My Gardening Diary

Here's what I've been up to this year (starting at the bottom of the page):

7th October 2024 I've had a busy weekend tidying up the vegetable garden starting by clearing the gourds which had taken over.

I've planted my Garlic (same as last year) and onion sets (from Daily Bread Garden Centre).

Annoyingly I've had to replant one of my Strawberry beds as the mulch sheet I had used turns out is biodegradable and was disintegrating !

Also potted up some left over Strawberries plants, sweet peas seeds and a few other spare plants for the Spring Show.

Gourds 7-10-1024Onions 7-10-2024Strawberries 7-10-2024
30th September 2024 At last the pond is finished, it took a couple of weeks to clear and get rid of the waste.  I had to dig three 'ponds' in the vegetable patch for the slurry which took a couple of days to move in a wheelbarrow - a very messy job !  I anticipate the slurry, when dried out, will be great for the vegetables next year.

We didn't know we had any fish left as the pond was completely overgrown but in fact there were 80 goldfish, though only 3 are actually gold - you can just see them on the near right hand side.  
Pond Finished 30-9-2024Pond Waste #2 30-9-2024Pond Waste #2 30-9-2024
20th September 2024 Our pond has been left to become overgrown over the last 2-3 years in an attempt to keep the Heron off, however its now just a big jungle and we don't see the fish anymore just a load of greenery !

Its been a big job, though - took about two days just to get the plants lifted out of the pond onto the side (the photo shows half of the plants !).  I spent today just chopping it all up and moving it to the compost heaps.

Next to set-up some tanks for the fish and then I can fully drain the pond and clean all the muck out from the bottom.
pond 20-9-2024
16th August 2024 I've been busy replacing some rotten log edging that gave a winding edge to this border.  I bought a load of terracotta rope edging off eBay which makes a much smarter edge to the border, its now straight and wider, ready for replanting shortly.

I'm still short of a few edging pieces at the top so will need to keep my eye out for some more on eBay !
Rope Edging
14th August 2024 The vegetable garden is pretty much winding down now.  The last of the potatoes have been lifted and I've removed the peas and sweet peas and stripped them of seeds for next year.

The only things left are the runner beans, Courgettes (both of which are still producing a small crop) and some salad plants.

The left hand photo shows some spare gourds that I planted next to the compost heaps and which in the last few weeks have taken over that part of the garden !
Gourds     Vegetables 14th August 2024
10th August 2024 Today was the Moulton & District Gardeners' Society Annual Show so its been a very busy week preparing entries.

For me it was a good year for Potatoes, Garlic, Onions and Beetroot to name a few vegetables not so good for Courgettes and Runner Beans.

Pretty happy with my flower entries - I was lucky to have one really nice Gladioli spike, some decent Dahlias (others reported only having buds so far) and I was most surprised that my sweet peas won.

My favourite winning entry though was of course for the Ugliest Vegetable  - my Zucchetta Tromba D'Albenga !

Aside from vegetables and flowers my Jam did well but my cake was a disaster.  Having now tried it I wonder what the judges thought when they had to taste it !  More practice required for next year and maybe a not so challenging cake.

All good fun, though I'm glad its all over till next year....
Zucchetta
13th July 2024 Onions should be lifted when the stalks start to die down but this year with things being a bit slow due to the cold/wet weather and the show only being four weeks away I decided to lift them today anyway.
I'm happy with the white onions (Autumn Winter) but a lot of the red onions (Red Winter) have bolted to flower, this means the stalks are thick - they are no good for storing and definitely not for showing !

Although its been a slow year I've had bumper crops of Raspberries and the peas and sweet peas have done well however Courgettes are few and small and no tomatoes yet ? (well just one but a blackbird got in the greenhouse and ate that !)
red onions liftedwhite onions lifted
22nd June 2024 Time to plant out my Leeks, they're not particularly large - they're supposed to be pencil sized for transplanting but I'm sure they'll be fine.

They're lifted from the seedbed and teased apart, I then make small bunches and tear off the ends of the roots to make it easier to plant.

I have a special Leek Dibber that I made several years ago for making the holes, this is pushed in about 6" and the leek popped in as the tool is removed before the hole caves in.

I've planted them pretty densely - 4" apart in 6" rows.

Finally 'puddle' them and that's' pretty much it , they won't get much attention maybe a bit of water if its really hot.
Leeks - digging up and planting toolLeeks - plantingLeeks - watered
21st June 2024 Traditionally Garlic are planted on the shortest day and lifted on the longest day, the longest day was on Thursday, two days ago, so better get on with it !

As we are hopefully going to have a few sunny days I've laid them out on the patio to dry.

Not a lot of difference in size between my 'French' or the new Solent Wight bulbs ?  Lets see how the fair come the Vegetable Show in August !
Garlic lifted 
2nd June 2024 Not much to do in the vegetable garden at the moment apart from a bit of weeding, haven't had to water much either !

Decided to grow a grape in the greenhouse and the consensus was to go for a pink desert variety, after a bit of research I chose 'Suffolk Red' (from Chris Bowers).
When growing a grape in the greenhouse its best to have the roots outside so this required a bit of modification to the greenhouse which involved scrounging a piece of aluminum sheet from work and then cutting the glass to fit !
I also had to reconfigure the paving at the side of the greenhouse.  I dug a hole 18" deep and put a good layer of gravel in the bottom before filling with compost.  The green pipe will have a hose from the gutter fed to it so the plant gets watered, the gravel layer should stop it getting waterlogged.
Grape
17th May 2024 Well after a week away on the Isle of Wight we then went to the USA for a further 3 weeks so you can imagine what the garden is like now, a busy weekend is ahead !

I have though just tied up the Tomatoes in the greenhouse which have shot up.  I use a single thick string tied around the bottom of the stem and to horizontal wires at the Greenhouse roof.  The plants are then (very) carefully wound around the string every 2 or 3 leaves.  Don't forget to remove the side-shoots but be careful when near the top so as not to remove the growing tip by mistake.
Vegetables After Holiday #1Vegetables After Holiday #2Tomatoes Tied Up
21st April 2024 I've been away for a week (Isle of Wight) and was expecting things to have grown more whilst I was away but it doesn't look like the weather has been very warm so things are a bit slow.

So not much to do, I've earthed up the Early potatoes that were just showing - I do this with a pull hoe, and planted out a few lettuce seedlings from the Greenhouse, they should get ahead of the seed sown outside previously.

Other than that I have planted the tomatoes out in the green house - I use 'ring cultivation' - the rings are cut down water containers.  I've had these quite a few years now, they are starting to show signs of UV damage and are starting to crack so I'll perhaps have to start looking out for some new ones for next year ?  The rings are filled with my compost and eventually the plants will be supported with a string tied to a horizontal steel wire running across the Greenhouse roof.

The mouse seems to have moved on !
Potatoes 21-4-2024Tomatoes 21-4-2024
14th April 2024 Well at last the rubbish weather has broken and we've had a few nice days.

Not much happening on the vegetable plot - things are growing nicely in the warmth but nothing required from me !  Just a little bit of potting-on of seedlings in the Greenhouse and replanting seeds eaten by the mouse.

So spent the time getting on top of the rest of the garden with lawn mowing, weeding and general tidying up.
7th April 2024 I finished the second Carrot Cage but then decided to put it in a different bed to the one sieved yesterday so more sieving required !

I have planted the large Carrot Cage with Autumn King and Early Nantes 2 which I grew last year.  The seed are just broadcast rather than being in rows, I don't even bother thinning them out but just wait till they are ready to eat.

The new smaller Carrot Cage has been sown with St. Valery in a single row.  These will be looked after 'properly' and thinned out to see if I can get some nice large carrots for the show !

And a new 'pest' in the Greenhouse - a mouse which has been nibbling at my Courgette and Sunflower seeds that had just germinated !  Not sure whether to set a mouse trap or shut our cat in there:
      Spyro
Large Carrot Cage 7-4-2024Small Carrot Cage 7-4-4024
6th April 2024 This morning I spent sieving the raised bed for the carrots, I like to do this to reduce the chances of the roots splitting into funny shapes.

The soil is still a bit sticky but it was just about OK for sieving, I'm using a 1/2" sieve made by Father.

It took two wheel barrows to sieve into then the soil is returned to the bed and raked.

All I need to do now is to build my second Carrot Cage, this afternoons job.
Sieving 6-4-2024Sieve 6-4-2024Carrot Bed 6-4-2024
5th April 2024 The order from my favourite on-line supplier arrived, which included some mulching sheet and netting.

The mulching sheet is for the second strawberry bed, the plants (Cambridge Favourite) were donated by my Sister-In-Law Hilary and have been temporarily planted in one of the other raised beds since the Autumn.  In the left hand bed is Elsanta which where planted last Autumn.  I'm hoping that if we have a hot summer (like 2021) the mulch sheet will help them survive.

Also in the order was some pea netting which I have put over the Sweet Peas planted last week.

I then tided up the raised bed that had Brassicas in last year and planted some Gladioli.  I usually just replant last years corms but have found that gradually one colour is becoming dominant so I have bought some new colours for this year (from Billing Garden Centre and Aldi !).

Finally in the order was some more fine insect netting to make a second 'Carrot Cage' - that'll probably be tomorrows job.
Strawberries 5/4/2024Sweet Peas 5/4/2024
31st March 2024 The weather forecast for this weekend didn't look too promising but in the end we had two dry days which allowed me to make really good progress in the vegetable garden.

Traditionally you're supposed to plant your potatoes at Easter though not sure how that works as Easter moves every year !  Still that's what I've always done and it seems to work.  In addition to the earlies planted last week I've put in Maris Peer (second early) and Kind Edward (main crop).

The runner beans are in, possibly a bit early as they may get caught out by frost but I usually get away with it !  I'm growing Painted Lady, Streamline, Scarlett Emperor and a runner bean from the Heritage Seed Library who visited the gardening society a few years ago.  I haven't bought runner bean seed for many years but collect my own from the year before.

I've also put out the sweet peas sown a few weeks go, they just need some netting over them to climb up.

In the raised beds I have sown Beetroot (Boltardy), Spring Onions (Lisbon and Tondo Musona).  I've also sown some Snap Peas and another pea from the Heritage Seed Library - I'm using pruning's from the blackcurrants for them to grow up, they'll probably root so if anybody wants a Blackcurrant bush later in the year ?

The pots sitting on the path are Laurel hedge cuttings taken last year ready to replace a rather tatty hedge next to the compost bins.

I was also busy in the greenhouse on Saturday, pricking out more annuals and sowed some lettuce and spring onions ready for planting out in the greenhouse and vegetable garden in a few weeks, they will be ready before those sown directly outside.
Vegetable Bed 31-3-2024Raised Beds 31-3-2024
24th March 2024
At last the ground on the main vegetable area has drained enough to start digging over ready for the potatoes.  I've just planted the first earlies today - this year I'm growing 'Red Duke of York', these were very successful last year and cooked well and also 'Swift' a new one to try.

In the greenhouse, pricked out a few annual seedlings into trays.

16th March 2024

 

Probably the first day I've managed to get out when it wasn't cold or wet !  so gave the fruit and veg plot the once over:

  • cut down the Autumn fruiting raspberry's (a bit late but I'm sure they won't mind)

  • picked the last of the Brussel Sprouts which I'd planted in one of the strawberry beds in the fruit cage after the strawberries finally died last summer having never recovered from the hot summer of 2022

  • cleared the sprouts and tidied up the bed ready for some new strawberries - I'm going to grow them through a mulching sheet to see of that helps to keep them from drying out

  • I've grown some 'over winter' onion varieties - Red Winter and Autumn Winter which seem to be doing OK, whereas the seed onions sown in the autumn (Augusta) didn't germinate ?

  • the Garlic are doing very well, I'm growing Solent Wight for the first time in addition to my usual 'French' garlic - don't know the variety a friend brought a bulb back from France for me a few years ago

  • the Aquadulce broad beans sown in the autumn are also doing OK, I planted some more a few weeks ago but they are not showing yet ?

  • and finally turned one of my compost heaps which is full of worms that are doing a good job of breaking it down


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