Muddy Musings

It's been a while...

2011-07-31T21:04:00.000+01:00

There I was, mooching around wondering about setting up a new blog, and lo - I rediscovered this one, purely by chance. I'd forgotten it was here, so after some indulgent nostalgia, reading about guinea pigs and small children and allotments, I decided that, sod it, this blog will do just fine for it's intended purpose.

Mainly because I'm going to turn it into a house blog, and keep it updated with pictures of our house-in-the-making. The nice thing about having such a huge gap between the last post (2008, ffs) and this one is that I can do some inbetween posts without upsetting the extant ones. I'm going to go through my inbox and the paperwork from various solicitors and update with specific points on key dates. Then I'll just keep adding pictures as the extension progresses.

The original premise was to take a two/three bedroom dormer bungalow and turn it into a five bedroom house by adding a garage onto the north side, with dining room behind and a few bedrooms above. The actual plans have added a large garage, a study and a dining room downstairs and four bedrooms on the upper floor of that extension. The original two bedrooms upstairs, with dormer windows to the front will be knocked around, have the back walls removed and dormers fitted to the rear, two bathrooms installed and the storage cupboard becomes a 'dressing room'. The south bedroom is the master, the north bedroom is reduced to allow for a corridor through to the extension upstairs and becomes a common room. So in theory, we will have a 6/7 bedroom house. In theory...

New year, new post, new ideas

2008-01-06T20:40:00.000Z

Have just rediscovered the Grapevine gardening forum, and it's kind of given my garden interest a much needed boost. Having spent the past few months happily knitting and chasing children, it's finally the New Year and thoughts turn to outdoor pursuits. Not that I'm going to be able to accomplish much for until the Equinox, but I can start thinking about planning and growing and eating all those lovely veggies.

It must be a cyclical thing, as as the year turns, so my interests move in a logical procession. During the darkest time between Hallowe'en and Yule I hardly venture into the garden, unless it's for parsnips or a brassica or to see to the chickens. The door to the green house is barred with wire to keep the cats out and let the frost in, the allotment is abandoned to it's layers of straw and carpet and manure and I hibernate indoors, knitting and cooking and not really thinking about much other than Nanowrimo and the impending festive season.

Then, as soon as we're into the New Year and the days start to noticeably lengthen, something pokes me in the back of the head and I get the urge to barricade myself in the bathroom with a hot bath and the seed catalogues. About the only place I get to sit and read these days...

I'm not sure what made me look at the Grapevine, but it's spurred me enough to want to take that huge bag of loo rolls we've been saving and fill them full of compost and broad bean seeds, and sow onion seeds in modules and stuff a few stray spuds into big tubs in the unheated lean to.

You can almost hear the sap starting to stir...

Allotment crisis - averted

2007-04-02T19:06:00.000+01:00

The past few days have been truly horrid. I had an email from the town council on Wednesday stating:

"At our meeting last night it was brought to members' attention that some plots are not being worked on the allotment site and, in fact, some have not been tended over a period of time. This is contrary to the tenancy agreement signed by all allotment holders.

As both your half plots (15b and 18a) fall into this category, I have been requested to contact you on this matter, as the town council therefore assumes that you no longer wish to continue with the tenancies as from the new allotment year commencing 1 April 2007.

Therefore, please be advised that both plots are to be re-allocated to the next people on our lengthy waiting list."

I was, needless to say, gutted. I'd had no other communication from them, no warning either verbal or written. I had written to them back in November time, but not heard back, so I sent them this on Wednesday evening:

"I emailed you some two or three months ago to notify you that I wish to give up the tenancy of one of my half plots - the one at the top of the allotments on the left hand side, number 18a. However I received no response.

In regards to the plots not being worked, my partner and I were at the other plot, 15b, just last week and have already planted half our seed potatoes, four fruit bushes and have laid carpet over a section of the plot to suppress weeds until the seedlings in my greenhouse at home can be planted out. I'm not sure who has been bringing the sorry state of my plot to your attention, but my neighbouring plot holders are all well aware that I have just had a baby, and indeed spent the last three months of my pregnancy on crutches. However, now I am back on my own two feet, I have made a substantial start on digging over the plot."

Their reply came midday Thurs:

"thank you for your response. I can confirm that no email was received re giving up plot 18A and I wonder which address it was sent to. Our newsletters have, for some time, given my newest email address also the latest one (March 2007) which you should have received give details of increases in rents, ie £30 (full) and £18 (half).

Members of the Allotments committee brought the matter of unworked plots to the town council's attention and that was why I was requested to write to you and others involved. No mention was made of plot 15b being worked when a visit to the allotment was made very recently. However, I will bring your comments to members' attention later today and will get back to you"

I didn't have a chance to check my email for a couple of days, for one reason or another. However, Saturday I had a clandestine phonecall from someone advising me to pay my rent by that evening (31st) as there were underhand dealings going on in the council. I told the caller about the emails and it was suggested that I pay the rent anyway, which I did.

I got back from delivering the rent and checked my email. And found this:

"As promised I have had a word with the Council Chairman and Allotment Chairman and it is confirmed that the decision taken by the council, as previously indicated, should stand, ie that the agreements are terminated. Last year we wrote to you along similar lines as the plots were not being worked and other residents complain when no action is taken.

I have been requested to ask if you wish your name to go back on the waiting list - if so perhaps you could pleases advise and I will add your name accordingly."

I was gutted. But I'd paid my rent, and on perusing my contract which the council had made all plot holders sign back in May, I found they should have given me 30 days notice in writing. Three days via email does not count.

Sunday morning found me, DH and all the offspring up at the allotment, and we dug over another big patch, planted onion sets and DD1 sowed turnips and mange tout whilst I put in carrots, beetroot and parsnips and some swiss chard plants given to me by a lovely friend.

The plot holders two plots up from me, though, informed us that someone had been eyeing up my plot wiht a letter from the council that said my plot was now theirs.

We got home from the lottie about 2pm and there was the following missive in my inbox:

"I have just had a phone call from the Chairman advising that Mr x had received your cheque through his letter box last night for allotment rent.

You will have received my latest email the other day when I referred to the decision by the town council that the tenancy could not be renewed at from today 1 April.

Therefore, please be advised that the cheque will be returned to you as soon as possible."

I dissolved into tears, DH threw a paddy over his 'wasted' morning and stomped off yelling at the kids in irritation.

Then, I decided that sitting feeling sorry for myself was not an option any more. Normally I don't say boo to a goose but this was my lottie we were talking about. I loaded the littlest one into his car seat and took off back down to the allotments. I spoke to a couple of people and managed to get the address of a couple of council bods out of one of the lovely old boys who inhabit the place.

First council bod wasn't at home. Second council bod just happened to be the Chairman of both the Council and the Allotment Committee. And I didn't realise until the door opened that I knew his wife from the school playground and his daughter was in the year above my eldest. :)

I explained the situation, managing to hold it together until I said 'and I'm a bit upset about all this'. Cue tears. Mr Chairman looked somewhat discomfited and said he'd make a few phonecalls and see what he could do, he wasn't promising anything but he had my cheque and if I didn't get it back then everything would be ok.

Tea time on Sunday, the clerk of the council phones and informs me that my plot is no longer allocated to this other person and is still mine. The other plot which I wrote to the council last year about giving up has been allocated to the other person. Breathe huge sigh of relief and chalk one up for persistance, determination and the courage of one's convictions.

Seeds

2007-02-13T19:27:00.000Z

Ahh, where to begin. My seed addiction has returned with the light, and I'm buying stuff that I really don't need. At the end of last year, I did a quick seed inventory and decided that I didn't actually need anything, bar some fresh carrot seed (not even parsnip as I grew all my own).

So now I'm going to own up and list everything I've bought since last year. I advise you to make a cup of tea and get comfy. :)

Latest acquisitions came from Netto, when I popped in for some milk on the way home with the girls. There by the front door was a great big stand of 'Country Value' seeds, at a mere 19p a packet! I got:

Coriander
Annuals (mixed) - picture on the packet has poppies, marigolds, nicotiana, cornflower, stocks and a few others
Rocket
Courgette All Green Bush (I'm doing a plant stall at the preschool fundraiser this year - honest) 20 seeds for 19p!!
Beetroot Boltardy
Beetroot Perect 3
Spinach beet/perpetual spinach
Sunflower giant single
Dwarf Bean Tendergreen

I got a £5 voucher from T&M the other week. Add to that the fact that you could also choose two free packets of seed and I just had to do it. So I got:

Climbing French Bean Cobra
Salsify
Scorzonera
Strawberry Sarian
Mange tout Oregon Sugar Pod - all for the grand total of £2.36, which includes p&p

eBay has a lot to answer for. As do the lovely people on the Grapevine, Grow Your Own mag's very own forum. But more about those folks later. eBay is a veritable treasure trove of seeds, and I was sent a link to a very nice chap in the US and I bought the following from him, all at very reasonable prices. :)

Winter squash Cushaw
Climbing Bean Soldier
Climbing Bean Yard Long
Carrot Snow White
Beetroot Egyptian

My absolute favourite seed purveyor has to be the Real Seed catalogue, or Vida Verde as they used to be known. They're fabulous - they have amazing varieties, grow a large chunk of the seeds themselves (and the ones they don't they tell you about and have personally sourced) and they tell you how to save your own seed for planting the following year. Not exactly sound business sense, but they're rediscovering new old varieties all the time, and don't let the seed out until they've throroughly tried them for themselves. Anyhow, I digress... but I've placed two orders so far this season. :)

Double Standard Sweetcorn
White Beetroot
Sutherland Kale
Leaf Beet
Australian Yellowleaf lettuce
Trieste White Courgette

and then

D'Eysines Carrot
Mixed Summer Squash
Telephone tall pea
Waltham Butternut Squash
Sutherland Kale
Double Standard Sweetcorn
Collective Farm Woman melon

Yes, I did duplicate the sweetcorn, but the first order was placed in October, the second in January... and I was pregnant. Ben also threw in a packet of Blue banana squash for me to try, as I noticed their mixed winter squash selection was missing. Lovely company.

I also get seeds from the Heritage Seed Library, through Garden Organic (HDRA). This year I've got:

Beetroot Devoy
Squash Lady Godiva (the seeds are naked/hulless!)
Runner bean Coal
Pea Epicure
Melon Green Nutmeg
French Bran Mr Fearn's Purple Flowered
Tomato Peremoga

I ordered a few from Kings as well:

Green manures - Buckwheat, grazing rye and winter tares
Sweet Pea Kings mixed
Mixed Lettuce
Pak Choi Canton Dwarf
Spinach Giant Winter

will go hunt through the stack of interestig jiffy envelopes and see what else I've bought and forgotten about!!

Sad, neglected blog

2007-02-11T18:43:00.000Z

Kind of like my garden really. What with being pregnant for the best part of the last year, I feel like I've sadly neglected all things horticultural. The only things that are growing well are the orchids and the aloe vera. And I'm not even that keen on orchids. I have no idea why they grow so well for me.

But anyway - I was sick from May to August, then I got a month of pottering around in before my pelvis started coming apart at the seams, and therefore, absolutely nothing has been done. I managed to harvest a reasonable amount of stuff, but no major weeding/tidying/autumn planting got done.

So here we are in January, and my greenhouse is full of dead tomato plants (glad they didn't get blight last year), the allotment is growing a good crop of couch grass and sprouting red onions that were swamped by the nettles and the home garden is like a ghost garden with frost withered corn stalks and the empty shells of mummified marrows strewn liberally around.

Bugger, just realised it's actually February... Need to list the seeds I've bought for this year. After swearing that I didn't need anything bar some fresh carrot seeds, it seems I've gone slightly loopy again. *sigh*

My new little man is slowly settling into something loosely aproaching a routine, so I'm hoping that we'll be able to fit at least half an hour a day of gardening into our little schedule. Watch this space...

Things are stirring

2006-02-04T20:57:00.000Z

Finally got out in the garden today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Cleared the old raised bed, the kerb bed (dug up more than 10 kg of parsnips - anyone want a giant mutant parsnip??) and had a very satisfying bonfire in the new raised bed. I've just been chucking compostables and guinea pig cage cleanings in there, bags of shredded paper and now a couple of spent grow bags. I did have a big pile of brush and shrubs that I'd cleared out of the beds last summer, so I built myself a fire and got eight foot of flames at one point.

Have typed up the list of seeds I've bought in the last month and it totals 2 pages. Ho hum, I've got a bad habit. Or an addiction!

2005-09-11T19:35:00.000+01:00

Harvest for dinner two days ago :)

September is here

2005-09-11T19:33:00.000+01:00

And what have I got to show for my gardening year? Well, to be honest, it's been a bit of an odd year.

I've had plenty of beans (runners and French), courgettes, salad stuff, some carrots, loads of potatoes, have parsnips in the ground waiting for the first frosts to sweeten them, tons more spuds up at the lottie waiting for me to go dig them up, some huge pumpkins (well, reasonable sized ones anyhow) white ones and yellow ones and ones that look like cottage loaves, and spaghetti squash, and I thnk that I've got some butternuts, but I'm not sure if they set too late in the season to ripen properly, so I think I'll be making soup out of those. Tomatoes have been a funny year, but then I' haven't been pinching out the shoots properly, so they've put on too much leaf, but there are plenty of toms now, just need more sun to ripen them. Had some lovely sweetcorn - must grow much more next year.

Aye, and there's the rub - must do a great deal more of everything next year. Which includes actual gardening. We have spent an inordinate amount of time away this summer - virtually every weekend has been spent doing Land Rover things or out and about. My allotment is a disgrace (both plots). In fact, I haven't quite cultivated half of each plot, which is a terrible, terrible thing to admit. Nettle and fat hen are rife, and I must go do smething about the weeds before the winter sets in.

I've missed five months worth of garden blogging, because I haven't done a huge amount of gardening. Ok, so we've been mainly self sufficient in vegetables for the past couple of months, which I guess isn't too bad, but I could have done so much, much more. :( We moved the greenhouse, which is good, but only put the roof and the back wall back in, which is bad. There are sheets of glass stacked up round the garden, which is truly shameful. I've got chillis and peppers and aubergines in there which are now starting to feel the cold so I must get that glass back in before the end of next week.

The thing that has really spurred me to blog (at last) is the arrival of the first seed catalogue of the season on my doormat. (Actually, it landed on the dog - we don't have a door mat, we don't even use the front door, so the dog's bed is right underneath the mailslot). As usual, I pounced on it with my normal enthusiasm for all things seed-like, and was very restrained in not opening it until I had the kids in bed and I had a quite five minutes with cup of tea to hand.

Halfway through drooling over all the different varieties and vegetables and things I could grow next year, I suddenly realised all the things I hadn't grown this year that I could have done. and it made me feel just a little sad. I missed the sowing date for purple sprouting broccoli (I have three packets of seed) I missed sowing the asparagus seed I bought in Croatia. I sowed summer cabbage and cauliflowers and then went on holiday and forgot to put the seed trays in the greenhouse so my neighbour would water them. So many missed opportunities and dead seedlings. I have dozens of bean varieties, but only grew about 6. i feel I've let myself down. Half of June I was out of action with a knackered back. Then I went to Kessingland. Then we went to Billing a week after I got back. then we were here, then there, then another spell of back-back-itis, then James had a spell of needing to be somewhere most evenings, so my normal time for snatching an hour at the lottie disappeared.

And now it's bloody September. Damn.

2005-03-23T20:33:00.000Z

On the table in my greenhouse are lots and lots of newly sprouting seeds. Top left - onions. Top middle - mixed salad lettuce. Top right - peas! (you can just see the chitting potatoes next to the peas). And on the bottom row, left to right, French Marigolds, cabbage Primo, spinach, tomatoes.

2005-03-23T20:30:00.000Z

My mini greenhouse is in my big greenhouse - kind of hothousing the seedlings therein. The top tray of pots is full of squash, middle shelf has corn, peppers, melon, herbs and stuff, bottom shelf is all flowers and chamomile. I zip it up at night and open it in the morning.

2005-03-23T20:28:00.000Z

The bank at the bottom of the garden is covered with these little grape hyacinths.

2005-03-23T20:27:00.000Z

Golden daffy

2005-03-23T20:26:00.001Z

White daffies

2005-03-23T20:26:00.000Z

Gorgeous daffy

2005-03-23T20:25:00.000Z

Spring has sprung! An emerging broad bean seed! These things lurk in the soil, until you've just about given up on them, then, suddenly, a day or two of warmish weather and up they pop! These were planted way back at the beginning of Feb.

Planting update

2005-03-18T10:47:00.000Z

Did a bit of seed sowing last weekend, and forgot to blog it. On Saturday 12th, I spent a happy couple of hours in my potting shed and sowed a few flats of leafy veg - a tray of 8 different kinds of salad stuff( iceberg, green salad bowl lettuce, red romaine lettuce, michihhli chinese cabbage, merveille de quatre saisons lettuce, mizuna greens, oak leaf lettuce and a mesclun leaf mix), as well as a block of red Russian kale, a block of Black Italian Nero di Toscana kale, a box of spinach, and a split tub of half savoy king cabbage, and half mini savoy cabbage.

On the Sunday, it was a fruit day, so I headed up to the lottie and sowed early peas and crimson flowered broad beans in bed 5. Back home, I disappeared into the potting shed again, and sowed the following: 15 pots of various types of squash - 6 pots of mystery summer squash, 5 pots of mystery winter squash, and a pot each of turks cap, spaghetti squash, Ukranian heirloom and butternut squash (all winter varieties). I put 2 seeds into each of 11 recycled apple juice carton pots of crimson flowered broad beans, 15 individual peat pots of Golden Bantam sweetcorn, a pot with a couple of luffa (loofa) gourd seeds, a pot of Richmond Green cucumbers, and stuffed 9 pea seeds into the top right hand square of my SqFt bed. :)

And I've got some more packets of seed to mail out to a number of people. I will get the in the post as soon as I can! Talk about sidetracked headless chicken. :)

Oh, and some point last week, I sowed bed one in the lottie with parsnips. Can't remember when - will look it up in the book that has vanished. This afternoon, I'm going to sow some early calabrese, lots of flowers and some mini cauliflowers. That's after we've been to the continental market in the town centre.

2005-03-16T09:36:00.000Z

Phase one - the base. Last night, James and a couple of buddies laid the slabs for the base to sit on. Thing is, they did it in the dark... seems to be square enough though. lol

2005-03-16T09:34:00.000Z

Note the brace on the left... there were two of them putting it together, but that meant that there was no one spare to hold the bits together whilst they ferried the next panel into the garden.

2005-03-16T09:32:00.000Z

It's taking shape - and hopefully is now strong enough for the wind not to blow it into the next county before it's finished... damn but it's blowy today.

2005-03-16T09:31:00.001Z

Bearing a somewhat startling resemblance to a big green skip...

2005-03-16T09:31:00.000Z

Roofless, but you can see the finished shape. I can see a row of flowers (*gasp* did I really say flowers?) planted along the front under the windows.

2005-03-16T09:30:00.000Z

The finished shed - isn't it fab? And it gets so hot in there. I felt like sunbathing last time I was in there. :)

How could I forget?

2005-03-11T21:43:00.000Z

I meant to add - my fabulous new potting shed arrived today! I took lots of pictures of the two guys putting it together so I'll post those when I get the camera back off James who has claimed it to do truck avatars of the Disco.

Lottie

2005-03-11T21:39:00.000Z

Well, James didn't go back to work until Thursday, so I was able to take advantage of him being here, and I got to disappear up to the lottie for a couple of hours on Monday. I had a good grub around in the new lottie and found the most delicious soil under a light blanket of chickweed and red dead nettle. I know that last year old George had spuds and sweetcorn growing in the back half of my half plot, so I'll know not to put those in there this year. Will put a few pots in the front plot though. Can't waste all that lovely soil.

Need to sit down and rewrite my rotation. Have to update what I've got in the home plot, as well as the original lottie plot. Hmm, so that's three areas I need to name. Home plot, lottie 1 and lottie 2, I think.

Will sketch plans of plots and post them, as soon as I finish doing the five hundred other things I need to do. :)

What a wonderful day - and free spuds anyone?

2005-03-05T18:47:00.000Z

I'm a happy bunny now. Spent a pleasant hour or two pottering in the greenhouse. Sick man even managed to watch the kids for me for 20 minutes whilst I finished up. On my windowsill I now have two seed trays full of little peat pots (the kind that come in strips, 2 by 5, and each little pot is about 1.5" square). I can't quite get 5 of these double strips into one seed tray, so the gap has three 2" diameter round pots wedged in it.

And I sowed: heh heh - ready?

Tomatoes - Gardener's Delight, Great White Beefsteak, Maya, Snow White, Red Fig, Golden Roma and Balconi Red. 5 of each. I also planted 1 each of Lescana, Black Krim, Ballade and 2 of Vjerino Paradijz Sjeme. Yes, honestly, that's a tomato variety! I have no idea what any of the last 4 varieties look or taste like, but it'll be an interesting experiment. It's amazing what you can find when you go mooching around in a fridge full of seeds...

Peppers - Cubanelle, Californian Wonder, Corno di Torro (all sweet), Tobasco and Donetsk Ukranian (both chilis)

Melon - Gold Mine Cantaloupe, Sweet Crimson Watermelon, Golden Midget Watermelon, Kolchonitsa Ukranian Melob

Eggplant - Caspar, Cucumber - Armenian Yard Long

Peas - Telephone, Laxton's Progress No.9, Green Arrow, Alaskan, Twinkle, Balmoral (these were sown in 2" round pots and left in the greenhouse - peas don't like it too hot)

And a test tray of Primo cabbage. Yes, it's a fruit day, but that's why I've done them. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to chuck a few broad beans in apple juice pots - ran out of time today.

But for now, I'm going to put my offspring to bed, run myself a bath and have a nice long soak whilst I read my new magazines - Kitchen Garden (which came with two packs of seeds, Hot and Spicy Peppers and Mixed Lettuce Leaves) and the all new first ever edition of Grown Your Own (anyone seen Saving Grace? lol) and that came with two packets of seed too, little round Carrot Paris Market and Broccoli Romanesco! Cool.

Oh - and the free potatoes. Grow Your Own mag came with a backing sheet on which there are a few free offers. The best of which is an offer for 5 free tubers of the super new salad potato Anya. It's a cross between Pink Fir Apple and Charlotte, two of the tastiest salad spuds around. I've already bought some from Thompson & Morgan. But if you want to try some, you just have to pay 83p P&P. Bargain, eh? The phone number is 01473 695225 and you need to quote 'Grow Your Own offer'. :)

Off into the Greenhouse

2005-03-05T10:39:00.000Z

Can't wait for my potting shed. But for now, I shall go potter in my greenhouse and plant lots of stuff.

Why am I blogging about it before I've done it?

Well, truth is, I've lost the list of stuff I was going to plant, so I've had to come look at my blog page to see what it was I was going to dibber into peat pots. :)

::::slinks sheepishly off:::

It all starts tomorrow!

2005-03-05T02:08:00.000Z

I've a couple of bits of good news (which makes pleasant blogging after last night's attack of the ickies)

First - I've found my Gardening by the Moon book! Yay, yippee, yahoo and all that jazz. :)

Second - tomorrow is a fruit day. Which means I'm going to spend the day in my greenhouse sowing lots and lots of seeds. Because it's March. And virtually every kind of seed known to woman (with the exception of spring cabbage and squash) can be planted in March. So, tomorrow I'm going to plant in peat pots:

Tomatoes - Snow White, Red Fig, Lescana, Gardener's Delight, Balconi Red, Golden Roma
Aubergine - Caspar
Cucumber - Armenian Yard Long
Peppers - Corno di Toro, Tabasco, Donetsk Ukranian, Cubanelle, Californian wonder
Peas - Laxton's progress, Twinkle, Green Arrow, Alaska
Melons - Gold Mine cantaloupe, Crimson Sweet watermelon, Kolchoznitsa Ukranian melon
And some broad beans in 'reclaimed pots' ie saved cardboard apple juice cartons.

Third - My potatoes finally arrived from T&M a few days ago, so they're in the outhouse on top of the tumble drier, chitting nicely. I don't think the first earlies will be ready for planting on 7th as per my original plan, but I'm going to aim for 16th. James brought me home 5 huge plastic bags (some of his work stuff arrived in them), so I'll be able to start warming some of the home-garden beds.

Fourth - we went to Lidl yesterday and I bought a three tier mini-greenhouse thing. So I can put all my tomato seedlings in there when they've germinated - makes life much easier than last year when I was forever ferrying them in and out of the greenhouse on sunny days. This year, I can just unzip the cover and let them get some fresh air.

And fifth and finally, but by no means last - I've got another allotment plot! :) Well, ok, so it's a half plot but I know the little old chap who had it before me and he tilled it for years and years and years. The soil is the most beautiful soil I've ever known. It's gorgeous. And now, it's all mine, MINE, MINE, MINE. ha ha ha ha ha ha

Uh, sorry.

But at least I know now so I can start weeding it a little. And I'm sure I saw some leeks on there... wonder if they're on my half or the other half? And I think I've got the side with the shed on it. :)

Missing book

2005-02-27T07:06:00.000Z

Seems I've been neglecting both my blogs and my garden lately. Well, I could be forgiven for not gardening, what with the snow and rain and general unpleasantness out there. Not so sure I have such a good excuse for not blogging, however...

So, time for a catch up. This whole week hasn't really seen me accomplish much really. I've ordered a few more seeds (white pumpkins, summer savory and uh... one other thing I forget) from Seeds-by-Size. I bought a huge bag of seed compost and lots of peat pots. James has brought home stacks of trays (the plastic kind that hold eighteen or so 3" pots), as well as bags and bags of pots. But apart from that, I've done no real gardening.

Now this is going to sound really stupid... but the main reason I've not done anything else is that I've lost my Gardening by the Moon book. I don't want to sow anything until I find it and can make sure it's a fruit day for the tomatoes or a root day for the carrots... how stupid is that? I grew stuff perfectly well before I found that book. And if I sowed all my tomatoes and aubergines tomorrow, and it turned out to be a leaf day, I'm sure they'd not suffer for it.

My OCD is obviously getting worse. lol.

But I really do need to get some stuff sown and growing. I can feel everything starting to wake up. So tomorrow I'm going to sow a few each of tomatoes, aubergines, onions, spinach and chilli peppers in peat pots and put them on my windowsill. And I'll make a note of what I've sown and when (like I always do), and then sow a few more in two or three days time... and we'll see, shall we, if sowing dates make any difference.

Assuming I can find the ruddy book...

More seeds

2005-02-19T04:11:00.000Z

Yes, yes, I know, you read that title right. A few more packets of seeds arrived today. But I only ordered 5 packets, from Dobies, and I was most chuffed to receive three free packets of flower seeds with them! I ordered:

Brussells Sprouts - Red Delicious (yes, a red sprout!)
Carrot - Rainbow (a heinous F1, I must confess, that mixes white, yellow, orange, red and purple carrots. It's the only F1 I will be sowing this year, but I shall let a handful flower and seed next year. And will therefore grow my own collection of coloured carrots. :)
Fennel - Zefa Fino (a bulbing fennel, for my Mom who loves the stuff)
Onion - Brown Pickling (self explanatory, for DH who loves pickled onions)
Onion - Red Baron (red onions, again for DH)

And I've had an idea of growing a few extra plants to sell on eBay. I spent a while last summer bidding on plants, winning some and watching others go for silly money. So, this year, I'm deliberately sowing some seeds in the little peat pots and will sell them on when a few inches high (or up to 6" for brassicas & leeks) via eBay. And see if I can't make a few pennies to help my seed buying habit along. :)

Been a digging sort of day

2005-02-16T05:20:00.000Z

Have had lots of quality garden time today, as the weather co-operated well. Tidied up the left hand veggie beds, cleared out the green house and turned over the two raised beds at the back of the garden. The smaller of the two I've made into a proper square foot garden bed, (except it's 4 squares by 5, instead of the traditional 4x4). I even put a bit of string across it and planted a few seeds.

My back is killing me, but I feel really good. lol

2005-02-15T21:17:00.000Z

And the bestest bed of all is my new Square Foot bed. :) Last year it held a mix of roots and nasturtiums and the like. This year, it's going to have all sorts planted in it. In fact, today I sowed some mesclun salad mix, two squares of spinach, onions and early carrots. I have no idea if it's too early, but what the hell... if they don't come up in a couple of weeks, I'll just plant some more seed. And if they do, I'll throw a bit of horti-fleece over the top and have a home grown salad for my birthday.

2005-02-15T21:14:00.000Z

Bed in foreground was built using a heap of old kerb stones we found in the garden. Last year it had potatoes in it, so this year, following traditional rotation, it's having roots - namely parsnips and pickling onions. :)

2005-02-15T21:11:00.000Z

Four veggie beds (these are behind the greenhouse - note the bucket in the last pic). The scruffy bit with the two spades sticking out will be bed number 5. At the top you can just see the breeze block square where the greenhouse is going to be moved too (had a terrible urge to write Inshallah, but won't). And from the top the beds will contain - early potatoes, early maincrop spuds, broad beans & peas (already partially planted!), courgettes & beans, and late maincrop spuds.

2005-02-15T21:06:00.000Z

Dug all the crap out of the greenhouse beds too - nice and easy as the soil was fairly dry. Saved a few self-seeded rocket plants, some chard and a few chives. Bit of green at the back is an English marigold, surviving in spite of not being watered all winter! Must be a bit of moisture coming in through the broken pane you can just see at the back centre.

2005-02-15T21:01:00.000Z

The centre bed - still with lettuces from last summer. Can't remember the variety, but I think I'll be planting a few more this year! Not sure whether this patch is going to be grassed over or turned into two Square Foot bed.

More seeds!!!

2005-02-15T01:41:00.000Z

Yippee - a friend sent me a selection of Wal-Mart's finest offering from the US. I now have:

Cantaloupe - Gold Mine
Watermelon - Crimson Sweet
Squash - Black Beauty Zucchini
Squash - Waltham Butternut
Squash - Yellow Summer Crookneck
Pepper - Cubanelle
Pepper - California Wonder
Mesclun Salad Mix
Spinach - Bloomsdale Long Standing (x2)
Beans - Bush, Blue Lake Tenderlake (x2)
Cucumber - Armenian Yard Long
Peas - Sugar Snap
Beet - Detroit Dark Red
Radish - Cherry Belle
Radish - Sparkler
Sweetcorn - Silver Queen (hybrid - eek!)
Onion - Sweet Spanish Yellow Utah Jumbo
Pumpkin - Jack O'Lantern

Maybe I'll design my square foot garden around these varieties...

That is, once Barbara has devoured the book. :-D

There be seeds in that thar soil...

2005-02-13T17:34:00.000Z

Oh yay, planting in earnest has started. :) I'm such a happy bunny.

A few days ago I put in a couple of rows of broad beans and some very early (and maybe over-optimistic) peas.

And today, I've already sown some onions in modules, just some seed I saved from a supermarket onion. I threw a half onion on the compost heap last spring, and it sprouted 4 flower spikes.

So I moved it and let it do it's own thing, and saved about 200 seed from it last autumn. I've got a couple of other kinds of onion to sow, both Italian varieties. I've also ordered some red onion seed and pickling seed from Dobies, and have 75 sets of Stuttgart Giant to plant out too.

Will leave those till next root planting day... oh yes, did I say I was going to follow the Planting by the Moon book again? I got such fabulous results last year, it's worth the effort of planning ahead for planting. I'll also do a few 'test' sowings of stuff, just for the scientific aspect. lol

Poo Ramble

2005-02-13T00:05:00.000Z

Yes, as promised, the poo ramble.

What is it about gardeners, and other folk of a rural and/or agricultural bent, that makes us so fascinated with manure?

On Thursday, I loaded the small people into the Disco, with a packed lunch, and set off for the allotments. There, I borrowed a dinky little trailer from Bob (I have found that there is always a Bob or a John or a George at allotments, that have anything you could possibly wish for, and they'll always be happy to lend it to you if you stay and chat a while).

The trailer was so small I didn't even bother with a light board or number plate on it - you could see both on the back of my truck quite clearly. In fact, I couldn't even see the trailer in my wing mirrors when driving. The only things that stopped me from wondering if the thing had bounced off into the hedgerow were the two bits of box-section steel tubing sticking up from the two front corners. And boy, did they bounce.

A few miles down the road, opposite Lou's house is a field that's had horses on for 7 years. Do you have any idea of the amount of poo 4 horses can generate in 7 years? :) And during the past 7 years, all the straw from the stable and droppings that had been poop-scooped from the field had been piled in a corner and left to get on with whatever it is that manure does when you're not looking.

And what it does is turn itself into the most lovely dark brown crumbly soil improver and grower-of-maginificent-vegetables you ever did see. First, I handed out the packed lunches to the offspring strapped in the back of the truck (there was no way I was letting my three out in a field with a stack of manure that high!). Once they were contentedly munching, I three quarters filled that little trailer. I really couldn't dig much more out that day, as my back was starting to give. Lou, bless her, had brought me out a cup of tea half way through, so we returned the cup, had a chat and I got her recipe for the most divine museli-rice crispie-date & honey flapjack every.

Then back at the lottie, I emptied the trailer into the manure box in the corner that every plot seems to have. And do you know, that 3/4 filled trailer just about filled the box to the top.

Well, of course, I knew it would. :)

2005-02-09T22:32:00.000Z

An old friend... thought I'd put a picture of her here. :)

2005-02-05T16:11:00.000Z

The Disco at the Allotment... totally superfluous photograph, but I like it. The girls were using her as a climbing frame whilst DH and I had a good dig. We managed to get almost half the plot (albeit a half plot) dug over in a couple of hours, thanks to the super azada.

Azada day

2005-02-03T00:42:00.000Z

Oh joy - finally got to give the new azada a work out. It's great!

Not quite the tool I thought it was, but that's not in a bad way. I'm clearing some really over grown bed in the garden (haven't had chance to get up to the lottie yet). They're covered in long, matted grass, and the azada just slices through it. Using a fork to dig it all up would be a nightmare, and hard work on one's back, but you justlife the azada, whilst standing upright, and let it fall back into the grass using its own weight and momentum. Brill! And once it's neatly mown all the rank vegetation off, you can hack chunks of compacted soil up with it, with half the effort of using a fork.

I had to use the fork a bit along the edge of the fence, for digging out some couch grass. That is the one draw back of the azada, is that it does chop stuff. Don't think the worms like it that much.

However, I have now turned over a good 50% of my side veggie bed. Have also spent the last couple of evenings sorting out a sowing plan and rotation. Got little plans all drawn up for the lottie and the garden. Will scan them in at some point. Still, the beds for the early spuds and broad beans are dug over. I now just need to find my big tape measure and break the side bed up into 5 sections. Then we need to move the greenhouse, build the third raised bed, dig up the worn out shrubs in the bed in the middle of the lawn, turf it, move the compost heaps and put a shed up there, etc etc etc

Not to mention the work that needs doing up the lottie. I had some willing helpers yesterday as well, but the weather was too miserable. :( Barbara, E and R came round to play, but we ended up doing baking and stuff, so that's blogged over on Mud & Mischief.

Now all I need to do is figure out why this camera isn't uploading pics...

Seed selections

2005-01-29T00:42:00.000Z

I'm having great fun putting these seed packets together for the home-ed lot. I've finally decided on the following:

Carrots
Green/French beans
Peas
Lettuce
Tomato
Pumpkin/winter squash
Courgette/summer squash
Sunflowers
Calendula
plus... a mystery packet. lol.

There will be growing instructions for the mystery seeds, but no clues as to what it is. Or is that just plain ol' mean? heh heh Personally I think it's exciting, but then that's just me. There are between 4 and 20+ seeds of each kind, depending on the size of the seed. I mean, who really needs more than a couple of courgette plants anyway? You'd have courgettes coming out of your ears... :)

All I need to do now is rustle up some growing instructions. And you have no idea how hard it is to put into words something that I just do without thinking.

I mean, yes, I use books and the like, but all I do is go, 'hmm, early April, let's see, it's time to sow some carrots'. And I sow carrots. If you actually asked me for spacings, depths, rows, soil type, etc, I'd just look at you blankly. So, it's back to the books and an hour's quiet concentration to try and figure out how to explain to kids how to sow carrots.

Although I bet if I just gave them some seeds, they'd plant them with no problems. :)

Miserable bloody day (2* rant warning!)

2005-01-24T15:43:00.000Z

And I make no apologies for my language.

It's a cold, damp, grey, rainy, miserable, sodden, bloody awful day out there and I'm right royally pissed off as I soooo wanted to get out there with my new azada and dig over the lottie and the garden and now I can't so I'm going to have a rant.

It's blasted January, for gods' sakes. Cold is good. Grey is acceptable. But rainy, miserable and sodden just aren't in it. It should be bitterly cold, with snow and ice and freezing weather. Bright, shiny brittle-blue-skied days when the frost glints and cracks in the air. Dark grey evenings, good for soaking away the aches, caused by digging in good rich soil, in a hot bubbly bath with the company of glossy seed magazines. Damp, miserable and sodden is not really acceptable at any time, except maybe for the odd day in April, and is useful for times when you need to potter around in the greenhouse or polytunnel, pricking out seedlings and weeding. Then it's quite nice to hear the pat-pat-pat of gentle rain on the glass or plastic.

But not when I should be out digging over my garden and allotment. Damn and blast.

I wouldn't mind if it turned to snow and laid a gentle white blanket over the slush and mud. At least I could build a bloody snowman or something with the kids.

Ok, gripe over. :\ Off to make hot ginger tea. I'm even cold sitting here at the computer. Not impressed with today.

Seedy stuff

2005-01-21T09:45:00.000Z

Well - I didn't realise I had quite so many seeds. lol

Here's a brief precis of what I've got in my seed fridge...

Amaranth - Vietnamese Red

Beans (climing French/pole) - Canelli dry white, Georgische, Siva, Zebrina, Turkish, Cobra, Veense, Cordoba, Cherokee Trail of Tears (white seeded)
Beans (dwarf French/bush) - Miracle, Yellow Wax
Beans (lima) - Christmas pole, Henderson's bush
Beans (broad/fava) - Aquadulce, Crimson flowered
Beans (half-runners) - Mountaineer, Pink half-runner, Taylor horticultural
Beetroot (beets) - Yellow cylindrical, Bulls Blood, Early Wonder, Detroit Dark Red
Broccoli - Purple Sprouting
Brussell Sprout - Evesham special

Cabbage - Early Jersey Wakefield, Primo
Carrot - Dragon Purple, Shin Kuroda 5", Scarlet Nantes, Danvers Half Long, Early Nantes 2
Cauliflower - Early Snowball, Sicilian Purple
Celery - Verte Pascal
Chard - Yellow Chard, Lucullus, Rainbow
Chinese Cabbage - Michihhli
Corn - Hopi Blue, Stowell's Evergreen, Purple Popcorn, Golden Bantam, Bloody Butcher, Strawberry Popcorn
Cucumber - Delnevostok, Marketmore, Richmond Green Apple, Lemon, National Pickles

Eggplant(aubergine) - Caspar
Gourd - Luffa/Dishcloth
Herb - Lettuce leaf basil, Dill, Parsley
Leek - Blue de Solaize, American Flag
Lettuce - Merveille des Quatre Saisons, Oak Leaf, Red Romaine, Organic Mesclun Salad, Raddichio Frumolo Biondo, Iceberg, Green Salad Bowl, Little Gem

Melon(round) - Kolchoznitsa, Georgian, Small Persion, Minnesota Midget
Melon(watermelon) - Kolb's Gem, Black Diamond, Golden Midget
Onion - Bianca di Maggio, Rossa Lunga di Firenze, White Lisbon (spring), *Stuttgart Giant sets
Oriental greens - Mizuna, Chinese Pak Choy

Peas(round) - Green Arrow, Alaskan, Thomas Laxton, Laxton's Progress No9, Alderman
Peas (sugar/snap) - Dwarf Grey Sugar Pod, Sugar Snap, Mammoth Melting Sugar, Carouby De Mausanne
Peas (crowder) - Red ripper, Running Conch, Zipper Cream, Mississippi Silver, Black Crowder

Pepper(sweet) - Corno di Toro Giallo
Pepper(chili) - Tabasco, Thai Yellow Chilli, Cayenne Long Thin, Donetsk Ukranian Chile, *Hot Tepin
Pumpkin - Jack O'Lantern

Radish - French Breakfast, Chinese White Winter
Spinach - Bloomsdale

Squash (winter) - Ukranian Heirloom, Spaghetti, Pink Banana, Spaghetti, Turks Cap, Red Warty Thing, *Butternut Sprinter
Squash (summer) - Bennings Green Tint Scallop, Black Beauty Zucchini, Courgette All Green Bush
Swede - American Purple Top

Tomato - Lescana, Vjerino Paradijz Sjeme, Black Krim, Ballada, Black from Tula, Snow White, Red Fig/Pear, Amish Salad, Golden Roma, Thai Pink Egg, Red Cherry, Great White Beefsteak, Rutgers, Balconi Red, Gardener's Delight
Turnip - Purple top White Globe, Shogun

Flowers - *Giant Yellow Sunflower, *Black Beauty Pansy

If you actually made it all the way to the bottom - well done! Go make yourself a cup of ginger tea and relax...

And not a single variety listed here is F1 or hybrid. The majority are heirloom or heritage varieties, hence the fabulous names. :)

(edited to add * packets 24/01/05)

It arrived!

2005-01-18T04:46:00.000Z

Yippee - my azada arrived today!

It's so cool - and I wish I'd had a camera to record Fred dragging it around the place with a big cheesy grin on her face. Must go down to lottie tomorrow and try it out.

I've also been in touch with an American friend today, and she's buying me some more seeds. :) At Walmart, they've got packets of seed for 97c, which is a little under 50p, and so I've asked her to get me about $20 worth, which should give me a huge variety of stuff that you can't get over here, and I'm going to paypal her for whatever I owe. Like I need more bloody seeds - I've got them coming out of my ears. But it's no good - I'm addicted to buying them. Trouble is, my spare fridge outside is full of seed.

I think I might be putting together some home-ed packages of seed. It's an idea that has just occured to me. I have so many kinds of seed, and there's no way I can hope to plant them all in the next few years. I'm thinking, off the top of my head, that if I put 4 or 5 of each kind of seed, say a pumpkin and a runner bean, some sunflowers and french beans and maybe a courgette, a tomato and a lettuce... put them together in a little envelope and make it into a home-ed style project. And then get the kids to record what they grow, when they plant the seeds, how many germinate, what kind of stuff grows, what they did with the veg, if they ate it or gave it to elderly aunts etc, and get them to grow some seed for following years.

Hmm, now there's a thought... will cross post to other blog and see what the response is. :)

Done it again

2005-01-13T09:03:00.000Z

Never let me loose on the internet with a credit card - especially when I've got gardening on the brain. It's not good...

See, it's like this - I was looking for more seed websites to post the links of. And got sidetracked mooching around Vida Verde. And then linked over to another page... and ended up here. Get Digging.

And have bought an azada. (Although I prefer the african name of jembe). Well, I've got a bad back, ok? And if I hurt it, how can I chase small people round all day? After all, good tools are important. Right?

Hopefully it should be here in time for the weekend. Then I'm going to go play at the lottie. I've got all that green manure to dig in...

Allotment checkup

2005-01-13T03:34:00.000Z

Went and had a nose at the allotment today. Poor old lottie is looking a tad neglected. I half-heartedly pulled a few dead corn stalks up, but realised that I needed something a bit more substantial to make a dint in the healthy covering of chickweed that seems to have smothered the beds. Oh well, I can just dig it in as green manure, I suppose.

Also, I've been perusing the seed catalogues. Which is incredibly dangerous, as I really don't need any more seed. I have enough seed in the fridge in the storeroom to last me for years and years and years. But, still, I have to look. Call it window shopping...

Last year I bought the 'medium homestead package' from Baker Creek Seeds in the US. Oh, man... there were so many seeds. So many wonderful, varied, exotic seeds in that packet. All heirloom, rare, or just plain old fashioned varieties, all open-pollinated. I spent hours drooling over packets with names like 'Red Ripper Cow-Pea' and 'Hopi Blue Corn', 'Black From Tula tomato' and 'Red Warty Thing winter squash'. 'Christmas Pole Limas' are so beautiful in themselves they demand to be admired and displayed, let alone eaten - I'm advised that they are divine to eat, when you manage to grow enough in this climate to afford to use some for actually eating.

And that's my problem - they are from the US, so some things just won't grow in the British climate. ::: sigh ::: I'm doing more stuff in my greenhouse this year (now there's another saga - remind me later), so I'm going to put a few vines of Lima beans and the like in a corner.

One day, I'll finish cataloguing my seeds... till then, here are a few of my favourite seed websites. Enjoy. :)

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Tamar Organics

Vida Verde

Will stop there, or I'll have people shouting at me. :D

Thought this might raise a smile

2005-01-12T19:31:00.000Z

Reserved, quiet, wise and free spirited.

You are a sprite of the Earth: You have a deep connection with the earth and all its creatures, preferring plants and animals to people. You are quiet and reserved. You understand things on a different level and can often see straight through to a persons true intentions.

You are mysterious to everyone, even those in your family. They may live with you but that doesn't mean they 'know' the real you. Being inside the house for long periods of time can be torture, you crave the outdoors and love simply escaping up a tree or into the forest where you can be free. Although you may be smart, you reserve judgement on a person because you fear what they 'may' be going to do. You are wise in things that most overlook and you are very creative in many aspects like art,music, etc... Although try as they may to seek you, you are a free spirit. Just let them try to catch and put you in a cage.

.::=What type of Mythical Sprite are you?=::. -With Anime Pictures and detailed answers-
brought to you by Quizilla

Front garden

2005-01-11T05:15:00.000Z

I wandered around the garden today, whilst the small ones were napping and was struck by the sheer size of the job in front of me. I love my garden, but it's big. Or should that read, AND it's big. lol. So, I figured start at the front and work my way to the back - if nothing else, at least it would make my little house look halfway presentable.

Out front we've just got a nice square of grass, with a driveway to one side. There's little brick wall that runs along the sidewalk, about 3 bricks high, and a rectangular flower bed butts up against the wall. At least, it's supposed to be a flower bed. Today I removed the thick carpet of weeds, dandelions, dead flower stalks, half rotten geraniums and various other detritus that had accumulated over the winter.

Yes, yes, I know winter hasn't technically finished, but to me, once the days start to get longer at Yule, I begin to think about the coming year. To me, true winter runs from Samhain to Yule (Hallowe'en to winter solstice). Yule to Imbolg (Candlemas, Feb 2nd) is my stirring time. I like to start pottering around the garden on fair days. Poking the ground and thinking about what I'm going to do in the coming year. And come February, I clean up the greenhouse and start planting seeds. :)

But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. So, for today, I contented myself with grubbing about in the front yard. There is another flower bed in front of the large living room picture window, but I'm saving that for another day. I'd found a bag of 50 white daffodil bulbs that we'd picked up at a farm sale in August, and had forgotten about. A fair few of them had started to sprout, so I thought, hey, they're still alive - let's give them a chance. So I've stuffed them in the front bed, along with a hebe and a white hydrangea I discovered lurking in the back garden (another remnant from the farm sale).

By this time, the light had begun to fail. Small people had emerged from nap time some while previous and had spent a good deal of time with noses pressed to the front window, demanding in comic mime to be let out to play. Not a chance.

So here we are...

2005-01-10T17:31:00.000Z

My gardening blog.

Damn... guess that means I'd better get my backside into gear and do some gardening then.