Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi all I thought that I ought to get involved again, I won't bore you all with 'not been her cos my appendix burst' stuff, but life been a bit busy and winter too grim to talk about plot stuff. But hey the sun came out and the ground is drying nicely/

I have been busy over the winter redesigning my plot to two long, raised beds and a central grass sunken path, which hopefully won't flood on a fairly well drained site.....

Now it is spring I have got my spuds set out to chit in the cold greenhouse. And have borrowed the office windowsills for tomato plants which are now tall (do Roma varieties go away really quick and tall?)

I have also sewn carrots in guttering, peas and parsnips in paper pots and some lettuce and summer cabbage in paper pots too. (Yes I got a paper pot maker for Christmas and have to say right now - I wouldn't be without it). I might try to get a friend with a lathe to make me a version for large pots.

I am digging, forking and hoeing too, thinking about where to site my bean trench for this year and generally busy and optimistic about the spring which here in Somerset is imminent.

So as I always ask..........what are you up too folks?

CoMpO

Hi Compo, I just can't get going this year
I've sown a few toms and chillis early peas and sweet peas but it keeps getting sooo cold.
Even my lovely frogs have spawned only to have it frozen will the taddies survive ?Think I might have a duvet day tommorrow

Well I've been knitting myself a long cardigan and popping outside occassionally.

I am going to rejig some borders in the garden this year too.

We did have a go at growing peas in guttering but had a devil of a job sliding it out so then we planted in small pots but for some reason the peas planted straight in the ground grow much healthier.

Hi Compo, my greenhouse leans to the south wall of our bungalow, so started some hardy stuff like you, waiting till it warms a bit for the tender stuff.
Gallotments, the way the weather is going perhaps after the cardigan, some leggings, mittens and a bobble hat....LOL

Mmm - made the hat last year. But I think legging would be itchy.

Hi Compo, You sound very busy.

I've just come back from bagging up ten compost bags of well-rotted horse manure. It is excellent stuff, the farmer lets the heap rot down in the field and then tips it in a big pile next to the road for everyone to help themselves.

I've still got some digging to finish and am pruning things back and tidying the borders etc as a rest from digging.

Yesterday I potted up all the tomato and aubergine seedlings so the propagators are looking rather full already as its too cold to have them in the open greenhouse yet.

Might go for a lie down now to recover from the weight-lifting.

Well, on Sunday I had a frenzy of seed sowing down the lottie. Planted at lease 20 seed trays, plus 30 pots that i've put into unheated propogators. Then I've covered all my babies over with 6 layers of horticultural fleece to keep them all snuggly warm. Just hope they survive but I really couldn't wait any longer. I get to March, so I have to sow

It is slowly happening, I put some peas in paper pots a few weeks back, the shoots were through the bottom of the paper pots by several inches so I planted them out. My onion sets have green shoots on and everything I sewed about three / four weeks ago is going away in the greenhouse.

It feels like spring has sprung, my plot is 3/4 dug, and today we had a small overwintering cauliflower, spring greens and purple sprouting for sunday roast, along with a nice lamb mince shepherds pie!! Very spring like eh?

It feels like all stations go and all hands to the pumps on the lottie if I want to get everything going when it needs to, what I am growing to try more of this year is successional sowing, something I have not yet mastered completely.

What have you all been up too?

CoMpO

I'm with you Lizzie, I get to March and that is it. I have sown about 40 sweet peas, various flowers, caulies, cabbages, broad beans in those root trainers which I really love, aubergines (two of which I lost to damping off) cucumber, (never grown these before last year and did really well) basil, which my oh kicked over in the shed because I had put them on the floor before carrying them down to my PT so I need to plant some more tomorrow.

My OH has cleared three of our beds ready for planting, last year I put half my onions in pots to start them off and half went straight into the ground. The ones in pots suffered and quite a few went to seed. I am not bothering with that this year. In a couple of weeks I am going to plant them straight into the ground which has been covered with black plastic for a few weeks.

I need to do plenty of sweet peas this year as I am growing for me and my MIL I did really well with them last year. My early sowing of sweet peas have gone rather leggy.

With snow promised on Wednesday I am not planting anything in the ground yet. Next weekend we will get our potatoes in.

We are off on holiday in five weeks to Italy so I need to be careful not to get carried away with the see d sowing as I hate to leave too much watering for my friend in the PT.

I am going to buy my tomato plants this year as in the last three years we have had blight. This year I am having one last chance and if I still dont get any I will continue to buy my toms from the supermarket.

Hi Compo

Interestingly my Roma toms have gone mad as well. I have
them in polystyrene cups and they are about 1 1/2 times
this height again with thick stems. All the others are about
4 inches or so and sown at the same time.
I am rather chuffed with them and hoping for a good crop -
blight permitting. (Oops am I the first one to mention this
dirty word this year?)

Westi

Oh dear, reading all your activity, I'm confused . . . ? But I'm trying, toms have only been sown for just over a week, need pricking out to pots . . . have to wait till the weekend! Everything that I have sown, seems to have come on so quick on the table in the back room, radiator, full light patio door etc.

We should be OK weather wise in Suffolk now I would have thought for me to use the greenhouse??? First year growing from seed . . . first year doing anything other than a bit of salad and a few bought tomato and bean plants!!!

Looks like, get the rest planted this weekend, stand back, watch and learn . . .

CJS

Hi all,
I'm digging, digging digging!!! Plot nearly dug over, sorted trench for peas with well rotted manure. I've sown some lettuce, radish, sweet peas, peas and broad bens which are all upin the PT. I'm trying growing onions from seed this year, I'll let you know if there is any disasters!! I got treated to an adjustable temp propagtor this year so just got the chilli and toms going in there.

Catherine, you aren't far from me. For tomato plants have you tried Gordon Riggs in Todmorden. They have loads of varieties and are very good plants.

I've been doing some guerrilla gardening. I noticed I had acquired more self seeded little primrose plants in my border than I could accommodate, so I've been digging up the surplus and planting them in the earth alongside one of our local footpaths. No doubt they'll be overwhelmed by nettles as the season advances but hopefully they will brighten the area in early spring in future years once they spread.

My spring progress, this year, has involved potting up my garden and lottie ready for a move to Bedforshire (in five weeks time). I, sadly, had to let my tomato and aubergine seedlings go as I have dismantled the greenhouse ready for the move.

I'm hoping to hit the ground running by starting some easy stuff off in pots now - things like courgettes, carrots etc

Greenhouse full of tomatoes (under a mini greenhouse). Paraffin heater at night and on cold days (2C today).

Plus flowers, peppers, three giant Russian strawberries in flower, a fig , 5 lavender plants... and a house window with more.

Garden dug, beds mulched, weeded and all prepared for Spring in dry early March when it was warmer, Trees pruned last year .

Only wood to be treated and lawn fed.. Then grass cutting - hopefully not like last year when my next door neighbour had a heart attack (well now) and I cut his lawn as well as ours. That makes 1/4 acre plus 1/4 acre grass...Hard work...