Easter Sunday Job

I dashed out while the skies were blue and the sun was shining to get a couple of photographs of this mornings little job ... filling up the bed LH and Simon made last week with the old sleepers.

It looked like this at 10am .....

...and then like this by 12.

We started off with the two trees from the large pots by the front door and then added the contents of all the pots that have stood patiently waiting by the polytunnel for over a year.  There's not a lot to see yet but once the Hostas get bigger the bed will be pretty much filled to capacity.  Any little gaps that seem too big will be filled with some of my small pots of Lavender, the Ariculas or the Primroses from my other pots.

Meanwhile over by the front door without the two trees in their pots on either side it's looking very bare ...

... first thing this morning it looked like this!!

 It made me wonder when we got the two trees that have moved house so many times with us in their various pots, and it turned out that they first made an appearance at our back door at Jointers Farm way back in April 2009.   We will buy a couple of bags of compost and get some replacement little trees for our big green pots next time we pass the local garden centre and then start all over again.

Sue xx

The Pretty .... and the Not So Pretty

I stopped for a break between planting row upon row of little Spring Onion seedlings earlier on this afternoon, sitting on the patio in the blazing sunshine is so much cooler than working in the polytunnel and this little 'weed' caught my eye.

Isn't it just so delicate and with such a lovely combination of colours.  I have no idea what it is but in my eyes it is the most perfect little flower I have seen in a long time :-)

Not quite as pretty to look at but also a thing of beauty to me is this old chest.  We found it when we were emptying Mum and Dad's garage of Dad's hoard of old things.  Buried deep amongst all the other 'treasures' it was full of bits of junk, I couldn't see it thrown in the skip when it had obviously meant something to Dad, so it's been languishing in one shed after another of ours for the last couple of years.  I suddenly had the urge to finally do something with it.

As you can see it's made out of really old and rough offcuts of wood, the sort of thing a woodworker would knock together to hold his bits and pieces, rather than a chest fit to grace the best rooms of a house.

Rather coincidentally it has exactly the same handles as the old drawer I use to keep all my seed stash.

My seed drawer, bought from a car boot sale for £1 off an old guy who was selling tools that were in it .... he was amazed I wanted it, but I thought it was just lovely.

Inside it has the same little ledge on one side that you find in many old blanket boxes.

A neat little touch I thought to make something so rough and ready in the style of fashionable blanket boxes of the time.

I have just started on it's renovation, unfortunately due to the miss match of the wood and the state of it, I can't just sand it down and keep it in a natural state so it will be painted.  And as the handles, hinges and catch are so firmly attached with old completely rusted up screws they will have to be dealt with in situ.

I'll let you see it when it's finished  :-)

Sue xx

Last Years Bargains

On one of my many girly lunches out with Mum at her local Wyevale garden centre during Autumn of last year, I bought these two half price sets.  One is a galvanised planter and the other a small hanging basket, they've been stashed under boxes at the end of the polytunnel ever since then.  I rediscovered them at the weekend ... and decided to put them into use.

If this had cost me the full £7.99 I might have felt a bit short-changed but at just £4 I was happy.  A half decent, if a bit small hanging basket, a bag of very fine compost and a packet with five tomato seeds ... yes I said FIVE ... you don't get extras here mate!!

The seeds were dated 'Use by 2018' so at least they had a long shelf life.  

I decided to mix the compost in with some of my own as it seemed very dry and almost too fine to be holding on to any nutrients, maybe though that was just after it's long wait to be used.  I also added some of those little granules that swell with water when you wet them, and help to keep plants in hanging baskets nice and moist for longer.

I didn't fill the basket too much as I like to add some more soil once tomato plants start to grow, it helps to strengthen them as they get more roots higher up the stem.

And I've just simply hung the basket under my hanging shelf in the polytunnel, it will be interesting to see if they grow.  It's also going to be very interesting to see how many tomatoes I get in the polytunnel this year, I seem to have gone a little bit mad sowing tomato seeds  ;-)

I also sowed the seeds in the little galvanised planter, they were a mixture of Mixed Leaves and Nasturtium and came with exactly the same little bag of compost.  There were rather a lot of the nasturtium seeds, and knowing how overrun I was in the polytunnel last year with nasturtiums I decided to put a few of these seeds into plant pots as I didn't want to overcrowd the salad leaves too much.

Lets hope my little edible bargains grow well, I always think it's worth buying some of the garden centres reduced to clear things.

Sue xx

We Did Something We've Been Putting Off For Years .....

We did something last week that we've been putting off for years .... planted up an asparagus bed!!

You don't get anything from your asparagus plants for the first three years, you have to be patient and let them grow each year and settle down without taking a harvest,  so it's never been wise to get a bed started.  We were on our first farm for three years, our second smaller place for two and now we are here in what is hopefully our last home before we retire to the seaside as pensioners so it was now or never.

There are only eight plants in here ..... I'm not that keen on the stuff, but it's a start.

For more information on growing asparagus for yourself have a look HERE.

And before anyone comes on and laves a comment saying how neat it all looks ..... I'll hold my hands up and show you the state of the bed below the new asparagus bed.  I'll be weeding it tomorrow, I was working higher up the patch today on another even worse bed!!

Sue xx

The Tomtatoes -Final Opinion

Back in June of this year I got these three Tomtato plants so I could have a go at growing them and see if they are worth the money and live up to the hype.

See THIS blog post for more information.

I planted one of the plants at the front of the polytunnel just outside the doors in one of my large zinc tall planters, and the other two were together outside the back doors of the tunnel in a large builders bag style bag .   Looking back on it I should really have planted one of them inside the polytunnel for comparison purposes.

This large colander contains the tomatoes I picked off all three plants ....

... and this tray the potatoes from beneath all three plants.

Just under two kilos of potatoes and around one and a half kilos of tomatoes, not many of which ripened.

They were good strong plants, the two at the far side of the tunnel got a full day's sun every day the sun was out and the single one at the front got the afternoon and evening sun.   They all got regular watering and plant food once the tomatoes appeared so they were well taken care of.  In my honest opinion what I got from these three plants .... was not worth either the money or the effort.

 I think I'll stick with separate potato plants and tomato plants in future, although next year I might have a go at planting one of each in the same pot and see how they get on that way.

I'm glad I tried growing them though, if you don't have a go at some things you will always be wondering.

One really good thing to come out of the tomatoes was this lovely tasting Chutney, and the potatoes are delicious, really delicious .... so all is not lost :-)

Sue xx

Squirrels, Dogs and Roses

The clocks going back an hour at the weekend has normalised my days more.  Getting up as it goes light is natural for me, and for most other folk I assume, except poor shift workers of whom my son is one.  It must play havoc with your sleeping patterns if your working day alters on a rotating shift pattern, I know it does for Jason, who when not at work is either at the Gym, or crashed out on his own sofa snoring for England.

Anyway me and the dogs were up bright and early yesterday morning, so early that as I was putting on my jacket and pulling on my wellies ready for the damp and chilly morning circuit of the paddock, I glanced out of the window and caught this little chap still having his breakfast.

I got the camera off the shelf in the kitchen and he was still tucking in when I came back and took this shot.  He carried on nibbling his way around the rosy red apple that he had clutched in his tiny little paws just looking so cute I had to stand and admire.  Wouldn't you love a fluffy tail like that to keep the draughts off your back while you sit eating a fresh apple.

The dogs were getting restless, after all when Mum has her jacket and boots on it should mean the door magically opens and they can run out into the fresh air ..... not stand waiting in the conservatory. So when I saw the squirrel had virtually finished his tiny apple I made a noise with the door handle, which of course sent the now over excited Rosy into a frenzy of barking, which Mavis soon joined in with and this gave little Mr (or Miss) Squirrel time to make a swift exit completely unseen by my excited little canine companions, back to the safety of the apple tree and with no doubt chance to choose the apple which would make the next meal of the day.

Walking round the paddock I was surprised to see these lovely little Dog Roses flowering on the bush that is full of Rose Hips.  I don't remember ever seeing both on a bush at the same time!!

So pretty on this cold, damp October day.

I could have harvested some of the Rose Hips and made a syrup, but I thought that this year I would leave them all for the wildlife, we have plenty of stores this year.  Maybe I'll have a go next year.

Sue xx

The Usual and the Not So Usual .......

I've loved lavender for years which will come as no surprise to those of you who know that I used to have a shop specialising in Lavender products and then a Farmers Market stall selling more of the same.  Each and every year various lavenders come into bloom in my garden .... although now they are all mine and I don't have to sell them to anyone else.  I love it, the bees love it, well there's nothing not to love is there, it's beneficial to health, it's tasty in small doses, and it simply smells divine.

In fact I probably will go back to selling it again in the future when all this years plantings have gotten bigger and can be divided and cuttings taken.  It could prove to be a nice little sideline for either our farm gate sales or at car boots sales in the future, we are permanently on the lookout for income streams, and surplus sowings and cuttings from existing plants are going to be one of mine.

So that's the 'usual'of the title .... what's the 'not so usual' I hear to ask .....

... it's this weird and wonderful thing!!

You might just be able to make it out on this photo taken last year, it's in the same spot on the front step.  It started out as such an innocuous little plant, all frosted greenery ...  

... with nothing to suggest it was going to grow to over eight foot tall with it's weird and wonderful flower spikes.

Seemingly it's a Verbascum!!

It's also another plant that the bees have absolutely loved this year.

Until last week the lavender in the pots and the Verbascum were still getting little visitors, although I think it's too cold now to expect to any more of our little furry striped friends.

Sue xx

How Do You Grow Food?

I got a lovely chatty email from a reader called Chloe the other day, she has recently started growing fruit and veggies and was having problems with some of her plants.  I hope she doesn't mind but I thought the answer I gave her might be useful to someone else who is having a struggle to get started this year.

But what I forgot to put in my reply to her is that this year has been an unusual growing year for lots of gardeners all over the country, she's not alone in struggling with the basics.  I thought what I was learning here in North Wales was what happens every year, but no, I've been talking to fellow veg growers and they are nearly all saying things are behind where they normally are, the rabbits have gone berserk and decimated crops for lots of them, and that this is a pretty unusual year.  Looks like I'll be learning all over again next year then .... something us gardeners do year on year.  So anyway onto the answer I gave Chloe to the question ....

...... ''How Do You Grow Food?"

Wow!!  What a question ....'How do you grow food'?'

It takes some luck and some learning, it takes LOTS of failures and learning from them, it takes perseverance and persistence but most of all it takes the willingness to keep going until eventually after making many, many mistakes things eventually start to go right.  

It took me a while, I started too many years ago to recount, when my boys were little, getting disheartened when everything keeled over and died.  Feeling embarrassed when it felt like everyone knew the latin names for everything they grew and I was the complete novice who barely knew a potato plant from a weed.

I learnt slowly but surely and picked up tips from reading, listening and watching Gardeners World ... which used to be so much better than I feel it is now.  I gave up for many years when my career overtook my gardening time but then like most green fingered folk I returned.  

Even now things go wrong ... frequently, and I do try to blog about it when they do so everyone can see that there are always failures to balance the successes.  This year for instance, the rabbits have eaten ALL my onion tops and half the garlic tops, leaving the onions and garlic to stay small in the soil unable to grow on any more, I've had to pull them up just when they needed only a couple more weeks to put on their good growth that would have seen us with enough to store to see us through the rest of the Summer and well into Winter  :-(

Before they ate the onions and the garlic they ate all but two of the runner beans, the two they didn't get were still under their 'pop bottle cloches' as they were the runts the tinyplants that I thought would come to nothing ... now they are my only beans and I daren't take the bottles off!!  The turnips were gone as soon as they appeared through the soil, they just didn't stand a chance.

So this year is a year of re-learning for me, I mean who would have thought the bloody bunnies would eat onions and garlic and leave the lovely little baby courgettes that are growing everywhere at a pretty alarming rate.  

And that is it with gardening and growing, just when you feel you are getting somewhere and developing confidence everything changes.  The soil, the weather, the pests, the time you can devote to what you have, there is always something different.

To answer your specifics, and it's only an educated guess -

Chilli plant - too much watering or not enough consistency with the watering, they don't like to be too wet or get too dry, did you feed it?  Maybe it needed feeding.  Most plants once they are bearing their fruit need feeding, tomato food is good for virtually everything and is one of the cheapest to buy.

Rosemary plant - they either live and thrive ... or drop down dead, don't blame yourself too much I have had some of each this year.

Peas - copper bands round the pots or beds will keep off slugs and snails, or sharp gravel, or a ring of salt, ring of crushed egg shells, they have tender little tummies that hurt if they cross these.  If all else fails slug pellets, spread thinly around your plants.  I do use these as a last resort and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

I've never grown Tayberries, but it sounds as though your bush needs a prune, then hopefully it will fruit much better next year.  At least it sounds healthy!!

Strawberries - same reply as above for the snails, it is the end of the season so you might not get any more fruit.  Now's the time to watch out for runners and peg them down to give you more plants for next year.  Then you can make the strawberry patch a hostile place for the slugs and snails.

I've struggled with Marigolds EVERY year until this year, and suddenly I've got something right and they are like triffids, I have no reason for this, I have done exactly the same every year!!

Your surviving plants are doing a brilliant job attracting all the beneficial creatures to the garden you have done something wonderful there, well done.  So don't feel unsuccessful, try and feel as though you are on a learning curve and you have almost got a whole season of learning out of the way.

All you have to do now is go to the garden centre, buy the healthiest Pepper plant and the most gorgeous Rosemary plant you can find and enjoy them . Go to Tesco and buy a big box of strawberries and a pack of frozen peas and tell yourself that this time next year these will be your very own.

My advice - never give up.

Oh, and I should have added ... collect gardening books or visit the library, and use Google to check everything you don't know, it's a wonderful way to learn about things.

Do any of you have any tips for budding food growers?

Sue xx

Battered Pots ..... and Keeping the Postman Busy

The total sum of my purchases at the car boot sale was a plant for £2 and this gloriously battered pot for a whole one pound.  I just couldn't resist it, there's something about things with little fancy feet that I love .....

... and that it's feet go in all directions after obviously being dropped and having a very hard life makes it, in my eyes anyway, even more appealing.  

So I spent £3 and Lovely Hubby spent £3.50 .... oooh what a spender!!  He bought an old wood working plane, and some other rusty bits of metal which he assured me were also tools and well worth his three hundred and fifty pennies.

In other news, the postie has once again been bringing me unusual boxes ....

... this one contained my free Lime Tree and fruit tree fertiliser from my Kitchen Garden Magazine.

It's a lovely little thing, lets see how long it takes me to kill this one like I did my last two lemon trees :-(

The next day two of these arrived.

How neat is that!!

A total of 96 little tiny Lavender, Antirrhinum and Salvia plug plants.

After standing them upright and giving them a little drink, as per the instructions,  I have carried them over to the polytunnel this morning to plant into bigger plug plant trays and they are just enjoying another little drink while I blog..

Getting plants through the post could get seriously addictive, I think will have to put the brakes on this new obsession ..... soon!!   ;-)

My little bargain car boot pot has been called into action this morning to hold yet more Rosemary cuttings, I popped a lidless jam jar inside it to hold the water, so it doesn't suffer anymore.  

I wish this was 'smellovision' as the house is smelling gorgeous at the moment with all these cuttings dotted around everywhere,  I did some Basil cuttings last night, simply because my Basil plant on the kitchen windowsill has gotten SO big.  It was a good supermarket buy at just £1.25, I bet with a couple of pots of cuttings I will more than get my money back.

Off to plant up my little Lavenders now ..... I may be some time :-)

Sue xx

Unusual Deliveries

These arrived in the post a couple of weeks ago.  

I had an email from Blogging Buddy Dawn from  'Doing It For Ourselves in Wales' asking if I would like a couple of Oca tubers.  I didn't even know what they were ... but a quick Google and I was quick to say 'yes please'.

Information on Oca tubers.

I planted them in a couple of large plant pots that I had, and set them at the door of the polytunnel.

Look what appeared on Friday of last week!!

Also on Friday my free seeds arrived from the last edition of my magazine, which after knocking off the cost of postage are worth £9.47.  They also included a trial pack of tomato seeds, something else for free!

Now they are tucked into my tin of seeds with all the other 'freebies' they are adding to our chance of being able to feed ourselves for free next year.

A very appropriate tin I thought :-)

With the seeds came some little plant labels and this free book ....

... storage method tips for all your fruits and veggies.

I'm always happy to learn some new ways to  make our homegrown things last longer.

In the post on Saturday was this.

Does anyone know why it is that when something is so obviously marked 'FRAGILE' the Royal Mail people decide that THIS is the package they will practice their basketball moves on  :-(

Luckily the contents .... six Lavender Pekin bantam eggs .... were carefully wrapped in little bubble wrap bags and surrounded by polystyrene chips.  They survived intact.

Mother Goose is now back on her beloved mothering duties, sitting on them in the henhouse, and no doubt being relieved that I am no longer turfing her out of the nesting box as I am still doing with the other two broodies.

Also in the post that day were my 'Storm Strength' clothes pegs, thanks for all the recommendations folks, and three little Buddleja plants, now happily residing in little plant pots of their own in the polytunnel, which they recover from their journey.

Interesting deliveries for sure.

Sue xx