Our Darling Ruby Ann is 1 Year old today.
With lots of love
from
Daddy & Mummy.
Hugs & Kisses.
xx
With lots of love
from
Daddy & Mummy.
Hugs & Kisses.
xx
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
mmmmm Strawberries! 10.06.08
Okay, so we're not quite ready to supply Wimbledon, but I can assure you these little gems were delish. Well, one of them anyway!Secret squirrell got the other one!
These were harvested today from the hanging basket that i planted earlier in the year. The investment was well worth it, and we're looking forward to many more!
Thats all for now, take care.
TTFN.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Still catching up ! 08.06.08
Welcome back to Reads Retreat, my weekly guide to growing your own veg.
Gardening continues at a pace, and plenty to share with you this week.
The week has seen a couple of the crops start to harvest, the haul including Broad Beans and yet more Rhubarb.
The Broad Beans are slowly starting to succumb to the dreaded blackfly, it seems there is no way to avoid the pests. At least this year we're managing to take a crop, rather than binning the whole lot. I've been gently cutting back and destroying the most infected shoots, and regular nightly watering will now ; hopefully, let the plants put all their energies into crop production. The taste of these beauties is truly outstanding, but also truly yummy. Stealing a phrase from young Oliver - they are delish!
Rhubarb - amazing stuff. It seems no matter how quick you break the stems off, they just regrow with yet more vigour. Secret squirrel yet again amazed me with a delish Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble, topped with a tin of Tesco's finest "Value" custard - scrummmmmeeeeee.
Elsewhere on the plot:
My biggest reward this year on the plot has so far been my onion plot.
With trepidation I planted out my onion sets ( Stuttgarter Giant & Red Karmen ) when i hoped it was the right time. Along with these i planted my Leeks, and just for a bit of an experiment - I also grew some Bedfordshire Champion onions from seed; which with a bit of advice on propagation from "Steve" seem to be doing blooming well.
Don't know why i never grew onions before? I know they are not much to look at, take up time in the ground etc., but their astounding growth rate seemingly makes up for all the negatives I can think of.
So go on, give em a try.
Looking forward to Red Onion soup !
Regular readers (no pun intended ! ) at Reads Retreat, will know i planted my Garlic Fokyhama bulbs about a month before Christmas.
Well; as if the onions weren't enough to gloat about, take a look at these beauties. I tell you, some of the stems at ground level must be over an inch thick.
Therefore, I'm hoping for some mammoth and succulent bulbs sometime soon, to grace our menu's at home.
I've just given these a feed of my homebrew ( nettle tea) as the leaf tops are starting to go yellow. I want to promote the greenness as long as possible before harvest, to get the best growth i can.
All i need do now, is work out when to harvest them !
Last summer I grew my runner beans on a conventional cane system. I got a great yield and overall was very happy. Except..... access. I really struggled to get to the beans and as a result, several tasty pods went to seed. That wasn't too bad though, I shifted some 300 seeds on ebay!
This year though, I thought i would try my luck growing the plants up wigwams, in the hope i will get the same good crops - but find it easier to get to the pods for picking. Time of course, will tell, so you'll have to watch this space to see how i get on.
This year im also growing climbing french beans (v. Blue Lake) and I'll keep you posted on how well they do.
There's a little sun trap on the corner of our patio, which has now become an extension of the plot.
I've got 2 courgette plants in this little tub, and I'm hopeful they will do well here.
One was a "plant by post" from Secret Squirrel, whilst the other was a gift from Mum - thanks mum.
Cant wait to see how these do, as already they are sporting good growth and are budding up nicely.
This is my potted up tomato (v. Tomazing ) that secret squirrel got for me.
It's doing ok and is now being fed on a regular basis with liquid fertilizer. The flower heads are starting to form, and almost daily i am pinching out side shoots.
I've got my gardeners delight toms in the raised beds, and despite the best efforts of the local slimey population, they too are growing on well.
Thats about it for now on the gardening front. Hope to get another update to you all soon.
Take care all and enjoy your gardens. Don't forget to let me know how you are getting on with your gardens ?
TTFN
Gardening continues at a pace, and plenty to share with you this week.
The week has seen a couple of the crops start to harvest, the haul including Broad Beans and yet more Rhubarb.
The Broad Beans are slowly starting to succumb to the dreaded blackfly, it seems there is no way to avoid the pests. At least this year we're managing to take a crop, rather than binning the whole lot. I've been gently cutting back and destroying the most infected shoots, and regular nightly watering will now ; hopefully, let the plants put all their energies into crop production. The taste of these beauties is truly outstanding, but also truly yummy. Stealing a phrase from young Oliver - they are delish!
Rhubarb - amazing stuff. It seems no matter how quick you break the stems off, they just regrow with yet more vigour. Secret squirrel yet again amazed me with a delish Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble, topped with a tin of Tesco's finest "Value" custard - scrummmmmeeeeee.
Elsewhere on the plot:
My biggest reward this year on the plot has so far been my onion plot.
With trepidation I planted out my onion sets ( Stuttgarter Giant & Red Karmen ) when i hoped it was the right time. Along with these i planted my Leeks, and just for a bit of an experiment - I also grew some Bedfordshire Champion onions from seed; which with a bit of advice on propagation from "Steve" seem to be doing blooming well.
Don't know why i never grew onions before? I know they are not much to look at, take up time in the ground etc., but their astounding growth rate seemingly makes up for all the negatives I can think of.
So go on, give em a try.
Looking forward to Red Onion soup !
Regular readers (no pun intended ! ) at Reads Retreat, will know i planted my Garlic Fokyhama bulbs about a month before Christmas.Well; as if the onions weren't enough to gloat about, take a look at these beauties. I tell you, some of the stems at ground level must be over an inch thick.
Therefore, I'm hoping for some mammoth and succulent bulbs sometime soon, to grace our menu's at home.
I've just given these a feed of my homebrew ( nettle tea) as the leaf tops are starting to go yellow. I want to promote the greenness as long as possible before harvest, to get the best growth i can.
All i need do now, is work out when to harvest them !
Last summer I grew my runner beans on a conventional cane system. I got a great yield and overall was very happy. Except..... access. I really struggled to get to the beans and as a result, several tasty pods went to seed. That wasn't too bad though, I shifted some 300 seeds on ebay!This year though, I thought i would try my luck growing the plants up wigwams, in the hope i will get the same good crops - but find it easier to get to the pods for picking. Time of course, will tell, so you'll have to watch this space to see how i get on.
This year im also growing climbing french beans (v. Blue Lake) and I'll keep you posted on how well they do.
There's a little sun trap on the corner of our patio, which has now become an extension of the plot.I've got 2 courgette plants in this little tub, and I'm hopeful they will do well here.
One was a "plant by post" from Secret Squirrel, whilst the other was a gift from Mum - thanks mum.
Cant wait to see how these do, as already they are sporting good growth and are budding up nicely.
This is my potted up tomato (v. Tomazing ) that secret squirrel got for me.It's doing ok and is now being fed on a regular basis with liquid fertilizer. The flower heads are starting to form, and almost daily i am pinching out side shoots.
I've got my gardeners delight toms in the raised beds, and despite the best efforts of the local slimey population, they too are growing on well.
Thats about it for now on the gardening front. Hope to get another update to you all soon.
Take care all and enjoy your gardens. Don't forget to let me know how you are getting on with your gardens ?
TTFN
Sunday, 1 June 2008
All changed in 2 weeks! 01.06.08
Welcome back to Reads Retreat, my guide to growing your own veg in raised beds.
Sorry for the prolonged absence, but hope now to get back to my weekly ( maybe more ? ) updates.
As the title states, there's been a lot of changes, not only in the garden, but also we now have another mobile family member: Our darling daughter walked unaided yesterday right across the living room. What a great moment, a memory to treasure forever. Isn't life great !
Down on the plot:
The spuds in the tubs are fairly flourishing, with tremendous growth all around - so much so that its getting difficult to actually see the containers.
We had an exploratory dig in one container last week, just to see how things were going. There were a large amount of new pots , but they were sadly far too small to harvest. Really need to now sit back and let them do their stuff, remembering to provide plenty of water along the way.
Just outside the patio door, there's more spuds in the brick container that was home last year to my tomatoes.
There's also a couple of other pots:
2 contain my Bay Leaf plants. These were bought for £1.50 each earlier in the year. They were potbound but are now doing well in fresh compost and larger pots. Has anyone used these as hedging before ? There's also a few pots of herbs that Sammie planted. All doing fine.
I've started transferring my toms outside, in containers, to their final growing positions. The larger pot is home to the "Tomazing" variety that secret squirrel brought for me, whilst the other is "Gardeners Delight" , grown from seed earlier this year.
Sadly, a large number of toms that i grew from seed are starting to go to waste, lack of time meaning they are pot bound and wilting. I will try and plant out as many as possible over the coming weeks and salvage what i can.
One of the 2 gooseberry bushes that i got from Wilkinsons has finally taken root and started to grow on well. Plenty of new leaf growth is an encouraging site, but i think it will be a while before i can take a harvest from here.
Sadly, the other bush that I planted has not done anything at all. It's fair to say that it is adead gooseberry - i.e. it is no more !
This is unfortunate as this is the green variety that i really hoped would do well.
Hey ho, onwards and upwards.
On a more successful note, my strawberries in the hanging basket are doing great.
The only problem of note is that one of the fruits turned mouldy and had to be discarded. I was thinking of putting a layer of straw under the fruit to help keep them dry / off the soil.
Is that a good idea ?
Let me know folks - I've not grown these before !
The Broad Beans (v. Bunyard Exhibition ) are living up to their name, putting on a fine show of flowers.
Lower down the stems the pods are already forming, and although we did "nick" a few last week for the table ( delish) that are still a way off being ready to fully harvest.
Isn't it funny when kids tell you they dont like something, even when they've never tried them!
I guess we'll have to get creative on the culinary front, and hide them under the mash.
The pods we ate only contained tiny beans, but they tasted gorgeous - i would say that though, i'm biased.
Still loads to tell you about, and I'll update this posting a bit later, as Im off now to the outlaws for dinner!
TTFN
Sorry for the prolonged absence, but hope now to get back to my weekly ( maybe more ? ) updates.
As the title states, there's been a lot of changes, not only in the garden, but also we now have another mobile family member: Our darling daughter walked unaided yesterday right across the living room. What a great moment, a memory to treasure forever. Isn't life great !
Down on the plot:
The spuds in the tubs are fairly flourishing, with tremendous growth all around - so much so that its getting difficult to actually see the containers.
We had an exploratory dig in one container last week, just to see how things were going. There were a large amount of new pots , but they were sadly far too small to harvest. Really need to now sit back and let them do their stuff, remembering to provide plenty of water along the way.
Just outside the patio door, there's more spuds in the brick container that was home last year to my tomatoes.There's also a couple of other pots:
2 contain my Bay Leaf plants. These were bought for £1.50 each earlier in the year. They were potbound but are now doing well in fresh compost and larger pots. Has anyone used these as hedging before ? There's also a few pots of herbs that Sammie planted. All doing fine.
I've started transferring my toms outside, in containers, to their final growing positions. The larger pot is home to the "Tomazing" variety that secret squirrel brought for me, whilst the other is "Gardeners Delight" , grown from seed earlier this year.Sadly, a large number of toms that i grew from seed are starting to go to waste, lack of time meaning they are pot bound and wilting. I will try and plant out as many as possible over the coming weeks and salvage what i can.
One of the 2 gooseberry bushes that i got from Wilkinsons has finally taken root and started to grow on well. Plenty of new leaf growth is an encouraging site, but i think it will be a while before i can take a harvest from here.Sadly, the other bush that I planted has not done anything at all. It's fair to say that it is adead gooseberry - i.e. it is no more !
This is unfortunate as this is the green variety that i really hoped would do well.
Hey ho, onwards and upwards.
On a more successful note, my strawberries in the hanging basket are doing great.The only problem of note is that one of the fruits turned mouldy and had to be discarded. I was thinking of putting a layer of straw under the fruit to help keep them dry / off the soil.
Is that a good idea ?
Let me know folks - I've not grown these before !
The Broad Beans (v. Bunyard Exhibition ) are living up to their name, putting on a fine show of flowers.Lower down the stems the pods are already forming, and although we did "nick" a few last week for the table ( delish) that are still a way off being ready to fully harvest.
Isn't it funny when kids tell you they dont like something, even when they've never tried them!
I guess we'll have to get creative on the culinary front, and hide them under the mash.
The pods we ate only contained tiny beans, but they tasted gorgeous - i would say that though, i'm biased.
Still loads to tell you about, and I'll update this posting a bit later, as Im off now to the outlaws for dinner!
TTFN
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Spuds Spuds Spuds 11.05.08
Welcome to the Reads Retreat weekly update on Growing your own veg in Raised Beds.
It's been a great week, the weather has been superb, with temperatures reaching 80F and cooling at night sufficiently to enable restful sleep.
So much is happen
ing on the plot, I'll start with the .....
Spuds ! This pic is one of many taken early this morning whilst wandering around the plot. My bright orange buckets are overflowing with fresh green foliage from my recently planted first early (v. Aaron Pilot) new spuds.
The 2 buckets to the rear were planted about 4 weeks ago, with the 2 buckets in the foreground having only been planted 2 weeks ago. It seems there is measurable growth each morning, constantly trying to hide the fabulous tasty spuds that are growing beneath. The big green tub has also been planted with first earlies - and i'm waiting patiently for signs of growth here.
The more observant of you will notice the bucket in the foreground is in fact a Blackcurrant, one of my cheap buys from wilko's, planted here to get established prior to planting into its final growing position, which as yet is not decided upon!
Whilst we're on the theme of whats in pots, here we have a couple of tomato plants (v.Gardeners Delight) that i've potted on outside, attempting to get an early crop. With the weather as it is, it shouldn't take to long for these plants to get established.
The 2 pots at the back are home to Peach tree's, grown from seed by my father in law. Not sure how old these are, but this is the 2nd year i've had them. Although they die right back over the winter , they are now growing really well. Not sure if they will fruit for a few years, but fun growing!
There's also a small pot of cuttings ( Candytuft), donated by Arthur next door. These will be great additions the the borders if they grow on well. I'm not usually one for growing flowers, or indeed taking cuttings, but it seems a great way to go, saving money etc. .
Somewhat forgotten about; but hopefully saved in time are my Basil (v. Dark Opal) plants. These were growing in the conservatory, where despite best intentions, i had forgotten to plant them on. They're a bit leggy, but have been planted deep and transferred outside to grow on. Already they are showing good signs of recovery. I plan to plant these alongside my tomato plants later in the year, to ward off the bugs that are so attracted to the toms.
While on the pot theme, here's a snapshot of my Bonsai, well - trees in pots ! I started out with good intention, but mostly these are being left to their own devices. By planting each one in larger pots, i'm hoping to increase the main stem (trunk) diameter, whilst restricting their height. This is working well, and in a couple of years, i should be able to start the Bonsai process off a bit better, namely trimming roots and leaves, and potting into smaller pots. When i first read up on Bonsai, i was struck with what the chineese call "the michi" i.e. its not the end product that is so desired, but how you get to the end point. It's a great adage, and is reflected throughout my gardening.
Another quick look at my spuds. These were planted as seed last summer in this small raised bed, and i hoped to grow them for xmas. Again, forgotten about over winter, they are now growing on really well, and will hopefully deliver some lovely spuds.
Last weeks update contained a pic similar to this one of my onion bed. Already you can clearly see how well the plants have progressed in just 7 days. The only issues here are that the topsoil is drying out really quickly, and the weeds are growing very very fast. I'll need to weed this bed on a regular basis to stay on top of them, otherwise they will be competing for moisture with my crop. If this hot spell continues for much longer ( not usually heard of in the UK ) then i will have to add another layer of mulch - for which i will probably use the contents of a Tunstall growbag. This selection is based on me knowing that these growbags have very fine content, its easy to smooth around existing plants, and does not need to be sieved.
The Chives in the raised bed are now into flower, and I'm looking forward to adding these flowers to the next salad we do. Master Oliver swears by em, so we will have to give them a try. I'll let you know what - if anything - they taste like!
We took our first main harvest of Rhubarb (v. Timperly Early ) in the week, and enjoyed a really tasty crumble and custard! However , as you can clearly see, there is loads more to come. With daily watering its hard to see where we cropped, as there is plenty of new growth. I really love having this in the garden, and cant recommend it enough as a great addition to your plot. The price you pay in the shops is astronomical in comparison, and tastes nothing like the home grown fruit.
As well as all the activity outside, I'm continuing with raising plants from seed in the conservatory. This week I planted more Runner Bean seeds (my first seed sowing was not very productive) and also planted some climbing french beans (v. Blue Lake ) - the seeds of which always remind me of tic tac's! Then there's a tray of Chard (v. Bright Lights) which are used in 2 ways - culinary in salads (leaves ) an steamed (stems) and also to add colour around the otherwise green plot. My sowings of salad leaves - mixed varieties are growing on well, and will be moved outside later today.
The plants i received in the post last week have all been potted on into 4" pots, and are putting on great growth. A sixth plant has been added to the drip tray - a present from mum who visited in the week. So now i have 2 courgette plants !
Very soon i envisage that these will all be planted out into final growing positions. All i need to do is find / create some more space.
Not a simple task !
Thats all for now, I'll be back later to finish this off.
TTFN!
It's been a great week, the weather has been superb, with temperatures reaching 80F and cooling at night sufficiently to enable restful sleep.
So much is happen
ing on the plot, I'll start with the .....Spuds ! This pic is one of many taken early this morning whilst wandering around the plot. My bright orange buckets are overflowing with fresh green foliage from my recently planted first early (v. Aaron Pilot) new spuds.
The 2 buckets to the rear were planted about 4 weeks ago, with the 2 buckets in the foreground having only been planted 2 weeks ago. It seems there is measurable growth each morning, constantly trying to hide the fabulous tasty spuds that are growing beneath. The big green tub has also been planted with first earlies - and i'm waiting patiently for signs of growth here.
The more observant of you will notice the bucket in the foreground is in fact a Blackcurrant, one of my cheap buys from wilko's, planted here to get established prior to planting into its final growing position, which as yet is not decided upon!
Whilst we're on the theme of whats in pots, here we have a couple of tomato plants (v.Gardeners Delight) that i've potted on outside, attempting to get an early crop. With the weather as it is, it shouldn't take to long for these plants to get established.The 2 pots at the back are home to Peach tree's, grown from seed by my father in law. Not sure how old these are, but this is the 2nd year i've had them. Although they die right back over the winter , they are now growing really well. Not sure if they will fruit for a few years, but fun growing!
There's also a small pot of cuttings ( Candytuft), donated by Arthur next door. These will be great additions the the borders if they grow on well. I'm not usually one for growing flowers, or indeed taking cuttings, but it seems a great way to go, saving money etc. .
Somewhat forgotten about; but hopefully saved in time are my Basil (v. Dark Opal) plants. These were growing in the conservatory, where despite best intentions, i had forgotten to plant them on. They're a bit leggy, but have been planted deep and transferred outside to grow on. Already they are showing good signs of recovery. I plan to plant these alongside my tomato plants later in the year, to ward off the bugs that are so attracted to the toms.
While on the pot theme, here's a snapshot of my Bonsai, well - trees in pots ! I started out with good intention, but mostly these are being left to their own devices. By planting each one in larger pots, i'm hoping to increase the main stem (trunk) diameter, whilst restricting their height. This is working well, and in a couple of years, i should be able to start the Bonsai process off a bit better, namely trimming roots and leaves, and potting into smaller pots. When i first read up on Bonsai, i was struck with what the chineese call "the michi" i.e. its not the end product that is so desired, but how you get to the end point. It's a great adage, and is reflected throughout my gardening.
Another quick look at my spuds. These were planted as seed last summer in this small raised bed, and i hoped to grow them for xmas. Again, forgotten about over winter, they are now growing on really well, and will hopefully deliver some lovely spuds.
Last weeks update contained a pic similar to this one of my onion bed. Already you can clearly see how well the plants have progressed in just 7 days. The only issues here are that the topsoil is drying out really quickly, and the weeds are growing very very fast. I'll need to weed this bed on a regular basis to stay on top of them, otherwise they will be competing for moisture with my crop. If this hot spell continues for much longer ( not usually heard of in the UK ) then i will have to add another layer of mulch - for which i will probably use the contents of a Tunstall growbag. This selection is based on me knowing that these growbags have very fine content, its easy to smooth around existing plants, and does not need to be sieved.
The Chives in the raised bed are now into flower, and I'm looking forward to adding these flowers to the next salad we do. Master Oliver swears by em, so we will have to give them a try. I'll let you know what - if anything - they taste like!
We took our first main harvest of Rhubarb (v. Timperly Early ) in the week, and enjoyed a really tasty crumble and custard! However , as you can clearly see, there is loads more to come. With daily watering its hard to see where we cropped, as there is plenty of new growth. I really love having this in the garden, and cant recommend it enough as a great addition to your plot. The price you pay in the shops is astronomical in comparison, and tastes nothing like the home grown fruit.As well as all the activity outside, I'm continuing with raising plants from seed in the conservatory. This week I planted more Runner Bean seeds (my first seed sowing was not very productive) and also planted some climbing french beans (v. Blue Lake ) - the seeds of which always remind me of tic tac's! Then there's a tray of Chard (v. Bright Lights) which are used in 2 ways - culinary in salads (leaves ) an steamed (stems) and also to add colour around the otherwise green plot. My sowings of salad leaves - mixed varieties are growing on well, and will be moved outside later today.
The plants i received in the post last week have all been potted on into 4" pots, and are putting on great growth. A sixth plant has been added to the drip tray - a present from mum who visited in the week. So now i have 2 courgette plants !Very soon i envisage that these will all be planted out into final growing positions. All i need to do is find / create some more space.
Not a simple task !
Thats all for now, I'll be back later to finish this off.
TTFN!
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