Well, with the lovely sunshine we've been getting over the last week or two, I decided it was about time I got organised and started planting!
Last Wednesday (1st April) I gave the mini greenhouse a good scrub out, washed & sorted all the old pots and sorted out the seed packets.
I planted a tray each of the broad beans (Super Aquadulce) and the climbing French beans (Barlotta di Fuoco). I also planted some various flowers & herbs: cornflower, calendula (I love these!), marigolds, lemon balm and Italian parsley.
A good few years ago I was really successul in growing Italian parsley from seed. Apparently they're supposed to be very difficult to germinate, but that year I had loads of huge plants! I hope I'm as successful this year.
I've also ordered some herbs from The Natural Gardener - basil, coriander and Italian parsley! I never seem to be able to grow enough herbs, and it's good to have a back up supply!
I actually found this site by Googling for coir pots. I needed some new pots for planting seeds (where do they all go to?!), but I wasn't keen on buying more plastic. I know the coir pots can only be used once, but they were very reasonably priced. I like this site because they sell them in small pack sizes, plus it seemed a nice friendly site!
This year I switched compost. I used West+ peat-free last year, and while it was ok, it did seem a very bark-like texture and tended to dry out quite a bit. This year I bought some coir compost from Fertile Fibre. It's peat free, and is made from organic coir! It was reasonably priced, delivery was quick and it seems a really nice compost too. The other great plus is that it's very light, so it was easy for me to carry the huge bags from the front door to the garden!! I'll see how we get on with it this year.
So, another sunny-ish day today (though rain forecast for this afternoon and the rest of the week). I planted some lettuce (Marvel of Four Seasons, Belize, Oakleaf, Paris Island Cos and Tonale Ice Queen) and spring onion in the seedling coir pots and put them all in one of the coir trays for the moment to keep them all together. Once the seedlings get bigger I'll stick 2 or 3 into a tray and let them get on with it. Last year I sowed the lettuce direct into the ground, but we had terrible problems with cats and had to bin the lot. This year I'm going to attempt to grow the lettuce in pots and hopefully we can avoid any cat problems.
Still to get the potatoes in, and prepare the pots for the carrots (need to remember to order more sand!). Even though I've cut back this year, I'm fast running out of space. I wish we were further up the list for an allotment - I might give them a phone actually and see if they have any idea how long a wait it is!
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Monday, 23 February 2009
Getting excited again!
It's got to that time of year again when the days are getting just a little bit longer, the air is milder and there is a sense of things starting to come back to life. It's time to start thinking about the garden again, making plans for what to grow, ordering seeds and getting out there and tidying up a bit!
I have to admit the garden has been pretty much neglected for the past 3 months - we rarely venture out into it except to empty the bins and feed the birds, so there is a lot of tidying up to do!
I plan on doing this over the next week or two. I also need to clean all the tubs etc, and take stock of how much compost to order (one of the drawbacks of growing most of my crops in pots is having to order compost every year).
I was actually hoping we might have got an allotment this year - we've been on the waiting list for a year now, and I'm bursting with plans of all the things I want to grow this year, but we just don't have the room!
I think I'm going to stick to potatoes, carrots and broad beans, with perhaps some salad items and cherry tomatoes. But, you know, I'll probably get carried away as usual, and start adding things like courgettes, peppers, broccoli and all sorts of herbs! We also have our strawberry plants, plus the rhubarb and raspberry canes on the fruit side of things. I really want to add some blueberry bushes to the mix, but I'm being realistic as we really do not have the room.
I ordered some seed potatoes this week from The Organic Gardening Catalogue (I actually got a bit carried away so think I will have to off-load some of these on to my parents!). I ordered a selection:
Earlies: Orla
2nd earlies: Cosmos
Early main: Robinta (I've had these before - they have a lovely red skin and make great wedges!)
Late main: Golden Wonder (I love these boiled with loads of butter mmm) and I also got some Arran Victory as I am intrigued by their purple/blue skins!
I also ordered some broad bean seeds (super aquadulce) -broad beans are one of my favourite things about summer so I'm planning a few tubs of these this year!
I'm also planning on making a little wigwam out of canes, and growing some climbing beans (barlotta lingua di fuoco) around it, to make a little play tent for my kids. Not sure if that's going to work out a good idea or not (we'll see ;) ) but these beans have pretty purpley mottled pods!
One thing I also need to do is build a little bird feeder I got as a birthday present last year, and order some more bird food for the spring!
So, I'm going to be busy out there over the next few weeks. I'm going to spend the evenings reading some of my favourite gardening books and dreaming of the seasons ahead! I love spring!
I have to admit the garden has been pretty much neglected for the past 3 months - we rarely venture out into it except to empty the bins and feed the birds, so there is a lot of tidying up to do!
I plan on doing this over the next week or two. I also need to clean all the tubs etc, and take stock of how much compost to order (one of the drawbacks of growing most of my crops in pots is having to order compost every year).
I was actually hoping we might have got an allotment this year - we've been on the waiting list for a year now, and I'm bursting with plans of all the things I want to grow this year, but we just don't have the room!
I think I'm going to stick to potatoes, carrots and broad beans, with perhaps some salad items and cherry tomatoes. But, you know, I'll probably get carried away as usual, and start adding things like courgettes, peppers, broccoli and all sorts of herbs! We also have our strawberry plants, plus the rhubarb and raspberry canes on the fruit side of things. I really want to add some blueberry bushes to the mix, but I'm being realistic as we really do not have the room.
I ordered some seed potatoes this week from The Organic Gardening Catalogue (I actually got a bit carried away so think I will have to off-load some of these on to my parents!). I ordered a selection:
Earlies: Orla
2nd earlies: Cosmos
Early main: Robinta (I've had these before - they have a lovely red skin and make great wedges!)
Late main: Golden Wonder (I love these boiled with loads of butter mmm) and I also got some Arran Victory as I am intrigued by their purple/blue skins!
I also ordered some broad bean seeds (super aquadulce) -broad beans are one of my favourite things about summer so I'm planning a few tubs of these this year!
I'm also planning on making a little wigwam out of canes, and growing some climbing beans (barlotta lingua di fuoco) around it, to make a little play tent for my kids. Not sure if that's going to work out a good idea or not (we'll see ;) ) but these beans have pretty purpley mottled pods!
One thing I also need to do is build a little bird feeder I got as a birthday present last year, and order some more bird food for the spring!
So, I'm going to be busy out there over the next few weeks. I'm going to spend the evenings reading some of my favourite gardening books and dreaming of the seasons ahead! I love spring!
Monday, 12 January 2009
Update!
Oh dear! I'm not very good at updating am I? Well, last year got a bit busy and I forgot about the blog, but I will add some photos from the year. The potatoes, carrots, broad beans and tomatoes all did well, so I think I will concentrate on more of them this year. The peppers and aubergines did ok, but the summer wasn't long enough to ripen them, so I will give them a miss this year. The peas and courgettes rotted as the summer was so wet, so I will have to think about whether to try again this year. I'm not sure about more lettuce - we have been getting a lot of cats in the garden and they use the lettuce bed as a toilet! Strawberries were great, so more of them! These photos are from June last year.
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Yay! The sun was here!
Well, the past 2 weeks have been great up here! It was about 20C nearly every day - perfect!
We always seem to get a burst of great weather in May - I love this time of year. Everything is really starting to take off, we get a taste of the (hopefully!) summer to come, without it being too hot. It is dreaming time, when we hope that we have planned right for the months ahead, and we can sit back & relax with anticipation of the next few months ahead!
I have been busy out in the garden - I planted the first tub of carrots on the 4th May, with Paris Market. They are now starting to show and I've covered the top of the tub with fleece to hopefully avoid the dreaded carrot root fly! My tubs are about 35cm high, so not sure if that is too high for the flies or not (I've read conflicting reports as to how high they can go!). I'm also hoping that as I seem to be the only gardener in the area growing carrots (indeed, growing anything!), that there might not be any of the pests about here anyway! But lets not take the chance!
The tomatoes, peppers and aubergines have certainly took off - I had to repot them all today. The tomatoes are now about 30cm tall, and into 18cm pots! The peppers and aubergines are all about 18cm tall, and into 15cm pots. The problem I now have is that the greenhouse is very crowded! I don't think it will be warm enough to put the tomatoes out for another 4 weeks (back to our usual cool weather now!) so they will have to put up with it!
The early potatoes are romping away, and I earthed them up today. I also finally planted the maincrops today (Robinta), and the 2nd tub of carrots - this time with Chantenay.
I also planted some lettuce seed this afternoon. Last year we had a bit of a dip in the grass next to the fence, and when my potatoes etc were finished I used the compost from the pots to build it back up a bit. We now though have a little bed just perfect for lettuce!
I love lettuce, but it's something I never buy much, usually because it seems so wasteful - we use it for one meal then it's past its best. It's also rather expensive, so I bought a selection of seed instead: Belize, Marvel of the Four Seasons, Paris Island Cos, Oakleaf and Tonale Ice Queen. I also planted some spring onion - Red Beard. I have some more tubs set aside for these and will plant another lot in a few weeks time (if I remember!).
The broad beans I sowed a few weeks ago are coming on now, and the strawberries are a mass of flowers so hoping we get a good crop from them!
A frost is forecast for tonight so I'd better go and wrap the plants up! I'll add some photos later.
We always seem to get a burst of great weather in May - I love this time of year. Everything is really starting to take off, we get a taste of the (hopefully!) summer to come, without it being too hot. It is dreaming time, when we hope that we have planned right for the months ahead, and we can sit back & relax with anticipation of the next few months ahead!
I have been busy out in the garden - I planted the first tub of carrots on the 4th May, with Paris Market. They are now starting to show and I've covered the top of the tub with fleece to hopefully avoid the dreaded carrot root fly! My tubs are about 35cm high, so not sure if that is too high for the flies or not (I've read conflicting reports as to how high they can go!). I'm also hoping that as I seem to be the only gardener in the area growing carrots (indeed, growing anything!), that there might not be any of the pests about here anyway! But lets not take the chance!
The tomatoes, peppers and aubergines have certainly took off - I had to repot them all today. The tomatoes are now about 30cm tall, and into 18cm pots! The peppers and aubergines are all about 18cm tall, and into 15cm pots. The problem I now have is that the greenhouse is very crowded! I don't think it will be warm enough to put the tomatoes out for another 4 weeks (back to our usual cool weather now!) so they will have to put up with it!
The early potatoes are romping away, and I earthed them up today. I also finally planted the maincrops today (Robinta), and the 2nd tub of carrots - this time with Chantenay.
I also planted some lettuce seed this afternoon. Last year we had a bit of a dip in the grass next to the fence, and when my potatoes etc were finished I used the compost from the pots to build it back up a bit. We now though have a little bed just perfect for lettuce!
I love lettuce, but it's something I never buy much, usually because it seems so wasteful - we use it for one meal then it's past its best. It's also rather expensive, so I bought a selection of seed instead: Belize, Marvel of the Four Seasons, Paris Island Cos, Oakleaf and Tonale Ice Queen. I also planted some spring onion - Red Beard. I have some more tubs set aside for these and will plant another lot in a few weeks time (if I remember!).
The broad beans I sowed a few weeks ago are coming on now, and the strawberries are a mass of flowers so hoping we get a good crop from them!
A frost is forecast for tonight so I'd better go and wrap the plants up! I'll add some photos later.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
This year's plans
I know it may seem a bit late to be talking about plans for the year, but I thought I would note what I'm growing or intending to do this year.
Last year we had 2 big tubs with potatoes (can't remember which type!), a tub with some broad beans my daughter had planted at Easter, and 3 courgette plants I'd bought on a whim and was surprised at how well they did! I also had 2 strawberry plants which gave us a handful of strawberries - hoping to do better this year, and we now have 3 as one runner moved into the tomato plant's pot next door!
Potatoes
This year I intend to have 4 tubs of potatoes - I already planted the 1st two tubs with early potatoes (Orla) on 29th April (3 seeds in each tub - I'm hoping this will be ok, the tubs are about 45cm diameter). I have the main crop potatoes (Robinta) chitting away on the windowsill and think they can maybe go in next week.
Peas
I cheated with the peas and bought some plugs from Organic Plants . Unfortunately only 3 have survived so they will go in another big tub.
Broad Beans
Last year we planted the broad beans at Easter (so mid April if I remember correctly). I'd really only bought the packet to show my 4 year old daughter what seeds were and how they grow etc, but they did so well we planted them out properly and got a great harvest from 4 plants. This year I forgot and only planted them the other day, so hopefully they will germinate ok and catch up!
Carrots
I also got a bit carried away when buying carrot seeds - I picked Paris Market, Chantenay and Rainbow Mix! I have 3 tubs planned for these (think the garden is going to be over-run with these huge black tubs now!), but still a bit undecided as to when to sow them.
Courgettes
I've ordered 3 courgette plants from Organic Plants again - I found them really easy to grow last year so hoping we do as well this year!
Tomatoes etc
Also from Organic Plants I bought some cherry tomatoes (Tumbler and Sweet Million), sweet pepper (Bell Boy) and slightly optimistic with the aubergine (Ophelia)! I also got this great mini greenhouse for them to live in at the moment! I'm hoping they do ok, but think I will need a lot of luck with these ones!
I'm also planting some lettuce and spring onion in amongst the flowerbed we have - it's something I always wish I had to hand, but in typical fashion, if I buy a whole lettuce at the shops, most of it goes to waste then the next day I'm looking for some!
Fruit - we have the aforementioned strawberries, plus a rather large rhubarb I got last year from my mum & dad's garden. I actually thought it had died & rotted away during the winter, but it came back with a flourish. I had to snap a few flower stalks off it last week. I haven't actually harvested from it yet - I may pick a few stalks from it in the next week or two!
I have also ordered some soft fruits in pots - autumn raspberries (Autumn Bliss and Fall Gold) and a blackberry (Loch Ness). I have no idea if these will do ok in large tubs (50 ltr) or if I should dig a spot for them at the bottom of the garden. I'd rather not do that as a) we rent and I don't want to dig up any more of the turf and b) the soil is awful - heavy clay - and I'd spend ages trying to dig it all out and replace it with decent stuff (as I know from experience when digging out the flower bed a few years ago!).
So that's it - apart from the herbs, but that will be another post!
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Hello!
Thanks for dropping by! This is my blog about my (hopefully successful!) attempts at growing veg, fruit & herbs in containers.
My garden is rather small, and with heavy clay soil. As we rent I'm not too keen to be doing a lot of work to it, hence the gardening in containers! I have my name down for an allotment, which would be a dream, but unfortunately the waiting list is rather long. So, crops in pots it is!
My garden is rather small, and with heavy clay soil. As we rent I'm not too keen to be doing a lot of work to it, hence the gardening in containers! I have my name down for an allotment, which would be a dream, but unfortunately the waiting list is rather long. So, crops in pots it is!
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