Kitchen Garden Forum

You're doing a brilliant job, Pa Snip, on both accounts....

Glad we got the lawn cut as the rain plummeted down later. I'm hoping it will dry out enough with some morning sunshine to dig out a large but slowly decaying sage bush and replant a replacement and to plant out some other replacement herbs which didn't survive the winter frosts. I love having fresh herbs to use in salads and garnishes.

By the way, small young blackcurrant leaves add an interesting favour to mixed salads. For some reason the redcurrant and whitecurrant leaves don't have the same effect.

Only a gentle shower so far. First Cuckoo this morning.

Caught up some more of the front garden yesterday, bit of rain overnight but thankfully just a freshening shower.

The Early Onward Peas are coming through. Mum has been shelling the Radeo Pea seed that we collected last year but never got sorted and bagged....I'll see if I can get them sown this afternoon.

At work everything is now moving so fast.! Flower seedlings have now progressed well and being pricked out. The Swift Sweetcorn was up in 3 days...never ceases to amaze me when it is such shriveled seed when it comes out the seed packet.

Clive.

Planted the seed guardian bean seeds - just have to make sure they get 100% attention. And Garden Organic have also sent me my 'experiment seeds' for this year, to grow on. Edible lupins. Thought it would just be a few but they've sent me 120 seeds of Haags Blue...and 60 seeds of Dieta. Crikey - needing a field now!

It was 19 degrees on lottie today which was lovely to work in. I cleared the winter brassica beds as most of them were bolting but I have a row of cauliflowers behaving themselves and a few cabbages. The leeks are still standing nicely as well. Got a huge harvest off the bits I could salvage of the kale, PSB & chard so a pretty fruitful day.
On the way home we hit a thick sea mist rolling in & immediately the temp crashed to 12 degrees, it brightening up again outside so could sneak up again.

Planted 72 mixed hardy annual seedlings on the allotment yesterday, all chosen to attract insects. It's a strip about 4'x15' which has very stony soil, so for the last few years we have just used it as a 'nectar bar' and cutting bed. And it looks very attractive in summer!
Sweet and chilli peppers are coming on a treat in the greenhouse, as are the second lot of broad beans. The first lot of broad beans (de Monica) and peas (Hurst Greenshaft) are growing well outside, all protected against marauding house sparrows. Summer brassica seedlings have spent the last few days and nights outside and will soon be planted. Must now sow the winter brassicas. It's all go from now on ......
Swallows and blackcap have arrived.

Ever since we got the plot my wife has taken care of the flower beds while I work on the vegetables it's been like this for quite a few years, now with my wife struggling with the results of a broken hip as well as the rest of her recent problems I'm having to do everything ,now I'm not complaining but I know very little about flowers and shrubs what's more I'm not that interested in them, there are certain flowers I like but my wife had the borders perfect everything was colour coordinated with different flowers changing the colour as you moved up and down the borders but done gradually ,it's going to be a whole lot different this year with sweet William all over yes they are my favourite

The garlic has shot up really fast, and the peonies, which were not visible 3 weeks ago are now nearly 2 foot high with lots of flower buds!

Well, if the Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to another boy on St.George's day, she's missed the boat as they already have a George but they could always go for Harry!.
Years ago I occasionally used to see a few gentlemen wearing a rosebud in their lapels on St. George's Day but not now, and few people seem to fly the red and white cross flag either. As a nation we seem to be losing our identity, apart from international football matches !

The cuckoo is back!

Let's welcome paulw60 to the forum by, if you genuinely know owt about it, answering his question about spent hops & yeast.

Misty BTW hasn't posted anything yet, the name just caught a punsters eye.

peter wrote:Misty BTW hasn't posted anything yet, the name just caught a punsters eye.

Peter, I welcomed Misty as I have known that person since 2000 and as very much a novice veg gardener I suggested Misty might care to join us here.
Hopefully we will see some posts but I have a feeling there might be some hesitancy .