A Wildlife Garden

I always try to garden with wildlife in mind. Next year, I'm hoping to attract even more bees, butterflies and birds to my garden with the seeds which I picked up in the Wyevale sale. Suttons do a Wildlife Attracting Collection, in fact, they do two, so I picked up one of each. In one pack there's Lavender - Provence Blue, Honesty - Mix, Sweet Rocket - Mix, Aster - Single Mix and Sunflower - Tall Yellow. In the other pack there's Marigold - Corn, Daisy - Ox-eye, Pansy - Wild, Scabious - Field and Poppy - Field. At only 50p per pack, I think I got a good deal and I hope to have lots of colour in the garden as well as lots of wildlife.

The garden has just about been put to bed for winter now. The greenhouse has been cleared out and all the tender plants have been moved in there. Containers have been emptied of their summer blooms, and the compost from them has been taken to the allotment to improve the soil in the beds down there. The rabbit hutches usually get moved down from the grass on to the patio for winter, but I'd decided to leave them where they are for this year. I think that may have been a bad idea as the grass is already getting muddy, so I may have a change of heart on this.

The weather has changed wintery over the last couple of days. We had our first proper frost yesterday morning, the car even had to be de-iced, but it was a lovely clear day. Another frost has followed this morning so I think it's time to get the gloves and scarf out.

Planning For Next Year

I haven't yet shown you the seeds I purchased in the Wyevale sale, so I thought I would do that today. It isn't actually called Wyevale any more, it's The Garden Centre Group, and they usually have a sale just after the August bank holiday where they reduce all their seeds to 50p per packet. I'm never one to resist a bargain, so I stock up for the following year. This year, I bought some old favourites such as climbing French bean - Blue Lake, dwarf French bean - Safari, pea - Early Onward and courgette - Parthenon, but I also came away with lots of other vegetable varieties which I haven't tried before. I'll tell you more about those at a later date, but it will be interesting to see how they do compared to varieties which I've grown in the past.

As well as the seeds I bought in the sale, I've also put an order in with the allotment association. I've usually bought my seed potatoes from the local nursery, but it closed down this year so I thought I would see what the association had to offer. I've never bought from them in the past, and was pleasantly surprised at what I found when I made enquiries. It turns out that quite a few allotment holders had ordered Arran Pilot, the variety of my choice, from the association so they'll be able to buy in bulk and cut costs. I won't know exactly how much they'll be until they're delivered, but it seems it will be cheaper than I'm used to paying. The association also runs a seed scheme where I'm able to order from Kings Seeds at a discounted price, which is very competitive. I've ordered a few packets of things I'm missing, and both the potatoes and seeds will be available for me to collect in the new year.

Now that we're at the end of one growing season, I'm itching to get going again. With this in mind, I've made the decision to have a go at growing onions from seed again next year. I can't really make a comparison between seeds and sets from my experience this year as it turned out to be so bad, weather wise, so I'll give growing from seed another chance. It means that my growing season will get off to an early start as seed should be started off early in the year. I may even get them going in the period between Christmas and New Year so they can get a long growing period. I shall still put some sets in next year as well, I learnt my lesson this year and now I'm without onions.

Just to let you know, Archie was back at the vets yesterday and his infection has now cleared up. He's such a happy little dog again, which makes me very happy too.

Back To Business

You may remember that back in September, I removed all the tomatoes from my plants and brought them indoors to ripen on the windowsill. They were just refusing to turn red on the plants, so I thought that this would be the best course of action. They've ripened well indoors, and I haven't missed out on that lovely home grown tomato taste, which I thought I might this year. The photo shows just some of the varieties I grew this year, Incas, Tigerella, Tangella and Black Cherry. I'm not sure which variety the larger red tomato is, it could be either Pannovy or Ferline. Other varieties I grew this year were Gardener's Delight and Eleanor. I got tomatoes off each plant I grew, but nowhere near as many as I've had in previous years. I'll be growing some of my favourites again next year, along with some new varieties. I'd like to grow more bush type plants, they seem a little less work than cordons, where you have to tie in and remove side shoots.

I thought I was only going to get one squash this year. When Hubby went to the plot last weekend, he saw another three smaller Sunburst squash on the plant. As cold nights were predicted, he removed them and brought them home. We didn't know if they'd be mature enough, but I prepared them for tea on Monday. As I cut in to one of them, it was rather mushy, so that wasn't used, but the other two gave us another small taste, and I've made my mind up that I shall definitely grow them again next year.

The lawn was cut last weekend. We hoped it would be the last time it would need doing before winter, but it's growing away again already. Perhaps the cold weather we're experiencing at the moment will slow it down somewhat. Can you believe that we woke up to snow yesterday? It was only a very light covering, and it melted in no time, but it was really cold all day.

I'd just like to thank everyone again for all the comments I received on my last two posts. This past week has been a bit emotional, to say the least, and every comment was very much appreciated. Archie seems to be doing well at the moment. He's perked up in himself, but has to take antibiotics and anti inflammatories for another week, and he'll be going back to the vets on Friday. Thank you again for all the thoughts which were sent his way.

A Heartfelt Thanks

Thank you to everyone who has sent their good wishes our way for Archie.

We've been back to the vets today and a tumour has been ruled out. He's got a really, really bad infection in his anal glands, but it looks as though he's turned a corner now. He's just about back to his cheeky self today, and I'm over the moon.

I'm a true believer in positive thinking, and I know that so many of you have sent your good wishes, prayers and positive vibes this way that I can't help but feel it's helped. Thank you so, so much.

Back to gardening very soon!

A Little Off Topic

I do try to keep the posts on this blog to gardening, after all, I have my Through The Keyhole blog for anything else I want to blog about, but I didn't think you'd mind me making this post.

Since suffering from Cancer twelve years ago, I'm a firm believer in positive thinking, so I want to ask you all to send some thoughts for Archie. He's unwell at the moment, so I took him to the vets yesterday. We've got to wait until next week to see if the tablets he's taking at the moment do anything for his condition, but if not, further investigations will need to be made. I've been told that it could be a tumour, so as you can imagine, this news has knocked the whole family for six.

He's due back at the vets at the beginning of next week so I should know more then, but in the meantime, all your positive thoughts for his speedy recovery would be very welcome.

What's Up, Doc?

After last year's success with sowing carrots in the old bath on the allotment, we didn't think we'd have any problems this year. Cue rain and slugs. Even those seeds which managed to germinate were munched to the ground. We decided to make a late sowing in a container in the garden, and though we kept watch, the growth above ground wasn't very vigorous. We didn't have high hopes for what was going on underneath the soil but it came to the point where we had to bite the bullet and pull them up. We were right in our thinking, there wasn't much there. The photo shows the extent of the 2012 carrot crop. Oh well, like everything else, we'll give it another go next year.

I posted about the patty pan squash - Sunburst, in my last post. We ate it on Monday as an accompaniment to chicken stew; diced chicken with potatoes, swede, parsnips, carrots and dumplings, all done in the slow cooker, with mashed potatoes for me, and roast potatoes for the rest of the family, as well as French beans on the side. The preparation of the squash was simple, just cubed and drizzled with oil, then roasted in the oven. We all enjoyed it, so it is a definite for growing next year.

The weather is so unpredicatable at the moment. We can get up to a dark, damp day, but by mid morning, it's turned in to a gorgeous, bright autumnal day. I'm hoping for lots of sunshine over the weekend.

The One And Only

I've managed to get one squash to maturity this year. This is Sunburst, a patty pan variety. There's lots more on the plant but I doubt they'll grow large enough to eat now that the colder weather has arrived. It's a shame that they took such a long time to get going, I think the plant would have provided us with lots of fruit if only it had started producing earlier. I've never eaten this type of squash before so I'm looking foward to trying it.

The beetroot which were transplanted in to the old bath on the allotment have come to nothing. That's another failure this year, though I probably shouldn't have waited so long to start some seeds off at home and transplant once they got going. I've always sown them direct in the past and haven't had a need to do this, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I've had to do lots of things differently this year.

Hubby is in the middle of taking all the spent compost from the containers in the garden to the allotment to empty on to the beds there. It's surprising how much compost we actually use in containers, but once it's been used it doesn't go to waste, it's a great soil improver at the plot, and some of it is recycled and used again.

A Sweet Discovery

You may remember that at the start of the season, I christened this year The Year Of The Sweet Corn. This is my fourth year growing veg on the allotment, and even though I've tried growing sweet corn every year, I've had no success. I used to grow it in containers in the garden with no problems at all, so I just couldn't understand why I was failing every year on the allotment. At the start of the growing season, I decided that I would lavish my sweet corn with lots of care and attention and do my best this year to change the outcome I've had for the past three years. Of course, I didn't realise at that point that we were going to have such a cold, wet summer, something which sweet corn doesn't particularly like. The plants produced cobs, as well as tassels and silks, but I couldn't feel anything inside the cobs at all so I thought this year would be much the same as the previous three. Imagine my surprise when I peeled back the covering on the cobs and discovered that there was something there. So they're not full cobs, only the ends had been pollinated, but it's more corn than I've managed to grow yet at the allotment, so I'm going to call it a success of sorts. I'll be able to remove the individual kernels from the cobs, and as there's only myself who likes sweet corn, it should last for a few meals.

 It's a shame that the season won't last a little bit longer as both the Uchiki Kuri and Sunburst squash are making some attempt to fruit. It's so late though now that I doubt they'll mature. The courgettes are starting to slow down a little now, as are the runner beans. I only managed one picking of the dwarf French beans, but I've had several from the runners so it was certainly worth doing a late sowing.

It's been a bright, sunny day today, but it's rather cold. I've noticed lots of berries on the trees, which some say is an indication of a harsh winter. Surely we're due a let up in the weather after the summer we've just had, a mild winter would be nice this year.

Champions They're Not

I decided that I would have a go at growing onions from seed this year. In hindsight, I don't think it was the year to be trying anything new with everything the weather has thrown at us. I chose Bedfordshire Champion, but was rather late in both starting the seed off and also in planting the seedlings out, which probably contributed to the poor outcome, along with the cold, wet conditions in which they were grown. They hardly grew at all in the earlier months, then seemed to put on a bit of a spurt towards the end. I don't think you can really tell in the photo, but they're not much bigger than golf ball sized. I'm unsure at the moment whether I'll have another go at growing from seed or if I'll go back to growing from sets.

The runner beans have finally started to produce enough to get a decent picking each time I visit the allotment. I doubt if they'll go on producing much longer now that the weather is much cooler, but I'm really enjoying them while they last. I've even managed a picking from the late sown dwarf French beans too. It's such a shame that I haven't managed to freeze any beans for later use, I'm just pleased to have managed to get any sort of harvest after the disastrous start I had at the start of the season, with slugs munching everything in sight.

One thing which is producing well, now that the plants have got going, are the courgettes. There's plenty to pick on each visit to the allotment, it's just a shame that there's only me who really enjoys courgettes in our house. Even my mum and dad aren't keen, so I can see lots of meals incorporating courgette in my future.

The Last Of The Potatoes

This is the last of the potato harvest for this year. They've been grown in containers, but I thought I'd better empty what was left as frost had been forecast in various parts of the country and I didn't want them to spoil. As it happened, we didn't get a frost, but better to be on the safe side, especially this year, the weather's been very strange indeed. I've been really pleased with this variety, Arran Pilot, and I'll definitely grow them again next year. I also grew a couple of containers of Nicola but I wasn't so keen on them. They weren't so flavoursome nor did they give a very good yield. I shall probably try a few tubers of a different variety alongside the Arran Pilot again next year.

Just for reference, I'd like to record that it wasn't until the 21st of September this year that I ate my first home grown tomato. All the green fruit which I harvested last week is now spread out in seed trays on the windowsill in the conservatory. There's five trays in total and the tomatoes in one of the trays are just about ripe now, the rest of the fruit still has some way to go, but laying them out on a windowsill looks to be working.

It's a lovely sunny day today but we've had some terrrible rain this week. There's flooding in some parts of Yorkshire, though luckily, it hasn't affected us here. I'm wondering what else the weather will throw at us this year.

The Tomato Harvest

This is my full tomato harvest for 2012. In total there's eight and a half pounds of mostly green fruit, though some are just starting to ripen. This is from a total of eleven plants, which isn't great. None of the plants, six in the greenhouse and five on the patio, produced as much fruit as is normally the case. I decided to remove the tomatoes from the plants as the weather has come so cool that there's little hope of them ripening in situ now, I shall lay them all out on a windowsill and hope that a few more turn red. I'm not a lover of chutneys so I don't know what I'll do with them if they refuse to ripen. Tomatoes are my favourite things to grow so this year has been very disappointing.

On my last visit to the allotment, I noticed that I have a Uchiki Kuri squash growing. It's a little smaller than tennis ball sized but seems to have shot out of nowhere, I didn't see it when I last looked. It's a shame that it's so late in the season as it's bound to come to nothing now. I shall have a go at growing squash again next year. I don't have any seeds left from this year so I will have fun looking at all the different varieties again and making my choices. There's so many different kinds to choose from, and many look so different, I'm sure they'll all taste different too.

We've got rain today and it's got really cold over the last few days, especially on an evening. Frost has been forecast in some parts of the country, and here was I hoping for an Indian summer.

It's A Start

The late sowing of runner beans is starting to produce at last. This might seem a small harvest, but it's very welcome after the poor year we've had, and they'll go down very well with the roast chicken dinner I'm cooking tonight. I had decided not to grow runner beans this year, opting instead for French beans, but things didn't go to plan when just about everything got munched by slugs at the start of the season. In the end, I decided that I'd sow some runner beans after all, other people have had lots of success with them in the rainy weather we've had. They were sown very late and I didn't know if I'd manage a harvest from them at all before the weather turned, but providing the weather stays on an even keel for a little longer, there should be plenty more to come. The plants are literally dripping with lots of tiny beans. It isn't only the runner beans either, at the same time as these beans were sown, I decided to give French beans one last try this year, and although I haven't harvested anything from those plants as yet, there's plenty of beans growing.

The tomatoes have had a reprieve. I was all for taking the green fruit off the plants at the weekend and having a go at ripening them indoors, but more of the tomatoes on the Gardener's Delight plant in the greenhouse are now starting to colour up, as are a couple of the tomatoes on the Tigerella plant outdoors. I shall see what happens this week and if not much progress is made, I'll remove them at the weekend.

Hubby has spent some time at the allotment this weekend clearing beds and digging the ground ready for winter. We always seem to fall behind at this time of year, the bad weather creeps up on us before we know it, and then we're always behind when spring arrives. It would be nice to get ahead of the game this time.

Starting To Turn

At long last, the first couple of tomatoes are starting to ripen. This is Gardener's Delight, usually a guaranteed performer, but not this year with the weather being how it is. This plant is in the greenhouse, along with five other tomato plants, and I also have five plants outside too, but these are the only ones which show any sign of colour, all the other fruit is staying resolutely green.

I'm now getting a couple of courgettes to harvest each time I go to the allotment. It's not the glut I've had in previous years, but a steady supply is welcome nontheless. I've noticed in previous years that the yellow varieties I've grown never seem to produce as many courgettes as the green varieties, and it's the same again this year.

The weather's turned much cooler today and there's a strong wind to boot, though the sun is still shining through the showers. I think autumn is definitely knocking on the door.

Bucketfuls

My best crop this year is without doubt the potatoes I've grown in containers. I first grew this variety, Arran Pilot last year, and was impressed not only with the flavour and yield, but also the fact that the potatoes don't turn to mush when boiled. I decided to grow the same variety again this year, and can see that it will be one I grow most years as I think it would take some beating. I started out with fifteen containers and started emptying them on the third of June. I've given lots to my mum and dad as well as harvesting them regularly to eat ourselves, and there's still five containers left to empty. You can see all the compost used to fill a container in the photo. This doesn't go to waste after the potatoes are harvested as it's used to improve the soil at the allotment.

I'm still hoping that I might get a bean harvest this year from my late sowing. The runner beans have reached the top of their poles and the dwarf French beans have been left alone by the slugs, and both are flowering so there's hope.

We've got a sunny day here today, though it's a little breezy. The forecast is for the sun to stay around for a while so my tomatoes might decide to surprise me and turn red. I'm starting to wonder if I should take the plunge and remove the fruit from the plants to try and get them to ripen on the windowsill. I think I'll wait and see if the sunshine we're forecast does anything for them first.

Nearly Made It

The Birthday Rose nearly made it in time for my big day. It's my birthday today and as you can see, the half standard rose which Hubby bought me as an early birthday present has just about bloomed in time. The photo which was attached to the plant showed a white rose with a light pink tinge, but I'm always wary of going by these photos as the flowers themselves often look nothing like. It looks as though it might be a good likeness in this case though.

The sun is shining, for a change, and as Hubby has the day off work, and the kids aren't back to school until tomorrow, we're heading off to Bridlington on Yorkshire's east coast for the day. I hope the weather stays fine.