Thank You, Tanya

I was thrilled to bits a few weeks ago when I found out that I was one of the top commenters on Tanya's Lovely Greens blog. It was a year since Tanya had started her blog, so she decided to count up the comments each person had left over the year and send a thank you gift to the people who had left the most. The gift was a jar of Tanya's Manx Beeswax Lip Balm. Tanya makes this product herself using local Manx beeswax. I've been using it a few weeks now and can say that it's lovely stuff, it's doing it's job of keeping my lips silky smooth.

Tanya has just set up her own hive of bees, so she's hoping to be able to harvest her own beeswax which she will use in her lip balm. If you haven't yet visited Lovely Greens blog, I would urge you to do so. Tanya's posts are on a variety of subjects from her allotment to the new hive she's just set up. She's also just about to start keeping chickens so I'm looking forward to reading all about them.

If you're interested in the lip balm yourself, Tanya sells this in her Etsy shop, along with various scented soaps which she also makes herself. You can also find further information about the product there.

Thank you very much, Tanya, I'm really enjoying using the lip balm.

Filling Up Nicely

Not only did I spend time at the allotment on Sunday, but I also did a bit of gardening at home too and got some more seeds sown. As you can see, the mini plastic greenhouse which is inside the proper greenhouse to give everything a little extra protection is starting to fill up. I decided that I would sow my French beans. I know that the weather isn't all that warm at the moment but I'm hoping to have some ready to go out at the earliest opportunity so that I can get an early harvest. I'll sow more at a later date, as I did last year, to extend the cropping period. The varieties I'm growing this year are Blue Lake which is a climber, and Safari and Purple Teepee which are both dwarf varieties. I also planted some courgettes, Soleil which is yellow, and Mikinos which is green. I may be a little early with these too, but I can bring them on in the greenhouse before planting them out.

I don't tend to grow salad crops at the allotment. I find they keep much cleaner and pest free if grown in containers in the garden. I sowed my spring onions in to a planter. This year I'm growing red spring onions - Furio, as well as White Lisbon which I usually grow. I also made my first sowing of radish. Again, I've chosen a different variety to that which I'm used to - Rainbow Mixed, so they should be nice and colourful. They're a round variety and I find that they grow perfectly well in a seed tray, no point wasting lots of compost if there's no need. I don't think the longer varieties such as French Breakfast would do so well without a bit of extra depth though.

I also started off some basil, a must if you're growing tomatoes. The seed tray has been placed on my son's windowsill, the sunniest in the house, though there hasn't been much sun about this week, and they've germinated already. Fingers crossed that everything else isn't far behind.

On The Plot

At long last, I managed to get to the allotment on Sunday. I started the shallots and red onions off in pots in the greenhouse many weeks ago and they should really have been planted out before now. As you can see, they'd put on plenty of top growth and as I removed them from their pots, I could see that they'd put out plenty of roots too. I'm hoping that this has given them a good start. The Bedfordshire Champion onions which I started from seed are still only like blades of grass. It's the first time I've tried growing from seed and I don't think I'm going to be very successful, surely they should have grown more than this by now. I've no idea when I should plant them out, but I don't think they'd stand much of a chance at this point. Perhaps I'll buy a few sets and get them out as soon as possible then I won't be left without.

I also planted out the broad beans. They'd also been languishing in the greenhouse waiting for their turn to be turfed out. I've only got a dozen plants, I'm not sure what sort of yield each plant will give, but as I'm not sure whether I like broad beans or not, I thought a dozen was enough to try. They've grown in to sturdy little plants so I hope the cooler weather we're having at the moment isn't going to do any damage to them.

The first direct sowing of the year has taken place, half a row of beetroot, Boltardy. I'd only ever eaten pickled beetroot from a jar before I grew my own, now I love it roasted, though none of the family are particularly keen. Hubby also sowed some carrots. You may remember that we experimented last year by growing carrots in an old bath which had been left on the allotment when we took it over. The carrots grew really well, and weren't troubled by carrot fly even though they didn't have any protection, so we're growing them the same way this year. We're trying a new variety, Sweet Candle. There's one thing about the wet weather we're having at the moment, I'm not having to go down to the allotment to water anything.

Another Winner

As you know, Anna's name was drawn out of the hat as the winner of my third anniversary giveaway, however, she let me know that she already has a paper potter and asked me to allocate this to someone else. I've done another draw and this time, the name out of the hat is Wellywoman.

I'm sure Wellywoman will be able to make use of the paper potter, after all, she sows so many seeds at this time of year, not only veggies but lots of flowers too for her cutting patch.

If you haven't yet visited Wellywoman, you can find her blog at Wellywoman - A Life in Wellies. Her posts are about all manner of gardening topics and very interesting.

Wellywoman, can you please let me have your address and I'll get the paper potter sent out to you.

There's no gardening happening here today, it's already been raining and is forecast more rain on and off all day. In fact, the forecast doesn't look to change all week. Fingers crossed for the weekend then.

Giveaway Winner

I hope everyone's thoroughly enjoyed the Easter break, I know I have. The schools are back tomorrow, so we're a hive of activity in our house getting bags packed and uniforms at the ready.

I was hoping to get lots of things done at the allotment and in the garden over Easter, but as there was lots of DIY activity indoors, this didn't really happen. I've managed to catch up with a few things today, but I'll tell you about those later.

My giveaway for the third anniversary of my blog has come to an end today, so a winner's name has been drawn at random. I'm very happy to say that the first name out of the hat is Anna. Congratulations, Anna. Please let me have the address to send your prize to and I'll get it out as soon as possible. If you haven't yet visited Anna's blog, you'll find it at Green Tapestry. Anna has an allotment as well as growing a wide variety of plants in her garden and photographing visiting birds. Do pay her a visit, you won't be disappointed.

I'd like to thank everyone who took part in my giveaway, and also for all the wonderful (and very flattering) comments you left on my last post. I know that my blog would not be what it's become today without all the comments you leave and support you give so thank you all very much.

I'll be back with an update soon.

Third Blog Anniversary Giveaway

It doesn't seem three years since I started this blog, it just goes to show how quickly time slips by.

As is now usual on my blog anniversaries, I am running a giveaway to thank all my readers, new and old, for their visits to my blog, and for the many wonderful comments you all continue to leave. I really do appreciate the time you take to read my ramblings and for all the support you continue to give by way of commenting. It doesn't matter how many years I blog for, I don't think the thrill of having another comment left for me will ever fade.

The prize I am offering is a Paper Potter, ideal for this time of year when seeds are being sown. It's really handy to be able to make pots from old newspapers, cost effective, and good for the environment too. I am also offering a Collins Nature Guide Wild Flowers of Britain and Europe book. This is ideal to take along on walks as any flowers you come across can be easily identified.

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this blog post and I will pick a winner at random on the 15th April 2012.

The schools have now broken up for Easter, and although the weather was forecast to break this weekend, we've still had some sunny days though noticably cooler. I'm hoping to get lots more jobs done in the garden and at the allotment so I'm hoping that the weather doesn't change too much over the next fortnight.

It just remains for me to wish you all a very happy Easter.

Spring In To Action

Now that spring is officially here, I felt I was getting a bit left behind with everything I had to do. Fortunately, we had some glorious weather at the weekend which enabled me to get some jobs done. We spent part of Saturday at the allotment, sorting out the compost bins, planting up the new strawberry bed with the Sonata strawberries I bought at the back end of last year, and making a start on digging and preparing the beds. As you can see, some things are now waiting to go out. The red onions and shallots have put on plenty of growth in the greenhouse, and the broad beans don't want to be hanging around much longer either.

On Sunday, I decided it was time to get some sowing done. First off, I got the tomatoes planted. I mentioned the varieties in my last post, but didn't bother with the Harbinger and Red Cherry. I'm hoping to grow a couple of plants of each of the other nine varieties. I made my first sowing of peas - Hurst Green Shaft and mangetout - Reuzensuiker, and I will sow these again in a month or so to stagger the harvest. The brassicas also got sown, cabbage - Advantage, Swiss chard - Bright Lights, kale - Cavolo de Nero, kale - Dwarf Green Curled, broccoli - Autumn Spear, broccoli - (Sprouting) Summer Purple and kohl rabi - Purple Delicacy. I also sowed some lettuce - Salad Bowl. I think I'm just about caught up now with the sowing, though I still need to sow the radishes and spring onions.

The first potatoes which were planted in containers are now showing some leaf above the compost. I'm staggering the planting so that they're not all ready to harvest together, two or three weeks between each batch should just about do nicely and then I'll be kept in potatoes well in to autumn and perhaps in to winter. It's all in the planning.

Let's Talk About Tomatoes

If I could only grow one thing, it would have to be tomatoes. Not only do home grown tomatoes taste so much better than those bought from the supermarket, but I enjoy the process of growing them too.

I usually squeeze six plants in to my small 6X4 greenhouse, but this year I'm branching out, trying some different varieties to those I've grown previously, as well as some favourites, and I'm going to grow some outdoors in the garden as well as in the greenhouse. I'm hoping for a much bigger harvest than usual so that I can make some sauces.

The old favourites I'm going to grow are Tangella, I grew these from my own saved seed last year and I'm doing the same again this year, Tigerella, Ferline and Gardener's Delight. I picked up some new to me varieties in the Wyevale 50p sale last year. Wyevale has now changed it's name to The Garden Centre Group, and their sale can really save you a lot of money, one of the packets should have been £4.99 and it only contains six seeds. I wouldn't have bought them at that price, but I don't mind for 50p. I was looking for ones which do well outdoors. The ones I came up with are Pannovy, Gold Nugget, Black Cherry, Harbinger and Incas. I've also got Red Cherry which were a freebie and Eleanor which was sent to me by Kath from Veg Heaven. Kath has bred this variety herself and I'm eager to try it as my daughter's name is Eleanor. Thank you Kath.

It's now just a matter of getting the seed sown, which I'm hoping to do this week. I've usually started the seeds off on a windowsill in a heated propagator, but last year I sowed them inside the mini plastic greenhouse which is inside the normal greenhouse to give them a little extra protection. They grew much stronger so I'm going to do that again this year. I can't wait to pick the first sun warmed tomato from a plant and pop it straight in my mouth.

Impulse Buy

I think all gardeners are guilty of impulse buys. Even when the flower beds are well stocked, there's always something which catches the eye on a trip to a garden centre or nursery. We visited our local nursery to buy the apple tree which I blogged about in my last post, but I had to pass the perennials in order to pay for the tree. This gorgeous Hellebore Niger called out to me as I passed, and with a price tag of just £2.99 it was a certainty that it was coming home with us. I've seen much smaller specimens at double the price, so I was happy with this. The flower border in my back garden needs a total overhaul this year, many plants have grown too big for their boots, so they'll have to be moved in to the patch we've got at the front of the house, and new smaller plants will be purchased to replace them. I'm going to follow Geoff Hamilton's advice and buy something new every month so that I can be assured of some colour in the border all the year round.

Today is Mother's Day in the UK, so Happy Mother's Day to all you mums reading my blog. I've been thoroughly spoilt, and one of my presents is a blackcurrant bush. I'm trying to get a bit more fruit on the allotment so this is a wonderful present. I don't have anywhere prepared to plant it yet, so it's now biding it's time in a container until I can prepare a patch especially for it.

I haven't managed to get to the allotment this weekend, but hubby has dug over a bit more ground, as well as filling the old bath there with some fresh compost in order to grow carrots again this year. The carrots which were sown in the bath last year were great so I'm hoping we have the same success again this year.

Decision Made

I've been contemplating getting a small apple tree for sometime now. I don't have room to plant a tree in the ground, but after seeing how well my cherry tree has done in a half barrel container, I decided that I'd give an apple tree in a container a go too. I didn't want to get more than one apple tree so I had to look for a self-fertile variety, and luckily, my local nursery had quite a few different ones in stock, many of them suitable to be grown in a container. We decided on Gloster in the end, a lovely red skinned variety with crisp flesh. My parents had given us some money for our twentieth wedding anniversary in 2010, and we've been waiting to find the perfect present to spend it on and this is it.

It's been a lovely weekend weather wise, so I set to getting my leek and sweet pea seeds sown. I'm growing Musselburgh leeks. I've sown them earlier than I usually do, so I hope they do better for me this year. I've never done very well with leeks before, they always seem to grow very spindly. The sweet peas I've sown are from a collection by Suttons. There are five different varieties in the pack, which I bought for 50p in the Wyevale sale. This was marked down from £4.75 so I got a bargain there. The varieties are White Ensign, Noel Sutton, Air Warden, Mrs R.Bolton and Beaujolais. I'm hoping to have some in the garden as well as at the allotment.

Hubby was busy in the garden yesterday. He emptied the compost bin which was full of lovely compost. It will now be spread on the beds at the allotment. He'd been digging over some beds on Saturday, and the new strawberry bed is just about finished so I'll be able to get the plants set out soon. He also washed down the greenhouse for me and put the mini plastic greenhouse inside so that it gives any seedlings a little extra protection. It means I can start seed sowing in earnest now.

I Couldn't Resist

I know I said that I was only going to grow one variety of potato this year, but when I saw packets of seed potatoes in a shop window display at only £1.00 per packet I couldn't resist. So, as well as the Arran Pilot potatoes which I've already got chitting, I now have some Nicola. There were six tubers in the pack, which is ideal if you want to give a variety a try without having it as your main crop. Nicola is a salad variety so should be good for boiling. They'll get planted up in to containers just like the Arran Pilot.

Hubby dug up all the remaining parsnips and leeks from the allotment at the weekend, par boiled them and they're all now in the freezer waiting to be used up. I was very surprised at the amount of parsnips we had left in the ground, it's quite hard to judge just how many are there after the leaves have died down over winter. This year is the best we've ever done with parsnips, they were sown direct last year and I think this has made all the difference, we'll be sowing direct again this year but the soil needs to warm up a little first. The leeks never really put on much growth, but they're still tasty, and those now in the freezer will cook well in casseroles.

The next seed I sow will be leeks. I've never really had a good crop of leeks and I think one of the reasons is because I plant them out too late. This year I'm hoping to get them in the ground a little earlier so I can see if this makes any difference. It can't hurt.

Sets In

I've finally got round to getting my red onion sets and shallot sets potted up in to modules. It's still too wet to get them in to the ground so potting them up this way gives them a chance to get started and put out some roots before they're eventually planted out at the allotment. I did the same thing last year with the shallots and I got a great harvest, in fact, I'm still eating them. This is the first year that I'm growing red onions, I've gone for Red Baron which seems to be a common variety.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm going to start some potatoes off early to try and get an early harvest. I had intended getting some planted up alot earlier than this, but it's another job which I haven't yet got round to doing. I've got a container at the ready and shall get round to planting a couple of tubers in it this week, and it will then reside in the greenhouse to give it some protection. The weather is very mild at the moment, but if it turns cold again I shall make sure that I've got some fleece at the ready.

I seem to be behind everyone else with their spring bulbs. I've now got a few snowdrops and crocuses blooming, and the daffodils are pushing through the soil, so I don't feel quite so left out now when anyone mentions all the flowers they have in their garden.

Signs Of Life

The strawberry plants which I overwintered in the greenhouse are springing back to life, reminding me that I need to get a bed dug over at the allotment ready to accommodate them. These are Sonata, a mid season variety, and I also have some Flamenco which are everbearers. I cleared my old strawberry patch at the end of last year as the plants are only productive for between three and four years. I do so hope that I get a good haul this year as my daughter and I absolutely love them.

I've been wondering whether or not I should get an apple tree. I don't have room in the ground for one so it would have to reside in a large pot, but seeing how well my container grown cherry tree did last year, I've come to the decision that I'm going to buy one. I've had a look at the local nursery and they do apple trees on dwarf rootstock, which is what I need if I'm going to keep it in a container. A variety which took my eye is Gloster which produces red apples and is self-fertile, so I think this is the one I'm going to settle on.

The blackcurrant bush which I bought last year is still in the container I transferred it to after I'd brought it home. Getting it planted at the allotment is another of those jobs which I didn't get round to doing, so that's another job I've got to do as soon as possible. The jobs are stacking up already and we're not yet out of February, I think it's going to be a busy year.

The Cutting Patch

I've tried for the last couple of years to grow a cutting patch at the allotment, flowers which I can cut and bring home for the house. I love seeing flowers in the garden but hate to cut them for indoors so this seemed to be the perfect solution. It hasn't quite worked out though, as once the growing season gets going, I tend to devote most of my time to my veggies. Space is also a concern as starting vegetables from seed can take up quite a bit of room on the windowsills, starting flowers off too just adds to the problem of where to put them. This year I'm going to try direct sowing the flower seeds. Sarah Raven's Kitchen and Garden catalogue can be really inspirational. I just love the Amethyst and Sapphire Cut Flower Mix bouquet on the right hand side, and the information states that the seeds can be scattered in a sunny corner of the garden, sowing this way would certainly alleviate some of the problems I have when growing cut flowers. I shall go through my stash of flower seeds and see which ones can be sown this way.

One must have flower, which is perfect for cutting for the house because of it's wonderful scent, is the sweet pea. I didn't get round to sowing any last year and I really missed them. I've still got my red onions and shallots to pot up so I shall make sure that I sow some sweet peas at the same time. I'm hoping to get round to doing that this weekend, but it's my son's birthday on Sunday so I may run out of time. It'll get done soon though.

I only have one flower border in my garden, and that's not very big. I planted it up three years ago with native flowers, but some of them have now outgrown their space. This year I want to revamp this area. Bilbo Waggins from The View From Bag End left a comment on one of my earlier posts which really got me thinking. She told me that the late, great, Geoff Hamilton had suggested going to a nursery once a month and buying something for the garden which is in flower, then you'll have flowers in your garden every month of the year. I think that's a great tip and one which I'm going to take on board, I keep saying that I need more colour in the garden in winter, so doing this will really help.

Yes Peas

The variety of pea I've chosen to grow this year is Hurst Green Shaft. I grew this variety last year and was very pleased with them, they grew well and tasted delicious. Last year was the first year that I've sown direct, and I was pleased with how well they germinated and grew so I shall do the same again this year, though I may make an early sowing in pots to be transplanted. I'd like to grow more peas this year than I usually do. I did manage to freeze some last year but they didn't last long so I'm hoping to get a bigger harvest this year. With this in mind, I sent off for the Yes Peas! recipe booklet. It contains twenty one different pea recipes, and some of those are vegetarian so there's something for everyone, providing you like peas. I quite fancy Peas and Goat's Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms and Spicy Beef and Pea Patties, but there's plenty more in the booklet to get the taste buds tingling. If you'd like a copy of the Yes Peas! recipe booklet for yourself, it can be ordered from the Yes Peas! website. There's also other recipes on the website as well as lots of information.

The onions which I started from seed aren't doing so well. They're very straggly because I left them on the windowsill after germination, whereas I should have really moved them to the unheated conservatory or porch. It's just too warm for them where they are, and this is encouraging weak growth. I think I shall start over and sow some more this weekend while it's still early enough.

We had more snow fall last night, though not as much as last weekend. The problem now is that the original snow hadn't melted, so we're walking on fresh snow on top of compacted, frozen snow which makes it extremely slippy. I took Archie for a walk this morning and nearly went flying, I don't know how I managed to stay upright. It's very cold today but there's no more snow forecast, so that's good.