Sunday 28 April 2013

Greenhouse getting full.

Everything is getting bigger and better in the greenhouse now and a lot needs potting on, I've done some if it already just a few left to do. Also sown a lot more seeds this weekend and sown some seeds that wasn't doing well,I put most of them in modular trays apart from the beans which I put I cardboard tubes.



The new seeds I planted this weekend was Swede Ruby,swede best of all,dwarf French beans, cucumber telegraph,burpless cucumber, and cabbage primo, I have a few left to sow then have a look whats not growing then re-sow some more.


I need to keep on top of the weeding at the top end of the allotment,around the greenhouse and pond area. We had a little rain and if like magic the weeds appear, i just need to spend a few hours weeding before these get out of hand.


Over a year ago I bought some raspberry bushes and planted them as two plants,not knowing i had to separate them and plant them singly.Now that I did its took over a year for 12 sticks to turn into 4 raspberry plants,I know I may of lost 8 but at least I have some. The others may grow I've been told so fingers crossed these do,so hoping its been worth the wait for these plants to grow.


The new greenhouse is still standing and just needs some guttering sorting to catch any rain,only problem I've had is its got a bit dry inside and some chaps are taking the Micky. One chap has said he likes the crazy paving inside the greenhouse,then says when am I going to finish it of with putting sand in the cracks. I do need to finish it but just getting things sorted in other greenhouse first and planted,then I will crack in with it again.















Rhubarb

Doing well again this year with rhubarb with the 3 cuttings I did a while ago are growing,the ones I left in place are also doing well. Considering just me and son in law that eats it I may have a little to much,last year i froze a lot of it and just used it when I fancied it. This year I'm going to make some wine from it well fingers crossed,I need to get off my bum and go and buy the equipment to make it. It's always the same i will go later on and buy it,then i never go because I get side tracked or forget.









Monday 22 April 2013

Famous at last

I made it to the top I'm famous at last my little greenhouse is on the front page of Vegblogs,thanks to www.vegblogs.co.uk and www.vegetablesseeds.net for putting me on front page.



Sunday 21 April 2013

More onions planted

More onion sets planted down on the little plot, that's them all done now well that's if I don't buy any more. So today I planted another 7 rows one more turbo and 6 Sturon, I have used the Turbo onions before but not the Sturon so will see how these taste later on,so in total I planted 16 rows 10 Turbo and 6 Sturon. I planted them all the same all in single lines with a hole dug out or used a dibber,then filled the hole with homemade compost and put the onion in. Shame the soil was so hard and dry and I had to water each line,then use quite a lot compost to give the onion a good start.





Planting onions

Went to the plot to try and sort all my onion sets out,because most of them had grown a little big for the modular trays. So I started by making a line from one side to the other,then with the ground being so dry i had to water along the line so I could have some soft soil to use. Once I'd done that I went along and made a small hole filled it with compost,them planted the onion in afterwards.



I also watered the trays the onions was sat in so it would be easy to remove them,nearly a of what I planted came out like little onion plug plants. So in the end I planted 9 rows of roughly 25 in each,still have a few turbo onions still left to plant will do them later today. Also have a tray and a half of Sturon onions to plant as well,it took me 5 hours just to plant 9 rows. I left a few to do only because my knees and back started to ache,didn't realise it would take so long and I'm not getting any younger.














Saturday 20 April 2013

Need to start planting

Went to the plot after I left work yesterday thinking the ground would be wet from the rain the night before,when I got to the plot it was still bone dry and hard like rocks. Even the roller didn't break any of the soil up so had to mark a section up and water by hand,once I watered it i went across and broke the soil up with elbow grease and a spade. If I scrape the top 2-3 inches of soils from the top it's ok underneath,I can't scrape it away because I'd have no soil left. So I'll go back today and water a line then go back over and plant some onions in,the onions are growing to fast in trays so need to get them in the grown soon.

As I was getting the water from the water butt i did noticed a few bee's flying past,then i so it fly near my feet and flew in a hole on my fence. Wonder if its making its little home on my plot,will keep an eye on it and let you know.





Another quick visit

Had another quick visit to the allotment to a little more on the greenhouse,I've managed to fill the front in with Perspex so now just need to sort a door out. I may need to make some windows at the other end of the greenhouse,only because it seems a little warm and everything will dry out quite quickly. I have an idea what going to do,but always change my mind once I get down to do some work.







Wednesday 17 April 2013

More seeds sowed

I sowed a few more seeds this week into trays and pots,I've only done half the amounts so I can do another batch of sowing if these don't work. What's I've sowed is tomato gardeners delight/sweet pepper red skin/beetroot Detroit globe/radish and marrow long green bush,fingers crossed these will grow if not i will do a second batch of sowing.

I also had to put up some more shelving for the seeds to sit on,think I will have to start to sow in the other greenhouse to give me more space to put the seeds.









Quick visit.

Had a quick visit to the a allotment today to do a little more on the greenhouse,i wanted to do a little more but only did a little. Managed to put some timber around the frame so I can screw some Perspex onto it,also made a doorframe hopefully it will work ok once finished .




Little more planted

Got a little more planted this weekend maybe not as much as I wanted but a little,I've put broad beans straight into the ground in a line pushed them straight down and filled with compost. I've also got some planted in the greenhouse in cardboard tubes to plant out a little later on, I should get a few beans from them just for two of us to eat.




I also planted 4 rows of carrots oh yes 4 rows of carrots its the most I've done,I put two types in so two rows of each went in. On the packet it says 750 seeds in one pack and 500 in the other,don't know how many I sowed and how many got blow away with the wind. I made 4 drills sprinkled the seeds in and covered them over,I covered some with shop bought compost and some home made compost. I have found it better covering them with compost instead of just soil,not tried it with own made compost but will see what happens. The carrots I planted was Paris Market Atlas and Flyaway F1.



Getting dirty without protection on the allotment,I normally wear latex gloves while on the allotment sowing seeds and messing with compost. Only reason it stops my hands drying out and cracking,so this weekend I went naked well just my hand anyway. So for the last couple of days my hands have been sore and cracked,so next time I think I will use gloves again.


I took some small daffodils home this weekend to treat the wife,now she can't say I don't give her flowers it's the thought that counts.











Part time Gardner

Can't you tell I'm back at work because of no blogging this week,only spent a few hours at the plot due to been busy at work. Did spend a few hours on Saturday at the plot so that made up for it a little, hoping to fit a few more hours in today I hope. We have movement at the allotment with some of the seeds implanted a few weeks ago, the red cabbage / Brussels sprouts brilliant / pea onwards / sugar snap peas /and Cheltenham beetroot have all started to grow.

I may of planted a lot of my seeds early or late compared to last year and the year before sowing,but the seeds I have sowed I've only done a few out of each pack so have some spare to sow later on. The pea onward and sugar snap peas I've already sowed outside,these ones in trays are spare ones I will plant out in a few weeks.










Sunday 7 April 2013

Seeds and greenhouse.

That's it my last day of my holidays and back to work tomorrow,it's been a good week chilled out at home and been to the allotment a few times. So now it's a few hours after work and weekend,it will feel like I'm a part time gardener. So today I've sown a few more seeds and did a little more on the green house, what I've sown I've put into pots and trays. The onion Ishikura I've put into large white tub and left in the greenhouse,I'm going to grow them in tubs instead of outside to see what happens.


All year round lettuce,
Sweetcorn mini pop,
Brussels sprouts brilliant,
Turnips golden ball,
Onion Ishikura Bunching,
Winter leeks,



The work on the greenhouse I did today was I'd taken that pallet out I was going to use as a work area,then i stripped it down and put it back in as slats (Keith's idea). Also blocked the back part up with Perspex so now just have to sort the front part out and inside.