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And so it begins again… again

The tidy up in December has turned out to be hugely useful. Since my last post, though, I’ve had to rebuild the greenhouse twice after storms and one of those times also included planting seeds for a second time. This means I’m a couple of weeks behind where I’d like to be, but when has…

And so it begins again

After a pretty crap year growing things last year, I’m ready to make this the best year ever. 2022 is likely to be our last year at 101 and it will be good to go out with a bang! I’m thinking a good harvest, companion planting, a consistently tidy patch – you know, the dream…

Dinner from the garden

The ultimate allotmenteers pleasure finally arrived last night, as I picked the majority of our dinner from the garden. Having realised that there was nothing in the cupboard, I managed to have a bit of a vegetable patch stir fry with some left over chicken from Sunday’s roast. You can see above the rainbow chard,…

Today in the garden

Things are finally growing! The chard is absolutely ready, so now I need to learn how to cook it. We’ve picked lots of strawberries, so jam is on the cards and the beans have also begun. I tidied up the wild section of the garden today, pulling out old poppies and cornflowers and letting light…

The Girth-kin

Good grief! I went away for a few days and came back to this absolute monster of a gherkin. I assume I can still cut it up and pickle it, once a single other gherkin grows!

Tomatoes and other stories

This may not look pretty, but it’s the hottest and most sheltered part of the garden. We had so much success with tomatoes in this part of the garden last year that we’re having another go. They’re definitely behind where they were last year, along with everything else in the garden. There are around 9-10…

Honeysuckle

Today is the first day I’ve smelt the honeysuckle. It always feels like a moment. As you can see, the bush is clearly a monster that needs to be dealt with and supported properly, but the bees always seem to love it regardless.

Roses Roses Roses

It’s the time of year for roses. So far only one is showing signs of black spot (last year was fairly painful for that) so I’ve sprayed them all with a sulphur spray from my favourite place, the Green Gardener. Starting with this, which I think is a Peace Rose, I just wanted to share…

Wrestling back control

What a long day! I look like I’ve got a tan, but I’m sure it’s dirt. Things had started to get out of control in the garden over the past couple of weeks. The grass a has reached thigh height, because I was so determined to leave it for the wildlife in the spring. Weeds…

Wild flowers

The wildflowers seem to have sorted themselves out this year, with ox eye daisies, poppies and nigellas growing easily in the last metre of the garden. I allocated this metre to wildlife when I first started planning the veg patch, so that bees and other wildlife (including all those ladybirds I introduced) had somewhere lovely…

One single strawberry

Today, I noticed one single ripe strawberry. All the others are flowers or small green strawberries. I’m told it was an excellent strawberry, after giving it to the (almost) birthday boy! Now have jam making on the mind.

Winter is… going

A round up of winter and the beginning of spring, including fruity gin and apple pruning.

Pruning Raspberries

Pruning summer and autumn fruiting varieties (and my epic cake).

It’s Catch Up Time

Catching up with garden jobs after neglecting it for months!

Sweetcorn

Tips for growing sweetcorn – it’s easier than you think!

Cucumber consistency

Do you have bitter cucumbers? Here’s how I’m trying to help mine.

Strawberries

Strawberries are easy to grow and bring so much joy!

Atlas Carrots

Atlas carrots are easy to grow in almost any space – great for containers and fast ripening.

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