1st Parsnips of the Season

First parnsips of the season - and what crackers they are! It took at least five minutes to excavate one, it's tap root was sooooo long. I actually had to dig down around it in order to get enough hold on it to pull it up. Brilliant! Can't wait to cook them up for Sunday dinner guests tomorrow: Split in half lengthways, roast in the oven with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic and rosemary! Maybe a drizzle of honey towards the end. Delicious.

Soft-Fruit Trug

Daffodil bulbs, soft raspberries and a new trug to put them all in! I was in need of just the right sized collection vessel for things like tomatoes and raspberries; fruits where you only pick a few at a time as they're never ready to pick as one. SO, thanks to my friends who bought me this a a birthday pressie, along with gardener's handcream, scrub, some oak plant tags and a dibber.

Girls are great, aren't they?!

Greenhouse Tidy-up

I've recently had a birthday and Uncle Stephen was kind enough to send a little money; which I promptly went out and spent! We took off on the Saturday to Jimmy's Farm, and had a really lovely day out exploring with the pigs and piglets! The little shop there displayed a range of gardening and growing gifts and I spotted this on the way in. It was perfect for tidying away all those little things that end up left around the greenhouse, so I bought it. A bit of an impulse, yes, but it fits perfectly (after the removal of a shelf!), and keeps everything neat and tidy.

Return of Merlotti

It's the middle of half term, not much inspiration to get outside, what with the grey, overcast days, and my love of daytime tv! I did, however, manage to drag myself off the sofa, and the cat came with me to enjoy the digging and running across the newly planted beds. The old cabbage and broccoli bed is the second winter patch to be done, so first, I removed any cabbage leaves I could use for Spring Greens (even though it's not spring!) That reminds me, I left them in a trug in the greenhouse so will just go and collect them now while I remember...back in a mo...

Ok, job done. All in ready to go with the roast tonight. So, having dug it all over and added some compost, I planted up all the onions, about 49 of them, and two heads of garlic, kept from my own garlic last year. I've gone for an onions set: Troy. The garlic is Solent Wight and grew brilliantly last year. After planting, I've covered with fleece to keep them warm for the first few weeks, and will change the blanket into a tunnel as the shoots begin to form.

I've also sown some Winter Gem lettuce in the greenhouse. Now, call me stupid, but I thought that if I seeded them all at the same time, then I could grow them in sets, stage by stage. I have now realised its the sowing, rather than the planting out, that I needed to do in stages! Doh! Oh well, first set out under cloches as a catch crop between the broad beans, which are looking much healthier now they're in the ground.

The cat loves exploring the different patches, and whilst digging, I found a little hoard of squirrel nuts! I've left them out on the corner for him to find again. This bed is still a muddle as it has leeks planted in summer, that I've just begun to harvest, new broad beans and now Winter Gem.

I also finished off planting out the cabbages and you can really see the difference. Apart from the slugs enjoying their fill, I think they're going to do well and hope that this variety, Round head, do actually produce a head, rather than a few leaves and a bit of a point as last years' did.

Ready to Grow

Here are the first pictures of the new spring cabbages. I've cloched them to try to prevent the slugs and snails getting at them so early on, but will have to remove them soon as they won't fit inside!

I've also sown some winter gem lettuces. Now, it's a case of waiting a little longer so I can transfer them outside. I'm gong to grow them as a catch crop, between the rows of broad beans, so we'll see what happens.

These colourful seedlings are Rainbow Lights chard. Hopefully, not only will it provide colour and texture in the border next to the wall, but we'll also be able to use the smaller stalks as spring greens.

A New Start

Just a few pictures to show the winter/spring cabbages and broad beans that are starting off.

Getting ready!

Still Harvesting!

Just a quick photo gallery today so you can see what else is ready to go! the onions are still drying nicely in the greenhouse, but are on the small side. A shame really and I'm not sure why...I've gone for a different variety this year in the hopes they'll be bigger.

First we have husbands chillis, although we have since discovered the chillis he planted were the very mildest you could possibly choose! They're still very cookable though, and have found their way into several recipes recently.

As you can see, we've still got many tomatoes of all sizes and the raspberries have decided to give us a small second crop too. As for the corn...well, I think lack of water over the summer and a place that wasn't in direct sunlight may have contributed to their downfall. Oh well, we'll try again next year and hope that a different position will help.

Smoke from the Bonfire

Leaves on the trees are turning,
Yellow, brown and red,
Smoke from the bonfire burning,
Curling over head

Here comes Autumn,
Bringing the mist and rain,
Summer has gone for another year,
Autumn's here again.

I love Autumn; I think it may be my favourite season, but then I remember the long warm summer days, and think that might be; and I consider all the blossom and new shoots in Spring; and the snow days and being curled up snugly by the fire in Winter, and I really can't make up my mind.

One thing I am sure about though, is that the leeks are looking promising for a mid-Autumn harvest and the parsnips also look strong. The cabbage have given a few new leaves which I'll pop into stir-fried things, and I've got a few new round headed cabbages to put in this year instead of the pointy ones. Can't wait!

Celery, Sweetcorn, Leeks & Raspberries

My next harvest will hopefully be the leeks. They're looking strong and healthy and growing straight and true which is always good. I just hope they taste as nice!

Celery is a new one for me, and the plants are very leafy. I'm hoping the stalks will toughen up and broaden out a bit: am I meant to group them together and put them in tubes to help them do this?

Sweetcorn, again, is another new one, so I'm pleased to say the 10 stems all look to be doing well. 5 in one bed are doing much better than the ones in the other bed and I think the only difference they get is the amount of water, so I'm guessing that's the reason why.

And last but not least, there appear to still be a few raspberries hanging around. I picked as many as possible in the hopes of fooling the plants into making more fruit, but I think I only convinced one of the plants!

Harvest Time

Having got back from holidays a few days ago, the veg. patch is a sorry sight. So far I've managed to harvest the cabbages, but they were rather snail and caterpillar eaten, so most went on the compost heap; pull the garlic, all of which looks fab; pick the onions.

The courgettes are doing really well, a bit of water burn on the leaves as I've been lazy about the watering and put the sprinkler on, but other than that, they're dong really well. the flowers open every morning into full sun, the bees and insects pollinate them nicely and every few days, there's about 4 perfect little courgettes. In fact, they were so delicious, I made courgette fritters with them a few days ago. Have a look at direbonappetit in the next few days to see the recipe.

I've yet to weed all the beds; plant another row of carrots; check the beetroot and, somehow, ripen the tomatoes! They look great and very healthy, but they were late in and I'm worried they won't get enough sun to fully ripen. Oh well, it might be Delia's Green Tomato Chutney if they don't - check direbonappetit to see their fate!

No Room at the Patch...Part 4

On to the mixed bed...Spinach, Beetroot and Courgette.

Now, last year the courgettes grew brilliantly, but I did plant them in a whole bed of compost, so will wait to see how they develop this one. If necessary, I'll dig out the bed and replant!

The spinach is growing well and really needs more regular picking than I can give it. I think my garden might have just the right type of soil for leafy plants. Is that extra nitrogen in the soil? I can't remember which nutrient is best for which type of plant!

The beetroot plants look so colourful. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

No Room at the Cabbage Patch...Part 3

Brassicas next then...well, you already know the progress of the cabbages - amazing! I'm using the leaves as spring greens, and have even tried crispy seaweed. Just a few fennel seeds, a pinch of sugar and a quick fry. I also seeded some broccoli but couldn't seem to find it. When I investigated further, however, I found several little shoots hiding under the cabbages, so moved a few into the light and cropped off a few cabbage leaves to help the remaining ones along! there are already a few little 'flowers' forming so hopefully, they'll go the same way as the cabbages. Time will tell.

No Room in the Patch...Part 2

Next up were the aliums. Now, I had several, well, about 30, little leeks and plugged them all in to their own little hole which I duly filled with water, and re-filled. I know they don't look all that healthy, but with a little sun and little rain there'll be a lovely row of...oh no, that's potatoes not leeks! Oh well, all in a soup!

Unfortunately, as well as the lovely sunny weather today, we've had numerous thunder storms and much, much rain! hope they don't drown. will keep you informed. The onions are looking good; a range of sizes but hopefully if I leave them in the ground a little longer, they'll expand and i won't have quite so much peeling to do. the garlic is looking fantastic: think I planted a few too many though!

No Room in the Patch...part 1

Well, the final little plug plants arrived, all be it a few weeks late, and I spent Saturday clearing and weeding the remainder of the beds and Sunday planting everything up. As well as the main beds, I tidied up the Nasturtiums with the hope of popping a few into a salad this week, and made sure everything in the greenhouse was 'up to date'. My one remaining job in there is to plant up the peppers: there are now strong healthy shoots and I need to find a pot in which to put them!

First up... the umbellifers! All my little roots. I planted the carrots early in the greenhouse, and despite everyone telling me that you couldn't uproot them and transplant them because the tap root would be damaged, I was very careful and it looks like ti's worked well! They are growing bigger and need harvesting soon before they get tough and lose their sweetness. I also found a few parsnips that I'd popped in with radish to mark the rows. Well, the radish have been eaten and a few parsnips survived, along with the extras I've grown on from the greenhouse. This week's new arrivals is the celery. All planted in and ready to grow!

I just can't help it...

I really can't. They are such a distraction and are now happily feeding themselves! At one point, there were 3 on the squirrel-proof feeder, 3 on the fatball and 3 on the other peanut feeder. Also, there was a female blackbird taking up one of the fatballs!

Going...going...gone!

Well, they went yesterday. I wasn't lucky enough to actually see them leave the nest but caught up with them immediately after, all sitting together on the nearest branch!

I've followed their progress since and they're happy to sit around and pose for photos! having looked in more detail, I think now they may be Great Tits. Originally, it was a pair of Blue Tits that built the nest but at some point, and without me seeing!, the Great Tits must have moved in!

I've noticed a large and noisy flock of Willow or Long Tailed Tits. The thing that makes me think they're Willow Tits is the 'v' in the end of the tail, but you can never tell with juvies! Will post photos of the later this week!