Noobveg

Mucking about.

2012-01-29T18:24:00.006Z

Soil for dummies?

Ive read a fair amount about soil, im sure anyone who has had even a passing aquaintence with
horticulture has. If im realy honest the first time i read properly about soil (when i did my lev 2)
i was a little overwhelmed, theres a hell of a lot of science in there and chemistry scares me.
I would have given my left arm for a "Soil for Dummies" manual, but i learned the bare minimum that i could get away with and now im doing the level three soil module im equaly as scared of the science but think ive got a slighty better understanding. What i tend to do if something seems hard is to break is down to make it more managable and more relevant to my understanding. Heres my two penneth on soil.

Soil PH.

Im going to oversimplfy this purposely. Soil ph is important this is becuase the ph of the soil will
determine which nutrients are availble to your crop. At extremes some nutrients wil not be availble but at 6.5-7.0ph the nutrients needed for growth will be available for most plants. Of course there are Calcole and Calcifuge plants that need a higher or lower ph and its important that you give them what they need. Also soils ph changes, ussualy with an acid bias so regular testing will be required.

Soil Texture.

Is the term used to describe the CONTENT of the soil, your soil will contain Organic matter, air, water, living organisms and a mix of CLAY, SAND and SILT.

How do you find out what you have?

Test 1. Takes a bit of practice but if you take a handfull of soil.

If you can roll it into a sausage and curl it into a loop without it breaking and the soil feels sticky when wet you have a high clay percentage.

If the soil feels greasy and will form a sausage that holds but breaks when you try to bend it then you have a large silt percentage.

If the soil feels gritty and will not form a sausage that holds together then you have a large sand percentage.

Test 2. Get a clear container, fill 50/50 with soil and water and mix vigorously, leave the sample to settle.

Your settled sample should have formed strata.

At the bottom you will see the larger grit and sand particles.
Above the sand you should see a layer of silt.
Above the silt is the clay.
Then water
Then a small amout of decomposed organic matter floating near the top.

You can use this information to workout a rough percentage of each within your soil. Armed with this information you can consult a soil trainagle to work out which type of soil you have.

Here is a soil test i did with soil from my alotment.

Here is the soil triange.

I reckon i have around 20% sand 75% Silt and 5% clay, giving me a silty loam.

Find out what type of soil you have and read about its individual characteristics.

Soil structure.

Plants need water and AIR at thier roots, so a nice open moisture retentative soil will be what you are aiming for in most cases.

The way i remember a good soil structure is to liken it to a playing card pyramid made with wet cards. You have a structure that is open allowing for soil gases and roots, the water sticks to the playing cards due to its adhesive propensity but any excess water runs away with gravity.
This is an ideal situation.

Your pyramid gets knocked over leaving you with a flat soggy mess with no airspaces, no where for excess water to go and certainly no space for roots to get into. This can be likened to a compacted soil.

Good soil structure is one of the main reasons why we cultivate land, it breaks up the larger soil clods and gets air into the spaces below soil.

Think about a worn path across a grassy field, the grass never grows as well here compared to neighbouring untrampled grass, the trampled grass has collapsed playing card pyramid type soil with no air/water spaces.

Thats it!, its certainly not comprehensive not by any stretch of the imagination as i havent even touched on fertilizing, but to sumarize if you do the following you wont go to far wrong.

A. Find out type soil texture and use the information to add occordingly to your soil.

B. Cultivate your land, either with tools or by digging in organic matter to attact worms and other soil organisms.

c. Keep an eye on your ph and take steps to correct when neccisary.

d. Keep adding organic matter to the soil at every opportunity as this will improve your structure, texture, nutrient levels and water retention.

Ive tried to be brief in my summary and im sure there are factors that are given great importance that i haent mentiond so let me know about it, im interested to hear.

Other stuff.

Had another great week at work, i spent most of the week working on the borders, and was lucky enough to get a bit of time to pot on my exhibition onion plants. I have 105 to work with so im hoping i can afford to be picky when it comes to picking out some potential winners.

I also got myself some goosberry bush prunings that ive used for hardwood cuttings.

I made a flat cut below a node (part where leaf meets the mian stem) and another cut (sloping away from node) above a node about 30cm up the stem. I rubbed out all the buds from the bottom two thirds of the cutting. Next i dipped the bottom (flat cut on bottom, sloped cut on top remember?, this is important) in some rooting hormone powder and inserted into holes id made in the soil where im planting. It will take a while but enventualy the bottom incision will callous over and form roots (bottom heat would greatly aid this) to fuel the upper buds that werent rubbed out to grow. You can do similar harwood cuttings with lots of plants such as Willow or Cornus.

Im back on the borders at work tommorow and with spring just around the corner im realy looking to seeing how the garden develops through the early part of the year.

Remember me?

2012-01-21T12:05:00.002Z

Ok ok so its been a while since i last posted, but i have been busy...and then some.

Im not complaining however, my new job at Chatsworth house is amazing, im often asked "are you enjoying the new job pal", to which i seem to have a prepared subconcious reply "yes thanks, loving every second". And to be honest im not lying, i realy am loving work there and heres why.

When i first got into Horticulture a few years ago i was working as a Road Marking operative
(one of the fellas that put the lines on the road), i started study via a correspondece college so i never had a person stood in from of me in person to explain something if i didnt understand, i rarely had an example of the plant i was learning about to look at, i couldnt see all the wierd and wonderfull tools and processes that were being described to me in my textbooks. I practaced what principles and methods i could at my allotment an in my garden at home, here i grew what plants i could cram in and this helped a great deal. Since i started my year at Chatworth just 5 months ago i have learned so much, i put this down to being able to actually do the tasks, see the plants and say to my colleagues "hang on a sec.....why"?. Im also having regular revlations where i recall something i read 2 years ago that relates to the task in hand, it makes me go "ahhhhhh i see now". The text ive slaved over for hours on end now has an actual use other than floating around in my head making me feel like i know a bit, i can actualy use it and that is very liberating. Ive also realised ive got a hell of a lot more to learn if i want to get that dream job whatever that may be, ive still to decide all though my original love of veg growing seems to always be in th mix when i consider the matter.

During my year at Chatsworth ,my time is divided into two week intervals between the four teams. This in my opinion is fantastic
as i get to see "snapshots" of all aspects of the garden through every season. I spend two weeks in the Kitchen Gardens, two weeks in the Glasshouses, two weeks on the Hedges and Borders team, and two weeks on the grounds maintenence team. Heres what ive been doing,

Kitchen Gardens

Here i get to help look after the fruit, veg and cut flower growing including cutting back lifting crowns and tubers, mulching soil, pruning trees and bushes, preparing planting sites, planting bulbs, collecting veg for cooking in the Big House, grafting, planting fruit, building beds.

Glasshouses

Watering watering watering, peach pruning and tying in, scraping the vine of a 90 year old grape, re-potting topical and subtropical plants, pruning and cutting back overgrown plants, planting new specimens.

Hedges and Borders

Using power shears for trimming the topiary and hedges, herbacious perennial maintenance, mulching, path maintenence.

Grounds maintenance.

Turfing, grass cutting, rhoddadendron removal, landscaping, path building, tree work.

Ive also been involved in some season events such as the Xmas reef making, and reef making work shops. Ive helped out occasionaly helping deocrate the House which has given me an unexpected source of learning with the regard to house plants.

I work with some realy experienced knowledgeable people all very forth coming with their knowledge, this is a priveldge indeed and a priviledge i intend to take advantage of while i have chance.

While im at Chatsworth i have 4 projects to work on, ill go into more detail about these in my next post but they are

Border Design porject
Hydroponics experiment
Wild Flower Catalogue
Cottage Garden planting and maintenance.

Im quite excited and enthusiastic about all four of these and the work i have done so far has proven to be very educational, it made me think how important proper structured projects can be to further your knowledge and peak your interest.

The alollotment doesnt have a lot happening right now as like most people ive shut it down, just the jap onions and garlic growing up there at the moment with the odd patch of green manure. Next year my focus in the allotment will have to shift a little to unclude more cut flower to help cater for the fledgling interest in floristry that my missus is developing. Im going to grow more stump rooted carrots this year and see if i cant win at both my society show and the town show. My third attempt at growing show onions is underway, ive sowed serveal batches of seed currently residing in a heated glasshouse at work. While on my trainee year im also doing another corressponence college course, the RHS level 3 certificate, so far so good alothough im
required to remember a lot more detail than the level 2 it seems to be going in just fine, due no doubt to actualy practacing what im learning, having already done the level 2 and my interest in the subject at hand. So far ie done the first 2 of 10 mock test papers i got 96% on the first
and 90% on the second, im happy with that.

Im hoping that all the above will help whip me into a usefull, employable entity come september time when my tenure at Chatsworth ends.

Right thats enougth for now im off to put some yeast in my homemade Parsnip wine then head off to the allotment to get a fire going. Bring on spring!

Sweet!!!!!!

2011-09-07T20:57:00.003+01:00

A great couple of weeks for me!
Saturday was our society show, and i didnt do too bad, i got

3rds for : Tray of 5 veg, 3 Globe Beet & 3 Cylindrical beet

2nds for 3 Globe beet, 3 potatoes, 3 Cylindrical beet, and Stump rooted carrot.

and a 1st for Stump rooted carrot.

Ok i didnt get as many 1sts as last year but im more happy becuase ive won in what i call a "proper class".

Most of my previous success has come with Potatoes and Beetroot which im happy with but the Carrots have a lot more competition and take a bit more growing in my opinion, so im over the mooon to win in the class, they are obviously the ones featured in the title picture. Even better than the red ticket, i got a tap on the should from one of the two guys who win this class every year, "nah then young un, just want to say tha's dun reyt well wi them carrots" follwed by a hearty handshake....wow.

Thanks to anyone who gave help and advice (Smithyveg being a major contributor)

Ive stored the winners in compost in hope they save for this saturdays Rotherham show although im not holding my breath.

I started my new Job at Chatsworth House last weekend so im officialy a Proffesional Gardener (got the felco secatuers in the leather holster and everything), my first two weeks are in the Kitchen garden, its like beign paid for being at the lottie!. Next week im in the Glasshouses. Im learning loads every days and realy feel like i finally have a proffesion i can sink my teeth into.

Ive also started my RHS Level 3 certificate in Horticulture which i hope to have finished by the time my tenure at Chatsworth ends.

Ill try and post again soon as i can, until then bye bye.

Certified!

2011-07-23T16:53:00.010+01:00

No The men in white coats have not caught me....yet, when i say certified im talking about my certificate that came earlier for my RHS qualification, im immensly proud of this and will be ordering the course work for level 3 in the next few weeks, seems ages since i started the course but ive definately learned a hell of a lot since then, hopefully by the time i get the level 3 done ill have learned as much again.

As promised in my last post im going to talk about my lottie.

The show cauli seem to be on track, with great looking foliage, the curds are just starting to come and are about the size of a tennis ball at the moment.

The show onions are ok, but only ok, i need to look at my watering and feeding regimen next season, most are small with a possible mediocre set of three if im lucky, but i understand its a learning curve and if it was easy more people would be doing it, saying that i havent given up as there is plenty of time for them to put growth on.

The show stump rooted carrots look fine, they seem to have stoped growing foliage. Ive scraped away the soil round the tops of the carrots and they seem to be swelling up niceley, this is another class i dont expect to do much in but, by trying im hoping to get to the stage where i can compete.

One of my first ever cards was won by a Table dainty marrow, this is what im growing here, although this time im hoping to win a card in the regular class not the amateur class.

I had a disaster with my sporuts and brocolli, both were growing great, lots of lush foliage looking realy healthy then i got Clubroot.

This is a soil based infection called Plasmodiophora brassicae, that attacks the roots of plants in the brassica family, as you can see from the photograph you get these insightly swellings on the roots, you will also notice the foliage wilt especialy in hot weather due to the lack of water the damaged roots are suppliing. You can reduce the chances of this by liming the soil to bring the PH up, you can buy resistant varieties and give your plants the best chance by growing them on to a decent size before planting out so that the plants have a chance to fight off the infection themselves.

For me it was too late and the plants (all but one) were pulled up and will be burned, i will also avoid growing brassica in the same soil for a good few years.

While im talking about brassica, i tried kohl rabi this year for the 1st time, ive yet to harvest any but it wont be too long.

The big pumpkins had to be resowed due to earlier sowings not germinating so are well behind, im not expecting a big one this year, possibly something decent for halloween if im lucky. First fruit have just about set.

Everything else seems to be coming along nice, beetroot, lettuce, runners,onions, garlic, shallots, peas, climing beans, turnips, carrots, potatoes, sweetcorn, all making thier way to the dinner plate. Soon ill be able to add peppers chilli's and tomato to the harvesting list which will mean curry time.

This week ive been slowing cataloging the wildflower on the plot, ill have a full list soon when time permits, the plants them selves all have an individual story and lots of history which im currently reading about. Fascinating stuff if you like that kind of thing.

Right im off to cook a Jalfrezi, not my toms, peppers or chillis, but my garlic and onions will be used so im happyish or at least i will be when ive washed if down with a bottle of wine.

Rainy Renishaw

2011-07-18T09:16:00.021+01:00

Saturday saw me doing not much due to the weather and by sunday afternoon id had enough of being stuck indoors so i jumped in the car, armed with my RHS membership card i headed off to Renishaw Hall . Its not to far from where i live so a steady drive delivered me there within the half hour. I paid the resonable £1 parking and pulled the car into a space and yanked up the hand brake only it seemed like the handbrake not only secured the vehicle in place but also controled the weather, as soon as i pulled the lever the rain hit the windscreen, this disappointed me a little as i thought id found a gap in the weather. Undeterred i had a cursory browse round the museum while the rain settled a little. The rain calmed so i made my way to the gardens, upon entering the gardens i saw these great Hosta's, (nearly hole free which is no mean feat in the soggy weather)

THere are at least 5 or 6 varieties here.

Then the tree's cuaght my eye, these specimens are not particulatly rare but my inexperienced eye hasnt seen them before so they had my attention for a while.

Lilliodendron Tulipifera or the Tulip Tree, has realy strange shaped leaves and has Tuliup shaped flowers which i was too late to see.

Ginkgo biloba, this tree has plenty of interest, this tree is often described as a living fossil and is thought to be the oldest tree species, its so unique that it is the only member of its genus, family, order, class and division. It gets its name from the similarity of the leaf to the lobes of the brain bi(two) - loba (lobes) .

Next door there was a Yew tree (Taxus baccata)........actualy it wasnt i was looking at Metasequoia glyptostrobodies the Dawn Redwood, i can be forgiven for the mistake as they are of the same family and both have the bi-pinnate needle like leaves, it made me wonder how many times id made that mistake before, easy done.

This one another new sight for me was Davidia involucrata, its also known as the Pocket Handkercief Tree or the Dove tree as when in flower its white bracts look like Handkerchiefs or Doves, im assuming this is where it gets its species name also, as in Involucral Bract.

The garden its self was as promised "Italianate" as theese photos confirm

The Italianate gardens are diveded into rooms as you'd expect each with several entrances which add interest as every one has a inique vista. The clipped Yew (sure it was Yew this time) topiary looked great as you walked parralel to it, it was almost like a Channel 4 advert where you see lots of individual components that dont have any purpose intill you are stood in the right spot, then they all fall into place to reveal the "4" or in this case the symetry that so characterises Italianate formality.

The borders had lots of variety and fantasic plants, some of which id only seen in books, such as Cleome and this marvelous Agapanthus

And this marvelous Thistle, which i assume is some kind of Cersium, ill be on a mission later to identifiy this huge structural plant.

I like this Eryngium which didnt have the usual blue or purple, i could be wrong and probalby am, but i think this may be "Miss Wilmots Ghost", rumour has it that prolific plant breeder and holder of the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour Ellen Willmot used to carry seed around with her wherever she went, if she thought a garden was dull she would covertly sprinkle the seed about leaving her spectral legacy to appear the year after, even if ive misidentified Eryngium giganteum its still a great story.

I also found this in the borders which i think is a huge Cystus, it was easily as big as my hand, and although it had took a abttering from the rain looked great im sure you will agree

This Nymphea was worth the gamble of nearly dropping my phone in the water too.

To the side of the formal gardens were the woodlands, which seem to take you over several levels, you were very enclosed most of the time with the occassional veiw out giving a glimpse of what was to come.

I also found this cracking Acanthus mollis which rewarded my interest with its very sharp spines ...ouch.

This temple in the woodlands gives a sense of fantasy also

The woodland paths lead to two lakes the larger of the two has a path all the way around, it was a great walk and more often than not i was flanked by the Purple Peril that is Himilayan Balsam, Impatiens glandulifera as the name suggests this is a relative of the Busy Lizzies you buy at B & Q to bed out your borders and although the flowers are a real treat this plant is classed as an invasive species, and this is why.

Some of this Balsam has been cleared to reaveal the plants that have grown to reach the light, these stems are at least 6ft and all green growth which would suggest that the plant has grown from nothing to this in just a few months, coincidently there was a feature on this plant on Countryfile on BBC2 last night which showed the explosive seed pods which distribute upto 1000 seeds per plant, this combined with the lack of any natural predator here in the UK makes this plant unstoppable and very costly to remove, at renishaw they seem to control it and make the most of it at the same time.

I managed to liberate a dried seed pod of the past thier best Delphiniums which ive sowed in compost back home, im hoping i can combine these with the foxgloves to add height to my own space, sorry renishaw couldnt resist.

I finished the tour with a trip to the National Collection of Yukka and a walk rounfd the childrens area before heading back off home. Great garden, would defo go again perhaps in spring, mind you ive got autumn to look forward to before then.

I promise a veg related post soon, i realise that my last few posts have been more "ornimental garden" related and im perhaps betraying my name "noobveg" a little and although my focus has changed im still very much commited to my edible growing, ill get a lottie update very soon.

Countdown!

2011-07-15T11:21:00.006+01:00

51 days, 19 hours, 41 minutes till i start my new job as a gardener.

With this in mind last week saw a visit to Chatsworth again, mainly to view the digs ill be stopping in a couple of nights a week but i also took the opportunity to visit the gardens again to see how it had moved on since i last visited in spring. If im honest Chatsworth isnt the most floriferous of gardens an if you value corrola over compoistion you may be a little disapionted. What chatworth does have is majestic and very clever vistas, you constantly find your eyes and indeed your entire body being led round a corner or indeed hundereds of yards toward a focal point barely visable from where you stand. The woodland walks are fantasic and the regular understory of wildflower sits comfortably under the midlevel rhoddodendrons before you look up at amiable trees so many of which are fantastic coniferous specimens especialy the huge redwoods that must be centuarys old. The regular (intentional or not) punctuation of the Inula helianthemum adds a bit of warmth to the otherwise cool and neutral colours of the Apiacae members and the cruciferous mustards.

As you can imagine the kitchen garden was very different to my previous visit and the beds were packed with goodies for the house and shops. This visit i had our son with us so we headed for the maze. As far as mazes go im usualy disappointed, usualy its pretty obious were you need to go but with the one at Chatsworth you are teased into thinking youve found the centre only to hit a dead end at the lost moment, and they fit a fair few of these dead ends into a space that seems like it shouldnt be able to accomdate so much, we even thought at one point that maybee the maze was a trick and had no actual centre!!, but we persevered to find this inverted williow as a reward for our navigating the labaryth.

A highlight while i was there was one that wasnt engineered or designed or planned or contrived (at least i dont think it was). Near the maze are some steps flanked either side by grasses and feild vetch, now as we accended the steps i heard a snap, much akin to when and animal moves in the undergrowth, i stopped to see if i could see the source of the noise, snap again, then again, then 2 or 3 similtaneous snaps "what is that" i thought. It was the vetch! its obsidion pods when dry explode to release their seed and as the sun was burning down on the site they were popping left right and centre it sounded like a crackling campfire, this is one of the reasons i love Botany, a humble much overlooked memeber of the Pea family has its own launch system and it was there under my nose all the time, amazing.

The garden at home is starting to look past its best with my foxgloves and lupins nearly over im struggling for colour at height and the odd gap is starting to appear, im glad this has happened as i can plan for this next year and get something ready in a container to transplant in, perhaps some Kniphophia.

The allotment is coming along nice, the show carrots doing great, the onions ok but i don't think ive been watering them enough through fear of white rot getting at them if they get too damp, ive upped the watering now but im going to play that one by ear. Ive had plenty of harvest and have sweetcorn silks forming and the begginings of cauliflower heads emerging.

I lost a bed of broccoli and and sprouts to clubroot, im a little pissed off about this as the sprouts were going great guns and had survived a terrible spell of wind to really put on lots of great growth.

Th Kohl rabi is coming along great and i had to make yet another sowing of carrot in another bed with good results as the site of the first two sowings failed.

The first potatoes ive dug up have been realy delicious, a few have signs of scab but its not impossible that i may have a set or two for the show.

I worked nights light night so i have the rest of the day to myself which i intend to spend up at the allotment. Untill next time bye.

Its grim up north!.......erm no its not!

2011-06-22T17:13:00.014+01:00

For weeks now ive been trying to talk the missus into visiting the Northern RHS garden in Harrogate, "its to far" was the perennial responce (anything longer than half an hour is an epic journey you see) so after a bit of discussion we agreed that we'd attend the much nearer Brodsworth Hall, so i headed off up the A1 with a bad taste in my mouth, just as i was approaching the turn off for Brodsworth i looked at the missus and said "you sure you dont want to go to Harlow Carr love?", a resounding "no, dont you dare" returned, "sod it i thought" and went straight past our turn off. During the following silent spell where the missus wasnt speaking to me i considered my actions, after all it was technically kidnap, this was how John Snape on coronation street started, but at least i was going to Harlow Carr.

We paid about £20 to get in the RHS site, which was as you would expect very well kept, one of the first things to catch my eye was the view down the mixed borders, which looked fantastic.

The alpine house displayed some great Pitcher plants and, this intriguing Dianthus

And this my first viewing of a Calceolaria

The alpine house had lots of plants i recognised that had just adjusted to grow in alpine positions or perhaps they had been bred from this alpine parentage?

The Vegetable garden was tidy but informal, it was good to see veg growing this way, as my allotment holds ranks of strict straight lines and could be called a little boring it made me realise that perhaps im a little regimented and square in my vegatable growing.

The flower garden held this cracking peony i think its called Paeonia lactiflore "Bowl of Beauty".

The Eryngiums in the mixed border looked great.

Water is used well a Harlow carr and the Gunnera was probably my favourite display, im a big foliage fan so the huge Lamina of the Giant Rhubard and the sheer ammount of it was very pleasing indeed. I love to see plants crowding a stream almost as though they are trying to intimidate it in some way while at the same time knowing that it is forbidden terirory.

Rhoddadendrons a plenty here but i was a little late to apreciate thier full glory.

The gardens through time exhibit was interesting and even showed a past entry from Chelea of my Diarmurd Gavin. The same guy who won Gold and peoples choice award this year for his Avatar inspired Sky Garden.

Another ex Chelsea feature is the Rhubard and Custard garden that won People's Choice award and a Gold i believe.

I always like to buy a plant from the nursery, so i went for some Culinary Rosemary on the way out, not very exciting i know but i needed Rosemary and they sold it.

At the moment 12 months member ship of the RHS has 3months discount and as i joined on the day i also got my entry fee refunded against member ship cost meaning it cost me £20 on the way out to become a member, bargain i thought.

I decided to head home down the M1 which meant i had to go through the top end of Leeds, bu then ....... there it was......... Harewood House. "Im sure thats on the list of gardens i now get free entry too luv" and just as i was going for the indicator paddle and repositioning my hands on the steering wheel to make a sharp right turn the missus slapped my hand and said "don't you dare", i listened this time with the hope that my earlier lapse of judgement had been forgiven, thank the lord for the Stockholm syndrome.

Run VT!

2011-06-17T19:14:00.006+01:00

A new mobile phone with a semi decent camera has afforded me the ability to make basic video to share with the world, so here is a quick video of my garden.

As you can see my yard is tiny, but i grow plenty on the patio, im proud of my lawn simply becuase of the difficulty ive had with it in the past, its not perfect but it isnt in a perfect site either. The foxgloves are looking great and the candyturft is just starting to break up the green of the thier leaves, the bedding at the rear is still filling out but should look great once mature.

Here is the lottie.

I recognise that i still have plenty to do here but im happy with what i have so far.

Ill try and do some similar videos later on in the summer when things are at a peak, im sure the contrast will be interesting.

Just over a year ago i propagated a cutting from a Yukka, today i potted up the cutting, expecting a fair bit of root development, i was suprised to find it was pot bound!

I didnt expect this much root growth so quick so i had to tease out the roots the best i could and pot it up. Here it is at the side of its Mother (well technically the same plant geneticaly), the plants look realy happy to me, the deep green foliage is testament to this.

Im starting to see more and more of my home grown produce appearing in our meals such as lettuce, cucumbers, spring onions, auumn sown onions and garlic, strawberries. Back in feb i sowed some spuds in buckets that i kept under cover at night and brought out in warmer spells to try and get an earlier crop, well i emptied one of the three buckets this week, and although i got a semi decent crop i coupld see lots of immature potatoes starting to form on the roots so im going to leave at least one of the other two untill the foliage dies right back. Here is the yeild.

They were lovely boiled and served tossed in melted butter and finely chopped mint

I today received a schedule for the Rotherham show which i should be entering this year if i have something decent, although im enjoying the garden now im looking forward to my two shows once more and hope to improve on last year.

Hoping to make a visit to Brodsworth Hall and Gardens tommorow ill be sure to blog about it if i do.

Untill next time CUT!

Wallflowers with the Sunday roast?

2011-06-04T07:32:00.003+01:00

As i was sat enjoying a beer and tending the BBQ in the garden yesterday, i got to thinking ( shocking i know ) , but when you imagine that there is something like 250,000 kmown plant species on the planet or 400,000 if you count cultivars, it amazes me when you release how many of the plants in your garden are related. Granted the UK hosts a small percentage of total plant stock and its no coincidence that if a plant does well here the chances are its cousin shouldn't fare to badly either, but i get a real "ah really" moment every time i make one of these discoveries especialy when i make the link between edibles and ornamentals. A very cursory look at my ornamentals revealed the following edibles lurkining in my mixed borders.

Erysimum (Wallflower) this cruciferous plant is esentialy a glorified cabbage

My Lupins are a relation to Peas

The Roses , Cotoneaster on my grandfathers wall and even the Hawthorn that grows nearby are all relations of the apples we eat every day.

My Aliums (need pulling out) are posh onions.

My Salvias are basically Sage

My Achillea millifolium is a cousin of Carrots and Corriander

Even my lawn has connections to some of the cereal crops that are so abundant in our rural areas.

Granted everything can be traced back to a Monocotyldon or a Dicotyldeon and indeed even further back to the Plantae kingdon but recognising the more close connections can really arm you will some usefull information especially when chosing a site for planting, considering hardiness and even when thinking about pruning.

Im sure there are many more ornamental plants that we grow that share roots (pun intended) with ornamentals let me know if you can think of any.

Not a massave ammount happened of note since my last post, most of the allotment is planted out and the small ornametal garden is coming along as you can see from picture, i spent a week being lazy (by my standards) watching Chelsea and pottering. The Exhibition onions all have 5 or 6 leaves with the tallest at about 18" and the exhibition carrots all have good true leaves and average about 110mm so far. Ive kept carrots covered by pvc sheets at nights which i remove by day, the carrots are however 2 foot off the ground and netted to ensure against root fly.

Careerwise im still waiting to start at Chatsworth in September and also im thinking i may start my RHS Level 3 as i get a £50 discount on my fees if i sign up within 6 months of finishing my last course with theese guys The HCC with whom i did my level 2 and can strongly recommend.

So to summarize im tolerating the job i have for now with the view that i can finaly make a start to my Horticultural Career in a few months time.....Bring it on!.

Get in!!!!!

2011-05-07T08:12:00.010+01:00

Lot to report since my last post, so ill start at the beggining. As my last post suggested i made the journey to London to the RHS head quarters in Vincent Sqaure, i must say i was amazed by the underground system and found it very easy to use. I arrived a good hour before my interview was due to start so i used the time to look in the Lindley Library i sat and read Darwin's "On the Origin of the Species" for a while, the place is very formal and a little intimidating as i had an mental image of the RHS that included a group of stuck up toffs with double barreled surnames and spectacles balanced on the end of thier noses so they could look down at you and although that description may apply to some i certainly didnt meet them. The job i was applying for is a lottery funded year long scheme ran by the HBGBS , i was interviewed by a lady from the english heritage (and the RHS i think) and one of the Senior gardeners at Trentham estate in staffordshire. I dont think the interview could have gone better, i knew id impressed them and i nailed the plant ID test getting nearly all of them right 1st time with latin names thrown in for good measure, but after giving them a sweaty handshake and bidding them farewell i knew i had an anxious wait, after all 360 people had applied for the scheme and 60 had been interviewed 40 of which had applied to work at my preffered garden at Chatsworth. So as my friend had not accompanied me to the capital i decided it would be rude not to visit the Royal Botanic Gardens so after a short tube ride and a 15 minute walk through an affliuent looking Kew i arrived at the historic venue and was in for a real treat, i walked through the Victorian Glasshouses

Was treated to incredible vistas

nearly soiled my keks on the tree top walk

the place is huge and i just didnt have enough time to explore it all and take it in so with reluctance i got myself a four pack of tinnies and jumped back on the train up north.

Now it was the waiting game and by coincidence i was due to find out my exam results on the same day as hearing about the chatsworth number, however the college had the dates wrong so i had a little wait for the results. I woke on the thursday morning the week after and as soon as my eyes were open i grabbed my phone and check my emails, there it was an email from the HBGBG scheme i darent open for a few seconds but when i did pure elation greeted me, id got it!, me the scruffy council gardener had beaten the 360 other entrants to get the Chatsworth number, i had to re-read the email a few times but on the 29th (royal wedding day) i went to meet the acting head gardener at chatsworth who confirmed i had indeed been offered the place on the scheme. You may be thinking "why get so excited about a trainee scheme" but i see it as the start to a (hopefully) whole new career and the prospect of going to work everyday somewhere as stunning as Chatsworth cant be a bad thing, i even have accomadtion available if i dont want to make the 50 mile round trip everyday, that'l do me.

Next was the RHS Level Two Certificate in Horticulture i was aiming for a distinction pass but a pass was more than enough, the reuslts finaly came on the 26th a few days earlier than the published date of the 29th, i PASSED!, however i missed out on the distinction pass by one mark on each of the two papers, gutted but also encouraged that i have what it takes to move on to the level 3 advanced and i shouldn't be out of my depth.

You can perhaps see why my blog had been neglected a little.

Between all this ive been busy up at the allotment as most are in April and May, nothing out of the ordinary to report other than the addistion of yet another replacement greenhouse and the new stumprooted carrot box that ive sowed with sweet candle with a little help from Simon Smithyveg and a few ideas gleamed from another great site http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/index.html

Ill try and get some pics of the garden up soon when im less busy.

At home my ornamental garden (although tiny) is coming along nicely and started to throw up some real gems such as this Aqualegia

An this Alium trying to break free

Although i love the flower spikes of the lupins the leaves are just as rewarding

With today forecast as a washout out (thank the lord) im going to get my gardening jobs out of the way.

Oh i forgot to mention i have another job interview on wednesday to work for Age UK as a gardener for the elderly, this will see me through to starting at Chatsworth in the autumn if im succsessfull wish me luck....again!

Noobveg in the big city!

2011-04-01T16:33:00.010+01:00

Been very busy, work taking up most of my time with me doing 50-60 hours most weeks. In the rare hours when im not working ive been working hard to get the garden ready, seed sowed, greenhouses replaced, ohh and squeezing the familiy in where i can. Im still waiting for the results of my RHS exam with the latest estimate for my results being the 21st of this month. A few weeks ago i applied for a "Garden Trainee" job, although ill be taking a big pay cut it looks like a fantastic opportunity as i get to work under the mentorship of a proper gardener and ill also be put through my RHS llvel three (which i was going to pay for myself) and i top it all the venue nearest to me and the one ive asked to put as my preference should i be succesefull is only bloody Chatsworth House!!!!!! can you imagine going to "work" at Chatsworth every day. This morning i dragged the other half off to derbyshire to see the place i may be working if the gardening gods are smiling on me and wow!!!!!. When you arrive you have to drive a good 1/2 mile through the estate on approach to the huge stone house that is frequesntly used to film period dramas, after coughing up a few quid to get in you are greeted by buckets of formality with long avenues and clipped topiary, manacured lawns and skeletal archways of the deciduois shrubs that are waiting for thier summer dress to be delivered. The glasshouses offered lots of the exotic with huge bannana's and citrus plants complete with lemons and stunning camelias. We walked around the winding woodland paths flanked by rhoddadenron and Yew with a small stream tracking our path. The kitchen gardens where bare as you can appreciate due to the season but as we hit the top path some of the views of the derwent valley were exceptional as well as some of the manmade features

A lot of the top end is very natural a with the occasional "shove in the right direction" from man and then every now and again mans influence takes over.

The tree covers the view when you stand inline with the path but offers up a veiw to the valley if you take a few steps to the side.

Impressive use of water allow stunning ponds , huge fountains lots a water falls and trickling steams and most impressive of all the lakes provide water to flush the toilets how cool is that?

The place never turns its nose up at an opportunitity to lead the eye into the distance.

I loved the view above just a little bit more than the vista from the top of the serpentine hedges which had they been evergreen instead of beech would have looked a lot better in my opinion.

To conclude there place is a centre of horticultural excellence and landscaping and i reckon i would actually chew of my right arm to work there.

Fortunately i wont have to sacrifice one of my meat hooks ill just have to attend an interview at the RHS head quarters in Westminster, London.

Ive got a friend that worked down there a lot and he has kindly offered to accompany me and once my interview is concluded (hopefully successfully) he is going to show me a few of the inns and pubs around London before we try and negociate our way home via the tube.
The interview is a week on monday, wish me luck!

Phew!

2011-02-19T13:34:00.003Z

I sat the long awaited exam on wednesday this week, it was 18 months in the making so my stong will to do well is understandable, this of course led to anxiety and nervousness. When i was at school i just didnt care so i was never this nervous in my real exams as (back then) they didnt matter to me, so i can now totally relate how students feel nowadays when sitting finals. However im reasonably happy with the paper i got, the exam was in two sections and im very confident ive done more than ok in the first one (at the expense of sounding cocky), the second one didnt go quite as well but im sure ill get a pass even if i dont get the distinction pass that i wanted. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted so no im going to have a couple of months without study and hopefully pick up the Level 3 advanced in the autumn (assuming i pass the level 2).

The job i mentioned in the last post went to somone else, i didnt even get an interview which shows that i need to keep studying as at the moment im just not as qualified as most out there. Im thinking of paying to do my chainsaw and CDA licenses as i feel these will help me get my foot in the door. Ive seen another job advertised which starts in september on a 12 month contract, the title is "Garden Trainee" so may be perfect for me, ill be spending most of today making a CV to send off for that one.

On the allotment side of things!

The greenhouse took heavy damage in the winds last week and will have to be replaced. Ive got seedlings of Kelsae, pot and blanched leaks in the propagator which i will be potting on very soon

I bought a few ornamentals for the garden at home last weekend, Ophiopogan planascapens "Nigresens" Euonymous fortunei "Emerald and Gold" and Vinca minor, all were planted last week and will hopefully get the garden going once they are established. Most of the ornamnetal bulbs are showing nicely both at home and at the allotment and should be in flower soon.

Now for the main picture, i spotted this in a layby on the A614 the otherday, now im not great on decidous tree ID but is this Camelia sinensis?

Cramming it all in.

2011-01-25T10:42:00.002Z

I must confess im struggling at the moment, ive got a hell of a lot on my plate. Ive got my RHS exam in about 3 weeks, im working every hour god sends to pay for holidays, car repairs, DIY and my hungry horticulture habbit. My parents are divorcing and going through the final phases of settling things up which im involved in also, on top of this im having to find time to get bits done at the allotment and be a father. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, the house (parents) should be sorted in the next couple of weeks, the exam will be out of the way in the middle of feb (dont plan to study anymore untill after the growing season), holiday is going to be paid up next week, the DIY isnt massive and can be done bit by bit and on the job front ive applied for a gardening job that should not only free up some time for me but also help toward my studies should i go for the advanced course next. My show onions are up and well through (the select seed bought kelsae) but the lambs seed i had from last year are very sporadic these may be backheeled. Ive sown some pot leeks and will be doing the blanched in the next few days. Im very easger to get on with tidying both my garden at home and cracking on with the lottie but im diciplining my self to concentrate on my course. That said im off to jump back in the study pit and try learn about pests and diseases, makes sense realy the first rule of warfare is "know thy enemy".

Feels good!

2011-01-09T11:29:00.002Z

Got my fingers in the soil today for the first time in a few months, didnt do anything major just a few jobs around home that needed doing. I repotted the Hollyhock moving it into a slightly larger pot and refreshing with new compost, i also pruned out the old dead stems while bagging up a few of the seed heads to provide something to sow in the spring. I planted out the Phillepelphus and Lonicera Taracta that i bought also, adding some bonemeal into the hole for good measure. The Knifophia and the Eryngium turned out to be less of a bargain than originally thought, at 2 for a pound i thouhgt id give em a try but they turned out to be no more than dessicated remains of the lush plants featured on the packaging. I also set the Pentalnd Javelin to chit, im awar ethat im far too early but im going to try and grow them in my light lean-to, perhaps putting them out in the mornings and bringing in a night untill the frosts have passed, again theese only cost me a pound so the risk is worht running especially if i end up with some nice "early earlies". The final bargain has also been potted up and the root cuttings of the Dicentra spectabils are now in the heated propagator along with the Exhibition onions that i sprayed with cheshunt compound to avoid pythium (rotting off) getting to them. Im hoping to get upto the allotment next week to make a start up there, ive got a greenhouse to repair, plenty of planning and when the soil warms up/drys out a little ive got a hell of a lot of digging to do.

Back to the start.

2011-01-08T13:24:00.003Z

One of the first posts on my blog was mostly about my attempt at growing large onions for exhibition and im sort of at the same point now, i figured this was a good time to reflect how things had changed and how much id learned since this point last year. For starters the work i did on my plot last spring means im a little nearer to completing the lions share of the building type work needed on the plot leaving me more time to concentrate on the actual horticulture, however since last year ive also doubled my plot size as im now looking after the land that the brother in law had. However i dont intent to build so much on this one and will use it more just as cultivated land rather than raised beds etc. I read a few other exhibition growers blogs (Simon, Dan etc) and as such im always keen to try more and more show veg, im also considering joining the NVS shortly. Mainly due to my studies i have learned a hell of a lot in this period but im under no illusion that i dont have a million times more to learn. I made a few mistakes last year which i hope to address this year, here are a few things that tripped me up, they are simple things but make a big difference.

1. Try and be less eager to set things off in the greenhouse, last year i started in febuary and a lot of my plants just sat there and didnt really get goin till things warmed up, so i going to plant things labeled as "Sow in Feb" at the end of feb rather than the beginning.

2. Label EVERYTHING, last year i always seemed to run out of labels so this year im going to buy loads and make sure i take more care with labels and dates.

3. Last year i started a garden diary but it sort of got neglected, ive realised how valuable this could have been with regards sowing dates for the show etc.

4. Make sure ive always got plenty of compost. Last year i remember plenty of occasions when i ran out of compost which delayed or even stopped me doing important jobs, so need to be sure to stock up.

There are plenty more little mistakes but these stick out as the ones that would make the most difference, they are almost Gardening Resolutions that i need to stick to as obvious as they are.

At home im slowly developing an ornamental garden in my back yard, when i started it was just a worn out rectangle of grass, now it has a bit of shape a flegling lawn and a few plants which i hope to add to this year. I picked up a few plants from the poundshop in town i got

A rootballed Philadelphus (Mock Orange)
A rootballed Lonicera (Honeysuckle)
Dicentra roots (Bleeding Heart)
Eryngium roots (Sea Holly)
Knifophia roots (Red hot poker)

Ill likely plant indoor to get them going then set them out in the garden when things warm up.

I also got some Pentland Javelin seed potatoes which ill try in some buckets for some nice earlies.

Since my last post a couple of month back ive not really done too much horticulture wise, i got a new job and have just been waiting for the season to start.

Now with not long left till my exam in febuary ive been cramming the hours in and need to continue to do so at least till my exam at which point ill be free to enjoy the season and hopefully contibute more to this blog.

Cheap at quarter the price!

2010-10-12T13:14:00.004+01:00

There are few things that are certain in life, you got the usual Death, Taxes, Tomotos getting blight and toast always falling butter side down, you can add to the list the Wilko autumn gardening clearout. They do it every year and to be honest it makes me reluctant to buy anything during the summer, ive allready had cheap seeds from them this year but today i focused on irrigation. As you can see from the photo i got

9 litre plastic watering can ( nice thick slightly pliable durable plastic) should have been £10

2 Litre house plant watering can (colour will look good when ive got the Missus's pinny on when she pops to the shops) should have cost £2

Pump up sprayer (more robust than the cheap ones you get in the pound shops, also has a pressure release valve) should have cost £2.50

Hand sprayer (this is rather cheap and nasty to be honest) should have been 58p

Thats a total of £15.08 but i got it 75% off at £3.77, that'l do for me.

I even had the cheek to take the hand sprayer back (yes the one that cost 14.5p) because it didnt work properly.

Not to much happening gardening wise. Up at the lottie the jap onions are well away and have leaves about 4-5 inches each now, the trough of well rotted manure i dug in under them seems to have generated plenty of heat as the roots on them are ivory white, thick and plentifull. I purposely left space between the rows of jap onions for a row of garlic in each bed. Becuase im tight (and currently unemployed since firday) i didnt buy my garlic form a garden centre instead i bought two bulbs from PAK at a cost of 28p and two bulbs from Tesco for 48p, i got the stuff from pak becuase i like it and the stuff from tesco is just as a plan B should the prefered stuff not like the conditions. I managed to aquire another greenhouse thats going to need a base building and the glass cleaning. Ive also been collecting old carpet from freinds and family to cover the grass on the second allotment. The plants ive got under lights have germinated but look a little drawn so im going to resow and set the lights a bit lower i think, however the onions werent set under the lights so when they get a bit more mature i can look at setting them going under the deep water culture system, hopefully this may give me a head start with my show onions next year.

As part of my bid to show some flowers next year i spent last night watching an old VHS video (from 1992) from the National Dahlia Society (given to me by my grandfather) it was on for a good 2 hours and had plenty of usefull tips and information, it spurred me on to have a go and ive allready started having a poke around trying to find somewhere to get some decent plants from. If anyone has a recommendation it would be greatly appreciated.

The Nobel Pea's Prize?

2010-10-05T07:49:00.003+01:00

The grass cutting season on the council comes to an end this week, come this friday ill be unemployed, its not a shock i knew it was coming but either way ill kind of miss it. If i look at the situation objectively at least i can say that now im a bit nearer my desire to work in horticulture as i now have a season's Experience behind me plus the Lantra Award for driving my ride-on which lasts a lifetime and im told can cost upto £1000 should i have funded it myself. Come next season i will hopefully be able to add my RHS qualification to the list meaning ill have a bit more weight behind an application for gardening jobs.

Did anyone watch the series that has been on television from Dr Stephen Hawking, it was all about the universe science and time and how light travels etc. In the last episode he mentioned how they can tell which direction a star is moving in relation to ourselves by the type of radiation it gives off. It works similar to the "doppler effect", you know the old scenario of how a speeding vehicle sounds different as it approaches than it does once it has passed, this is to due with the sound waves stacking up as the vehicle approaches creating a different sound to once it has passed due to the sound waves then being further apart. He reckons that a similar effect happens with light and he said that if our eyes were a little more sensistive to the electromagnetic spectrum we would be able to see a blue tint on the vehicle as it approached and a red tint as it drove away from us, i not only found this fascinating but it also got me thinking, in design with reagrd to use of colour they say that red gives the illusion of distance and blue the opposite effect so if you were to plant your garden with annuals and used red at the far end of the garden and blue at the forefront you would get the effect of the garden looking bigger than it is?, do you think this is a coinsidence, i think not little in nature seems to be there for no reason and im amazed hw nearly everything in nature and physics are closely interlinked. My conclusion?

Gardeners are not just gardeners they are part time scientists too.

Tucked up for the winter.

2010-09-27T17:50:00.003+01:00

At the end of the grass cutting season at work they put us on 4 day weeks, this meant i was off work friday giving me chance to sort my lawn (if you can call it that). I sowed the grass last autmun and alltough i got semi-decent coverage its far from what id like ot to be. Heres what i did.

1. Brush and Mow. I dragged a stiff brush over the lawn to stand up the individual blades ready for cutting. I went over the grass with a mower cutting a little higher than i have all summer as the grass wont grow much more now and i dont want to leave scalped roots to try and make it through the winter.

2. Scarify. You can buy purpose built tools for this but if you dont have a massive area you can do it with a metal grass rake, i basicaly scratched out the dead thatch from the surface. This thacth can stop water and lawn feed entering the soil, its also ideal for fungi and mosses to grow on so removal in autmun is a must. You can mow again after this step to remove any loose thatch that may have been missed but also to cut any more blades of grass that may have been stood up by the process.

Aerate. Again spikers are available to do this job but i found a small border fork with fairly thin tines was sufficient. Every half foot or so i sank the fork into the soil and gently pushed back the handle untill i saw the soil raise slighty. This has a number of benefits, most importantly it allows air and moistue get down to the roots by creating cracks and crevaces in the compacted soil, it also breaks some of the roots of the grass encouraging more to form resultling in more healthy plants.

Top dress. I made a mixture of 2 parts Loam (now sold as topsoil), 2 parts peat and 1 part sand, i chose this mixture becuase im on sandy soil but if i were on heavy soil id use less loam and more sand. Then using a homemade trulute i leveled the depressions and covered the whole lawn, i didnt want the grass to be entirely smothered so a thin layer was necissary followed by a good watering with the hose pipe so i could see grass again, im seeing more and more grass each day as the dressing settles to the surface.

Feed. I fed a couple of week ago with a fertilizer high on Phospurus to encourage the root growth over winter, ive put this last as i may apply more before the season i out.

Im sure i wont have bowlling green quality next year but im hoping for something i can walk on barefoot with a beer in my hand as the bbq is sizzling away.

The other job i did friday was to get my spring bulds in. After ripping out the summer bedding i dug in some well rotted manure (hopefully the microbial activity will warm the soil and encourage root growth) and planted the bulbs to about twice their height, ive put in Aliums, Iris, Crocus and Narcisus, Squils and Hyacynth.

Today i planted a few flowers for overwintering, just to get some early flower, i put in Hollyhock, Godetia, Larpsur and Candytuft, they will live in my mini greenhouse untill spring.

I also made a few sowings for my hydroponics experiment, i sowed Tomato, Onions and Peppers, along with a few overthings that will just grow in soil to use the space under the lights. So far ive managed to get the room emptied and whitewashed, ive got the lights set up but not much else. Im hoping that i can get the rest of the things i need for a Deep Water Culture system next week so that when the seedlings are big enough they can be transplanted and get going. I just need to get an airstone, some nutrient concentrate, a netty pot and some growing media (may just use perlite) and then im ready to go once ive tidied up the wireing etc. Until then bye bye.

Away with the fairies!

2010-09-19T18:14:00.004+01:00

Not a bad week, not much gardening done as such but ive made a few important discoveries. The first is that im never drinking again after last nights bbq at a friends house ive decided that me and alcohol need to just be passing aquiantences for a while at least. Another discovery was on tuesday when while cutting grass i saw a skip outside a house (call me scruffy but skips can be goldmines for gardeners) which i was later told had been raided the day before by the police, it was obvious from the contents of the skip that the police werent there as well wishers checking the security of the place, these guys had been growing the "devils lettuce" and on a grand scale too, not only did i procure some growing tubs for my show spuds next year amongst other things but it also got me reading more and more about the facinating world of hydroponics and the potential this system has for maybe producing some items for the show bench. Although most of the information you will find is geared toward growing Cannabis sativa, i see no reason to try this myself, commercial growers use Nutrient Film Technique to grow high value crops. Although not that expensive to set up a custom system, the cost comes in the actual running of the system via the cost for powering lights, pumps, fans, heater mats etc. The benefits can be amazing, growing in a soil-less environment immedietely eliminates many soil bourne pests and deseases, you can deliver to the plant the exact amount of nutrients you want. Becuase you control EVERY element of the environment of the plant you can use hydroponics all year round.

So for i have some led lights that i bought to grow my onions last year, i also have "commandeered" the walk in wardrobe in our bedroom for my "grow room", there are a few more items to buy when i decide what im going to grow and which Hydroponics style im going to adapt. Id strongly encourage any keen gardeners to read up on this it certainly opened my eyes.

Plants commonly grown using hydroponics would be used to send you "away with the faries" but something i spotted a number of times this week was this.

These along with the main picture are "farie rings" caused by mushrooms, aparently they spread from a single point outwards to form these rings. Becuase they mushrooms are fruits growing from the mycilum under the soil the only way to get rid of this if you get it in your lawn is to dig it up or (as suggested on last weeks gardeners question time) if you have an edged lawn it will keep spreading outwards untill it "drops off the end". Apparenly these rings featured in folklore and were thought to be gateways to other dimensions, you can read more here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_ring

Has anyone else come across these rings?

Right thats all for today im off to the off licence.

Big Dill in the Jungle????

2010-09-12T18:19:00.007+01:00

I realised something this weekend, people like the unusual, people dont want to see the norm, they want to see big leeks, oversize onions and 4ft long carrots and big Dill wasnt an exception, i went in the horticultural tent several times this weekend at the Rotherham Show and everytime he had a few admirers (im reluctant to use the word crowd for fear of exageration), people having thier photo taken with him (missed out on making a few quid there) and gerneraly saying "wow", my phone and the missis's phone have had loads of text messages saying "wow that a big un" and i was even asked "whats your secret" by the council fellow who had to help me get my exhibit to the car (poor bloke drew the short straw there). He's been so popular im expecting a call from Ant n Dec to see if he will fly over to australia next month. I dont know what he weights as they didnt bother weighing them but i cant lift him alone id guess around 60kg-70kg but that is just a guess.

Here he is with the better half and Billy, you may be able to detect that Billy had just been grounded for misbehaving moments before this was taken.

The Society stall got 1st and i was asked for my pototoes that won the society show for it, also they had no decent pot leeks "ive got some" i offered, imedietelly regreting saying anything incase i got ridiculed, but they were "little crackers" and apparently id "saved the day", to say i was beaming like a chesire cat is an understatment. However i must admit further regret, as if id entered them in the pot leek class instead i would have walked 1st and 2nd as the entries werent upto much, this i may add is the only class i would have stood a chance in (maybe the cylindrical beets) with what ive grown this year as there was some real quality on show.

I must admit i wish id entered more stuff and grown more with this show in mind rather than send all my best stuff to the society show. At least ive got all winter to plan and procure decent seed.

I set 60 Radar jap onions this morning, after truning the soil i dug troughs to which i added some well rotted manure before covering and planting the sets, it my hope that the manure will give a bit of bottom heat to help the sets get some decent roots down before winter sets in. I set them at 30cm gaps and 60cm between rows, ive grown them much closer than this before but now ive inherited the brother in laws plot ive got the space to spare so dont need to cram as many in a small space, this will make hoeing a lot easier and should make for slightly bigger onions.

I got back from my hols last friday and i noticed this (was much smaller then).

Ignore the failed conifer cuttings and look at the pot in the foreground, you may remember i not long since potted, Ginger, Pineapple & Coconut. This shoot is from one of three pots of ginger i potted up. The Pinapple didnt take so i need t try that one again and so far noting has happened with the coconut palm.

So thats it for my show calender for another year. Ive promised my self to improve next year, im not even in the same Ball park as Smithyveg and Roy n Keith from the allotments (who mopped up most of the veg section) but im sure they all were at this point at some stage, so next year ill be bigger better and hopefully that bit wiser.

Not a bad day at the show.

2010-09-05T07:47:00.010+01:00

After a week at the seaside friday saw me frantically trying to prepare exhibits for our garden society show. Our vegatable section is only open to society members so you can appreciate that not all the classes have the best quality athough some classes most certainly do. I managed 5 1st's and 4 thirds, which is an improvment on last year, here is how i did it.

These are a pair of turnips, the variety is snowball and is simply grown from seed purchased from wilko's. This got me a 1st but was one of only two entries in this section so im not too excited about this one.

I was surprised these got a 1st to be honest, i think i got it becuase they were more cylindrical than the other entries even though the others were a bit cleaner in my opinion, this was obviously the Cyldrical Betoot section and my enties were the Cylindra variety.

My potatoes got me a 1st and a 3rd and i was pleased with my red's, although the yeild wasnt as good as the whites they were much cleaner and didnt have much scab. Vareities were Romano and Sante.

My dwarf runners got me a 1st and a third and in this much more contested class i was especialy pleased at this, these are Borlotto grown from seed bought at Poundland.

These Pablo beetroot also surprised me as i thought they would have done better than 3rd, they seemed to me better than the other exhibits, they were fairly clean and have a nice central taproot i think however they were a little on the large side.

This exhibit in the "plate of other veg not on schedule" was a last minute thing and was slung together as an afterthought, i managed a third but personaly i would have given my third to another exhibit.

I also managed a 1st in the "pot plant for flower or foliage" section but i was the only entry in the section.

I was gutted to realise that i have 5 very uniform tomatoes with a sixth (six are needed) nowhere near as ripe as the others, i think id have been in with a chance of a card in this section also.

My long carrots were not even close and the mix looked very dry so its back to the drawing board for next season in this one im afraid. Due to uneven germination on my stump rooted carrots i only managed one semi-decent specimen so once again is a case of trying again next year. The show onions never made the size but i managed to pick up some tips from the onion growers at the show so hopefully next year will see some improvement.

Overall im happy with my cards but im not going to hide the fact that they are all prizes in the "easy" sections, lets face it, beetroot and potatoes pretty much grow then selves, once you have selected the variety, prepared the soil and planted them there isnt a lot more you can do other than weed, feed and water, the same can be said of the dwarf runners. Although ill grow entries for these sections next year, im realy hoping to do better with the harder to grow stuff, like the onions, carrots, parsnips etc.

I haven't mentioned Big Dill, this is becuase he didnt feature in the show, no section for him which pissed me off to the max, but he'l be making an appearance in the town show next weekend hopefully.

Ive given some thought to attending the harrogate flower show this year, hopefully if i go i can have a talk to the top growers there and maybee even procure some good seed. The prices are reasonable so hopefully i can make it.

http://www.flowershow.org.uk/

Busy few days coming up, with Billy kicking off his new football season in a couple of hours and its back to school for me tommorow with my college course starting (quite looking forward to this).

Alothough this week has been fun, the digging up of the spuds and the show are definate markers for the fact that the season is drawing to a close, soon it'l be back to planning, studying and freezing my nuts off everytime i venture up the lottie, in a way im looking forward to wiping the slate clean and starting again next year but im also sad as ive realy learned a lot this year and dont realy want to let it go.

Deal or No Deal!

2010-08-23T15:46:00.004+01:00

My mates 3 year old Logan with Big Dill.

On saturday i had the pleasure of shadowing my grandfather while he judged a local show, i loved every minute and learned plenty and as i was by far the youngest there i copped for the labourers job, lugging the gaint pumkins and marrows around to be weighed for the (for weight) classes. The two that we weighed were no where near as big as Big Dill and tipped the scales at 69lb (old people seem to insist on imperial) and the other was 71.5lbs. The show had some good entrys and some realy poor ones too that made me wish i could have entered as there were a few easy cards on offer for sure. The one thing i did notice that stood out was the number of NAS's we had. N.A.S for those of you that dont know stands for "Not As Shedule". Now im not too fussed about newcomers putting Pom Dahlia's on the "Small Dhalia, in vase" section as although technicaly wrong you can see how the mistake was made, but when we got to the "3 roses, any type, in vase, for flower" section there were 4 entries and all had either more than 3 roses or had 3 roses and then some extra semi open buds, there was a Lily in the "Annuals in a vase" section, there was a section "Arrangement of flower one shade of any colour" one of the entries in this class had 4 colours. So i realy think that either people cannot read or that the shedules need to be re-written with more detail or emphasis given to follow the shedule to the letter. Now i got the shedule for my local show yesterday and believe me i will be reading and re-reading in great detail the class notes. Now talking about our shedule, the first thing i looked for was the "One pumpkin, for weight" class and guess what it wasnt there, i was gutted in fact (call me a tit if you like) i went and collared the secretary who said it was "a clerical error" and has promised to include it. Now Big Dill is flying on he's now 80" round, i know this is no way to judge weight as it doesnt take density into account but i like to do it to show the rate at which he's growing. This week has forecast lot and lots and lots of rain and while water is good for growing a big pumpkin too much is a disaster as the fruit grows to fast and can split, so ive decided to keep an eye on things and if we get a torrential downpour i may have to sever the fruit from the plant. Even at its current size it will be bigger than last years winner (if memory serves me) but with the Rotherham show coming up soon i want it as big a possible to hopefully get victory there too so things are on a knife edge at the moment do i gamble or play it safe...Deal or No Deal.

p.s If anyone has any tips on how to spot a splitting pumpkin early on please let me know.

Bargains!!!!

2010-08-20T15:27:00.002+01:00

While at my sons football club car boot sale last week i picked up some absolute bargains, all books, heres what i got.

The Lawn Expert (Dr D.G Hessayon)
Be Your Own Garden Doctor (Dr D.G Hessayon)
The New Supergardener (Alan Tichmarsh)
A-Z of perennials (Readers Digest)
The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine Cook Book (George Foreman & Connie Merydith)....hmmm George's input is questionable here.
The Cookbook (Creda Jackson)
And a Charlie Dimmock book that the missus has "tidied away".

I paid a grand total of £3.20!!!!

Carboots are an excellent place to pick up other bargains too so make sure you drag yourself to a few im glad i did as ive now got plenty of reading to do in the winter.

Ok so i want someone to top this and tell me thier best ever bagain horticultural or not.

Doubling up, Rude Carrots and exploding pumpkins!

2010-08-16T17:49:00.005+01:00

When i got my plot back in 09 i was closely followed by the brother in law who snapped up the plot next to me, he too was full of enthusiam and love for the "grow your own" movement, however recently his plot has been neglected and he took the neccissary decision to call time on the whole allotment idea, i agreed with him that id pay his rent and work the plot for him, mainly so i have room for chickens (when i get around to it) but i see no reason not to use the rest of the space for things that take up a lot of space such as spuds and the giant pumpkins that im getting increasingly fond of growing. So just when i thought id gotten on top of my plot to such a degree that i could spend more time on horticulture ive gone and bitten off another good old chunk of graft sweat n tears. I dont intend to build as much on the new plot though as i simply dont have the time and resources at the moment. Its that time of year that i love where nearly every meal includes something homegrown, infact our sunday lunch was all my veg (except those horrible dried peas that the missus insists on) and the midweek stew. It wont be long before the corn is ready as the silks have started to brown off on the ends.

Ok onto Big Dill, he's getting a big lad now and im getting scared he will split (thanks for the buffer fruit tip on your blog Simon btw), i went to measure him today and the cloth tape i had wasnt big enough, but hes about 71" round now as you can see from the photo he is coming on well.

Ill soon be pulling my onions tommorow to ripen off (thanks again smithyveg) hopefully to get some entries into my local show.

I few post back i mentioned growing things bought from the super market and alothougth there isnt much to report on the items i planted back then ive added another to the list, im attempting to grow a coconut palm, ive had a coconut soaking in water since friday to break the seed dormancy and will be potting it up later. Ive had one of these before and they make a great houseplant.

Ive been doing a fair but of work on my tiny back garden at home recently and when things are at a more advanced stage all get some photo's up for you to prasie/mock/riducule etc.

Heres this weeks oddity/item of interest. You see Convolvulous everywhere growing in hedges this time of year usually the white form or sometimes the pink form, i havent seen this one before obviusly some kind of hybrid it may be common as dog muck but ive not seen it before.

Confused Corn.

2010-08-07T17:52:00.003+01:00

I noticed this oddity at the plot this week, the photo doesnt quite do it justice but it looks like i have a flower that is part male and part female, you see the male like flower parts further down however the top has a silk, i went to wilko's but couldnt find anything for vegatative gender re-alignment so it may have to make do with dressing up in the missis's frocks and high heels.

I managed to measure the circumference of Big Dill ( my biggest pumpkins official name now) i measured with a cloth tape starting at the stalk and going all the way round via the "southern pole" (dont worry its doesnt actualy have its own magnetic field just yet) and back to the stalk, i got a just short of 50" or 127cm. To bet honest i darent feed it, we are getting regular rain up here and the ground has remained fairy moist for the least few weeks so im scared of it splitting.

The sign is up on the notice board for rents, it never fails to amaze me how i can rent a space of land 100ft by 27ft for a measly £22 (or £27 if you pay late) per annum, thats what i call value for money.

Right im off to prepare for the BBQ, Maryland Scewers (Bacon, Banana and marianded chicken), potato skins, wedges, chinese style pork.....im going to have to stop my mouth is watering. Have a good weekend.

31 years young!

2010-08-03T16:54:00.005+01:00

Yes im afraid today is my birthday, at 19:45 tonight (always loved my champions league) ill be exactly 31 years old, i must say i find it hard to get excited about my birthday nowdays, but this helped!

This is Phil, my white Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis). This was a gift from the missus and my son and im over the moon with it as it will give me something to nurture throught the winter months.

Pumpkin Update.

Didnt have a cloth tape (this time) so couldn't be accurate but it looks like the biggest pumpkin is 36" round thats bigger than my waist (honest).

I pulled of the other female flowers on this plant so that all the energies are concentrated into this one pumpkin.

Been meaning to post a picture of this Rudbekia ive got growing at the allotment its a lot different to all my others which all have yellow in them. Dont you think they are stunning?

Today i stripped the chilli plant to freeze all the fruits, im hoping this will encourage more flowering and hence more fruits. I also harvested 3 aubergines today so im off you find a recipe for Mousaka, before i go to the pub, night night.

Pumpkins!!!

2010-08-01T12:32:00.004+01:00

Just been up to the plot for a couple of hours and wow!!!, the Dills atlantic giant is expanding at a fantastic rate, its like someone pulled the ripcord. Its bigger than a regular football now. The others have smaller fruit on them but are also growing on well. Had another decent greenhouse harvest today also. I love how they are all "clean" if you know what i mean, the peppers are realy waxy and im getting plenty from the 4 plants i have.

The tomato, pepper and chilli will be going on a homemade pizza later on.

Also had a few other bits out for the sunday roast, spuds, cabbage, green beans, parsnip and carrot, these autumn king are a pleasing sight after some of my other carrot growing attempts.

Its not very often my carrots have just the one leg :).

Gardeners Question Time

2010-07-31T16:11:00.005+01:00

I listen to GQT everyweek, usualy via the podcast as im at work when its on (Fridays about 3pm i think in BBC radio 4), and as i lay in bed this morning listening to it i was inspired by Mr Flowerdew to have a go at growing a pinapple, apparently they take quite easily. So when we went to town i bought a pinapple, for 80p its worth a go, the lady on the market stall asked if i wanted the top whipping off and looked a little surprised when i asked her not to. After some research on youtube and the web heres how i potted it up.

1. Get hold of the top, twist and pull at the same time untill you get this.

2. Then pull away some of the lower leaves. to reveal some very small roots (the dark brown parts on the photo are the roots).

3. Then pot up and keep indoors in a noce warm spot, apprently you shouldn't let the soil dry out. After a while you should start to see new growth at the top and eventually 18-24 months you get a pineapple via a stalk that comes out of the centre.

It got me thinking what other things you could grow on from the supermarket. Weve all had garlic that has sprouted and ill try this in a month or so but for now i gave ginger a try, i nipped to my local asian supermarket (were i go for most of my spices and herbs etc) and managed to select a tuber with a few of the nodules starting to grow, it cost me 61p and i managed to pot up three plants and have some left over for when i do a jalfrezi in the week. I filled a pot 2 thirds full with compost layed the tuber flat on the surface and covered over, watered thorougly and placed in the conservatory with the pinapple.

Anyone got and more ideads for things to grow from the supermarket?

While in town i spotted a half price Acer (think its palmatum) it cost me £1.50, this was also potted up in gerneral purpose compost mixed with some Bonemeal, there wasnt a lot left of the rootball so im going to have to treat this to some tlc but it should be worth it as i love acers.

Right now im off to look for a recipe that uses Garlic, Ginger, Pinepple and erm...Acer leaves?

Update from the plot.

2010-07-28T20:01:00.007+01:00

Not been getting up to the plot as much as i like too recently but had a good session today.

Anyways the sweetcorn have both male and female flowers now so wont be long untill im burning my fingers becuase i cant wait for the cobs to cool after ive cooked them. The female flowers (silks) are always lower than the male flowers found at the top of the plant so that the male seeds can wind polinate the silks, this is the reason we plant in blocks rather than rows.

Had some greenhouse crops out too, first tom, had plenty of chilli's and my first few peppers.

Had loads of runners, shallots, winter onions, had cauliflower, courgette, salad onions, strawberries, a meals worth of greenbeans, early potatoes and my first aubergine out this week, so i cant realy complain. As you can see the Dills Atlantic giant is realy going for it now and is about the size of a size 4 footy at the moment.

Here are the plants for an elevated position as you can see they arent scared to cover and grow.

I was reading last night about how easy fushia cuttings are to take, so i had a go. I went over the road to an unoccupied house with a fuscia bush in the garden, i gave it a light er...... pruning and took the spoils home. I cut a straight cut just under a leaf axle and stripped the lower few sets of leaves leaving just the top one or two sets (cuttings should be non flowering shoots) then i popped them in water, apparently they will root fine this way and if i remember i did a hydrangea cutting like this once and just potted it up once the roots started to form, so fingers crossed.

At work i had a NPTC (City and Guilds) assement on my knowledge and ability to drive my ride on mower. I not only managed to pass but also got a perfect score, one of only 3 people to do that in the borough so i was a little pleased with that. This is my first proper gardening orientated certificate so im pleased to finaly be off the the mark, so watch out Is ill be having your job soon :).

And finaly i feel i should mention the most important product of my commited care and attention, germinated 9 years ago feed and watered regularly, repotted when needed, pruned back hard every now and again but still im very proud of the outcome, my son Billy reached the ripe old age of 9 on monday, heres to another 80 or 90 son!

Looking to next season!

2010-07-25T15:36:00.004+01:00

Becuase its that time of year where most of the hard work has been done, seeds sown, earth dug, potting on and planting out all out of the way to the most part, my attention has been turned to next year, any good gardener will tell you its essential to plan ahead especialy if you are as tight as i and dont want to end up buying plants from a nursery.

Do i want Xmas sprouts and potatoes?, sprouts are gorwing as we speak but ive yet to do anything about some early potatoes and to be honest ive not grown them before for xmas consumption. You can buy specialy treated tubers (a common one to be sold is "Carlingford") that you grow in potato bags, or if you are frugal like me used compost bags can be utilised.

On the ornamental side ive grown most of my bedding this year and i have some wallflowers, polyanthus and winter pansies that will be going in when my summer bedding comes out. The main picture shows a Holyhock (Creme de Cassis) that i have gorwn from seed sown last summer, as you can see ive been rewarded with that foresight, with this in mind ive sown some more biennials. Ive got some Digitalis sown and growing away (56p for a packet of around 2000 seeds is what i call value), i have some Delphinium also and im going to perhaps sow some Lupin for thier stunning spikes next year.

Looking even further into the future ive set some seeds that i saw on ebay and just had to have, they are Tacca Chanteri or Bat Flower. They take around 3 years to flower so im going to have to be patient with these. I got 5 seeds and have set 2, ive done this becuase they are apparently difficult to get going so im going to just try a few at a time so i can change tactics should they not germinate.

Now occasionly i may use a big word or actualy sound like i know what im doing and to be honest mostly this is becuase of my studies, im pleased to say that ill be sitting my exam in febuary so hopefully come spring ill be able to call myself a Horticultulist. Becuase this course is coming to an end ive enrolled to go to nightschool at my local college to study "Certificate in Gardening (Garden Design)" i feel there is a lot of emphasis on garden design in current horticulture so i feel if im going to build a career of some fashion then ill need this to progress.

Ill get and update of the allotment done this week. If anyone has any suggestions for bienials for next year let me know ill check them out.

Say Ahhhhh!

2010-07-17T08:41:00.009+01:00

Im at the part of my studies where im learning about the root environment and im currently on the section relating to nutrients and dificiencies of such. So i thought "what better place than my allotment to find plants with nutrient deficiencies. Heres what i found.

The sweetcorn above is showning signs of Nitrogen deficiency, the yellowing in the plant is a classis sympton. I think this has been brought on my the excessive rainfall we have had, i coulds be wrong but i know nitrogen is very soluble and leeches from the soil very easily.

Im going for Magnesium on this pumpkin leaf, the yellow interveinal chlorosis seems to point to this , although im tempted to opt for Potasium becuase of the slight yellowing on the leaf margin.

Im pretty sure theese wallflowers have a phosphate deficiency becuase the the purple tint in the leaves caused i think by anthocyanins being produced (like when autumn leaves loose the chlorophly and turn a redish colour) becuase of plant stress and chlorosis. But again im new to this so if you know any different please comment as i need to learn this stuff.

Ok onto my greenhouse tomatoes, this one is showing signs of copper deficieny i think becuase of the upward curl of the leaves and the petioles are bending downard.

Different plant and different problem i think this one is phosporus simply becuase of a photo i found on the web, you can see how the leaves are forming "bubbles" and are sort of concave.

And finaly this Ribes nigra (blackcurrant) has an iron deficienty characterised by the interveinal yellowing and green veins.

Im pretty sure im right with theese but some of the symptons look very similar, what is for sure is plants need carefull monitoring to ensure healthy growth. Heres some excelent reading on the subject.

http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=3&id=289

No plants were harmed in the making of this blog enty and all problems have been addressed with tomato feed, general purpose fertiliser or sulphate of ammonia.

Finaly i thought id update on the pumpkins, all the plants are flying especialy the Dill's atantic gaint. Ill hand polinate the plants soon if need be but to be honest the fruitlet on the picture below seems to be bigger than the others so may have set, there have been plenty of both male and female flowers so this is a distinct possibility.

Come on Deutschland!!!

2010-07-03T19:06:00.004+01:00

Was great to see the Argies getting stuffed by our other old enemy, but the way i see it is like this if we are going to get beat hopefully it will be by the eventual winners, so im giving the krauts my support. Anyway back to gardening, not much to report realy other than the fact that the pumkins are doing well and the Dills atantic gaint in particular is flying away, ive included a wine bottle in the photo for scale. The show onions are coming along nice also, however i did loose one of my seed grown onions to white rot. The long carrots seem to be doing ok i have lost one of those too due to the soil level droping in the tube and excluding the light (you live and learn i suppose). The stump rooted have been a failure, most havent germinated and ill be lucky to get 3 or 4. I also noticed the ring culture tomatoes are suffering, i think its becuase i didnt keep thier containers topped up enough on a couple of occasions and the foiliage suffered becuase of this but its all a learning curve i suppose. Got a few chilli's set now and also a sweet pepper so overall im happy.

Scorchio, Scorchio, Scorchio

2010-06-26T16:19:00.007+01:00

28 today up at the allotment today and my back is a simalar colour to the tops of my cylindra beetroot, all this sun however does make the Livingstone daisies open up as you can see in the picture above. I spotted the first runner bean today and my first garden pea too.

The gaint pumpkins are coming along well with the Dill's Atlantic Giant cleary being the best so far.

The show onions are also coming along niceley, and the ones i sowed back in december are just about caught upto the special plants that i was given.

This onion is the best of the homegrown seed with its ugly brother next to it.

Today i took the last of the winter onions out to dry off and in thier place i have sown more beetroot and some turnip for the show in september. It was so hot today that i noticed the potatoes with beggining to wilt so i gave theese a realy thorough drenching as they hadn't been watered at all so for this year. I resowed some Delphinium, Sprouts and some winter pansies yesterday also as i hadnt suffieciently water the last batch and lost them to the heat. My Gazania is almost fully open too, hopefully by tommorow it will be in its full glory.

Octogenarian in da house.

2010-06-17T16:54:00.007+01:00

What was the best thing on my allotment yesterday?, seeing my potatoes in flower?

or was it seeing the Livingstone daisies in flower, or the runner beans?

Nope!!

The best thing on my lottie yesterday was my 80 year old grandad coming up to "check tha doin it reyt".

He has up until the last few years had 3 plots for decades, and until last week was too proud to use the walking stick he's got. Overall he was impressed and told me to "carry on as thy are, and tha'l be alreyt". He also told my missus off for guiding a loose runner bean the wrong way round the cane "always anitclockwise with runners", there's something i didnt know.

I have also installed a decking area now with wood claimed from the private gardening job im doing. Its not a masterpeice but we now finaly have somewhere proper to relax at the end of the day.

By the way this is the messy end of garden this will be the last part to get tidied and worked.
Lastly i saw something today that i havent seen for years possibly since the 80's or 90's, no i didnt see Chesney Hawkes or Bananarama, i saw.............................White Dog Sh*t
look im not lying. This image was taken from my ride-on lawnmower so please excuse the steering wheel in the way.

It was very erm....nostalgic i suppose.

Flower Power

2010-06-12T07:34:00.010+01:00

A lot of stuff coming into flower, especialy on the veg front which always makes me happy, here are a few snaps from the lottie and garden at home.

Tomato in flower and the eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted the first actual tomato, whoop whoop.

Sweet Pea, you smell these before you see them so hopefully they will complete thier mission as polinators.

Augergine, first time ive grown theese, im sure the flower will just look like a purple pumpkin flower but still cant wait for it to fully open.

Broad Bean.

Viola

Greenhouse Marigold

Hanging basket Virginian Stocks

Lillies from the border.

Hanging basket Nasturtiums.

In other news, ive bagged my first private gardening job, to be honest there is no horticulture involved as im basicaly creating a low maintenance space for a busy individual. He just wants his grass areas covering with a membrane and plum slate, with a few shrubs removed, but im going to talk him into a few cordylines and ornamental grasses here and there. With the momey i make in thinking of getting myself a petrol mower and maybe see if i can get a few bits of work here and there who knows?. I got a phone call yesterday asking if i would go to the school that my son attends and help the kids with their garden, giving them advice on how to grow stuff and what to plant etc, although i feel a bit of a fraud (im a noob afterall) im enthusiastic about getting kids involved (my son isnt interested anymore) and i may even be able to get some entries for our garden show. Ok im off to make a start on the gardening job, then off to the lottie for a few hours then ive got to set up ready for the football party i promised my son for later (if im honest im looking forward to it), we got all the decorations to put up, homemade USA style burgers, Match in HD, lager and a FIFA 2010 tournament after, bring it on, come on England.

Brrrrr.......Its a bit Chilli!

2010-06-06T20:30:00.005+01:00

What a contrast today was, yesterday it was over 40 degrees in the greenhouse ansd then last night it started raining and hasnt stopped since, also the temperature has plumeted. This promted me to spend some time in the greenhouse weeding and tying up tomatoes. The tomatoes now all have several flowers open one of the chilli flowers has died off with the fruit starting to set behind it. The peppers are just starting to get thier flower buds out also

We also had a meeiting today to revamp the show schedule, a few classes we dropped and the big changes came with the addition of more amatuer classes for people who have never had a 1st in the proper classes (thats me exluded then). Becuase we have a lot of new tenants on the site (alot with children) we wanted to encourage them to enter the show and not feel that its pointess going up against the old pro's. I also suggested a "deformed veg" section and a photograph section for the children as most have camera phones nowadays, these were approved but if anyone has any novel suggestions feel free to let me have them.

If you cant stand the heat

2010-06-06T10:02:00.010+01:00

Us brittish gardeners complain about the weather all the time and yesterday even though it was glorious i was complaining this is because it was just to hot to do anything, i managed to work up a sweat just hand weeding so i decided to retreat with the intention of returning when things cooled down. I used this opportunity to visit the Botanical Gardens at Sheffield, entry is free and its a well looked after site with plenty of plants to go at, i dont remember all the names but here are some of them.

Bird of Paradise Plant

This stunning Agave

Related to the fast growing conifer, this was called Cupressus Cashmerii (or something like that)

Japanese Banana

A feild of Aqualegia

And plant ID on these next two please if anyone knows, the second looks like some kind of ornamental elder, what i like is how the flowers are larger on the perimeter of the infloresence.

Right im of to the garden society meeting to decide on the schedule for our show in september, bye.

Roundup

2010-06-05T07:58:00.011+01:00

Ok so the trip to wembley wasnt as planned but things in the garden are realy starting to happen now, i thought id share this picture of this Lilly i think its stunning. The Tomatoes are flying on and most have a couple of open flowers and at least two trusses, one has four.

Soon once the fruit has set and are about the size of a pea im going to start feeding using a generic tomato feed, i dont know why but this is what gramps reckons so who am i to argue?, personaly id start doing it now to help fruit and flower develop.

The garden peas are well away and the dwarf french beans are geminating sporadicaly, however the yellow variety dont seen to be poking thier noses up yet.

Also in this picture you can see the lettuce that ive been taking to work for my pack-up along with the radish which ive had to share with flea beetles (any organic control suggestions greatly appreciated).

Both the early and maincrop potatoes are through and looking healthy, ive neglected to water theese at all this year and so far so good. I didnt use any type of fertiliser with theese but i did earth up untill just a couple of weeks ago.

Brassica unclues Cabbage, Broccoli and a couple of Cauliflower. I made the same mistake with theese that i did last year, for some reason i didnt cover them and i got away with it for 3 or 4 days so i thought "oh, il be alright" which was obviously the cue for the flying rats to tuck in at the salad bar, so they are now covered and have been heeled in and will be feed weekly with my nettle stew high nitrogen feed (which absolutely honks by the way).

The gaint pumpkins are in, i planted theese last weekend, i dug in plenty of organic fertiliser and have been giving them pleanty of water, theese pumkins are all from seed scrounged from various sources which should deliver a big un so im rather excited about these. Ive planted sweet pea along the fence behind them in an attempt to attract polinators.

One thing ive done different this year is to plant a lot of marigold in various places around the plot as part of a cultural control for aphids they dont look or smell too bad either.

The sweetcorn are in also with a few plants to be added to those i had here due to a few not gerniating and had to be re-sown.

Any finaly heres a picture i found from last year when the garden was full off green, cant wait for it to be like this again.

Wem-ber-leyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-30T07:28:00.002+01:00

Wedding went great, my bessie man speech went down great but now my mind is focused on the trip "darn-sarth" to North London for the league 2 play off final, im taking my son so hopefully the Millers will win. After today my dairy is fairly clear for a while so i may even get some gardening done.

COME ON THE MILLERS!!!!!

Best Man's Speech and Phaseolus Coccineus!

2010-05-28T07:14:00.004+01:00

Today is the day my best mate gets married (fool), its looking like a good day and im sure it going to be a joyous occasion even if i have to stand up infront of a load of people and make a speech. Im going to get a couple of hours in at the allotment this morning to help settle the nerves. Ive got most stuff planted out now except the curcubit genera, sweetcorn and some flowers which ill be working on this weekend. Ive got my first tomato flower opening (one of the ring culture ones), i tried to get a picture but it didnt work out so ill try again this morning. Ive pricked out the long carrots to leave just one per station.

Ive had to re-sow some of the stump rooted carrots as a few of the stations failed to germinate.
Ive also got all my runners out both Prizewinner (which got me a 1st last year) and Stenna ive planted them half and half interplanted with some lettuce.

All the capsicums are also in thier final positions but have been getting some instect damage, ill try and take a photo later. Ok im off to practice the speech wish me luck.

Could you walk in a straight line please sir!

2010-05-24T17:40:00.005+01:00

Wow what a weekend, i did actualy get back from my friend's stag party yesterday but was in no fit state to hold my head up straight let alone write a blog entry. Let just say that everyone was inhebreated, i have several mystery injurys that i didnt disover untill i reached some sembance of sobrietry this morning. I managed to back the outsider in the last race at York on saturday (just picked a name) and a £5 bet got me a return of £189 which led to rediculous ammounts of random shots being dispenced among the stag party. When i got to work today i dawned on me, i wasnt on my ride on i had asked to go work on the fine greens team to try and learn something and today was the day i was going to be asked to walk in a straight line with a lawnmower, and even in my state of semi recover i knew this wasnt going to be easy....but im told i did a very good job for a first timer. I did manage a short lived laboured jaunt to the allotment yesterday and i was surprised how much things had grown including the weeds. Will get some photo's today to show how things are doing.

An urgent appeal!

2010-05-20T17:29:00.002+01:00

On saturday on off to the york races, heres my problem, i know about as much about horse racing as Gordon Brown knows about depth perception. Now for the appeal, i could do with a few tips, for one it will win me more beer tokens and secondly i can look good in front of the lads. Here are the runners and riders

http://www.yorkracecourse.co.uk/racing/fixtures/spring-meeting_17/2010-05-22

Just to reiterate, heres what i know about horses. You feed one end and avoid the other oh and they've got a leg in each corner and apparently its what most people like to eat when they are realy realy hungy. Please help.

So much to do so little time.

2010-05-18T16:42:00.003+01:00

Over the weekend i got the tomatoes planted in thier final positions in the greenhouse but ran out of compost befiore i could do the peppers. I even managed a homemade upside down tomato planter (image above). I planted out some more radish and didnt do much else realy other than help my friend move a greenhouse, the rest of the weekend was taken up by bbq's. In the committee meeting on sunday i proposed that an area of bramble be cleared for the children to play football while at the allotments, this was approved and i now have to find time to make a start (along with some other fathers) on clearing said play area. Now it looks like we are going to be over the worst of the weather in iching to get some tender stuff planted out, but im so busy this week its unreal heres my week.

Last Night was Billy's football presentation, heres him getting his award from England World Cup and Premiership referee Howard Webb

Tonight, ive got to take Billy to training and then Bottle up my homebrew when i get back.

Tommorow ive got a few hours spare after work before Rotherham Play on Sky TV.

Thursday training again. Cut grass at home when i get back.

Firday / Saturday /Sunday Morning is taken up by the Stag Party.

So if im in any fit state sunday im hoping to get the rest of the pumpkin patch dug over so i can plant out the following week which is the week of the wedding. Arrrgggggghhhhhh!

X-Factor Final.

2010-05-15T07:32:00.003+01:00

Today its looking like mid may should and with only a slight chance of frost tonight im going to plant the tomatoes out today ( in the greenhouse). I only have room for two of each tomato which means there will be two runners up (destined for other things). This week ive been reading up on "ring culture". This is the method whereby you encourage the plant to form two separate sets of roots, one for feeding and one for water. Im going to test this, ive bought three small washing up basins, which im going to fill two thirds with grit then sit a bottomless black bucket on top which in turn i shall fill with compost, im going to try one tomato direct into the greenhouse bed also to see which does best. Im planning also to try one of the peppers this way. Once all this is set up i feed into the compost and water into the grit simple. Today my football team Rotherham United play the first of a two leg play off semi final against aldershot so im hoping to get all my work done in good time to sit back and hopefully watch the Millers tounce the opposition, now i used to be fanatical about my football team but i must confess to now being slighty more nervous as to wether or not my toms get blight this year than i am about Rotherham getting to Wembley is that sad?

The Frog, Flag, Duck, Deck and the delayed Fly

2010-05-09T13:46:00.009+01:00

Wow busy weekend so far, got the decking style paths/beds built in the greenhouse and im very happy with them seeing as they cost nowt but a bit on graft. In an attempt to raise some extra gambling money for the york races in a couple of weeks this morning we did a car boot sale, we got up a 5 and flogged al the crap in the house that we no longer wanted, i even managed my first plant sale (does this mean that my plants are at least upto a basic standard if people are willing to pay for them?) i got rid of all my spare Toms, Pepper and Chilli's, we raised £130 for the kitty. I even picked up a small hand rake for 50p and a replacment England flag with is now proudly flying above the lotties (its the biggest one there and the highest may i add).

Ok heres a few wildlife photos i found today on my phone, ones a frog found in my friends water vat and the other is my mates fathers ducklings just a few weeks old.

Sorry about that last one being wrong way round. I got talking to a bloke at the car booty who photographs insects as a hobby, he explained about a weird looking fly that id noticed flying around up there, apparently it was called a St Mark's day Fly, it was named such becuase it emerges around st marks day which is the 25th of april and then doesnt last long before it dies off, so by my reckoning that shows that the season is about 3 weeks behind.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/species-of-the-day/scientific-advances/industry/bibio-marci/index.html

Either that or that bloody volcano in iceland has something to do with it.

You cant polish a turd.

2010-05-07T18:50:00.003+01:00

Ok, got the show leeks in and did some more weeding, also fitted more plastic lawn edging to stop my neighbours cooch grass invading my pumpkin patch. Will hopefully get my greenhouses in order this weekend and some space dug to a tilth for my sweetcorn which are coming along very nicely. The overwintger onions are starting to bulb up although some of the reds are setting seed, acording to gramps the reds are prone to that unless grown from seed. Had to discard some of the overwinter cabbage as they had bolted, im told i can still use the leaves as long as they are boiled well but to be honest i was glad to clear some planting space. My peas are just poking thier heads through too. At home ive had nothing but sh*t, cat sh*t to be precise, now i have a cat but i know for a fact its a cat from up the road that is making the "deposits", i tried a strong smelling repellant but it didnt work so ive resorted to more mechanical means, this involves 6" cuts of bramble stuck into the soil to put the little bugger off, they dont look great but neither does cat crap so im going to put up with it untill my bedding plants cover the loose soil. I had to buy a suit today for my mates stag do trip to the york races, now im a council grardener so my means are limited, this means i could't nip to Milan for an Armani 3 button double breasted pinstripe or pop over the chanel to Paris to get the ol' inside leg measured instead i was limited to just the two fashion designers George Atasda or Mat Alan (theres a joke there if you didnt spot it), in the end i forked out 50 nicker for the little number in the photo modeled by a scruffy gardener that doesnt normaly wear anything other than work clothes or "lottie clobber". What do you think?. Do you like the cheesy model pose in the second one, i nearly did a third of me looking at my watch or pointing off into the distance, now i just need to sit back and wait for the modeling agencies to ring.

All for show.

2010-05-05T19:52:00.002+01:00

A very busy weekend, got lots of potting up done especialy with ornamentals. Finaly got my show onions in the ground and made a sort of mesh cage for them to protect them from the elements and onion fly. Today i prepared the final free raised bed for the show leeks. Just a few sowings this weekend of some additional lettuce and some "Stenna" runner beans again for the show. I getting rather excited now as im going to be making the beds and planting in the greenhouse my Toms, Cukes, Peppers and Chillis. Im finding less and less time to contribute to my blog but im sure once may is out of the way ill have more time to post, untill then ill keep plodding along.

Sickness and the X Factor

2010-04-28T08:14:00.004+01:00

I knew it would happen, my son has had a sickness bug since sunday, and as i had monday off i spent most of the day keeping him company and trying to cheer him up and guess how the little bugger repayed this act of kindness?.......you guessed it, by unashamedly infecting me with his lurgy, im not sure if it was intentional but the more i think about the fun he had with me while he was sick the more i get suspicious. To cut a long story short i went to work yesterday morning and after about 10 minutes of my boss talking to me from 10 foot away with his hand over his mouth i was promptly sent home, "i dont want what thaaa's got, get thi sen off oooem" he commanded. I feel a lot better today just a bit weak and a little wary about straying too far from the bathroom, so im planning to attempt some home based gardening chores later if i feel upto it. Over the last few days ive sown some sweetcorn (Swift F1) in polythene drinks cups, also gaint sunflower, courgettes, and the gaint pumkins are through and mostly looking healthy.

When i sowed my Tomatoes, Chills and Peppers, i sowed around 20 of each variety, when i potted them on i selected the best four of each and these were put in my sons bedroom window, i have since potted them all on again, (as the main pitcure details) given them all some support and a plant food tablet each. When these plants are ready for the greenhouse i shall once again be selecting the best 1 or 2 of each variety x-factor style (with the runners up being planted outside 2 weeks later), i dont think im going to bother with the dramatic music or sarcastic crituque but i reckon come the end of the season it may be possible to show a clear winner for each variety. Something else im tempted to try is based on something my grandfather said, you see he reckons if you like sweet tomatoes you should add a drinks sweetener when watering, i sense he may be winding me up but in the name of science im going to try anyway.

Altruism?

2010-04-25T09:40:00.002+01:00

Yesterday i went to the allotment with ellaborate plans of horticultural grandeur....i failed miserably. I only managed a few bits of potting on and little bit of digging plus got my shallots planted out. The main reason of my failure was a friend of mine, he's just been given a plot you see and as the plot inspections are going to be a regular thing i wanted him to get off to a flying start, so i decided to put in a shift with him. We managed to get sufficient ground cultivated to plant 4 rows of onion sets, demolished and burned most of his inherited shed (clearly unsafe to keep) and some general tidying up. It felt good to help out and hopefully now he will have impetence to keep going and get it someways upto standard for the next inspection. Today is my sons final game of the season where his team can win the league and with drinks planned afterwards (which ever way it goes) i want be doing much today, however i did have the foresight to book a day off work tommorow so hopefully i can get back to my own plot and forget saturday's Altruism ( community service).

First Flower

2010-04-22T17:08:00.002+01:00

Few more pottings to report of radish and cauliflower, also finaly got the show carrot seeds in. Bought more seed believe it or not 3 for £1.50 from wilko, i got Pea. Lettuce and Turnip. I planted out the lettuce that i had in the greenhouse alternating between the green and purple for ornimental effect and then encircled with coarse grit to keep of the slugs. All my sowings seem to be doing ok except the marigolds where olny3 germinated in a 24 cell tray so ive sown more. Ok i saw my first flower today in the garden i wonder if anyone can guess on which plant it was heres a clue "its not a weed".

Blog Neglect the common evil

2010-04-18T09:14:00.002+01:00

Im the first to admit it, as soon as the old currant bun comes out there is no chance ill be sat tapping away at a keyboard now this obviously equates to blog neglect, so ive made time this morning to get an entry done. While ive been giving the laptop the cold shoulder ive been, preparing the pea/french bean bed, runner bean bed, planting the maincrop potatoes and riddling and messing about with the show carrot containers (which ive yet to finish off today). Ive planted the seed for the big pumpkins which involved scratching off the woody hull with emery cloth and soaking in water prior to potting up. Nearly everything ive planted has germinated except the garlic chives for some reason. Ive been going to the lottie before work to put out the lettuce and radish to harden them up before i plant them out later today or tommorow. I thought the show onions were doing great but then............................i had my head turned, i saw a chap at the allotment's onions and they were waaaaaaaaay better than mine so i scrounged his spare ones, think mine will probably not see the show but you never know. Today is the day of the plot inspection which im due to do in about an hours time so im going to go and try and find a clip board and some glasses that will sit on the end of my nose (kidding) once that is out of the way ill hopefully get plenty done before i return to work in the morning. Ill also add that today im going to be having one of my spring cabbage (that i planted last autumn) with the sunday roast.

You have been evicted please leave the big brother house.

2010-04-12T19:30:00.003+01:00

Had some technical difficulties so havent posted over the weekend but to be honest ive been so busy id have struggled to find time anyway. Mainly ive been seiving the show carrot compost and getting those ready. Ive also got the potatoes in finaly the maincrop ones, ive planted half chitted and half not chitted, 35cm apart 70cm between the rows. The second omen of spring also came true over the weekend, the first being me working without a shirt on the sencond is when i feel its warm enough to get the BBQ out. Last night we were up there till 10pm, a little cold at that time but with the fire and bbq going and my generater poweing a light it was great, im suffering a little today but i see it as a sort of martydom after all im suffering with hangover just so my family can have fun. Sunday morning i went to the allotment society meeting and lets just say one thing led to another i before i knew it id been co-opted onto a committee to do a plot inspection this sunday, the desired outcome being that some plots are freed up so we can shorten the waiting list a little. Once i sort my technical problems ill get some photos up but for now im enjoying the sunshine and getting rather excited about things to come.

Its Official

2010-04-08T18:34:00.007+01:00

Some say, its the 1st of March, some say its the vernal equinox, some say it begins when the clocks go forward, but i say that spring doesnt start untill youve had the shirt off down the allotment and this evening just that happened, while digging i got so hot i just had too, it was great. Ive spent the last few days clearing the pumkin patch and the corner where my carrots are going to go. THe image above shows before and he is how far ive got.

To the bottom left im planning to use this as my show carrots area and the dug over ground in the back ground is hopefully going to be the giant pumpkin patch. Stoke of luck today at work, i saw the council sub contractor tree surgens and went straight over to chat them up, next week they are delivering some wood chippings for me to use as pathwasy between my beds and best of all its free of charge.

Can you dig it?

2010-04-06T20:43:00.003+01:00

The plans i had for the allotment over the weekend were probably only second to the list of duties the chelsea flower show entrants have. Did i get half of it done...nope, not even a third, im not one to make excuses but due to a combination of weather, family stuff, study stuff, more weather and good old fatigue i didnt get up as much as i wanted too. So today after work and cutting the lawn at home and getting the shepherds pie in the oven i aimed myself at the allotment at squeezed the accelerator, i went for it dig dig dig, and i got a good ways through the gaint pumpkin bed, it still needs a bit more refining but ive made a good dent and dont feel as bad now about my bank holiday neglect of the lottie, in fact my brother in law has done more than me this weekend on his plot and its starting to realy take shape now. Few more germinators include the Basil, Corriander and Sweet Sultan. Something has been at my Zinnia's i noticed most of them have had their seed leaves eaten strangley noting else has suffered except one of the radish seedlings so i moved them to the other greenhouse. I potted up the Chilli and Ferline tomatoes over the weekend and the marmande tomato that i potted up first are doing well, i also picked up a couple of strawberry plants from poundland which i potted up and shall be watching closely. Right last but not least, ive sort of semi been offered a part time gardening job, someone at work looks after a care home and has done so for 21 years he is ready to retire and in the few short weeks he has known me has decided i should take over from him how freaky is that?. Told him id think about it but it sounds like a great way to get some experience thins could be another step in the right direction.

A new Discovery!

2010-04-02T16:21:00.003+01:00

Ive found something new, its up there with Eistein's thoery of reletivity, and Newton's mastery of Gravity, forget E=MC2 and all that rubbish, here is my posh equation,

NoW=H²O³,ººº,ººº

with "NoW" being Noobveg off Work and the rest im sure you can work out. Its as certain as death and taxes if im not working its bloody raining and the forecast is more of the same for the remainder of the easter weekend grr.

Anywho you know me i went out in it anyway, i took the genny and jigsaw up and built some 500mm wide wooden catwalks for use as paths in my greenhouse purely for aesthetics and the fact i have to small pavers left, im not going to lay them yet untill its time to build the beds for the tomatoes, cukes and peppers. Anywho its april now which means that im allowed to plant some more seeds i know this becuase it tells me on the back of the packets that the seed arrive in, i wonder what happens if i plant eary do you think someone from unwins will come to my house and tell me off or will someone from King's scratch my car or something?. Now in my northern position i tend to think if it says sow in aprill i should realy wait a couple of week as down south its always going to be a few dergees higher but to be honest im just to damn eager so i planted anyway. I planted Carrots Autumn King 2 and two variety of Beet Cylindra and Pablo F1, these went in one of the new beds and were sown in drills and covered to about an inch, i then covered the entire bed with fine mesh netting to keep root fly at bay, i plan to interplant my radish also in this bed when its a little larger. I managed to aquire some things today also

6 eggs for 75p for a lottie neighbour (thats about half price for large free range compared to ASDA)

2 Blue Plastic Barrells for a fiver, im going to cut theese down and use them for the stump rooted carrots.

An annonymous bamboo runner that i liberated from the rock garden in Clifton park this afternoon.

Germination update, Livingstone Daisy, Polyanthus and Heartsease (Johnny Jump Up) all starting to come through now.

Ok next job is shower and then to bottle up my latest batch of home brew. If the weather is still bad tommorow i may plant the big pumkin seeds and a few more flowers, watch this space.

Nothing saved for a rainy day!

2010-03-29T18:17:00.006+01:00

"Look on the bright side that water butt at the top of the garden should be full" i told myself as i trudged upto the allotment in the p*ssing rain. The problem i had was that i had nothing i could do realy, i couldnt dig, i couldnt build the beds in the greenhouses (nice and dry in there) as they are still full of seed/seedlings, so i arsed about for a bit, i replaced a broken 3*2 concrete slab on the path, i laid a couple of smaller ones in the greenhouse and i tidied up my pallets after thier recent disturbance for wood harvesting. I tucked up the seedlings with horticultural fleece and then i bit the bullet and headed of home. I was greeted by my son who was playing X-box live FIFA 2010, now he wanted me to "beat this kid that im playing dad he's too good for me" "pass it here son" i said confidently, now after i let in 3 or goals 4 ( to some kid called Ryan from Leeds) it started getting embarrassing so i bailed "errrr i havent got time for this son ive got beefsteaks to pot on" and i made my exit and true to my word i potted on the Marmande beefsteak tomatoes, left most in the lean-to (pointing away from light to straighten them up) and 4 went onto Billy's bedroom sill with the 4 Roma VF toms. The Peppers have germinated today and the Coleus germinated a couple of day ago i just forgot to mention, the Ferline toms germinated saturday. Forecast isnt good for tommorow or wednesday, so lets just hope its all out of the way before easter weekend.

Yet another bed.

2010-03-28T18:42:00.003+01:00

I seem to be making more beds than a chambermaid at a swingers weekend in butlins recently, but as you can see from the photo my runner bean bed is now installed and ready to recieve my Stennas and Prizewinners i left a space between the bed and path to plant flowers which will hopefully release scent when we brush past with our feet. Only sowings today was some lupins that my other half came home with the other day, think she becoming a closet seedaholic you know, at least i admit my problem, i told her that the first step to overcoming the problem is to admit she has one but she's in denial. I also cut in half (longitudinally) the drainage pipes that are going to house my show carrots these with be filled next weekend with a special blend of growing medium. Next week has forecast cold temperatures and the possibility of more SNOW!!!!!!, so i didnt bother planting the spuds im going to leave that until the cold snap is out of the way.

What a difference a spade makes.

2010-03-27T17:25:00.004Z

Did some digging today at the allotment, i wish id taken a before photo but i can confidently say it looks a million times better now its deweeded, think im going to plant herbs in the bed on the right with flowers around the perimiter and the runners on in the bed on the left, i was helped by the missis she tends to show up when it starts getting warmer and today has been a sunny day although a bit windy. I collared the fella who won our show last year with his carrots and onions, managed to get a few tips out of him including a recipe for the carrot growing medium he asked me to "keep it tu thi sen yung un" so it sounds like i may be onto a winner with it. Made a few more sowings today Spinach, Bouquet Dill and some Beauty F1 cauliflower. Got my results back for unit 6 of my RHS course i managed 70/80 which im happy with as that score in a real exam would earn me a pass with commendation and id be very happy with that indeed. Ive also seen 4 bees this week, all bumble bees which im told are a little more hardy than the honey bees, this is another great sign that spring is here, that and the endess hours of fun i have watching the missus run around screeaming every time she sees one (wait till i get all my flowers planted he he). I did a test on the compost that im growing my onions the ph was 6.5/7ph which i can live with. Right its curry night so im of to do Butter chicken with corriander and lime rice, ttfn.

Gazania's

2010-03-25T18:40:00.002Z

They,ve germintated, i sowed them on Sauturday and allready some are through, seeing some true leaves forming on the Virginian stocks and the Cinnereria along with the Marigolds are coming through more and more. Today i dug over to a fine tilth the last raised bed that i made. Should get the rest of my potatoes in this weekend and sort some kind of area for my show carrots in preparation for making up the special growing medium next week. Think im going to try a few french beans / runners beans soon see if i can get them going prior to planting out in early May.

A few Firsts!

2010-03-23T18:54:00.003Z

Today was my FIRST full day on the ride-on, i must say i kinda enjoyed it even though i got stuck and had to be towed out. I also used a FIRST class stamp to send off my application to volunteer for the National Trust, im hoping to boost my CV a little and this can only help toward my desire to work in horticulthure. It was the FIRST time i wore the daft hat that Tina bought me in the autumn (its one of thoose with the flaps over the ears), it gets bloody cold flying around on the mowers. I got upto the allotment and did my FIRST bit off proper digging this year, i dug over a bed removed what few weeds and glass i could find, the bed was for the FIRST earlies (Paris Peer) which i planted a foot apart and staggered the rows to allow for sunlight. As part of a little test i planted the largest ones FIRST and worked my way through to the smallest with the largest being next to the path at the greenhouse end of the bed, im hoping to see if the size of the seed potato effects the yield of the crop to any significant degree. All that digging made me realy FIRSTY and i was tempted by a lager in the fridge when i got home(ok that one doesnt count). I also notices the FIRST few Marigolds and Lobelia had germinated. The winter onions are looking great and have put on lots of growth recently but some have a light yellow ring on the foliage (going to look this up). Il get a good few photos at the weekend and have a good update.

What to grow for a Hangover?

2010-03-21T19:13:00.004Z

Ok last night, i was picked up at around 6:30 by Beatleguise and a footy ref, we parked at a pub were we met, Dorothy, a Stormtrooper, a Jester, and a Pirate, we had a few pints then got on a minibus with Ali G, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, a Cowgirl and few others, we drove to another pub where we met Bo-selecta Craig David, Adolf Hitler and 2 Freddie Mercury's along with Robocop, Wolverine a Policewoman, Scooby Doo and Lara Croft, now you may think that id been at the homebrew again but i kid you not last night i was drinking with all these people at a friends 30th birthday bash. Let just say that when i woke this morning to take my son to football i wasnt exactly a picture of physical perfection, which makes me wonder what if anything can you grow for hangover cures? answers on a postcard please. My day got marginally better when my lad's team won 23-0 with Billy getting 7 (this should make him top scorer in the division now). After watching Man U beat liverpool i and the missus dragged our selves upto the allotment where i was showing her how to sow seeds, she sowed.

Rocket
Parsnips (In toilet roll middes)
Nasturtiums
Baby Carrots (in an old metal bread bin with holes pierced in the bottom, covered with glass)
Physalis alkegenji (Chinese Lanterns)

I also as part of my course work did a proper pH test, you may remember i did one a few days back with the Wilko's soil probe. Lets just say it was well out, the indicator strip says my soil is a nice healthy 6.5pH which is absolutely perfect for most crops on an allotment so im very happy.

The Cukes i sowed two week ago are flying and are developing true leaves, as are the Roma VF tomatoes, so i potted them on in Polystyrene cups and placed them in the lean-to where its colder to try and slow them down a bit (dont want to put them in the greenhouse untill May), all except 4 of the toms, i just want to see this difference in growth rates. The cucumber seed that i sowed in the lean-to still have not germinated. Down the allotment, i can add Marigolds to the germinated list.

Last but not least i figured id give an update on the Show Onions, as you can see from the photo they are really starting to put on growth now, with the second leaf in most casues measuing around 150mm and as the photo also shows some have a third leaf now, i had to adjust the supports on most of these plants. Right im off back to my place of self pity and plan to wallow in my hangover induced remorse until sleep offers some release. Ta ta.

Bed or Ark?

2010-03-20T16:41:00.003Z

I mentioned yesterday that i was hoping for good weather today, well guess what? mother nature wasnt listening. While it was raining i completed my paper for module 6 of my RHS qualification (The root environment) but even this delay didnt help the weather change. Indeterred i donned my water proof's and headed upto the allotment, man did it rain, at one time while i was making the last raised bed i considered changing tact and thought about making an ark and gathering two of every animal. I did manage to get the last raised bed installed although i was saturated doing so. I made some more sowings today.

Viola - Johny Jump Up or Hearstease
Gazania - Big Kiss Yellow Flame
Corriander
Parsley
Garlic Chives
Basil
Sweet Sultan
Livingstone Daisy

The shallots i put outside in the plastic greenhouse are doing well all with good root systems and one is even sprouting at the top. I would also like to point out that todat is the vernal equinox where day and night should be of equal lenghth, this is good becuase the days will keep getting longer than the nights from now on for a while and it also means that next week the clocks go forward giving us and extra hour of sunlight in the evenings. Right long soak for me then of to the fancy dress party.

Ride on Time

2010-03-19T19:45:00.004Z

This isnt me by the way, but it does show the machine ill be using.

Ok today was the big day at work, ride on training and initial assement. I put aside thoughs of me chewing up Yorkshire Terriers and figured it couldnt be that hard after all in my last job i drove an 18 tonne wagon. It took half an day in the office and half on the field but i aced the initial assement, you were alowed upto 35 fault points and i got 7, so now they are going to let me loose on the public for 6 weeks before a Lantra independant assessor comes to give me a test, so im rather happy today. A Lantra qualification will go a long way toward my wish to work in horticulture, and should also help when i apply to volunteer at my local national trust park. Didnt get upto the allotment till late due to my test but i popped up to check the seedlings. To add to the list of germinated seedlings i have Old English Tyme, Voila and the Hispi cabbage. Im hoping we wont cop for inclement weather tommorow as im hoping to get the last raised bed installed and maybe some other tasks, time will be limited tommorow as im off to a fancy dress party in the evening, that said id better go iron the "officer and a gentleman" cossie.

Im growing weeds....on purpose.

2010-03-17T18:29:00.002Z

Not much time up ot the allotment again today, but i managed to get the remaining 5 posts dug in ready for the lats on my final raised bed. I watered the soil on the bed that i finished the other day im hoping to grow weeds......no i havent cracked up. The thinking behind the idea is that if you let a bed germinate weeds and hoe them off at an early stage before you plant your crop it should make life easier further down the line. When i dug the bed over i will have brought to the surface lots of weed seeds that were lying dormant perhaps waiting for light or another germinatoon trigger so i makes sense to get them out of the way rather then have then compete with my crops and getting them hoed now will be much easier. I cant claim the Kudos for this method its something i learned from my studies and its refered to as a "stale bed method". I now have a lot more radish through, the Zinnias are poking thier heads through as are the Rudbeckias and Spring onions, nothing on the Lobelia though, i planted these on the surface so i decided to sprinkle some vermiculite over the top to see if this helps. Back home a few more Marmade tomato seeds have come though as have the chilli seeds but only a couple. Right ive been charged with preparing this evenings culinary delight so id better get the radio on, crack a bottle of homebrew and get the chopping board out bye bye.

Quickie Anyone?

2010-03-16T18:07:00.002Z

I know what you were all thinking but im talking about a quickie post of coarse. I learned something at work today, well a few things i got talking about shrubs with one of the old timers and he, showed me Cotoneaster, Pyracantha and Berberis and showed me the difference between these berry bearing shrubs, he also showed be Dogwood and Iiliagnus, i makes a refreshing change to learn something at work that im actualy interested in and on my walk through the park on the way home i was trying to identify everything i saw, not quite there yet but im working on it. Seed update for today is the French Breakfast Radish have a couple through, and the Romaine Ballon and Lollo Rosso both have servel healthy looking seedlings through and i think i can see minute signs of germination on the Rudbeckias too. Not much done at the allotment due to daylight restrictions i only managed to cut the posts for the next bed and get half dug in. One last thing, i took my Wilkos soil PH tester upto the garden and apparently my soil is about 3 ph(about the same as lemon juice) so either im doing something very wrong or the soil tester is rubbish, further investigation shall follow.

A newly made bed.

2010-03-15T19:43:00.006Z

Theres something about a newly made bed, expecialy if you have new bedding, im hoping that my plants will feel the same about this new raised bed ive installed, with a bit of luck the fine tilth ive prepared will be as well recieved as cool crisp egyptian cotton sheets, i cant believe my luck as the soil i have seems to be perfect. Now the cuces i planted last week are romping away and they dont look a bit leggy they are nice and stocky my only concern beign that i may have planted them a tad to ealry, will the greenhouse be warm enough by the time they have 4 or 5 true leaves?, if not im going to have to pot them up any keep them where they are.

The Roma VF plum toms are also flying and by far are the fasted germinating tomatoes ive witnessed.
Ive also noticed the first seed leaf coming through on one of the Marmande tomato seeds, theese are the beefstake ones i grew last year. Today was my first day at my new job, so far so good, didnt get much done as it was all form signing and hearing tests etc, but im going to be working on shrubs this week (pruning and mulching) and on friday ive got my ride-on lawnmower training. So one more raised bed to do then im going to build some type of framework to support the pipes for my show carrots, this isnt on the "masterplan" so i think ill draw up a new one soon as ive made a few changes. Dont let the bed bugs bite.

Another productive day.

2010-03-14T09:05:00.002Z

Went to the allotment again yesterday with my newly aquired generator, with the help pf my jigsaw and a few hours hammering and digging i got the next raised bed installed, im hoping to get back up today to get the last one installed after the compulsary Mothering sunday acknowledgments. Now heres a quick apology to IG because im going to blatently plagurise the phrase he coined on his blog becuase i like it so much, i also have "sproutage" the Virginian stocks, Romaine Ballon Lettace and Roma FV are all through and doing great, and there is also a clear winner in the Cucumber Germination test, you may remember i sowed some seed last weekend, two pots were placed on an warm indoor sunny windowsill and the other two were left in the colder lean-to, the champion curcubits were as predicted the ones in the warm bedroom, all four seeds have germinated and are a good 3" tall whereas the lean-to losers dont show any signs of germination at all.

Little Chits

2010-03-12T15:41:00.006Z

Been a quiet few days, but one of the things i did notice was the chits coming on my Arran Pilot early potatoes. The picture isnt brilliant but you can just see the park purple coloured chits at about 2-3mm i only laid theese out on sunday so im happy they are growing so fast. You may notice i changed my "About me" section to display my new job title, im very much looking forward to starting my new job on Monday. Went to the allotment yesterday and got a fire going and had a realy good tidy up on both the plot and the shed. I was raining today though so i put off going to the allotment and got some jobs done at home, heres the list.

Planted from Root cuttings Day Lilly and Baby's Breath in containers.
Planted some Coleus seeds and some Pepper seeds (california wonder)
Put hallf of my Sante and Romano potatoes to chit.
Put my Shitake mushroom log outside.
Potted up my Grape and Raspberry canes in containers of eracacious compost.

You may have noticed i have only put half of my potatoes to chit this is becuase i want to do a test with them, i know this has been done a thoasand times before but it hasnt been done on my allotment where i grow my potatoes so im going to try and do a simple test with the maincrop to see which prduces the biggest yeild. The mushroom log was a poplar log that i scrounged from a tree surgen that i saw working, i innoculated the log last year with shitake mushroom plugs, im hoping that putting it outside will give it a good drenching and encourage it to fruit, apprantly these logs can last for 5 years. The three hosta plants that i sowed from root cuttings are not doing much except this one which is racing away.
Finaly i took a cutting from my yukka, one of the leaf whorls had sent down a root in search of soil, i figured this was its way of seperating from the parant plant so ive cut it off and planted it on in compost and used some small drinks stirrers to support the foiliage until it can establish a root system, becuase of the low root to leaf ratio im expecting some leaves to be lost or at best dry off at the tips but we shall see. Hopefully tommorow ill get to the allotment and start with the raised beds as i have a generator coming later today (a snip at £20) which i can use for my power tools, let just hope the weather is better tommorow. Oh and the the Roma VF Tomato seed i sowed on Sunday are showing signs of germination.

Go on my son!!!!!!

2010-03-07T17:35:00.003Z

I woke this morning with the mother of all hangovers after drinking far too much homebrew cider last night, this however didnt overshadow a great mornings football with my son getting man of the match and scoring 6 count em 6 goals, to say im proud is an understatement he is now one of the top scorers in the division. Anywho now ive got the pushy father bit out the way ill return to the topic of the blog which is after all gardening.

Here is an upto date photo of the show onions, as you can see the 1st true leaves are doing well the original seed leaves dont seem to be growing any more but the plants seem to be thickening up and becoming more stocky. Ive started giving them a very diluted feed of phostrogen once a week ill up the dosage as the plants get bigger. I managed to drag myself to the allotment in my alcohol ravaged state and do more sowings, after all laying on the sofa and occasionaly moaning "im poooooooooorly" was starting to wear thin with my missus so i had to. Today i sowed Lobelia both a white and a blue variety, (seeds for these are ridicuously small) Zinnia and some Polyanthus which are all in the greenhouses. At home i sowed some Eryngium seed in pots which i had to cover and put in the refridgerator for upto 3 months, this is a form of stratification and tricks the seed into believing that its winter, after which they believe its spring and germinate. I also sowed some cucumber seed in pots and covered with freezer bags, i put two in the lean-to on the windowsill and two on Billy's bedroom window sill as a bit of a test, im guessing the ones in the bedroom window will germinate faster. The variety i sowed was Long green ridge, it was the remainder of the seeds i grew last year, this year im going to try some outside also as well as in the greenhouse. Still got yet more sowings to do this week but for now im going to return to the sofa and wind up the missus with more pathetic whining.

Sow Sow Sow

2010-03-06T16:40:00.005Z

As the title suggests today was mostly taken by sowing seed. Heres what seed ive set, in trays or cells in the greenhouse/plastichouse.

Spring Onion, Lettace (Romaine Ballon and Lollo Rosso), Radish French Breakfast, Cabbage Hispi, Thyme, Rudbeckia, Virgian Stock, Marigold, Viola, Sweet Pea. Then at home on my sons bedroom windowsill ive set Chilli (Hot Caribbean Mixed), Tomato Roma VF and Marmande. Will be setting more tommorow. I also started chitting my First Earlies Yesterday i set them with the fat end up in egg trays that id saved. It great to see something in the greenhouse house to confirm things are actually starting to happen now.
You can see in the foreground in the black pots the strawberries that i repotted today, these were bought from homebase at the end of last season for just 20p per plant, sure they were past thier best but ive overwintered them and they have survived so hopefully they will give me plenty of strawberries espicialy being that they are in thier second year. The show onions are going from strengh to strengh ill perhaps get a photo on tommorow of them.

New Zealand Composters

2010-03-04T17:49:00.002Z

Got finished early today so i headed for the allotment as soon as i got home. I got a fair bit done.
1. Moved the plastic greenhouse to its new location and staked it and buried the side flaps.
2. Laid a few slabs infront of the new greenhouse.
3. Emptied and moved my water butt upto the top of the garden where it will be more use.
4. Ripped up the seating area near the shed and made a start with the compost bins.

Have some pics tommrow hopefully.

To make the New Zealand style compost bins it couldnt be simpler, i simply stood three pallets upright in a U shape and hammered them together with six inch nails. I still need to dig some posts at the front to allow for sliding lats to be inserted. You are to leave the base open for drainage and also to allow worms and other macrofauna to invade but the top is supposed to be covered to prevent water logging and leaching of nutruitents by the rain. I made two bins once one is full i shall start on the other, these along with the two Darlek style Compost bins that i scroungged last tear should keep me in a decent supply of compost once the first lot is ready. Ill be saving from the kitchen.

1. Egg shells
2. Tea Bags (apparently some are not made from paper but plastic so need to keep this in mind)
3. Fruit and veg peelings
4. Newspaper
5. Cardboard

I wont be adding any allium peelings however (onion, garlic, shallot, leeks) in an attempt to redcue the risk of white rot.

When i first arrived at the allotment i added a thermometer to the greenhouse and was pleased to see a healthy 25ºc which had dropped to about 10ºc by the time i left. The show onions have mostly all got a good size second leaf now and the last few days of warmth have really helped them along. Last night i sorted through the seeds im going to be sowing this weekend, no less than 17 packets of seed will be opened for one puropse of another this saturday. It realy feels like the season is underway now and this soil didnt stick to my boots today which is a good siggn that the soil is ready to dig.

RIde On...Baby

2010-03-02T17:52:00.002Z

I got the call today accepting my application for the job with Rotherham Council. They were very impressed in the interview and as such im one of the lucky few who will be trained up to drive the Ride on Lawnmowers which also means more brass. I start on the 15th and today handed in my notice with my current employer. Didn't have much daylight left at the allotment so i just took half hour to dig a channel in which my plastic greenhouse will sit then headed home.

Spring has sprung!

2010-03-01T17:40:00.005Z

Wow what a day, id had a mental note im my head telling me that once febuary was out of the way things would improve, i didnt expect the change (even if its is only temperary) to be so drastic, i got to the allotment about nine o clock and the sky was pure blue without a single cloud to mention, i even at one point stipped down to t-shirt only as i was too warm. I spent the morning cleaning glass and fitting it into the greenhouse frame. There something about a greenhouse on an allotment that sort of makes it look like a proper allotment, as though without it you cant realy call it a proper allotment without one, i certainy felt a lot better once it was finished.

This week after work im going to move the small plastic greenhouse so that its to the left of the one in the picture, and ill perhaps sow so lettace and cabbage since theese germinate in low temperatures. I didnt however spend my entire day up at the garden, there was a small matter of my job interview with Rotherham Council to resolve. Without boring you and going into to much detail i was told that once all the interviews had been completed tommorow they would let me know and they werent allowed to say before then, they did however say at the end "that was a great interview and if i could i would set you on tommorow" i took this as a clear indictation that id be offered the job and im sure tommorow ill be writing to confirm just that.

Screw That!!!

2010-02-28T14:20:00.002Z

Not too much done this weekend due to work commitments, but managed to get the greenhouse frame screwed into the concrete base ready for installing the glass, was going to do it today but it felt like a storm was brewing and didnt want to risk it as i wouldnt have had time to get all the glass in. Cleaned up some of the panes of glass and gave the frame a spray down with an antibacterial kitchen spray to get rid of any remaining nasties. Hoping to get the glass in tommorow before the big interview, then after ill hopefully get the little greenhouse moved also. Ill get pics tommorow. Over and Out.

SpoilT For Choice!

2010-02-25T16:18:00.003Z

I was up for work at 3:45 this morning and if im honest im just to tired to go to the allotment, i know if i dragged my self up there id kick about for half an hour and not actually achieve anything, so i figured i give myself a day off (its raining anyway). Today some more giant pumpkin seeds arrived, i beg borrowed and stole nearly all of them from very kind poeple via Gardeners Click and Allotments4all, thanks guys if you read this. However i now have a dilema, ive got more gaint pumpkin seeds than i can handle. Considering that pumpkins take up a considerable amount of space i reckon i can get 3 at most on my patch. Another option is to ask my lottie neighbour (and brother in law) if i can borrow some of his land. So i reckon ill sow what i can and then save the rest in the fridge for next year. Ive been realy lucky as some of theese came from the GVGO which i may join next year. As you can see most of the seeds have the final weights of the parent plants some of which are pretty impressive. I was also kindly sent some GVGO Vincent Sunflower seeds from a plant that grew to 163" thats about 14 foot in old money wow!!!!! think ill have to squeeze these in somewhere. There are now 3 of the show onions with true leaves emerging, im pretty sure they would grow better if they had a little more heat, but lesson learned for next year and im sure they will get a growth spurt once febuary is out of the way. Pumpkin Pie anyone?.

Youv'e Been Framed

2010-02-23T20:31:00.002Z

Nothing much to report today, another rubbish day at work and more motivation to make sure i do well on Monday at my interview. Was finished at work by 3 so went the lottie and it was bloody freezing, but i managed to finish scrubbing the greenhouse frame and actualy put it all together except the roof ( ive managed to loose a few bolts). While i was down there it started snowing, now i dont judge myself as a fair weather gardener but the radio reckoned that 3 inch was going to drop pretty much instantly so i decided to call it a day, as i arrived home my son declared that he wanted " one of mi favvers curries" so after a quick shower i was knocking together a Chicken Tikka Masala, washed down with a few homebrew lagers it went down a treat. Here's one i was thinking of while i was trying to get nuts on the end of bolts with shivering fingers "what does one wear to a gardening job interview?" Too smart im going to look like an office boy, too casual and im going to look like i dont care, so Smart casual? or do i turn up in wellies dungarees, ginham shirt and a flat cap with a stick of sheeps feschew hanging out of my mouth? What you reckon?

Busy Day

2010-02-22T18:02:00.003Z

Back to work today, the lingering snow meant that we couldnt do any road markings so we had a day in the yard sorting and tidying, talk about mental torture. Once work was out of the way, i stole the last hour and half of daylight up at the allotment, i spent the time scrubbing the greenhouse frame, i got about a 3rd done in 1.5 hours, im going for a realy hygenic clean house this year. While i was up there i got a call on my mobile from my secretary Tina, guess what....... I GOT AN INTERVIEW for the council gardening job, its next Monday, ive never been so excited about a job interview and whats more this will probably be my lowest paid job ever but i dont care. Heres the icing on the cake, last night i noticed this on my show onions.
My first true leaf, i noticed this on two plants so hopefully the others will produce them soon. At the risk of sounding cheesy im hoping today is a day of new begginings. Anyone got any interview tips for gardening job inrerviews? (Im looking at you Is) .

Snow Joke

2010-02-21T13:03:00.004Z

Woke this morning to a thick covering of snow again, this is taking the mickey now, heres the view i was greeted with when i arrived at my dads house this morning. After shaking my fist angrly at the sky i decided i was going to get the greenhouse frame upto the lottie no matter what. I took few cold fingers and even more mumbled swear words, but after spending a good portion of my morning rooting around in the snow for dropped bolts and a few trips on foot the allotment i managed it. I even considered putting the frame back together when i got it to the allotment but its quite dirty and i want to give it a very good scrub before i put it all back together. The glass is still down at my dads house as i want to take that up in the car and wasnt going to risk getting stuck today. As i was walking i was trying to think of positives that come with the snow, and the best i could come up with was........Any weed seedlings that have germinated thinking the winter had just about passed will probably be killed off, this also goes for pests ( and beneficial insects too i suppose) . The snow stopped falling around lucnh so i gave my cabbages a good shake and left them to it. Hopefully ill be able to get the greenhouse up by this time next week, heres to hopeing.

Ace of Base

2010-02-20T15:18:00.008Z

Frosty start here today in Rotherham but it was dry so i wasted no time and was up at the lottie before 10 to make a start on the base for the greenhouse. I started by clearing all the masonary out the way and diging over the the area where the greenhouse will be, i then laid the remainder of my 400 & 400 concrete slabs in the shape of the greenhouse, once i was happy that they were sort of level i laid the big concrete kerb retainers that i aquired from a skip onsite last year. Im very happy with the finished result.
I could not get every angle and elevation perfectly level, so im going to point up any gaps with cement which ill be buying to build a a front to the greenhouse base out of reclaimed housebricks. As per my plan ill be putting the plastic greenhouse at the side of this one so i also dug over and leveled the ground in preperation for moving it. After a brew and realising my back wasnt going to allow any more digging i had a walk to my fathers house. My father has kindly donated his old greenhouse (to replace the other one he gave me last year that was vandalised) so i took out all the glass today. Hopefully i can get the greenhouse frame upto the allotment tommorow and maybee even get the frame and glass cleaned. As i arrived home i was greeted with another nice surprise in my small front garden under my privit i noticed the tulips starting to come through, i planted theese back in october and to be honest id forgotten all about them. Its been a long day but ive got a fair bit done so, think il get a DVD and sample some of my homebrew elderflower wine that i bottled yesterday.

Private Talk

2010-02-19T18:06:00.002Z

Thats the english translation for tete a tete. Today thoose bulbs bought last week gave me the seasons 1st flower. So ill keep it short and sweet here it is.

Tree for two!

2010-02-18T18:35:00.002Z

Went to the Killamarsh Morrisons today for my lunch, and picked up a Tree for £2, its a golden weeping willow (Salix chrysocoma), and should grow to 16 feet, however im goint to plant it in a container in an attempt to restrict its size. Ill take a photo when its planted, but for £2 its a real steal they also had ornamental cherry which should put on a lovely show of blossom, as well as fruit trees for a fiver. Not much to report on the show onion front they seem to be stuck in time a little. The closing date for applications for the job i went for is tommorow so im hoping to hear something early next week. Looking forward to going to the allotment again this weekend, i hope to lay a decent base for my greenhouse (thanks dad for the donation) and maybee even get the frame up as im going to leave to glass out for a few weeks yet to try and avoid possible wind damage.

Application sent.

2010-02-16T18:21:00.004Z

On my local council website they are advertising for Gardeners/ Grounds Maintenance Operatives, so i applied, sure the position is only temperary untill OCT but i hate my current job and if i am ever going to work in horticulture im going to need some experience on paper. I took my time with the app (3 hours). They are recieving applications untill the 19th, then they draw up a shortlist for interviewing, so fingers crossed by the end of the week ill know if im in with a shout. Heres a of pictures from the allotment from yesterday. Just waiting for dry weather, so i can start doing some digging. The show onions look like they are growing again still no sign of true leaves yet though.

Phew paths done.

2010-02-15T14:18:00.003Z

Ok becuase i was off work today, i decided to put in some more plot hours, i managed to get the rest of the paths laid. There was a slight adjustment to my grand plan though, the last path is only half as long as the others, there are two reasons for this.
1. I didnt have enough of the 400mm slabs
2. I want to expand the space for the pumpkin patch.
No photos becuase i forgot my camera.

I will draw up a new plan in a couple of weeks just incase there are any more changes. Also as i suggested yesterday i planted up the shallots into trays, not realy for show but for eating. The other thing i planted were some Hosta plants, theese were root cuttings i paid a pound for from poundland, i broke one of the roots in half so hopefully ill get three plants for my nicker.

Led down the garden path?

2010-02-14T16:00:00.005Z

Finally i got a good few hours at the lottie today, and although my lower back is screaming im felling great as ive got something done and out of the way. I concentrated on laying the 400mm * 400mm concrete slabs to create my beds at the top of the plot. If you look at my plan from a few posts back ive got the 1st 3 and a bit done before i decided id had enough, i wanted to carry on but i had no energy left in my legs and arms so i called it a day. Heres what i did
And here,

as you can see from this one my spring cabbage are recovering well after thier beigng covered in snow, i will perhaps start giving them a nitrogen feed soon. The slabs took up most of my day there as i endeavoured to make sure there were no spaces or cavities under the slabs which im sure would be just right for slugs and snails to hide. I may start of some shallot sets in the lean-to today just to give them a head start, in fact ill go do that now, goodbye.

Yesterday

2010-02-14T09:28:00.005Z

Had a look how the pot and blanched leaks were doing, here are the pot leeks
And the blanched
These have patchy germination so im wondering if the seed is old. Was very busy on the homebrew side as i bottled up 75 bottles of lager, and set my cider in the fermentation barrell. I also got myself some ericasious compost and planted my blackcurrant plant in one of the containers from poundland all in all this little project has cost£4.50 for the plant the container and the compost, which isnt bad for a plant i should have for years. Also i should mention that the Hysam seeds have been set theese are also onions but are for a different class than the Kelsae and are a lot smaller. So although everything i have on the go are aliums things are realy starting to get going now.

Ex-Seed-ingly good offer.

2010-02-12T18:21:00.003Z

I got my seed catalogue the other day from Thompson and Morgan, they give you a £5 voucher off anything, this made my seedy sense tingle (a bit like spidermans spidey sense) and after a few moments i found my self clicking the "submit order" button. I ordered some Gazanias as the missus saw them in the catalogue and instructed me id me growing them this year :), i ordered another packet of tomato seed (thats 5 varieties i have now) the variety was Ferline, id read about theese and apparently they offer excellent resistance to the deadly Phytophora Infestans or Blight as its more commonly known. Last year i lost a greenhouse full of toms to Blight so i decided that a cultural approach to pest control (i.e selecting resistant plants) was more attractive than spraying with Diathane or Bordeaux Mixture (which i still may have to do). I will probably sow all 15 seeds and donate some to grandad, some to my next door lottie neightbour (he lost loads too) and try a few outside. My third and final selection was Passiflora incarta, as i love the amazing almost alien flowers and wanted something to grow on my fences at the allotment. The only drawback with the passionflower is that i looks like it may need to be stratified (stored in a cold state) to trigger germination which could take months, but i like a challenge and at 99p a packet why not.

Season nearly here.

2010-02-11T19:06:00.004Z

While i was at work today (in Leeds) i saw theese Narcissus Bulbs and at a measly 85p i couldnt refuse, theese are Tete' a Tete' which if i remember right is a smaller Narcissus reaching about 6", its great to see the flower spike growing through the center as is serves as a reminder that the season is nearly here. Heres a photo of my onions, the tallest is around 130mm on average they are about 90mm with a few that look like gonners. The small wood sticks were kindly donated by McDonalds the other day when i was buying a coffee (they just dont know they donated them yet) and are perfect for the job. Im still giving them 16 hours a day under the LED lightboard. I also made myself a small watering can, its just a drinks bottle with a few holes made in the cap with a hot knife tip, i made this so i could water the onions easier without spraying the whole plant and encouraging them to rot off. Looking forward to the weekend and getting on the allotment. Temp in lean-to was 9ºc.

The dog didnt eat my homework today.

2010-02-09T20:06:00.003Z

Ok i took some advice ( you were right Iz) and sent off my lesson 5 mock exam question to be marked, lesson 5 (toward my RHS level 2 Horticulture certificate) was about garden design and planning, so i sorta know what people like Diamurd Gavin and Chris Beardshaw are saying when i see them on the telly now :) i dont know about you but when they talked about symetric balance and the such i was a little lost. Nothing much happening on the plant side realy, im not working this weekend so weather permitting ill get a bit done at the lottie and perhaps pot up the pot and blanched leaks, maybe even start a few flowers off watch this space.

Its oh so quiet.

2010-02-07T13:12:00.002Z

Not much to report, i potted up the remaing show onions to larger pots (some of which were liberated from a skip and cleaned up). Bought a blackcurrant plant from wilkos and some containers to plant this and my rasbery cane in. Set off some more homebrew lager and wine yesterday too, temp this morning in the lean-to was 8ºc, wish the nice weather would hurry up i need to garden!!!!!!

Not Again.

2010-02-03T16:07:00.002Z

Was hoping to sneak a cheeky hour in at the allotment before it got dark today but by the time i got home it was snowing AGAIN, just when i think the weather is taking a turn for the better it snows again. Ive read somewhere that February is on average the coldest month of the year so my thinking is 25 more days and hopefully we will be over the worst, thank the good lord its the shortest month. The forecast for the rest of the week isnt too good with rain on the cards so dont think ill get up to the lottie before next week as im working at the weekend. This should give me a chance to do some study and get my forth module submitted hopefully. Temp in Young Un Centra was 5ºc

A start.

2010-02-02T19:54:00.003Z

After a grueling 14.5 hour shift at work yesterday i think the gaffer felt sorry for me and my mate, he gave us a little job today and we were home for about 1:30 and although it was raining i just had to goto the plot and make a start. I started by marking out on my central path with pencil where the small paving stones needed to be laid and then set out and dug level the first stone on each of the 5 paths (if you look at my plan in the previous post you can see these paths at the top of the plot) then i barrowed up around 65 of these slabs from the bottom of my brother in laws plot (next door) i didnt set them in level just roughly placed them where they need to go as it was far to wet to be digging. I made myself a brew on my camping stove in the shed and while i was drinking it decied to call it a day as the rain had turned to sleet and i had been out in it for a good hour and a half. When i got home i jumped in the trusty Rover to go to wilko's for some compost and a few fresh plastic pots. I decied to pot on the few onions that were in the cell trays as they have less compost than any of the other plants. Im going to leave the other onions untill true leaves develop, but so far im happy with thier progress. As you can see from the photo ive tried to afford the seedlings some support made from basic plant ties, this is to stop them falling over and keep them of the soil. Temp in Young Un HQ was yet again 6ºc

My Evil Plan

2010-01-31T17:50:00.004Z

Well its not that evil really but needed an more exciting title than "My plan". Had a bit of a play and have come up with the following design, hope you can see it allright. I would have liked the pumpkin patch nearer the shed end becuase of the water demands but there wasnt a big enough chunk of land anywahere nearer, as regards what i will plant in which bed im not yet sure ill need to give that some cosideration. They say its good to plant carrots and onions near each other as the smell onions give off confuses the carrot root fly and the onion fly is confused by the smell of carrots. Also marigold are good for warding off some pests as they have a very strong aroma, i have a packet of seeds and will be interplanting theese around the plot. Also going to keep any outdoor tomatoes well away from my potatoes to try and stop the spead of blight if/when it arrives. I have put the runner beans near the shed end and to the north of the greenhouse, this means im fairly close to the water supply and they should never cast shadow on the greenhouses, the only drawback being that the runners on the northmost side off the canes will get less sun. If anyone has any suggestions then please comment, its the first time ive done this so feel free to point out my mistakes. And before i forget to mention the blanched and pot leeks planted last week have germinated.

Intelligent Design?

2010-01-31T14:55:00.002Z

Wow im hungover today, i took my homebrew lager on its maiden voyage last night and today im paying the price, so today instead of doing any real work i decided to get my plot down on paper (Im required to plot a garden as part of my study anyways), im going to try and plan things a little better this year, for example i grew my runner beans near where the spring cabbages are now, this is about as far away as you can get from the water supply so watering these water guzzlers took longer than it will if i plant them near the shed end of the plot. Started saving empty egg boxes, these wil come in use when my potatoes need chitting in a couple off weeks time. This image shows the plot as it is now, once ive done a basic design ill upload it for scrutiny. Also went to netto for thier seeds, i bought, Nasturtium for thier spreading habit and hanging baskets, Wallflower for the winter flowers, Cress for egg sarnies, Courgettes for when i cook italian and sone French Breakfast Radish as i love radish and they will probably be the first harvestable crop, at just 19p per packet it would have be rude not to buy them. May post again later if get time.

Young UNs

2010-01-30T17:22:00.002Z

As i said earlier in the week i had the Young Uns (or young onions) out again today, they dont seem to have grown very much at all since the middle of the week, suggesting that the cotyedon (or monocotyledon in this case) has reached its full size and wont grow any further. The plants will use this solitary leaf to generate food via photosythesis which will in turn fuel the growth of the 1st true leaves which im hoping should arrive soon. I decided against potting them on just yet im going to wait untill these 1st true leaves arrive, as per Medwyn Williams (NVS) advice. Sorted through some old seeds earlier and found a packet of Parsnips Seed that are just about to go out of date, parsnip like carrot (umbelliferae family) seeds are notoriosly short lived due to thier small flat shape so i sowed them almost on the surface in riddled compost, sowed them rather thicker than normal as im expecting poor germination. Great to see the 1st comment on my blog, i didnt even realise anyone was reading it to be honest so thanks for that Ian even if you do think im a Geek, im a happy Geek, if anyone else is reading please say hi. Temp today in the lean-to was 13ºc so far the highest this year.

Muck under my nails again!

2010-01-30T13:31:00.003Z

Got a lot to report today so think im going to do two posts today. Went to the allotment to do some work for the first time this year, due to it beign to dark when i finish work during the week i get few chances to go up there so today was a definate especialy as the sun was out. I took down with me some kitchen scraps for the compost heap and some cardboard to burn. First job was to visit the office to get an eta on my spud seed ordered back in the autumn i ordered 2.5k each of Arran Pilot, Romana (good show tater) and some Sante all three varieties were grandads recommendation so im sure they will be good ones. I was told they would be here by middle of feb allowing plenty of time to chit. First thing to do when i arrived at the plot after feeding the radio with some AA's and standing with my hands on my hips trying to decide where to begin was to clear up the glass from the Great Greenhouse Collapse of 09, this took me a good hour. I then set about digging over one of my raised beds, it had winter lettace in it but they didnt survive the snow, so i turned it all over and added some organic fertiliser and a good 3" layer of manure, i plan to leave this on the top for a week or some to allow the worms to take it down, then im going to dig it in. I then got on with clearing the sprouts and remaining cabbage (that failed to heart up) from last year. I also emptied out the soil from the drainage pipes i grew (unsuccessfuly) last years carrots in. One plant of my failed garlic crop had survived so i potted it up in a 5" pot see how it it goes. I gave the shed a quick clean and was and at this point pestered to return home by my son who was a little cold. Its great when you make a start, you feel less guily and whatsmore my hands have that rough dryness that only comes from grafting in muck.

Growing Up

2010-01-27T18:49:00.005Z

Wow, ive noticed a great responce to the lighting when ive been checking my onion seedlings, so i thought id give them a quick measure (couldnt wait till weekend). Most of the Lambs seed and a few of the Kelsae are at approx 100mm now (about the width of an average foot), the others range greatly with a few just coming through and a few not yet at crook stage, so far i have 10 lamb seed and approx 16 Kelsae. But i think one of the Kelsae has rooted off. So to summarise ive seen about 60mm of growth since saturday. Didnt have time for any photos but ill do some saturday or sunday when i will also be potting some of them up. Temp was about 10ºc in the lean-to today. Also i forgot to mention that some pot leeks and blanched leek seed were sown in grandad's electric propogator on Saturday 23rd.

Plot 110

2010-01-25T16:51:00.004Z

Been upto the allotment today for the first time since it snowed, there is a hell of a lot to do, the photo shows the messy unworked part in the foreground, a lot of what is toward the back of the plot was cultivated last year, so shouldn't take too much work to get it back into shape. Tonight im going to make a list of all the things i need to do and pin it to the shed door, i find that if i can cross things off the list it stops me getting sidetracked as much. Also going to make a workable plan for where i intend to plant things. The spring cabbage have come through the snow well only losing a few of thier first leaves (few starting to heart up too) and the japaneese onions also look fine just perhaps a little "hungover".
The onion seedlings under the light seem to be coming on, especialy the few kelsae that were just coming through last weekend they seem to have caught up with thier brothers and sisters. The other variety seems to have grown also, think on the weekend ill have a proper measure and rotate the plants around, temp there was about 6ºc this morning and the same when checked it ten minutes ago. Its hard to look at your plot at this time of year know what you have yet to do before the growing season but i suppose this year i wont need to build a shed, fence, manure container, 3 raised beds, i wont have to lay loads of council 3x2 paving slabs or chop down a forest before i can even begin to start moving glass and rubble so all in all im well infront of myself at this stage last year when i didn't even have a plot.....hmmm thats actualy made me fee better.

Ooooh saucy!

2010-01-24T20:36:00.003Z

As i suggested earlier i had a go at a sweet chilli sauce thanks to info i found on http://www.thehotpepper.com, it didnt turn out too bad, it wont win any awards but its Sweet, its got chilli in it (6 scotch bonnets) and its a sauce so im pleased for my first attempt, need to try a different chilli with a different flavour perhaps Habeneros next time. Temperature of show onions been around about 7ºc all day. My lad scored a goal for his sunday team today, they lost in the cup but they were playing young owls (sheffield wednesday) who said we were best team they ever played so im pleased with that. If anyone wants the recipe (simple) send me an email and ill forwar dit onto you.

On with the lights.

2010-01-24T08:15:00.002Z

Switched on the LED lights this morning, didnt quite make the 06:00 target time as i was asleep so switched them on at 06:40, this is about the time im up most days for work (maybee a tad earlier) so im not to worried, still going to switch off before i goto bed around 20:00. I suppose a little variation wont hurt as sunlight isnt exact in nature, some days you loose light earlier than others due to cloud cover etc so im not going to get obsessive about switch on/off times. Noticed that temp inside and outside of the incubator is about 6ºc which is a little low, im not concerned about plant damage but im hopeing this doesnt cause a "check" in the growth of the onions. I am glad that the temp is the same inside and out of the incubator as it means the lights are not influencing the temperature in the incubator which will make temperature management easier when it starts getting warmer. Going to have a go at making a Sweet Chilli sauce later with supermarket bought incredients, hopefully in the summer ill be able to make one from homegrown produce.

And then there was light.....

2010-01-23T14:41:00.002Z

Lots done today, i repotted a hydrangea cutting that i took last year, also repotted a flytrap that my missus very nearly managed to kill. The best bit tho was bringing the show onion seedlings home from grandads. The "Lambs seed" seedlings (ones in the green cells) are allready as big as the Kelsae seedlings even tho they have had a week less to grow. The biggest Kelsae is about 35mm and the biggest Lamb Seed is about 40mm all the others are about the same height between 25 and 30mm. As you can see they are all now in the proffesionaly constructed incubation chamber that i constructed using NASA patented technology last week. Im not going to turn the light on just yet as i want to run it from 06:00 to 20:00 and dont want to confuse the plants by doing a half cycle today. The temperatue in there is about 10-11ºc which is about right at 50ºf if the temp was too high it would cause them plants to bolt and set seed. Over the next few weeks we should see the first true leaves as the ones they have at the moment are the cotyledons and are just used to get the seed estabished and photosynthesizing. I need to monitor the direction of growth as i dont want any bent plants growing toward the light (phototropic) so il need to rotate the position of the plants to aviod this. I should also mention that they have all been sprayed with chesshunt compound to help avoid "damping off" which would mean certain death for the plants.