Wednesday 5th March 2008

What a fantastic day. Sun shining, so lottie time this afternoon.

Threw down some lunch and raced up the plot, armed with parsnip seeds and lettuce seedlings.

(Forgot to take the chitted new potatoes......duh me.)

A good 3 hours was had. Dug over one of my raised beds, that had had sweetcorn and the squash frames in it last year, and the soil was lovely. Weeds came out easily too.

Moved the black covering with the sweetcorn holes onto the squash patch where they will be growing this year.

Put glass panes over the top end of the bed, in which today I have sown parsnips.

Was a bit lacking in 'snips this year so hopefully this lot will germinate well. Did 4 rows.
Opened up the cloche made from old plastic greenhouses and polytunnel plastic,(put up on the 10th Feb) and planted in lettuce seedlings. No sign of the carrots yet. Have to say was pleased to see some ex slugs though after my sprinkling of slug pellets, which I really am loathed to use, but figured under cover they will be away from the wildlife.

The broad bean plants looked very healthy today, just hoping this is the year I actually get a good crop, am going to sow more in about a weeks time outside.

Pootled around the plot, repaired some of the wood for the beds and generally had a great time.

Put the butternut frames back up, and had to do my usual repairs, thank goodness for battery powered drills. Have laid a thick layer of wonderful manure, then covered it with thick cardboard, which I am going to plant the squash through, bit of an experiment really.

In the polytunnnel at home this week, I planted some International Kidney seed potatoes in the border, as well as a row of peas, Kelvedon Wonder I think.

It is getting quite choka block in there as, as soon as the seedlings are coming up in the house they get moved out there.

Bought a few shrubs from our local nursery Jordans on Sunday, to try and create a jungle type area in front of the poly, to hide it, so they are resting in the poly.
Sister-in-law came to stay and bought me a tree fern for my birthday, am over the moon as I have always wanted one, just hope I don't kill it.

Have had major frosts the last 2 nights, so have been covering everything in the poly with fleece, so far it seems to be doing the trick. With the sun out during the day, the temperature really gets up in there, so it is doing what it is supposed to.

The pond has been frozen solid every morning, and so of course has the frogspawn, will be interesting to see if it does anything.

Frogspawn

Amazing, a pile there yesterday morning, and added to last night. Earlier than I have ever had it, and all the fish are mooching on the surface of the pond!

Went to the plot this morning, put up a long cloche last weekend for 2 leftover plastic flimsey greenhouses,(It looks huge) so thought I would sow a few carrots under it at one end. (The bit I didn't manure!) So in went early Nantes, sprinkled on top with some compost.



The broad beans in the rootrainers sown on the 20th of last month, are now in. They went from the dining room window, to the poly, to the open coldframe, into the ground on the lottie today.



Also covered another bit of soil to put some early potatoes in.

In the poly, sowed this week a row of early peas, and today put some kelvedon Wonder into rootrainers.

Also today trying the instant coffee method of repelling slugs, 50g of instant coffee (had some mankey looking stuff in a jar) into 2 gallons (My watering can) of water.

Put it all over the poly beds, the proof will be when I start to plant up in a few weeks. Have to admit I am a bit sceptical.

Potted on some small shrubby bits I had taken cuttings from last year, (all from Mum's garden) And finally got around to repotting my poor lemon. It has needed it for a few years, just haven't managed to get around to it. The poor thing had so many weeds in it, I had to take it back to bare roots, and throw it's old soil in the bin.

The spinach and lettuce I sowed a few weeks back are coming up, and a few of the aubergines are out of the propagator, and are on the sunny windowsill. Nearly time to think tomatoes.

Which means, hurrah, Spring is just around the corner.

Actually got my hands in soil today, hooray.
Decided to get a start on my aubergines and peppers, so planted:-

Peppers:-
Como di Toro Rosso
Alesya
Bolivian Rainbow Chilli
Sweet Aji
Chocolate Chilli
And a few more whose names I forget

Aubergines :-
Calliope
Little Fingers
Red Egg
Black Beauty
Rotonda Bianca Sfumata di Rosa

Just a few of each as I do not want to be over run, but so hard not to put in loads.

Also sowed Leeks, mammoth blanch, and another type. Hispi and Savoy cabbage, which have all gone into trays in the polytunnel.

Purple Globe, and Green Globe artichoke have joined the chillis and peppers in the heated propagator in the spare room.

The biggest surprise today was that the OH, who seems scarily to be starting to have an interest in gardening, sowed some snapdragon seeds today. In the 22 years I have been married to him, I have never seen him open a seed packet, let alone put them in soil.
Here is hoping they come up and survive to encourage him.(didn't mention damping off to him)

It was so nice to actually put something in at last, just hope that I can keep them alive until they can fend for themselves. This isn't the warmest house to raise tender plants, and the poly will not be warm enough for them to fend out there for a few months yet, but hopefully this dreary weather will improve and we will get some sunshine when they need to be on the windowsills.

January 2008

Well it is finally up.

Measures 8 foot by 10 foot.

Managed to get the plastic on between gales and rain, but it has survived.

Am very very pleased, what with waiting for money to buy the polythene, and scrounging stuff to recycle it feels like we have been building it for ages.

Started by levelling the ground, I think this was back in November 2007.
Bought the scaffolding poles, connectors (as suggested by the scaffold bloke, as I couldn't figure how to hammer in 8 foot poles being height challenged) and old scaffold boards for £35.00.

Cut the smaller lengths into 2 foot bits, and hammered them into the ground until they were all level with each other.
Put the baseboards around and screwed and bracketed them on the corners.



Then the connectors went into these tubes, long tubes on the top and the connector tightened.
Blue water pipe pushed into the tops, and bolted into position. (I wanted the thicker water pipe, but could only find the next size down to recycle)



Then old pallets were asked for at the local steel handling place, and they were more than happy to give them to us, and after they were dismantled, they gave us loads of hefty good wood.
So frame up next. OH did a great job on it and it made the whole framework very sturdy




Finally the polythene and anti hotspot tape was ordered after Christmas,for £60.00 and with a one day eye between gales and storms, it went on.

What a pain it was. A bit loose in places, but I think that is because the framework isn't as straight as it should be, but I got there in the end.
Battens on around the baseboard, soil back filled over the polythene in the ground (after stabbing with a fork to aid drainage) and now it is ready to fill.







I can't wait to get it filled with seedlings.
Have already had my seeds out for a looksie, to see what can go in now, and it's final cost was £95.00, plus bolts n screws. Saw one in a budget gardening catalogue, same size for £300.00.

Now to see if I can grow anything in it this year.
Here's hoping it is a better vegetable year than last.

Put my potatoes in the cold spare room to start chitting today.
Have got, Lady Chrystl, Kestrel, a few Rocket and International Kidney to try, and Pink Fir's. Total cost was £5.50 from a local nursery where you buy them for 50p per lb. Looked more like a greengrocers with all the tatties in boxes than a nursery.