Planting time and plot update.

Welcome back to Reads Retreat. What glorious weather we are having - but don't jump for joy too soon - cold weather is set to return - it's a Bank Holiday Weekend!. But, that's what we expect, and we can deal with it - resilient lot us Brits!

And how's this for an inspirational pic - right outside the back door we have a raised bed full with Peas(v. Kelvedon Wonder). These have been in situ for about a week now and are showing signs of growth - the little "tendrils" seeking out something to hold on to!Since this picture was taken the pesky cats invaded the earth and did their worst! Gonna have to get a spud gun or something?

You'd be forgiven for thinking we're growing a garden fork and a pile of twigs! Rest assured we have 10 tubers of Second Earlies in there(v.Nadine) which we hope will give us a great crop on our doorstep. The same variety at the plot are doing ok too, but it seems extra nice to just nip outside and dig some up !







We've also planted an old dustbin up with 3 small tubers, and these appear to be flourishing. Since this pic was taken, the spuds have been earthed up, and already need doing again. Let's hope this is a good sign.





More good news : We risked it a bit with 3 early Courgette plants, outside on the patio. The initial leaves turned a silvery grey and died back, but more by luck than judgment, new growth abounds. This variety is the ever popular All Green Bush, which grow 6" tasty fruits. A few days since this picture and they are growing on well. The more eagle eyed may or may not notice the recycled recycling bin! There's a pack of seeds to anyone who can tell me which council unwittingly donated it !

The salad bar is open ! Well, almost! We have planted up a couple of small rows of lettuce, 2 rows of Beetroot (v.Boltardy), another row of lettuce(v.Lollo Rosso), a row of Spring Onions (v. White Lisbon), and a row of Purple Sprouting Broccoli. We've also got some onion sets to go in - a job for tomorrow! (If the rain ever stops!).



Thats about all for now - we've not been completely idle, but still loads to do.

Take care all and enjoy your gardening.

TTFN

What's growing at Reads Retreat

Welcome back to Reads Retreat, the home of veg growing in raised beds. Aside from the mornings work at the allotment, there's still a riot of activity on the home plot! This Butternut Squash(v.Hunter) is the pick of the crop at the moment - being quite huge in size and still growing. It's a first for the home plot, and one to be repeated at the allotment next year. There's a good few others growing here, but this is by far the largest. Needs a bit more sun yet to ripen it up. Fingers crossed eh !

The Dwarf Yellow podded French beans are still producing well. We manage to eat them a couple of times a week, and although they're getting fewer in number now, we hope to be cropping them for a good few weeks hence. This is another for the allotment next year. Must remember to save some seeds!




Our late sowed Courgette is still producing! We managed to cut another 6 incher today, but will be using it tomorrow. There's still plenty growing too, despite the white mottled leaves and the plants poor appearance. Might as well get what we can from it!





The even later planted Zucchini are growing well too, though the plants themselves are way smaller. I reckon if we get enough sunshine in the next 6-8 weeks, then we may be able to get a crop from these too. Nothing to lose by waiting a little while.





The toms are reddening up nicely. We're picking these almost daily now and loving the taste. The Yellow Pear ones are fruiting well, but I'm not as keen as Jen on their taste. Elsewhere around the plot we have a half dozen or so Moneymaker plants, which are currently full of trusses, but none of them are ripe yet!




That's about it for today's update - hope you've had a good read!

Dont forget to visit our new blog - Reads Recipe's - which Jen is updating on a regular basis.

Hope you are still enjoying your gardens as much as we are.

Take care all

TTFN

First September Harvest

Welcome back to Reads Retreat. Every day it seems that winter draws a stage closer, soon we'll be "decking the halls ...etc" and looking forward to spring. What a cheery thought! At least we can still harvest home grown veg from the garden & the plot. These 3 courgettes are just at the right size, and eager to be eaten - guess we'll have to keep them happy!



One thing that brings us so much joy, is the excitement Ruby has when she gets to pose for the camera with something freshly harvested, these 2 cobs of sweetcorn proving the point. She really wanted to get peeling, so I was lucky to get a quick photo first!








Don't you just love the look on her face,"these are mine " kind of look. Whenever we plant any seeds in the garden, Ruby always helps, as she did when we planted this corn. Variety is Swift Early - and we'll be growing these again next year - but in larger numbers!








The final harvest from the raised beds today was this handful of Dwarf Yellow Podded French Beans. This crop has been a rip roaring success this year, and they taste out of this world. Definitely one to grow a lot more of next season.








That's all from Reads Retreat today, hope you've enjoyed the update.

Hope all your gardens and plots are going well too.

Take care all,

TTFN.

End of the month update

Welcome back to Reads Retreat, our blog diary of growing your own veg in Raised Beds. Sorry for the lack of updates lately, regular readers will know that a lot of our efforts go into the Allotment, which is going well, whilst less effort is seen on the home plot. That said thought, we are still making rich pickings from the raised beds. Pictured here is our runaway success: These are dwarf yellow podded french beans which we had never grown before, but will definitely grow again next year. The plants stand about 18" tall, and bear large trusses of beans that start pale green and mature into bright yellow. They make a fantastic addition to the dinner plate, and add a splash of summer colour. Prior to planting I erected some 4' canes for support. I'm laughing now!!

Despite the messy appearance of our tomato plants, the yield is looking good as the toms are now starting to ripen at quite a pace. We have 3 varieties growing: Moneymaker, Gardeners Delight, and a Yellow Plum variety - the name of which escapes me! We have had minor issues with Blossom End Rot, but those affected were picked "green" and discarded. The rest it seems are doing ok. We have more plants dotted around the raised beds, some hidden behind other crops and some wherever there was some vacant land!
Our late planted Courgette plant is putting on good growth too. At first it seemed intent on just growing leaves, but now it is finally bearing fruit! We have lost a couple to slugs etc but that is to be expected. Now though it's looking good. There's at least 3 there ready to be picked, ranging from 4 - 6" long. Next year we are planning on growing many more of these up at the allotment, as they are a lovely tasting veg, and they can easily be frozen too. Maybe we can save a few for Christmas dinner ?

Talking of a "vacant" space in the beds, this Tomato (v. Gardeners Delight) was placed in a sunny spotand left to it's own devices! We grew far too many tomato plants for the space available - or should i say far more germinated than we had expected! I even gave half a dozen or so plants to my neighbour as we had no room left. Mind you, I always think that some of the fun from growing your own is giving some away!






Talking of late sown plantings, these 2 courgette plants were only transplanted to their growing position a few weeks ago. They were "found" in the conservatory, and we thought it best to get them in. Even if the planting is too late to provide some fruits, then at the very least we'll get this show of late summer colour! And if pushed, we could just eat the flowers!!




Another late sowing (a trend here perhaps ?) was this Sweetcorn (v.Swift Early). We had never grown this before and we were eager to try. We have been astonished by the growth rate, and have already harvested our first cob! Shared 4 ways at the dinner table, it was delish.
It seems a bit hit and miss when it comes to harvesting - are the brown silks really the best indication of ready ?






A lesson well learnt now, is that you cant plant 4 x Butternut Squash plant (v.Hunter) in a bed that is 3' x 3' ! Well, you can, but the leaf growth soon romps away from the bed. We have had to cut stems back at various times throughout the summer, but the result has been worthwhile:








This specimen is at leat 8" long, and about 4" girth. All we need now is a bit more sun to ripen it off! And there's me only yesterday praying for rain! There's a few more small fruits too. This is something we will grow more of next year too. Its only recently that we started to eat them, and they do taste superb. We got the seeds from from the BBC Dig In promotion, details of which can be found here. Go and have a look, and bag some free seeds!



Final pic for today, is this Passion Flower which is growing wild in the border. It seems that the bounty of fruits are ripening off, so maybe we can harvest these too. I've not tasted them before, so am keen to give them a go.

Thats all for today folks, hope you've enjoyed our update!



A quick hello too to Aunt Ann, who is visiting the UK again at the moment - hope you have a lovely stay.

Pop back soon all, for more updates from Reads Retreat.

Enjoy your gardens,

TTFN.

A Gardening Update !

Welcome back to Reads Retreat, our diary blog for our Fruit & Veg grown in Raised Beds. It's been a while since we posted an update - we've been rather busy with the allotment project! But just to reassure you all that we are still growing at home, here goes!
As is the norm at this time of year, we are spending a fair bit of time nurturing our tomato (v.Moneymaker) plants to their cropping stage. This involves regular watering and weekly feed of suitable"miracle" growth liquid! We have half a dozen in pots on the patio - in full sun, and a half dozen more dotted around the plot in the raised beds. Some of the plants have begun to set their trusses, a sure sign of the delights that await. Every year I intend to grow a different variety - this year being no exception - but we continue to find that this variety - Moneymaker - are great croppers. Why change ?



Nestled into this corner of our patio we have yet more goodies! As well as another tomato plant, we have a tub of Strawberries, which having already cropped is now sending runners out all over the shop. Where possible these are being layered into more tubs to grow new plants. These will be separated from the main plant in about 4 weeks time and will give us a new bunch of plants for a larger crop next year. That and somewhere to plant them all too! We have also acquired some "Hospital" strawberry plants that had been badly neglected. These are sitting in water now, and sending up new shoots. Lets hope they recover!

In the patio border where there used to be a large rambling rose, we now have some edible goodies, including a lovely Tayberry bush (a wedding present from Huw & Jane) and also our one surviving Courgette plant. We've really struggled with the latter this year, as we dont want to use slug pellets in case little Ruby picks them up! This is our last plant of any note at Reads Retreat, and we have only one other which was planted up at the allotment only yesterday. We're green with envy as we see others are well into their courgette harvesting . Maybe we'll get a late crop. Fingers crossed eh !



Despite the fact that the contents of the hanging baskets are not edible, they are certainly beautiful. Wifey has done a great job here, not only in brightening up the garden, but in attracting an abundance of wildlife and especially Bee's to the plot.








The Gooseberry bush in the background here, is the £1 jobbie we got from Wilkinson's last year. The greatest surprise was that it was a Red fruit variety - we were expecting green! We didn't get a massive harvest, but plenty of enough for some seriously nice Mixed Fruit jam.
In the foreground we have another surprise in the form of a healthy looking potato plant. I think this is whats called a "Volunteer" plant, i.e. one that has grown from a previously left behind potato. Not complaining mind you, and soon ready to be pulled up. I'll let you know later if we get much from it!



Our old faithful Rhubarb(v.Timperly Early) continues it's great growth. Having recently been cut right back to provide fruit for our mixed fruit jam, it has grown right back, strong enough to maybe harvest some more. If we get enough, we hope to try making some Rhubarb & Ginger jam, mmmm that sounds luvvly.






And finally, we get to a raised bed!!! As you can see we've erected frames over the beds, mainly due to the large number of cats in the area that favour the good soil in our beds rather than their own backyards to crap in. Grrr it really winds me up. Many a day in this neck of the woods you can see cat poo flying through the air! Why should we clean it up, we don't have a cat! Anyway (rant over), in this bed we have Spring Onions, Lollo Rosso Lettuce (cut and come again variety) as well as some Broccoli Raab. The latter was a freebie on a magazine cover, which promised a crop in 60 days. Well, it grew so fast we forgot to harvest it and it bolted!!! Trimmed it all back and again it's growing on strongly.

The next available bed has become home to our squash project. As well as trying to grow these at the plot, we have 4 plants at home too, which are putting on great growth. Again, they might be planted a tad late, but wouldn't it be great to get at least 1 squash from these. If anyone has any growing tips and tricks, we'd love to hear from you!




Talking of new projects (it must be the year for them), we are having a go at growing some sweetcorn. Having read that they need to grow in a block layout, we used this 3'x3' bed. We planted about 12 seeds, and were a tad dejected when only 4 plants appeared. Nonetheless, they do look healthyand will hopefully provide us with a couple of corns. Is it too late to plant any more ? I guess it is but am happy to listen if you have any advice on this crop, how else will we learn ?




This bed is pretty much full of Beetroot! We've grown a few different varieties this year - with mixed success! Boltardy remains the strong favourite, but we have also tried some Golden types too, if nothing else but to add a bit of colour to the salad bowl. The big thing we've noticed this year with the raised beds is just how much the soil level has sunk - the worms must be working hard! We'll have to replenish the stocks before next growing season! At the back of the bed we also have some seed grown Onions(v.Bedfordshire Champion). I want to grow a larger crop of these next year at the plot, as opposed to the "sets" which never seem to really perform. Note to self : Planning!


Having run out of room (again!) in the raised beds, we have these 3 sturdy Aubergine plants in a nice sheltered spot in the garden. I do like growbags, they offer that extra space just when you need it! And as a bonus, the spent soil can be added to the plot later in the year.


Part of the reason for running out of room this year is that we've given one large bed up to grow our own Asparagus(v.Jersey Knight). These 1 year old crowns are all doing well, 9 out of 10 that were planted are flourishing. Sadly, so too are the weeds, and vie for constant attention. We're getting there though, and maybe next year we'll be able to harvest a small crop ?

So, as you can see, we've not been idle here at Reads Retreat. Always lots going on! We'll try and post more regular updates as the season progresses!


We hope you are all enjoying your plots and veg growing, and we look forward to welcoming you back soon to Reads Retreat.

Take care all,

TTFN.

It's seed sowing time - Yippee !

Welcome back once again to Reads Retreat, our blogging diary of all things edible and colourful on our home plot. Over the last couple of months we've been busying ourselves getting ready for the growing season, and as if by magic, it's arrived. This week we finally got round to sorting the seed storage out! As we now have an allotment, as well as our home plot we have split the seeds accordingly into 2 separate containers. Wifey has hers and hubby has his !

Wifey got the home plot veg started this week, planting up the following seeds:

• Sweet Pepper (v. Sweet Banana)
• Broad Leaved Sage (v. Salvia officinallis)
• Courgette (v. Zuchini Yellow)
• Beetroot (v. Golden Detroit)
• Beetroot (v. Boltardy)
• Beetroot (v. Chioggia)
• Courgette (v. All Green Bush)
• Carrot (v. Purple Haze Hybrid)
• Carrot (v. Flyaway F1)
• Dwarf French Bean (v. ? Yellow)
• Aubergine Organic (v. Black Beauty)
• Basil (v. Sweet Genovese)
• Basil (v. Dark Opal)
• Sweetcorn (v. Swift Early)
• Chilli Pepper (v. Anaheim)

Some of these e.g. the Beetroot, were planted directly in the soil in the raised beds, while some of the smaller seeded varieties are in modules / small pots in our conservatory. The one's planted in the Raised beds are now protected from unwelcome visitors with this mesh covered frame that I made from an old garden gate. The Chicken wire is cheap enough from Wilkinson's and was fairly easy to knock up. This should keep the pesky cats of the soil. I get really annoyed to keep finding cat poo from the neighbours pets, and take great delight in returning it to the rightful owners, under the cover of darkness! Dog owners are more responsible, but why should the cat lovers get away with it?



The Asparagus bed that was planted recently is also showing good signs. Only this morning we spotted some miniature spears (about half a centimetre tall) here and there on the bed. I've got high hopes for this bed, but appreciate that we won't be able to harvest any produce until at least next summer. It's a long term investment, but it should be worth waiting for. My only concerns are the location of the compost bin and the water butt, which have to be moved to let more direct sunshine onto the bed. I'll have to put my thinking cap on !




Also, we have planted our fruit bushes in the patio border bed. These were a wedding gift (via Garden centre vouchers) from Huw and Jane. The Tayberry on the left is already putting on good growth, and I've added a couple canes to support the growth. I will probably attach some wires to the fence panel to provide further support, assuming it grows of course! The second one is a Gooseberry, which is fairly thriving. There's already an abundance of foliage, and loads of buds, and I hope this bush will bear loads of fruit.

The Rhubarb (v. Timperley Early) that is now in it's second full year is growing at a tremendous rate. Over the last few months all I have done is top dress the crown with fresh compost every now and again, and it seems to have done the trick. I resisted the urge to "force" the growth, and it already looks like we will be rewarded for not doing so.
Looking forward to all those pies and crumbles already! Dont forget my list of cookery sites, plenty of inspiring ideas to be found there!


The Raspberry canes are also doing well. The 3 newer ones (v. Polka) are just starting to show some buds. I wasn't sure whether to cut these to ground level or not, so may have to research these a little more. The other unknown variety is going great guns and is full of buds and new leaf growth.
I can almost taste the jam!



As you can see, we have been busy! There's still loads to do, both here and at the allotment, but we ARE making progress!

Join us again soon for more updates.

Till then, enjoy your gardens. Please leave your comments!!

TTFN

Olympics - What are they ? 10.08.08

Welcome back to Reads Retreat - our diary blog about growing your / our own veg in Raised Beds.
No time to sit and watch the telly here at Reads Retreat, far too much to do in the garden and home! As reported a few days ago, these Turnip seeds that were planted straight into the raised beds last weekend, germinated with just 3 days! This picture taken this morning shows that they continue to grow at a fast rate. The planting lines are clearly visible thanks to my method of using a cane to mark out the sowing drill. This coupled with the warm weather and plentiful rainfall has given these plants a great start. Very soon i will have to start thinning them out. I hardly used any of the seeds, compared to the estimated contents on the pack - 1500 - and only £1.09. At a later date I'll explain how I store any surplus seed, which despite claims on the packs, last for ages.

At the same time as I planted the Turnip's, I also planted some Chard, which you can just see emerging around the edge of the bed. These took longer to germinate as I expected, as the seeds are much larger. You can speed up germination of large seeds by soaking before planting out.

My Courgette plants seem to be recovering well. The problem was I think created by me, over watering ? The plants seemed to be dying off, and the leaves didn't look too healthy. This was followed by heavy and prolonged rainfall which compounded the problem. Therefore, I just "neglected" the plants for a few days, and one of them has revived itself, and is bearing fruit again, and they're growing quickly too. Cant wait to harvest more from this plant. I read that I should expect about a dozen from each plant, and so far we've had about half a dozen, so looking forward to a few more yet ! We'll see. Might grow some yellow varieties next year ?

My Raspberry root that i purchased from Wilko's, is finally starting to add some growth. Like the Blackcurrant that I purchased at the same time, they were both planted in shallow soil in pots to get them established. Hopefully they will continue to form a good root base so that I can plant them into their growing positions late autumn / early winter. I must admit that despite the price of a couple of pounds each, I am dissapointed with how badly / slowly they have grown. I may attempt some cuttings if i'm feeling confident, as i dont want to keep on spending when funds are so tight elsewhere. It would be nice to get some from from the plants this year. Maybe we will, we'll have to wait and see!

It's a very similar story with the Gooseberry bush. Purchased from the same place, it's taken an absolute age to get this far! I have fed and watered it consistently, but still the growth is slow. I'm really keen to get this going; my grandfather - i remember - grew these in his garden at Clacton, and I would love to do the same here. I maybe will buy some better stock for planting out next year. After all, you get what you pay for , and not much more.


And now the good news ! Look at these 2 towers of lush green foliage. The lighter green ( as you may have guessed ) is the runner beans. These have been grown year on year from seeds saved by Grandad. I was down to 5 seeds this year, as they just didn't want to germinate. Now though they have recovered well. We've had a few small picking's, and are looking forward to many more! The darker green is the climbing French Beans (v.Blue Lake). Again, these seemed to take ages to get going, then suddenly they sprang into action. We've had several picking from this too, harvesting the bean pods at about 4" long. They taste delish, and will deff be grown again here at Reads Retreat. To the left of the pic is my clump of Toms (v. Moneymaker) which are also doing well.

Another great and unexpected success this year have been my Chili Peppers (v.Cayenne). We've got them growing everywhere we can find space to put them, even in this hanging basket alongside Beetroot (v.Boltardy). There's plenty of nearly ready to pick Chili's already, and still more are forming. We've had less success with our sweet peppers, but we are persevering to see if we can get a crop.

That's about it for todays update, there's still loads more to tell you about, including a new project indoors, but sitting here typing is making my back ache, so please excuse me for now.


Take care all, get out into your gardens as the weather permits, and enjoy yourselves!

TTFN.