Slug On My McKana

I've found loads of these horrible little slugs on lots of my plants this last week. The rain has brought them out of hiding and now I'm finding them all over the place. This one is on my Aquilegia McKana Hybrid. I grew this from seed and forgot all about it until I found it languishing in a pot, so I popped it in to the border and it's now flowering. It's always exciting when a plant grown from a mixed packet of seeds comes in to flower. Until that time you've no idea what colour it's going to be. I'm quite happy with this one, though I do still prefer the purple Auilegia Vulgaris which has been in my border a couple of years. I hasten to add that the slug was removed and disposed of.

I didn't manage to get to the allotment at all this weekend due to other commitments, so I'm hoping to get up there this afternoon. It's high time my beans were planted out. The wigwams are already in place so it's only a matter of planting them around the base. I've also got my dwarf beans still in pots so I'll get them planted out too.

My tomatoes are growing well since they were potted on in to their final pots. They really need tying in to their canes again but hubby has gone off to work with the twine in his car, so that job will have to wait until later.

Blog Award

It's always nice to receive awards for my blog, so I'd like to thank Bluebell from At Home In The Country for bestowing the Kreativ Blogger Award up on me.

I'm supposed to reveal ten things about me which you don't already know, but I've done so many of these in the past that I feel you all know me so well already. Therefore, I'm going to break the rules and not reveal anything today, however, if you really want to read ten random facts about me, a trawl through my past posts will reveal all.

Another rule I'm going to break is how many blogs I pass the award on to. I gather that I should give the award to ten blogs, but being the rebel that I am, I'm going to nominate only one.

So, without further ado, I'd like to pass the award on to Louisa at The Really Good Life. Her blog has the tag line Where growing, frugality & good living come together. Do take a look at her blog as I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

My thanks go again to Bluebell for this award, I'm truly grateful.

Ready To Flower

We spent Sunday morning moving everything out of the greenhouse so that I could get my tomatoes potted in their final pots and moved in to their final positions. As you can see, the plants are just starting to flower so it really was time that this job was done. I've got two plants each of three varieties - Tangella, San Marzano and Gardener's Delight, and I can just manage to fit these in my small 6 foot by 4 foot greenhouse. Six plants provide enough tomatoes for us as there's only me who eats them. My son will occasionally pop a sun warmed cherry tomato in his mouth, but that's about it. They don't know what they're missing.

I had intended to spend Sunday afternoon at the allotment, but the weather had other ideas. It started raining at lunch time and didn't stop all day. It was quite heavy at times so it will have given everything a much needed watering, including the weeds, I bet it's a jungle when I do get down there now.

As well as the tomatoes coming in to flower, there's a couple of flowers on my pepper plants and the first of the courgettes is just about to bloom too. Roll on the harvests.

A Stella Haul Of Cherries?

This is the third year that I've had my cherry tree. It's a Stella, which is a dessert cherry and self fertile. Two years ago it produced one cherry, which was delicious. I was hoping for better things last year but it still only produced three cherries, which the birds got before I had the chance. Things are looking up this year. The tree is covered in green cherries, and as you can see, they're just starting to ripen. I shall drape some netting over the tree soon to prevent the birds from taking them.

I shall be turfing out all the plants which are still residing in the greenhouse this weekend. My tomato plants are starting to flower so it's time that they were set in to their final positions. I think tomatoes are still my favourite thing to grow. I love watching every stage of their growth, from sowing the seed to popping the first sun warmed fruit in to my mouth. My greenhouse is only small, four foot by six foot, so there's little else I can fit in it over the summer months other than my tomato plants, though I'll find some room for my peppers.

It looks like a couple of my courgette plants are going to come in to flower soon as they've got plenty of buds on them. I'm growing a variety, Firenze, which is ideal for containers as it produces high yields of small courgettes throughout summer. I have kept this variety in the garden, but have another two varieties for the allotment. I can see me being overrun with courgettes this year but I don't mind as I love them.

A Thug

I didn't get round to sowing any sweet peas this year. I always intend to start some off in autumn but I don't think I've ever managed it yet. Spring comes and I think to myself, oh well, there's still time, but this year I didn't even manage that. I love having sweet peas in the house as they smell gorgeous, and it's the one plant in the garden which I don't mind cutting because the more you pick, the more flowers are produced. I'm not totally without sweet peas though as a couple of years ago, hubby's uncle gifted me a cutting from his perennial sweet pea plant. I planted it in my border thinking it would look lovely climbing up an obelisk. I totally underestimated the strength and vigour of this plant. I've never yet had a nice display from it. It scrambles madly up the obelisk pulling it over in it's haste, and I find new bits of plant popping up all over the border. The flowers are very pretty, as you can see, but I really have to rethink it's position for next year as it's spoiling my whole border.

I intended to spend quite a bit of time at the allotment over the last week, but with it being half term, and nice weather to boot, my plans were thwarted. Instead, we had some lovely days out, and by the time we got home each day it was too late to do anything else. You can read about our days out, including a trip to Roundhay Park where the Leeds City Council Chelsea gardens are on display, on my Through The Keyhole blog. We managed to spend some time at the allotment yesterday and today and I've finally got my maincrop potatoes - Maris Piper in the ground as well as most of my brassicas.

The onion bed was covered in weeds when I got to the allotment yesterday, so my first job was to set to and get it sorted out. I started by pulling up all the more established weeds, and then ran a hoe over the smaller weeds. It looked a bit messy afterwards, but when I got there today the bed had settled again and it looked very neat and tidy. No doubt they'll all be back again by next week.

It's Nearly Time

Look what I found at the allotment on Sunday. It's nearly strawberry picking time. If truth be told, I've already picked a few strawberries from plants in the garden which were overwintered in the greenhouse, but it won't be long until I'm picking from the allotment too. I hadn't even netted the allotment ones, the netting we used last year was no good, I'd left it in place too long and when I came to remove it, it had got tangled up in all the new growth and ripped as I pulled it off. When I realised that some strawberries are beginning to ripen I hotfooted it to my local nursery and bought some new netting, I don't trust those pesky birds to leave my delicious fruit alone.

The sweetcorn which I sowed in plantpots nearly two weeks ago are growing well. I sowed thirty seeds and twenty six have germinated, this will give me a block of five by five plus one spare, that's plenty for us as there's only me who eats it. The beans which I sowed have been slower in germinating and are only just beginning to do so now, though they've been residing in the greenhouse whereas the sweetcorn are on a windowsill in the house. It just shows the difference that a little heat makes.

The schools break up for half term today and hubby has also taken next week off from work. I'm hoping to spend some time at the allotment as my to do list is getting longer and longer. I haven't even got my maincrop potatoes in yet, and there's all the brassicas to plant out too. Fingers crossed for some fine weather.

A First On The Allotment

This is the third year I've had my allotment yet it's the first time I've got any carrots to germinate. I don't know why this is, perhaps it's because the ground has been worked for a couple of years now. I dug out a small trench which I filled with multi purpose compost and the seeds were sown in to this. I've ensured that the seeds have been kept watered on those days when there hasn't been any rain. I've tried to sow thinly to avoid having to thin out, but plenty have germinated. I'm taking a chance and not covering them with fleece, only time will tell if I'm being foolhardy. I've just got to get them to grow now.

It isn't only the carrots which have germinated, even the parsnips have done so, and in record time too. Sometimes they can take weeks to start showing. I sowed them exactly the same way as I did the carrots, though it was easier to sow thinly as they're bigger seeds. I definitely shouldn't have to thin them much. I mentioned in an early post that I'd also chitted some parsnip seed and sown them in to plantpots to plant out later. Well they're just starting to put some leaves above the soil now so they'll be planted out very soon. It's important not to delay this job otherwise the tap root will hit the bottom of the plantpot which will cause the parsnip to fork. It will be interesting to see whether the direct sown parsnips or the ones from chitted seed do best.

I wanted to get my tomatoes potted on today but it's so windy that I couldn't chance doing any such jobs outside. I daren't even carry the plants from the greenhouse to the kitchen in case a gust of wind snapped them in two on the way. I'll leave that job for later on in the week.

It's Raining It's Pouring

Well, it isn't now, but it was yesterday. The rain was in for the day so I didn't make it down to the allotment, but I did get my beans and sweetcorn sown. I've started them all off in plantpots to be planted out later. Sown yesterday were climbing bean - Blue Lake, dwarf beans - Safari and Sonesta and sweetcorn - Applause. I also sowed some radish - French Breakfast and lettuce - Salad Bowl. The runner beans will be sown some time this week. Incidentally, the photo is of my Aquilegia which I planted in my border. This year I have a self sown variety which has popped up in the front garden which is pink in colour. I don't like it as much as this rich purple one.

I mentioned previously that I've sown some parsnip seeds direct at the allotment. I'm not totally sure they'll germinate, so to hedge my bets I have chitted some seed and planted them in to plantpots to be planted out later. This involves laying the seeds on damp kitchen paper and waiting for them to sprout. It's important not to let the paper dry out, this can be achieved by placing clingfilm over the tray you're using, or do as I do and use a plastic container which has a lid. Once the seeds have sprouted I plant them in to plantpots and once they have a couple of leaves I plant them out. It's important not to keep them in the plantpot too long otherwise the tap root will hit the bottom of the plantpot which will cause the parsnip to fork.

I'm looking forward to my lunch today. I'm going to have a cheese sandwich with some salad leaves included. This will be the first of my harvests this year, the salad leaves that is, not the cheese.

Waste Not Want Not

I planted out four rows of onion sets the other week and still had loads left over. Rather than them going to waste I have planted them up in pots and shall pull them small to use as spring onions. They could also be pickled. I noticed they were selling bags of onion sets at half price in Wilkinsons at the weekend, a bargain if you haven't already bought some. I planted my onions and shallots at the end of May last year and they produced a decent crop, though it's always better to get them in earlier to give them a longer growing period.

I got my peas - Hurst Green Shaft planted out yesterday along with some mange tout - Kent Blue and climbing peas - Stephens and Robinson, which can be used as mange tout. These had all been started off in modules. It was a little breezy yesterday but I had to go ahead and sow my carrots - Tendersnax, parsnip - Tender and True and beetroot - Boltardy before it got any later. It will be a first for me if the carrots germinate.

We had rain overnight on Saturday, the first we've had for a long time, which made the ground a little easier to work with yesterday. It's sunny again today so if we don't get any more rain I'll have to pop up to the allotment each evening to make sure the seeds I've sown don't dry out.

Black Is Black

I'd like to thank everyone for all the good wishes you have sent for my dad, it's very touching and means a lot. He's doing well at home and everything seems to be going according to plan with his recovery. After collecting him and taking him home from hospital on Sunday, we nipped off to RHS Harlow Carr where they were having a plant sale. I can never resist buying, even though I don't really need any plants at the moment, so I came home with dianthus - Early Bird Stardust and, the plant in the photo, viola - Roscastle Black. I don't think any flowers billed as black are truly black, this is more of a very deep purple, but stunning all the same. I've just got to find somewhere to put them now. You can read more about my trip to RHS Harlow Carr on my other blog, Through The Keyhole.

I had hoped to sow some carrot and parsnip seeds at the allotment on Sunday evening, and then again on Monday, but it's been so windy that I thought the seeds being so small might blow away. I do need to get them sown though otherwise I will be without parsnips again this winter. Hubby did manage to get some wigwams up though which he's pleased about, he doesn't think it looks like an allotment without some structures about the place.

We all still need to be on our guard as some parts of the country suffered a frost last night. We managed to avoid it here but I shall be moving my hanging baskets and other less hardy plants back in to the greenhouse if there's the slightest chance that a frost might hit. I hope nobody had any damage done to their plants by last night's frost.

Growth Spurt

I have grown my tomatoes differently this year to previous years. Usually, I start the seed off in a heated propagator and then prick the seedlings out and keep them on a windowsill indoors. As the weather has been unusually hot this year, I moved the seedlings in to my mini greenhouse, which is inside my normal greenhouse, as soon as they were pricked out. I've noticed that their growth has been much slower than in previous years, but the plants are much sturdier. They were potted on last week in to larger pots and since then I have noticed that they've had a growth spurt. I expect this is because the new compost will have fresh nutrients for the plants to take up.

My first early potatoes have now been earthed up in their containers, they're about half full now. I'm having to make sure that they're well watered as containers dry out much quicker than the ground does. My main crop potatoes are still waiting to be planted in the allotment.

I had hoped to spend quite a bit of time at the allotment over this long weekend but my dad had a heart attack on Wednesday evening so we've been busy hospital visiting since then. He gave us quite a shock but I'm pleased to say that he's come home today so I might get to spend some time there tomorrow. Needless to say, I haven't managed to visit many blogs since then, but I'm hoping to catch up with all your new posts in the next couple of days.

On The Menu

It won't be long before strawberries are on the menu again. These are on plants which grew from runners last year. I potted them up and they've been in the greenhouse over winter, though they're outside now waiting to be planted at the allotment. My original strawberries at the allotment will be three years old this year, so they'll start to lose their vigour. Strawberries only produce well for three or four years so it's worth taking runners from them to create a new bed.

I used to spend quite a lot of time and effort growing bedding plants for my hanging baskets and for containers in the garden. For the last couple of years I've bought plug plants from the local nursery. They've been very small when bought and I've potted them on and grown them on until time to be planted out. This year I've cut down further still and have decided to fill my hanging baskets with only one flower variety, Impatiens or Busy Lizzies. I bought the small plug plants a few weeks ago and they've been potted on once. On Sunday I decided to pot up my hanging baskets, they've never been done so early but this lovely weather has spurred me on. The plug plants cost me £3.50 for forty and they've filled three hanging baskets and two wall baskets. I don't think I could have grown from seed any cheaper. They're hanging outside now, but I shall watch for predictions of frost so that I can move them in to the greenhouse. I've noticed many people have already got bedding plants in their borders which I fear won't survive if we do get another frost.

After a long Easter weekend just gone, we've now got another long four day weekend this week to look forward to. I've got lots of things which need potting on, but I'd also like to spend some time at the allotment so I'm hoping that the weather holds out. I hope you all enjoy your weekend whatever you're up to.

They're In

I managed to spend some time at the allotment today. I've come home because I'm shattered, it's hard work doing anything in this heat, but Hubby is still down there preparing more beds for me. I managed to get my shallots - Sante, and onions - Turbo planted. As you can see, I started my shallots off in pots in the greenhouse, and they've already got plenty of top growth as well as great root systems. I didn't plant my onions and shallots until the 16th of May last year, I was very late, but they still produced a decent crop and I hadn't started them off in pots either so I'm hoping for an even better harvest this year.

The first early potatoes - Arran Pilot which I planted nearly two weeks ago in containers seem to be doing well. They had been well chitted and I can already see some foliage peeking through the compost, they'll need earthing up soon. I'm hoping to get my maincrop potatoes planted at the allotment during the next week.

I hope you've all enjoyed the Easter weekend, it's made such a change to celebrate Easter in the sunshine, I remember many wet Easters in the past. We went out for a walk this morning and came across a male Orange Tip butterfly.  I wouldn't have recognised it if it hadn't been for Flighty of Flighty's Plot mentioning that he'd seen one last week. It had fluttered off before I managed to reach for my camera so I'm afraid there's no photo. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the Easter holiday whatever you've got planned.

A Perfect View

This is the view from my bedroom window at the moment. Outside is a lilac tree and it's just come in to bloom, providing me with a gorgeous perfume whenever I open the window. We had a lilac tree in my childhood home, but it's blooms were much paler than these. This tree was planted before we moved here seventeen years ago.

I'm determined to spend some time at the allotment over this weekend. Today, we spent the day in the Yorkshire Dales, you can read about it on my other blog, Through The Keyhole, and tomorrow, hubby is playing cricket, but I need to allocate some time to getting my shallots and onions planted, as well as getting the strawberry bed dug over so that I can get the plants which are in pots planted out.

I'm pleased to note that the seeds which I sowed a fortnight ago have just about all germinated. Courgettes, marrows and pumpkins are all large seeds and so are there seedlings so it won't be long before I have to pot them on. It's all go in April and May.

Worth Every Penny

You might remember me telling you back in March that I'd bought a blackcurrant bush from Lidl for the princely sum of £1.49. It looked very much like a twig back then, but did have a few green buds showing. I planted it in a pot as the ground wasn't ready for it to be planted at the allotment and just look at it now. I'm not expecting much fruit from it this year, but it's nice to see it growing so well, and it just goes to show that you don't have to spend a fortune to grow your own.

I wish the same could be said of my blueberries. Last year, the flowers got frosted and I got very little fruit, so I was determined this year to watch the weather forcast like a hawk and take appropriate action if a frost was forcast. I really don't think I'll need to worry too much as there are very few flowers on the bushes this year. I'm wondering if a little light pruning might be in order to remedy the situation for next year, though most things I've read say that blueberries need very little pruning. Perhaps I should try repotting them at the end of the year, that can't hurt.

Good Friday and Easter Monday are coming up so we've got a nice long weekend. The weather forcast is good so we should be able to spend some time outside in the garden or at the allotment, maybe we can take a trip out too.