Tagged

Despite the freezing wind, snow flurries and occasional bursts of sunshine, we made it outside to check the protection for the onions and garlic was holding up. Needless to say, one corner had blown loose and needed re-staking, but apart from that, everything looked good.

I also ventured into town today, without shadow, and happened upon some wooden plant labels, of which I swiftly bought 3 packets. They're only £1 ish from Wilkinson's so I scooped up a few to go one at the end of each row so I can see exactly how many rows of plants I have. They also sold a set of larger slate labels which would be perfect for tagging an area or raised bed rather than the ends of a row. One of the two packs left was broken though, so I left those for the time being.

We chose pencil as our tool of choice to write the vegetable names on and quickly substituted the plastic labels already out for the new, more 'organic', wooden variety. Much prettier. Although my shadow raced wildly about, encouraged by the blustery conditions, he proved camera shy today; I had the perfect shot of the broad beans, the new wooden tag and him though the trellises. but the wind blew at the wrong moment and he sprang out of shot to race around into the greenhouse instead: A much safer shelter from the snow!

Tick List

snowdrops

OK - despite the cold I ventured outside in the sunshine earlier to attempt some of the 'list. My little shadow also ventured outside for the first time this weekend and insisted on 'helping' with all the tasks, including putting up higher covers for the onions and garlic so the green shoots don't break off...

putting up the fishing wire as a heron deterrent - tick

adding posts to the raised beds to raise the covers - tick

(low posts and bubble wrap!) planting in a few more onions - too cold

give the compost a stir - tick, and added kitchen scraps (click here for tips on composting)

clearing the mushy leaves from the lawn - too muddy

give 'making friends with Mr Robin' another go - he didn't appear :(

I found some potential daffodils hiding under the Contorted Willow!

As I re-read the 'list', I see that I undertook all the easy jobs and left out the more difficult ones, or ones I didn't want to do, giving an excuse to justify it to myself! Oh well, there's still tomorrow!

in the greenhouse

The Best Laid Plans...

Looks like the weather could put pay to all my plans for this weekend. Don't want to raise the height of the fleecing if the snow is going to collapse it! Will have to wait and see if the weather reports are correct...

Roll on the weekend

Looking forward to spending some time in the garden this weekend. A few jobs to get done - putting up the fishing wire as a heron deterrent, adding posts to the raised beds to raise the covers and planting in a few more onions - red and white as the brown/yellow ones are already in! Will try to remember to give the compost a stir too. Am going to have a go at clearing the mushy leaves from the lawn and give 'making friends with Mr Robin' another go too!

Does anyone have any ideas where I can get hold or 'organicy' plant labels for the end of rows? I thought about using plain lolly sticks but I don't think they're quite big or sturdy enough. All comments welcome.

By the Light of the Moon

A friend asked me today if I gardened by the moon. Quickly, trying not to appear stupid and failing miserably, I decoded this question ... did she mean by the light of the moon? Could she mean 'next to' the moon, and if so, what was a 'moon'? Eventually, I decided it could only mean 'using the phases of the moon to determine what to plant when'.

In answer to your question Michelle, no!
I have enough trouble gardening by the sun!

(Just for you Laura - Merlot Update: no recent activity!)

Warming Up

Well, the sun's out again and its definitely feeling warmer. Hopefully the soil will have warmed up and the parsnips sown in the greenhouse will be bursting through. I'd like the thank Susie for her brilliant information on the 'newly identified' hazel tree in our garden - I'm so pleased to at last have a name for it as it looks great at the moment, very wild and twisted.
I still need to raise the covers for everything but somehow keep the protection from foxy loxy, the cat and the elements. Will try to catch a moment this week, tho may be the weekend by the time I get around to it!
A demain x

Winter Blues

Well, when the fog had cleared, the sun finally poked its head out today and was pleasingly warm. The next job on my list, if I ever arrive home before it gets dark, is to put a length of fishing wire around the pond in an attempt to deter the heron.
I met Mr Robin yesterday for a fleeting moment: He's often around but is not a very confident little chap, (who would be with a clumsy black cat around?) and very shy, but my plan over the next few weeks is to make friends. And as for the birds, they still haven't learnt how to get through the squirrel-proof feeder - maybe they'll learn when they get really hungry!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I was beginning to worry a little, as we haven't seen Squirrel recently; I say squirrel, he's one of the rotundest, most spherical squirrels you will ever see, and from now on in, will be only known as Chunk! This morning, however, I caught him chasing his tail over the wall into next door's garden, so he's still about. I think he's a little upset as I've recently bought a squirrel-proof bird feeder - we'll see how long it foxes him for, not long I'm sure!

Well, I'm sorry to say I'm a fairweather gardener, and since the rain hasn't dissipated today, I've stayed indoors. It's wet, blustery and cold - generally miserable. I have, however, kept myself busy, preparing for the Spring and the endless sowing season; I've made a set of newspaper 'seed pots' ready for the greenhouse and all those tiny seeds. It's a great way to use old newspapers, especially the amount we seem to have spread across various room and floors in the house (!); a type of recycle and reuse if you will.

Have a look at the video to see how you could make your own. There's no need for one of those fancy wooden pot makers you see advertised - simply choose a vase, jar, or even a rolling pin of about the right diameter to wrap the paper around and you're off. It does help if you choose an open-ended vessel as it makes it easier to tuck the base into, as you'll see...enjoy the music!

still no sign :(

I've finally made it outside to have a look at how the garden's going! All plants look fairly healthy although I think I may also be keeping the slugs and snails fat during the winter months! Some beer traps are in order I think!

As you can see, the carrots are growing well in the greenhouse, and outside!

For those of you who don't know my garden, have a look - there are three / four raised beds in the middle with a railway sleeper bed at the edge, where the broad beans are at the moment.

You'll notice as I post more photos that there seems to be a little shadow in most of them - he follows me round the garden wherever I go and seems very photogenic! He's called Merlot, and seems to think that the vegetable patch belongs to him really, hence the site name 'merlottiscabbagepatch'; can you spot him below? He loves running through the cabbage patch tunnel, despite the discouragement given!

Still no sign of the parsnips coming up in the greenhouse though...

Thanks

Just a quick note to say thank you to all those who have responded to my blog so far! I'm learning more already! I'll add photos as I go so you can watch the progress of my little veggies (and help with any problems I find!)
With regard to one comment, hopefully the parsnips and carrots will transplant safely as I've made little newspaper pots with loose bottoms [(!) no rude comments please!] for the roots, so I can transplant the whole lot without damaging the tap root. Well, that's the idea anyway! I'll let you know how it goes.
Again, it was dark by the time I got home tonight so haven't visited the garden today. Hope to have a little potter tomorrow - I might even add some canes to the corners of the raised beds in order to create mini-greenhouses. Most of the plants are already under fleecing of some sort, but I found that the leaves of the onions were breaking, so I had to tunnel them instead. We'll see how it works. I may even take the camera out and update some pictures for you too!
To end, a little trial. I'm having trouble embedding the comment form under the posts, so I've added a gadget on the left where you can post a comment, or you can continue to click the word 'comment' underneath each individual post.

A demain,

Merlotti x

Winter

Well, I've attempted my first blog and can't seem to stop. I've started this one to document a year in the life of my garden! We moved into the new house 6 months ago and have found ourselves with lots of gardening space, especially for vegetables! So, as usual, I threw myself headlong into it!

So far I've:

cleared the raised beds;
cut back the raspberry canes;
composted - with a little help from my boyfriend!
found wild fennel by accident - I've kept the seeds before cutting them back and think I might try my hand at fennel vodka;
planted Spring cabbages, onion sets and garlic;
sewn carrots and parsnips in the greenhouse - phew!

The list goes on! Any tips on growing the above are greatly welcomed.

Will blog again when I have an update on the parsnips as they've been in for two weeks now - still in the greenhouse - but no sign :(

Merlotti x