

I did pop out in the garden first thing on the Saturday morning but that was just for Mark to take a quick photo of me and my Rhubarb. The first Saturday in May is Naked Gardening Day, yes it’s a thing, and the only thing you’re supposed to wear is a smile, so here’s my contribution.

Hopefully the neighbours weren’t looking out their upstairs windows at the time.

Once that was done, a freakishly busy Saturday, and yes more freakishly busy than normal, was to follow. The local church that I ring at recently had a massive restoration project done on it. The church is over 700 years old, and all the stonework, roof, windows, you name it, it was done and restored back to its former glory. For over 5 years scaffolding was going up and down all over the church, making sure that they kept the bell ringers secret door clear at all times. The church had planned a celebration weekend, but due to a certain virus it was postponed, but finally it happened this weekend. The church and grounds were open to the general public and we had visits up the bell tower to see how we rung the bells. The tower visits started at 10.30am and finished at 3pm, and 97 people came up to see what we do. I did all the talking (obviously) and apparently everyone enjoyed themselves. Afterwards I didn’t go straight home, but to our local butchers to get meat for the next couple of weeks, then Sainsbury’s for a general weekly shop and then I finally got home a little after 5pm! Just before I left Sainsbury’s I texted the family…”Just leaving Sainsbury’s. Wine please xx”. They obliged.

The reason I wanted to get all that done on Saturday was because I wanted to spend all of Sunday in my garden. So after ringing, yes more but only before the morning service, I grabbed a mug of tea and out I went. The front garden was first on the list with some general tidying up and watering which didn’t take long. My Lupines are in full flower and look so pretty.

Once that was all done it was into the back garden. First of all a little check on the greenhouses to check on the watering, and to see how my French and Runner beans were doing. I sowed them on 1st May so I was hoping for something. And bless them they didn’t disappoint. Some are just popping through the surface of the soil, but others are still asleep, hopefully they’ll all wake up soon.

The greenhouses are getting pretty full now, but if I’ve got time then I would plant some out today, but others next weekend.

A bit more weeding and watering of the back beds again. We recently had a little bit of rain, very fine drizzle early one evening, but it was enough to put some water in the butts. I don’t only get water from our roof, but next doors guttering runs down into ours so I get theirs as well…ssshhh…don’t tell them, I’m not sure they know.

Because I was out in the garden, the chickens felt they should be out to play also, so I popped them in the brassica cage so they could have a dustbath and a play. I’ll be planting this years brassicas in that cage soon, hopefully next weekend, so I’m not sure how they’ll feel about that. their playpen will have to go somewhere else, or they’ll just have to stay in their run.

In the remainder of the brassica cage where the chickens were playing I have a little bit of space left, so that’s where this years onions are going. I sowed them from seed in late January, pricked them out in early March and now they’re ready for the big outdoors. I plant them about 6 inches apart, so they have enough room for the bulbs to swell. Once they were in I watered them in well.

Here’s a little video with a bit more information…..

On the outside of a couple of the pots I found some small slugs. Now I don’t get many in my garden for some reason, snails you don’t see often either, not sure why. But so as not to encourage them to live in my raised beds I gave the little slugs to the chickens. Which they really enjoyed. One grabs it and runs off and the others all follow. Round and round they go, they’re so funny.

A little bit more weeding in the potato bed and I was done for the day. The perfect end to a very, very busy weekend. Now for another very busy week…..Is next weekend just as busy?…..Nearly, but not quite.

Have a great week and hope you get to enjoy being in your garden xx

After several years of sowing at different time, I’ve come to the conclusion that the perfect time for me to sow my Runner and French Bean seeds in the greenhouse is on 1st May. That way they have exactly one month to grow and be the perfect size to be planted outside on 1st June. I live in the South East of the UK so all worries of frost have gone from that area by the beginning of June. If you live further north or south of where I am, then you know your frost dates and can adjust your timings.

So before Mark and I went out in the afternoon, and after I’d mowed the grass. Yes I know it’s “No Mow May”, but I couldn’t mow the grass at the end of April because we were out all day, so I mowed it today. I can’t see that one day would make a difference anyway. So once all that was done I went and sowed my bean seeds.

I have 3 different varieties this year and I sow them all the same way. The varieties I have this year are: Climbing French Beans “Blue Lake”, I love these, they’re so prolific. Dwarf French Beans “Safari“, these are perfect for growing round the edges of raised beds, or in large pots or troughs as they don’t need staking. And also Climbing Runner beans “Scarlet Emperor”.

I fill a pot with multipurpose compost (which ever you prefer to use) and place 2 seeds on top at diagonal corners.

When you have all the pots you want, then push the seeds down about an inch. Cover with compost, water with fresh tap water and label. They should germinate in about a week or so depending on the temperatures outside.

If you want to sow directly outside, then wait a couple of weeks and sow 2 or 3 seeds together in the same little hole, again about an inch under the soil.

Here’s a little video with a bit more information….

Once all those were done then I pricked out my Wok Broc which is going great guns. I put one seedling into each pot and planted them deep, so all the stem was under the soil and just the leaves were above.

Then I pricked out my Rocket, but this I did in little clumps of about 5-6 seedlings because it’s happier that way. You don’t have to be exact with the number of seedlings, just a small clump will be fine.

So that was all done before we went out. On Bank Holiday Monday some of the family will be over, so I double if I’ll get any time out in the garden, but I have a half day on Tuesday so I’ll get my garden fix then.

Whatever you did this early May Bank Holiday I hope you had a wonderful time.

Keep watering those plants, I’m now having to syphon out the bath water because my butts are empty, looks like I may have to do the washing machine water soon if we don’t have rain in the next couple of days.

Happy gardening xxx

This weekend was mainly spent pricking out various seedlings. Some individually, but others in little clumps of 5 or 6 seedlings. When doing little clumps you don’t have to count them exactly, they will just clump in groups naturally, so if there are a more in some clumps and fewer in other, then that’s fine.

I’ll start with the single prickings out first, which was were some more Leeks “Elefant” and Celery.

I’ve grown this variety of Leeks before, but never Celery, Celeriac yes, so I’m guessing it’s about the same. The seedlings on both are looking great, so once you’ve filled the pot with compost, then make a hole in the centre and place the seedling inside. I planted them both a little further under the soil then they were in their seed tray, but not too far. Water from the top to settle the compost around the seedling and then from the bottom so the compost soaks up the water and encourages the roots to grow down.

They’ll stay in the greenhouses for about another 5-6 weeks which will take me to the end of May, beginning of June, when I’ll then plant them outside.

The next load of seedlings I did in little clumps. I’m using up all my flower seeds this year, some will go in my garden, some will go in my client’s gardens and the rest will go in the churchyard. I have California Wildflower Mix, Love in a Mist, Penny Royal and Red Poppies.

Again sow these a little deeper in the compost that they are in the seed tray. Some of these will go out in about 3 weeks time, others will take an extra week or so.

Once all that was done then it was a little check of all the plants in the greenhouses to see if any needed watering and then that was it for the day.

To say the next couple of weeks are busy is a slight understatement, so I won’t get any major chunk of time in the garden, it’ll be an hour here and there.

Have a great week and happy gardening xx

It doesn’t happen very often that I have an afternoon free during the week, but today I did. So it was the perfect time to sow all my April seeds, inside and out. After lunch I grabbed a cup of tea and my April box of seeds and off I went to the greenhouses to start.

There are a lot to get through and I’ll put them in sections with the links to the various seeds just incase you want to get any yourself.

So here goes…..

I’ll start with the herbs first, all of these need to be sown on moist compost and then sprinkle a little more compost on top of the seeds. A couple of different varieties of Coriander “Lemon” and “Leisure” (but they don’t seem to do this variety anymore or have renamed it). Basil “Genovese” you can beat it it’s amazing. There are loads of other different varieties of Basil so just sow them all the same way. Oregano, Sage and then I’m going to put Rocket in with this lot as well. The variety I have is from Spain, so have given you a link to one that looks the same that you can buy in the UK.

Next I’ll move on to the Cucurbits. Now these I have not sown in seed trays but in individual pots. I’ve sown 2 seeds per pot and at diagonal corners. If both seeds come up I won’t separate them as they will grow very happily together. Because these seeds are large they’ll need to be sown sideways and not flat. If you sow them flat then the water will sit on the seed and may rot them. The Cucurbits I have are two different varieties of Courgette “Green Bush” and Sunstripe”, just remember courgettes are prolific so you only need a couple of plants. A variety of Cucumber called “Alficoz” which again I bought from Spain, They are also sometimes called Snake Melons. I would have given you a link to a company abroad that you can get the seeds from, but due to the debacle of BREXIT these companies will no longer ship to us (Claire makes and angry face). So the only suggestion I can put forth is if you know someone who is either going on holiday or who lives in Spain, maybe they can bring you a packet of seeds home. I’m sure that’s still allowed. The company I got mine from in Spain, or you could try Franchi Seeds, you may find some garden centres stock these. Good luck xx

I have a mixed selection of Pumpkins so I’ve sown a few more of those. I do have “Atlantic Giant” Pumpkins growing, but fancied growing a few more.

Here’s a video with a little more information about sowing you Cucurbit seeds….

Next was my sweetcorn. This year the variety I’m growing is “Lark”. I’ve grown it before and it did really well. Again, just like the Cucurbits I’m sowing 2 seeds per pot, and also at diagonal corners. Some people like to soak their sweetcorn seeds before they sow them, but I’ve never done that. But if it’s something you do and it works for you then carry on. As they say “If it ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If both seeds germinate then when I plant them outside in the ground I won’t separate them. They’ll grow quite happily together. Whether you’re growing Sweetcorn, Popcorn, Baby corn, or the Ornamental corn they all need to be sown in the same way. You can sow directly out in the soil but I tend to find the germination rate is much poorer as the squirrels and various other garden visitors dig them up and run off with them.

Here’s a little video with more information….

I then sowed a couple more brassicas.

Firstly the most wonderful beautiful Cauliflowers ever, if people say they don’t like cauliflowers then give them these and they’ll love them. They taste like a cross between cauliflower and broccoli, if you’ve never tried them give “Romanesco” a try. And the other is Wok Broc “Kichi Chinese Broccoli“. It seems a little like sprouting broccoli, and looked interesting so I’m giving it a go. Sowing is easy, here’s how I sow mine.

The penultimate load of seeds is Chicory “Rossa di Trevisco”. Chicory has a bitter flavour to it and is closely related to lettuce, I suppose you could call it it’s second cousin once removed….whatever that is I don’t know. Sow these the same as the brassicas.

And finally I sowed a few more slower seeds, Delphinium “Belladonna Mixed”. These are perennials so will come back every year getting bigger and more beautiful each year. When they germinate they prefer to be a little on the dryer side, so make sure you don’t over water them. Sow them on moist compost and cover with a thin layer of a little more compost.

Well that was a fun filled afternoon. I’ll keep you posted on how everything grows, still lots more to do, but I expect that’ll have to wait until the weekend.

Take care and happy gardening xx

A long weekend and hardly anything planned. That doesn’t happen very often. Good Friday I worked, but that was because I really needed to finish off someones garden, and another I’d not been to for a month because last time I was due to go we had sleet, snow, hail, basically all that cold horrible weather. Saturday was spent doing shopping and house chores, but Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday were garden days. I had a list as long as my arm, and my arms are very long. I didn’t get through everything in the garden, but I made a huge dent in my list of things to do.

I decided a systematic approach would be best, so weeded and watered 3 of the large raised beds first. The fourth raised bed is the fruit bed and that is a job all on its own so will have to wait for another day. As I checked for weeds in the bed where I planted my potatoes I noticed a few leaves had broken through the surface of the soil. What clever little potatoes they are.

I’ll make sure I cover them with a little more soil just incase we have a late frost. Just pile some soil on the top of the leaves and it’ll look like a little mole hill. We do get moles occasionally in our garden, usually during the winter, but the more you walk around the garden the better, as they don’t like the vibrations. The row of Parsnips that I sowed next to the potatoes haven’t started to sow themselves yet, but they can be rather slow. There was enough room for another line of something else, so I sowed a row of Beetroot “Chioggia”. I love these, they did really well last year and they look so pretty when you slice them.

Here’s how I sow mine…..

Because I was in the garden the chickens assume that they are entitled to come out and play as well. One of the brassica cages is over the potatoes, but the other one is over one of the other beds where I’m planning on planting this years brassicas, so that’s the one they play in at the moment. You let them out and they follow me (well most of them) to their new little play area. I pop them in and they scratch about, then they dust bathe and then scratch some more before lounging in the sun.

Outside their play area, but also in the bed I have some room, so sowed a couple of rows of Carrots. I have three different varieties “Rainbow” and “Purple Sun” which I have mixed together and then “Paris Market Atlas” which I am keeping separate as they are round and don’t grow down like the rest.

Here’s how I sow my carrots….

After watering these in, and the garlic that is growing in the bed as well I then moved on to the brassica bed where my one remaining Brussels Sprout and several Sprouting Broccoli are. As soon as I got into that bed the chickens got all excited. They love their greens and were hoping for a little treat. How could I not oblige, they just love their mummy so much and are very sweet. So I dug up the last Sprout, took off any I wanted and then gave the entire stem to them. They’re like Piranhas. They pounced on the Brussels stem and surround it. They then proceed to peck off every scrap of green and within about 5 minutes all that is left was the thick stem. I tidied up any debris round the sprouting broccoli and removed any sprouting bits that had either gone over, or were about to go to flower. Don’t worry about striping these back to the stem, just give them a few weeks and new sprouts will appear that you can harvest. Sprouting broccoli is the plant that keeps on giving. I just boil mine in a small amount of water for a couple of minutes and it’s amazing.

I then dug up the remainder of the Leeks, and will cut them up in to slices and then put them in the freezer and take and use as and when we need them. Leeks freezer really well and just cook from frozen. They did really well this year, some were a little on the small side but that’s not a problem as you can always cook the whole.

So, once the 3 large beds had been tidied I then moved on to the 3 square beds at the back. The bed that has the Asparagus in is doing really well, and I planted the 5 new Asparagus crowns that I received from Sutton’s. I’m sure they’ll settle in very well with their other asparagus friends. Once they were in I gave them a good water.

The bed next to that has a Tayberry in, but there was space at the front to plant out my Peas. I thought little wigwams would be better with the space that I had. Hopefully the peas will climb up the canes, with a little encouragement from me, and not climb about on each other. Now these are in, I’ll start another lot off in the greenhouse so when the first lot are finished the next lot will be ready to harvest. Again I gave the bed a good weed before I planted out my peas, and then a good water once the peas were in.

Whether you have peas, sugar snap or mangetout they need to be planted out in exactly the same way. Here’s a video on how I do mine…..

The final bed at the back, not only has my Kiwi growing in, but the space at the front has my Broad Beans growing in as well. These are been in for a few weeks now and are settling in well. They have doubled in size since I planted them out a good month ago. Again a weed and thorough water.

I have a little Belfast sink that is the perfect place to sow little things. This year I have Radish growing which I sowed a couple of weeks ago and they are coming up wonderfully.

There is a little space left, so I sowed 2 rows of Spring Onions “Guardsman” next to them. Radish prefer cooler weather so I tend to find they do better at the beginning of the season, unless you can find a sheltered spot in your garden.

Here’s how I sow my Spring onion seeds….

I have to admit that all the 3 beds at the back do look lovely, especially with some tulips flowering between each bed.

Then it was into the greenhouses. They are both filling up nicely, but are also a little messy. My view is a clean and perfectly tidy greenhouse is never a well used greenhouse. That’s my excuse and I’m going to stick to it.

They both needed a general tidy up, seedlings needed to be pricked out, some plants needed sorting out because they’d not taken, some other plants needed to be planted outside, some troughs with plants needed trimming and moved outside and finally if I got time some seed sowing, but I couldn’t see that happening today.

I’d pricked out a load of Lettuce seedlings several weeks ago and they are now large enough to be planted outside. I have a little Woodblocx bed by the patio and this is the perfect place for them to go. So I planted them out and there were a few more little ones that needed to be pricked out so I planted them in small pots, and when they’re large enough they will go outside with the other ones.

I then pricked out my Celariac, a few more Tomatoes, some Rosemary, and some Italian Parsley. All these need to me planted deep, so all the roots and stem needs to go under the soil and only the leaves are showing above. Water from above so the compost can level off and fill up any holes, and then put a little water in the tray so the compost can soak it up and encourage the roots of the seedlings to grow down.

Having reshuffled various plants the greenhouses were now tidy. It was too late to start sowing any seeds, but Tuesday I am only working a half day so will do them then.

Happy Easter everyone and I hope you man aged to enjoy your weekend xxx

Another Sunday, another day in the garden, what more could I want. As usual when I came home from ringing I went out into the garden to check on everything in the greenhouses and gave them a little water. I need to do more pricking out and tidying in the greenhouses, but the outside needs my attention first. The Easter weekend I am planning on spending as much of it as possible in the garden so hopefully I will be able to get everything up to date then. I decided I would work Good Friday, but have the Monday off, the perks of being self employed you can decide. Mark is away from Friday to late Sunday, and Easter is very low key for us at home, so we’ll have a special meal on the Monday when we’re all together again.

The first job for today was to weed. The large beds have little Sycamore seedlings growing all over them, our neighbours have a tree and the little helicopters (that’s what my sister and I used to call the seed pods) flutter down into my garden. It’s not a problem, but you just have to remove them sooner rather than later.

The first bed was where the potatoes, parsnips and a row of garlic is growing. Once weeded, I watered the parsnips and the garlic and then moved on to the next bed.

Apart from a little bit of weeding I dug up the remainder of last years Spring Onions. They’re quite chunky, but grew really well. I’ll use them over the next couple of days and hopefully this years one’s I’ll sow next weekend. Once this bed was all weeded and tidy it was time to call Mark and Kai so we could move the brassica cage from the bed behind. Emily bless her was unable to help as she had her appendix removed only a few days before and isn’t allowed to lift anything heavy for 6-8 weeks apparently, so a heavy brassica cage was out of the question. But with two strong men and me (who is stronger than both of them put together) we moved it with ease.

Because I was out in the garden the chickens were complaining feeling that if I was out playing in the garden why weren’t they. Once the brassica cage was in place and hoped I had secured all the gaps, I let them out to play in the brassica cage in the sun so they could have a scratch and a dust bath.

We were having lunch inside when Emily suddenly said “Is there supposed to be a chickenon the fruit bed?” To which I answered “Um, no!” Cheeky little buggers had scratched enough soil away and a few of them had snuck out of the brassica cage and into the garden. One was in the fruit patch and another couple were wandering around the garden. After picking them up and putting them back where they were supposed to be, I sorted out the little gap they’d created and went back inside to finish my lunch.

I received some more Asparagus crowns from Suttons which I’ll put in next weekend. The variety I got was “Officinalis Mondeo” Only reason I chose this variety was because once we had a red Ford Mondeo Estate car and it was a gorgeous car, very long, so finding a parking space large enough was interesting, but so comfortable to drive, oh and the acceleration…wow! Turbo diesel injection!! I’m not a speed demon but it was fast. As I was unable to plant these today or this coming week as I’m so busy, I’ve laid them in moist compost.

Once it was time for me to go in, I let the chickens out of their brassica cage and they followed me back to their shed and run as I was carrying a pot of corn and mealworms. Victoria lets the children go and stays back as she wants a little grown up time with me. We sat on the grass and I gave her her own little pot of corn and mealworms and then we had a little cuddle before it was time for her to go in. She loves her mummy cuddles and a little bit of time away from the noisy children.

Here’s to a busy week, but afterwards a long weekend!

Take care everyone xx

When I woke up this morning I had no idea what day of the week it was. Honestly I seriously didn’t know. I was going through in my head each day of the week trying to figure it out. Where was I working yesterday? What did I do yesterday? Finally my brain caught up and I realised with great delight that it was Sunday. After a cup of tea in bed and a few funny little video’s that Mark saved throughout the week I was back on track.

The weather has warmed up a lot now, I wasn’t a fan of that cold blast that came though on Thursday and Friday, which included snow, sleet, hail and a bitter wind. There was still a chill in the air, but because the sun was now shining it felt much warmer.

The tulips were clearly enjoying the sun and decided to come out and play.

I tidied the pots at the front and gave them a water. They are looking mighty fine at the moment. The daffodils are just about finished, but that means that all the other flowers aren’t that far off. When they flower I’ll take photos and show you, but for the meantime you’ll just have to wait.

I then went into the back garden and sowed a small row of Radish “Logo”, I’ll sow a few more in about a months time and keep going like that until about the end of August. That way I’ll have a constant supply of radish throughout the summer. Radish don’t like getting too hot. If they do they’ll bolt and go very woody inside. So make sure you sow them in a shady spot.

Here’s a video with more information….

I also sowed a row of Parsnips “Gladiator”, just remember that parsnips are in the ground for a very long time (anytime from 9 months to a year) so you need to make sure you plant them where they won’t get in the way.

Here’s a video with more information….

I then went to the 3 square beds I have at the back of the garden and started to give them a bit of a tidy up, not that they were that messy anyway. The first bed on the left has Asparagus in and the spears have just started to break the surface. One spear is ready so I’ll harvest that tomorrow and we’ll have it for dinner, but the others are doing great and won’t be long. Once I’d weeded the bed I then spread a bag of compost on the top and tomorrow will get a bag of farmyard manure to put on top as well. Make sure you water the asparagus well, and if you don’t have well rotted manure then Seaweed Fertiliser will work very well. They are hungry plants and need be bit of food.

The second bed has a Raspberry and a Tayberry in, so I weeded that and the space in front of those I will plant my dwarf french beans, but I won’t sow them until May 1st in the greenhouse and then I’ll plant them out on June 1st when all worry of frost has gone from the south of England. After years and years of trial and error I have found that this works perfectly. So sow your bean seeds (Runner or French) 1 month before you plan to plant them outside. That way they’ll be about 6-8 inches tall which is perfect and haven’t started to twist round each other or a stick. When I sow mine I’ll let you know.

The bed on the right had an Issai Kiwi in. I’ve had mine for about 3 years now and it’s grown really well, but so far has not yet fruited. These can cope with fairly low temperatures and you’ll find that when the leaves come out in early Spring, if you have a frost the leaves they will wilt and go brown, but don’t worry as more green leaves will soon appear. Fingers crossed I will get some fruit this year. The space in front of the Kiwi I have planted my Broad Beans, so hopefully they’ll both play well together and not argue.

Here’s a little more information about planting out Broad Beans…..

Well that was that for today and more next week.

Happy gardening!

This week is a very odd week as there is a 5th Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the month. Usually I just work the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th days of the month so having a 5th is a bonus day off. I worked Wednesday because I always do, but today I was down our local pub, no not for a pint of beer at 9am, but to give their raised beds and various flower beds a tidy up.

But once I’d finished there I was home and out in my garden. Today I thought I would mow the grass and then plant out all my seed potatoes, so that’s what I did to start with.

It was my grasses first cut of the year and some bits were a little long. It now looks much neater, so with regular cutting and feeding any bare patches should recover.

I have two different varieties of seed potatoes this year “Jazzy” and “Sarpo Mira”. I’m planting them in one of the raised beds this year, they just don’t do brilliantly in buckets. I got my trusty long handled bulb planter out which works perfectly. No bending down, no hard digging, it’s perfect. Don’t buy a metal one as they break immediately. You get what you pay for, and the makers of mine don’t exist anymore but there are other makes out there.

Just remove any weeds, level off the soil and off you go.

If you aim correctly you’ll get a hole in one.

No bending or digging. Just a long handled bulb planter and a hole in one. pic.twitter.com/Wyu8d0l0Su

— clairesallotment (@clairesallotmen) April 2, 2022

Afterwards a little more tidying in the garden by moving one of the brassica cages and then some weeding.

A wonderful bonus day.

Happy gardening everyone!!