The tomato plants went on their holidays!

I (like the lunatic I am) decided to take my tomato plants on holiday with me because my Aunty kills everything she touches. They seemed to enjoy the change from hard water to soft, so we will see what happens. I have planted my courgette plants, kale seeds and cucumber seeds. I have re-potted my mum’s gooseberry bush in a pot and he seems like a happy chappy. She has planted wildflower seeds in that space. I finished the planter but the white paint is just coming off in lumps now, everytime I brush up against it! (but don’t tell Marge) Here are some photos to be going on with, I’ve got more to update later! 

The soon to be repainted planter!

Planter in its entirety.

Baby broad beans

Radishes!

One happy gooseberry bush!

Courgettes 

Cucumbers

Happy germinating in the sun!

Tomato plants missing the south of England.

It is germinating now!

And after a hard days work...

Sowing and growing

It has been a while since I have posted on here, time flies when your having fun! I'm a tad behind Kathy on the growing front but I am slowly catching up.

I have planted out my sweet peas so I don't have to worry as much about watering them. I have found in the past that they are quite happy in containers as long as they have support to grow against. My simple method is using plastic netting and three bamboo canes. You can be as imaginative as you like though. I cant wait until they start growing a bit taller!


I know Kathy is going to acquire some strawberry plants so here are mine. I had left the old leaves on over the winter months to protect them from frost (learned from past experience....) so I gave them a good bit of TLC with some plant food thrown in for good measure. I also discovered where all the snails were hiding in the process haha
I grow mine in containers for better soil quality but also when the strawbs are growing they tend to go over the side and they don't touch the soil and rot. These are about 2-3 years old so I'm going to probably get a new set of plants in next year.

With all the sunshine about I have nearly finished my planter for my blueberry bush. I have picked a sunny spot and removed the weeds so when the paint has dried I will pop Ms Blueberry into her new home where she will be really happy and produce lots of yummy berries :)
Good bit of work with the left over wood I had if I do say so myself!

 

Phew I have been busy! I love it though so I'm always planning what to do next. Next jobs are to get the seeds started and get the blueberry bush outside. Off to water the plants :)

The cat’s new bed.

I have finished my planter! It needs a coat of wood paint (in purple) but for the moment it is a sticky, non-water proof white. It is made up of bits of wood that Marg and I sawed off my Gran’s old bench. The cats are miffed to have lost their old scratching post but Dorothy has found a new place to rest her fluffy head. I popped a temporary cover on it to make sure they did not use the soil for other purposes but thanks to it being positioned in a sun -trap, Dorothy has taken to sleeping on top of the cover. And who is to say no? She is such a fluffy thing. However she will have to find somewhere else when the carrots and spring onions get planted! I’m off to Cornwall on Monday so things are going to have to wait. But when I get back I’m germinating the rest of my seeds and buying some strawberry plants. The plan after this season is to take the tubers off the strawberry plants and make a patch of them in the planter that turns into a greenhouse. Finger’s crossed they’ll come up next year! With Marg’s supervision, of course. I’m going to have to get some netting for Gran’s planter. But for now, here are some pictures of my recently thinned radishes and slowly emerging broad beans!

Radishes, all in a row. 

Four broad beans!

You can just see where the cat has been sleeping!

Hard graft

With the better weather I have made it outside to carry out some serious grafting!

This is the raised bed that I constructed last year. I have finally got round to making it level on the ground before lining and filling with compost and some manure. The lining is great for keeping out weeds whilst letting moisture in. I popped on the netting to stop cats from using it as a giant litter tray (not Dorothy and Ange might I add). You can see from the pic above that the ground looks muddy. It's heavy clay hence the raised beds make it easier to grow anything my heart desires = happy Marge :)

Tell you what, I am aching though from moving the bags of soil and raking and lifting etc. Who needs the gym eh?

This is the second of my raised beds. I decided last year to put raspberry canes, which were in containers, in here and they are happy chappys! I hope in a couple of years that they will be bushy but they are only a year or two old so they are doing brilliantly. I pruned them at the end of the growing season (around Nov/Dec) and then around end of Feb gave them some general fertiliser to add some nutrients back to the soil. Raspberry plants have shallow roots so I am cautious when digging in, weeding etc.

So after all that work what did I do, have a cup of tea of course :)

My next job is to plant out the sweet peas and to prepare raised bed number one for growing new yummy things.

Patience and remember to charge the power drill

This is a bit of a sappy post. One thing I have learnt from gardening (and Marge) is the art of patience. I’m not perfect at it, to say the least. But working on the seedlings (and giving them some space) then seeing the fruits of our labour (pardon the pun) is very rewarding. These last couple of years have tested my patience and I think I have done an okay job in staying positive. Margaret has done a stellar job at keeping up the optimism, even for both of us at times. This is definitely shown in her three raised beds over my one. Soon to be two though, as I’m just waiting for the drill to charge. I’m naming my carrot cot after my late grandmother, Joan. It was her bench after all. 

This is just the beginning. Margaret did most of the sawing. In fact, she did most of the sawing. I just painted on the non-wood paint which is now becoming very sticky and the drill is covered in white paint. It may not just be for carrots though. Today I got a bit carried away and brought courgettes (globe) and gherkin/cucumber seeds. I’ve checked the companion planting guides and apparently cucumbers do really well next to radishes because the radishes deter something called ‘cucumber beetle.’ I wouldn’t know what one looked like even if it invaded London. But I’m not taking any chances!

Patio planter and snazzy looking watering can

This is better than paper. 

Finger’s crossed!

I’m not sure how these seeds will do as they aren’t the most expensive. I’m going to have to find another pot for the courgettes because apparently they don’t go with much of what I have planted apart from tomatoes. But my tomatoes go in a long running pot with no room for another plant. Last summer I had great success with ordinary courgettes. I believe it was all down to putting the pots on the bench and having thick slugs in the garden who didn’t work out where the delicious courgette flowers were. But that isn’t an option now so I’m going to have to salt the rounds of the pots or put bowls of beer down. However the second problem is that I have cats and I’m not sure how I could explain a drunken Dorothy to the vets. Speaking of the cats; 

Tomato plants! (bit early)

Dorothy, looking unimpressed with the new watering can.

Angelica, the oldest. 

I’ll update this once I’ve finished the carrot cot! (which may include spring onions or chives to deter carrot fly).

Missing sunshine

So after my roadtrip (ok it was on a train....) to Kathy's, I was all geared up to get some work done in the garden. Then the sun disappeared. Vanished. And the rain came which made the hard soil even worse. But do not fear, all was not lost. I have found in these situations the best thing to do is to get a cup of tea, go on pinterest and get inspired for your next green fingered project. I've decided what vegetables to plant this year to give me some new things to try and also some of my regulars. I also found the RHS website is great for planting positions, varieties and when to plant things. This is important as planting things too early will mean they will not grow very well and too late might mean the cold weather gets to the plant before production of fruit or flowers. Can't wait  to get planting and finishing my third raised bed!

This is the story of two girls and their gardens. One started a couple of years ago and the other more recently. Marg (First flowerpot) started gardening at the tender age of five. Sunflowers were her first venture and now she ranges from raspberries to radishes. Too many radishes. And she does not like radishes. But we will come to that in a bit. Kathy is flowerpot numero dos and although a little late to the party is catching up with strawberries and courgettes. Or strawbs as Marg’s Alfy calls them. Or zucchinis as Kathy’s american friends call them.

We will be recording our success and failures over this next season, along with tales of our old triumphs and nobbled courgette flowers.

Enjoy! x MK x