Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Every opportunity
The sun is shining brightly and the evenings are longer and longer. While Smallest One was at music last night I popped down the lottie and in 45vminutes got a surprising amount of work done! Firstly I hoed and weeded the garlic bed, and scattered a few grains of fertiliser pellets, watering them in. The crop is looking marvellous, there are over 30 plants growing and all the shallots too have sprouted. There are less onions in this year than usual but I have plenty of other things to plant in their place!
Next, I watered the seedlings and young spring plants as it is so warm.
Then I attacked the flower bed where there is a rose bush, the lavender, some spring bulbs (narcissus) and the young artichokes. I took away the tiles that keep the side of the plot from eroding away (!), rebutted all the soil to a nice neat edge, pulled out all the bind weed I could see, and weeded thoroughly,pulling out lots of scrappy looking weeds and a few bits of plantain. There was also a fair bit of honeywort which self seeds each year. This year it is specially close to the edge and on the path so I shifted those plants around, back up properly into the bed and watered them in. There are plenty of bare patches so I will be sowing some blue nigella there later in the week, and I also have seeds of zinneas and marigolds that can go in.
I just had time to water the artichokes, tidy up the weed pile and put the tools away and it was time to go home. But time well spent!!!!
Next, I watered the seedlings and young spring plants as it is so warm.
Then I attacked the flower bed where there is a rose bush, the lavender, some spring bulbs (narcissus) and the young artichokes. I took away the tiles that keep the side of the plot from eroding away (!), rebutted all the soil to a nice neat edge, pulled out all the bind weed I could see, and weeded thoroughly,pulling out lots of scrappy looking weeds and a few bits of plantain. There was also a fair bit of honeywort which self seeds each year. This year it is specially close to the edge and on the path so I shifted those plants around, back up properly into the bed and watered them in. There are plenty of bare patches so I will be sowing some blue nigella there later in the week, and I also have seeds of zinneas and marigolds that can go in.
I just had time to water the artichokes, tidy up the weed pile and put the tools away and it was time to go home. But time well spent!!!!
Labels: flowers, garlic, spring
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
A quickie
A friend kindly gave me some hollyhocks from her garden, in a little tub, so I raced down after work to plant them. There was a beautiful red sunset, gorgeous. After seeing to the hollyhocks, which I have put in the herb bed for want of a better place (at least I could attach them to the wall of the shed), I also sowed some sweet peas and cloched them, sowed another row of Early Onward peas (I will put the Alderman tall peas in this weekend as I need to hammer in the stakes for those) and some more radish. The first lot are coming on well as it has been rainy and cool, they are snug under their fleece and growing nicely. The turnips beside them have also germinated very well - can you transplant turnip????
And to top it off it was the first day of spring!
And to top it off it was the first day of spring!
Labels: flowers, peas, radish, spring
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Datura
I had the chance during my holidays to discover some new types of plants. One that intrigued me was a plant that was highly common in the Toulouse region, which was a bushy shrub with large pointy leaves, spiny fruit about the size of http://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa plum, and delicate white trumpet shaped flowers. It looked most peculiar, I had quite a close look but somehow my instinct told me not to get too close.
My instinct was right, the plant was a Datura: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium
Image:
Also known as the Devil's Trumpet or a stinkweed, it is highly poisonous and has hallucinogenic effects. A most striking plant despite its deadly nature.
My instinct was right, the plant was a Datura: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium
Image:
Also known as the Devil's Trumpet or a stinkweed, it is highly poisonous and has hallucinogenic effects. A most striking plant despite its deadly nature.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
At last some rain
And well needed it was too!
I had a week off work and did some amazing progress in the garden, thanks to my brother and his good digging technique! My neighbours were amused, as he speaks no French, I said I have hired a foreign labourer to help and they all giggled.
So I got the tenders planted - about 15 tomatoes, 7 or 8 aubergines and the same of sweet peppers. Also went in 5 melon plants given to me by a workmate. I have fleeced those, I find melons so dodgy, I don't know if they will take but they were free so no grumbles. The climbing beans are in, Cobra saved from last year and too from a seed swap, yard long beans and some other climbers whose name escapes me.
I sowed more squash, two or three courgettes including a Serpente di Sicilia, and beetroot and parsnip. The plot got a good kicking, the whole tomato patch was turned over and weeded in a couple of hours, I have just got the courgette patch left and that is covered in cardboard so will be a doddle.
The plot is beautiful just now - I harvested a pound of delicious strawberries and later in the week we will eat our first artichokes and peas (kelvedon).
The sage is in flower and for the first time I got irises! Gorgeous.
There are flowers everywhere:
red roses,
chive flowers,
purple honeywort,
brilliant orange california poppies,
white thym and what is called apparently "Honesty", or money plant, which in French is called the Pope's Money. It's a lunaria in fact, but gave purple blooms and now the strange translucent pods good for decoration indoors. That took 2 years to grow from some seed sown!
I can honestly say that despite the lack of rain, the plot this year is looking tip top, loads of fruits on the bushes, squash has germinated fine, and the beans and peas are in great shape. Will I get carrots? Who knows, but the seedlings are abundant and healthy for the first time. And yes this is getting slightly obsessive.
Now we just need another few heavy downpours and we will be in business!
I had a week off work and did some amazing progress in the garden, thanks to my brother and his good digging technique! My neighbours were amused, as he speaks no French, I said I have hired a foreign labourer to help and they all giggled.
So I got the tenders planted - about 15 tomatoes, 7 or 8 aubergines and the same of sweet peppers. Also went in 5 melon plants given to me by a workmate. I have fleeced those, I find melons so dodgy, I don't know if they will take but they were free so no grumbles. The climbing beans are in, Cobra saved from last year and too from a seed swap, yard long beans and some other climbers whose name escapes me.
I sowed more squash, two or three courgettes including a Serpente di Sicilia, and beetroot and parsnip. The plot got a good kicking, the whole tomato patch was turned over and weeded in a couple of hours, I have just got the courgette patch left and that is covered in cardboard so will be a doddle.
The plot is beautiful just now - I harvested a pound of delicious strawberries and later in the week we will eat our first artichokes and peas (kelvedon).
The sage is in flower and for the first time I got irises! Gorgeous.
There are flowers everywhere:
red roses,
chive flowers,
purple honeywort,
brilliant orange california poppies,
white thym and what is called apparently "Honesty", or money plant, which in French is called the Pope's Money. It's a lunaria in fact, but gave purple blooms and now the strange translucent pods good for decoration indoors. That took 2 years to grow from some seed sown!
I can honestly say that despite the lack of rain, the plot this year is looking tip top, loads of fruits on the bushes, squash has germinated fine, and the beans and peas are in great shape. Will I get carrots? Who knows, but the seedlings are abundant and healthy for the first time. And yes this is getting slightly obsessive.
Now we just need another few heavy downpours and we will be in business!
Labels: artichoke, beans, digging, drought, flowers, peas, rain, spring, squash, strawberry, tomatoes
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Rain at last!
Just when I was scraping the bottom of the water barrels it has finally rained. Phew. the lettuces are just starting to take so this will be a blessing for them.
Last night I was off work early so I went down with Smallest One and we pottered. Yeah, for an hour and a half! I hadn't seen the time go by! we were all running round like chooks with their heads off after that. Still, it was a very productive time - I earthed up the potatoes, harvested our first radishes (small but tasty, I will pick others after the rain), Then went around with the hand trowel and had a good attack at the bindweed which has come up just this last week and is already rip-roaring through the place. I have found this is as good a method as any to get it out. I have a bucket beside me and I just dig down with the trowel then pull out as much of the root as I can. It will come back but this will hinder it at least. I did that through the potatoes, down the sides, through the strawberries (where I got visiously stabbed with a gooseberry spine from a dead branch on the ground) and through the herbs and flowers. They are looking really nice just now. My little flower "wild" bed has a rose bush, a lavender bush, daffodils, honeywort, Californian poppies, a lemon balm (which I am trying to tame), and later usually pop up cornflowers, marigolds and various self seeded things :-)
So small periods of time well spent can be more productive than whole days slogging in the mud!
Last night I was off work early so I went down with Smallest One and we pottered. Yeah, for an hour and a half! I hadn't seen the time go by! we were all running round like chooks with their heads off after that. Still, it was a very productive time - I earthed up the potatoes, harvested our first radishes (small but tasty, I will pick others after the rain), Then went around with the hand trowel and had a good attack at the bindweed which has come up just this last week and is already rip-roaring through the place. I have found this is as good a method as any to get it out. I have a bucket beside me and I just dig down with the trowel then pull out as much of the root as I can. It will come back but this will hinder it at least. I did that through the potatoes, down the sides, through the strawberries (where I got visiously stabbed with a gooseberry spine from a dead branch on the ground) and through the herbs and flowers. They are looking really nice just now. My little flower "wild" bed has a rose bush, a lavender bush, daffodils, honeywort, Californian poppies, a lemon balm (which I am trying to tame), and later usually pop up cornflowers, marigolds and various self seeded things :-)
So small periods of time well spent can be more productive than whole days slogging in the mud!
Labels: flowers, radish, rain, spring, weeds
Monday, April 12, 2010
Slowly improving
A good work session yesterday. Weather sunny but cool, in the end I left my coat on.
In an attempt to make it all look less unruly, I have decided that small sections are easier to look after. Little beds, set out with rocks etc seem to look much tidier. So as planned, I took some old wall tiles and made a little bed next to the water barrels. First I dug out a whole load of couch grass, bloody bastard it is too. Then I mixed some manure into the soil and then laid out a little square, not so big, about 60cm square. I then planted a few pot marigolds that have self seeded all round the place, and sowed some rocket and landcress, and there is room for some hollyhocks and a few chives. that will make a pleasant decorative corner and gets rid of all the dandelions that were squatters there.
Next, looked at the peas. They are sprouting well, those sweet little green seedlings. There were however lots of gaps in the relatively large bed (about 1/2 m2) so I filled them in by hand planting more pea seeds, one by one, hopefully that will keep me in peas for a couple of weeks at least.
Still spreading shit. No, not rumours about the Sarkozys, real cow poo :-) Creating several little mounds for squash, here and there, where they can run down the edge of the plot or along the paths.
I also:
In an attempt to make it all look less unruly, I have decided that small sections are easier to look after. Little beds, set out with rocks etc seem to look much tidier. So as planned, I took some old wall tiles and made a little bed next to the water barrels. First I dug out a whole load of couch grass, bloody bastard it is too. Then I mixed some manure into the soil and then laid out a little square, not so big, about 60cm square. I then planted a few pot marigolds that have self seeded all round the place, and sowed some rocket and landcress, and there is room for some hollyhocks and a few chives. that will make a pleasant decorative corner and gets rid of all the dandelions that were squatters there.
Next, looked at the peas. They are sprouting well, those sweet little green seedlings. There were however lots of gaps in the relatively large bed (about 1/2 m2) so I filled them in by hand planting more pea seeds, one by one, hopefully that will keep me in peas for a couple of weeks at least.
Still spreading shit. No, not rumours about the Sarkozys, real cow poo :-) Creating several little mounds for squash, here and there, where they can run down the edge of the plot or along the paths.
I also:
- sowed: beetroot, and spinach. Actually, the spinach packet flew out of my hand and I fear that several spinach seeds have now been spread all over the shop. Oh well, can't hurt I suppose!
- planted some lettuce seedlings in between the strawberry beds, that will help fill it up.
- planted a few spare potatoes in a corner too, just couldn't resign myself to chucking them out. The earlies are starting to show, I started earthing up one or two. Excellent, excellent.
- tried to work out where to plant the broccoli. That's a tough call, and still haven't quite decided.
- Harvest! The first rhubarb stems! Bless 'em! Butwhat to do with just 4 stems? A cake? Fruit puree? Maybe a fool...?
Labels: beetroot, flowers, peas, potato, rhubarb, spinach, spring
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Little by little
It is amazing what you can do in half an hour. As the weather has finally turned clement, I decided last night to go down and water the new sowings. I spent half an hour down there and managed to do all this:
I also looked around the top end of the plot. This is where I have sundry items like the herb bed, the water containers, and a few random flowers (lavender, a rose bush, some daffs, some mint, some annuals that pop up each year like Honey wort, marigolds and lemon balm, mostly to attract insects). It tends to get infested by grass, and the soil is gradually falling down over the path. I was wondering if I wouldn't try to make a much clearer well defined bed, with some tiles or wood to prop it up, and I was thinking of digging over a small patch (about 50x50 cm) next to the water barrels that generally just goes wild, but where I could establish a small square bed. I was thinking a mixture of flowers, like hollyhocks that could lean against the corner post, zinneas, and small crops like cress, radish (again! my radish obsession!), chives, rocket, which would create a nice "corner" to the plot and prevent soil movement all at the same time. hmmmm...
- water the radishes, carrots, strawberries, peas (just breaking through the soil!) and herbs,
- water the seed box where lettuce, leeks, spring onions and flowers are germinating,
- spread a little more manure on the potato bed.
- scratch out the surface soil in the flower beds and around the garlic and artichoke and add more manure and water it in.
- get the hand trowel and make a quick tour of the edges and pull out numerous dandelions and plantains that have sprung up almost overnight. Those b**&^$£ds won't be seeding, not this time...
I also looked around the top end of the plot. This is where I have sundry items like the herb bed, the water containers, and a few random flowers (lavender, a rose bush, some daffs, some mint, some annuals that pop up each year like Honey wort, marigolds and lemon balm, mostly to attract insects). It tends to get infested by grass, and the soil is gradually falling down over the path. I was wondering if I wouldn't try to make a much clearer well defined bed, with some tiles or wood to prop it up, and I was thinking of digging over a small patch (about 50x50 cm) next to the water barrels that generally just goes wild, but where I could establish a small square bed. I was thinking a mixture of flowers, like hollyhocks that could lean against the corner post, zinneas, and small crops like cress, radish (again! my radish obsession!), chives, rocket, which would create a nice "corner" to the plot and prevent soil movement all at the same time. hmmmm...
Labels: flowers, garlic, herbs, spring, weeds
Friday, April 11, 2008
My God, the things we do for our baby plants!
I felt as nervous as Christiaan Barnard last night, I decided to transplant my seedlings into little pots so armed with loads of plastic pots and a bag of potting mix, I put some paper on the kitchen table and got to it. It took me over two hours!!! It was like bloody open heart surgery! And there were a few deaths along the way...
I managed to transplant....wait for it...
15 Marmande big fleshy tomato plants
about 8 Gartenperle cherry tomatoes (I think one or two might get given away of those)
about 8 Harzfeuer small round tomato plants
3 sweet peppers (I fear I might end up buying plants for those, I can't seem to get them to germinate properly)
about 15 other tomato seedlings of indeterminate type (I think they are Marmandes, I forgot to label them :-S anyway they are doing quite poorly compared to the others which are very vigorous, so I tried changing them around in a new pot with fresh potting mix.
about 12 small orange French Marigolds, to plant with the tomatoes,
and about 60 leeks. That was very tricky, I experimented with a way of thinning them, don't know if it will work. I lay the pot on its side, and put down a layer of soil then lay down the seedlings, then another layer of soil, them more seedlings. It isn't perfect but I couldn't see how to transplant them otherwise...
There is still a pot of about 40 leeks to do!!! Arrrgh!
I also started off 3 Jap pumpkins, just because I had soil in the pots.
I still need to do some more next week, I will start off the pumpkins, courgettes and melons and the sweetcorn, some basil (can't get that going outside) and sow some Sweet William flowers in modules.
Still for now I am quite pleased with how it is progressing even if I now have pot plants all over the bloody house!!
Oh and I caved in at Lidl yesterday and bought another packet of yellow dwarf beans, I love them, and a small blackcurrant plant! for 5 euros it seemed a bargain. It can go in next to the strawberries. Dunno if it will fruit this year, well I guess you only add blackcurrant to other dishes anyway, they are a bit acidic to eat by themselves. Wonder if I could get enough to make some liqueur??? yum yum
I felt as nervous as Christiaan Barnard last night, I decided to transplant my seedlings into little pots so armed with loads of plastic pots and a bag of potting mix, I put some paper on the kitchen table and got to it. It took me over two hours!!! It was like bloody open heart surgery! And there were a few deaths along the way...
I managed to transplant....wait for it...
15 Marmande big fleshy tomato plants
about 8 Gartenperle cherry tomatoes (I think one or two might get given away of those)
about 8 Harzfeuer small round tomato plants
3 sweet peppers (I fear I might end up buying plants for those, I can't seem to get them to germinate properly)
about 15 other tomato seedlings of indeterminate type (I think they are Marmandes, I forgot to label them :-S anyway they are doing quite poorly compared to the others which are very vigorous, so I tried changing them around in a new pot with fresh potting mix.
about 12 small orange French Marigolds, to plant with the tomatoes,
and about 60 leeks. That was very tricky, I experimented with a way of thinning them, don't know if it will work. I lay the pot on its side, and put down a layer of soil then lay down the seedlings, then another layer of soil, them more seedlings. It isn't perfect but I couldn't see how to transplant them otherwise...
There is still a pot of about 40 leeks to do!!! Arrrgh!
I also started off 3 Jap pumpkins, just because I had soil in the pots.
I still need to do some more next week, I will start off the pumpkins, courgettes and melons and the sweetcorn, some basil (can't get that going outside) and sow some Sweet William flowers in modules.
Still for now I am quite pleased with how it is progressing even if I now have pot plants all over the bloody house!!
Oh and I caved in at Lidl yesterday and bought another packet of yellow dwarf beans, I love them, and a small blackcurrant plant! for 5 euros it seemed a bargain. It can go in next to the strawberries. Dunno if it will fruit this year, well I guess you only add blackcurrant to other dishes anyway, they are a bit acidic to eat by themselves. Wonder if I could get enough to make some liqueur??? yum yum
Labels: flowers, leeks, peppers, pricking_out, pumpkin, seedlings, spring, tomatoes
Monday, April 07, 2008
A mixed weekend down the allotment. We have gone from brilliant sunshine to overcast to freezing winds and frostiness.
I had two sessions down there this weekend: a very quick one on Saturday afternoon to plant some plug plant lettuces I had bought (I think I will give up altogether on sowing lettuce, it is a waste of time and money). OK I admit I went and splurged at the garden centre. I bought lettuce, 15 summer cabbages (Cabus, the pointed ones), a nice rhubarb plant (the 2nd one), a rosemary shrub, some mint and tarragon (which I didn't have in the herb bed) and some cornflower seeds.
Then on Sunday all of us went down (miraculous, a family outing to the allotment!) and hubby and Biggest One fixed up the collapsing compost bin for me and also weeded and put a nice border around one of the flower beds. It was freezing! But teh sun came out after a while and warmed things up a bit+
While they were doing that, I planted my cabbage, mint and tarragon, resowed some peas (they just aren't doing well) and sowed some beetroot and radishes. I also tidied up the flower beds a little (not really as much as I would like to, but time was running out) and sowed a variety of mixed flower seeds, the cornflowers and some zinneas.
The rhubarb is doing well, soon we will be able to pick some I think, and I noticed something very cute with the artichokes: a tiny artichoke head starting to develop inside the centre of the plant!! So I guess I will have artichokes soon (my neighbour says they get multiple heads from the centre of the plant).
The onions and echalotes seem to be doing well, lots of green shoots all over the place, and the scarole lettuces are finally growing! No sign of the spuds yet but I noticed lots of "mystery potatoes" starting to shoot when I dug over the bed for the cabbages so I think I might see spud growth soon.
As for the fruit, they are getting their new growth. The raspberries have made new shoots all over the place!! And the strawberries have got some good foliage coming. Even the new ones planted in the autumn.
Now for a seedling update:
Pictures soon, it's a promise.
I had two sessions down there this weekend: a very quick one on Saturday afternoon to plant some plug plant lettuces I had bought (I think I will give up altogether on sowing lettuce, it is a waste of time and money). OK I admit I went and splurged at the garden centre. I bought lettuce, 15 summer cabbages (Cabus, the pointed ones), a nice rhubarb plant (the 2nd one), a rosemary shrub, some mint and tarragon (which I didn't have in the herb bed) and some cornflower seeds.
Then on Sunday all of us went down (miraculous, a family outing to the allotment!) and hubby and Biggest One fixed up the collapsing compost bin for me and also weeded and put a nice border around one of the flower beds. It was freezing! But teh sun came out after a while and warmed things up a bit+
While they were doing that, I planted my cabbage, mint and tarragon, resowed some peas (they just aren't doing well) and sowed some beetroot and radishes. I also tidied up the flower beds a little (not really as much as I would like to, but time was running out) and sowed a variety of mixed flower seeds, the cornflowers and some zinneas.
The rhubarb is doing well, soon we will be able to pick some I think, and I noticed something very cute with the artichokes: a tiny artichoke head starting to develop inside the centre of the plant!! So I guess I will have artichokes soon (my neighbour says they get multiple heads from the centre of the plant).
The onions and echalotes seem to be doing well, lots of green shoots all over the place, and the scarole lettuces are finally growing! No sign of the spuds yet but I noticed lots of "mystery potatoes" starting to shoot when I dug over the bed for the cabbages so I think I might see spud growth soon.
As for the fruit, they are getting their new growth. The raspberries have made new shoots all over the place!! And the strawberries have got some good foliage coming. Even the new ones planted in the autumn.
Now for a seedling update:
- Tomatoes look brilliant! I am very pleased. Now I need to repot them all, I am sure I will have over 20 plants.
- lettuce and silverbeet (chard) are very leggy so I will try potting on and see what happens.
- Leeks looking good, I am going to prick them out into a bigger bed now, and the brussel sprouts are also looking great.
Pictures soon, it's a promise.
Labels: artichoke, cabbage, chard, flowers, lettuce, planting, rhubarb, sow, spring, tomatoes
Monday, March 17, 2008
Back at home, safely in from the wind and rain, I set to work on some more seed sowing.
The seeds from last week are starting to show signs of life - I can see a few leeks popping up in the pot. So time to sow some more...
Last night I set out:
Also put out the second lot of potatoes (Bernadette, second earlies) to chit. Up on the high shelves in the pantry seems to be a good spot - not too warm and filtered light. The earlies had developed nice solid sprouting bits, perhaps a little long on some of them but they seemed firmly attached.They will go in the ground in a week's time, Easter Monday with a bit of luck.
The seeds from last week are starting to show signs of life - I can see a few leeks popping up in the pot. So time to sow some more...
Last night I set out:
- more tomatoes (Marmande and Harzfeuer), oh interesting info about this tomato variety, Harzfeuer, that I got from Lidl for next to nothing... "(69 days) Amazing selection from from Germany. Dependable, disease resistant, beautiful and flavorful, it produces huge clusters of fruit. A hybrid Hellfrucht type tomato that translates to "Resin Fire" in english. Fruits weight 3 to 4 ounces and are a highly popular variety for market or home in Europe. Determinate." Hmm 3 to 4 ounces, so medium sized fruit of about 150 g. 69 days - is that from sowing to harvest I wonder? that doesn't seem long enough... that's 10 weeks. If they are sown now that means tomatoes in June...surely not?
- red swiss chard, called rhubarb chard,
- another tray of leeks (De Carentan winter variety),
- the first Brussel sprouts (Sanda variety, harvest starts in September it says),
- spring Batavia type lettuce (looks more or less like this...),
- and a tray of red and yellow dwarf marigolds (these are said to be useful planted throughout the veg garden to repel some pests, oh well they look pretty at any rate...).
Also put out the second lot of potatoes (Bernadette, second earlies) to chit. Up on the high shelves in the pantry seems to be a good spot - not too warm and filtered light. The earlies had developed nice solid sprouting bits, perhaps a little long on some of them but they seemed firmly attached.They will go in the ground in a week's time, Easter Monday with a bit of luck.
Labels: chard, flowers, leeks, potato, seedlings, sow, tomatoes, winter
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Spotted on Melanie's BeanSprouts eco-blog:
Guerilla Gardening
- I love the concept of filling in waste ground with "proper plants", even edible ones, what an idea!! I was wondering where I could put some sunflowers in the summer, to provide the local birds and rabbits with some wholesome food??? Although these fellows go the whole hog, actually replanting strips and areas around buildings with quite sophisticated plantations. A lovely idea, I would love to do something with a grassy area that sits in the car park behind our building. I wonder what the other residents would think???
Guerilla Gardening
- I love the concept of filling in waste ground with "proper plants", even edible ones, what an idea!! I was wondering where I could put some sunflowers in the summer, to provide the local birds and rabbits with some wholesome food??? Although these fellows go the whole hog, actually replanting strips and areas around buildings with quite sophisticated plantations. A lovely idea, I would love to do something with a grassy area that sits in the car park behind our building. I wonder what the other residents would think???
Labels: flowers
Friday, September 21, 2007
One of my friends from work has just moved into a new house, and she has lots of roses in the garden. Strangely enough, she doesn't want them!!! SO her dad went out and dug them all up and pruned them back and she brought them all naked-rooted into work for us all to share. I ended up taking 5!!! Dunno where I will put them!! I suppose I could plant one outside my shed... and the others in the flower beds? I might try one in a big pot outside my windowsill at home, but everything I plant at home seems to die so I am sceptical.
Anyway she says they are bushy varieties with red flowers, a nice surpise next spring. For now they are in a big plastic bag at the lottie with the roots in sand and I will plant them out tomorrow.
So thank you Elodie for that kind gesture.
Anyway she says they are bushy varieties with red flowers, a nice surpise next spring. For now they are in a big plastic bag at the lottie with the roots in sand and I will plant them out tomorrow.
So thank you Elodie for that kind gesture.
Friday, April 06, 2007
The fine weather here has me just hankering to plant things! Went mad for my balcony last night, dragged in all the pots and containers and pulled out any straggly things left from last year, then I dug out half the soil and replaced it with new fresh potting mix and proceeded to plant
Also went to get my organic veg and had forgotten that there was no distribution this week :-( But since it is at the horse racing track, I took advantage of the lack of people to dive onto the pile of horse pen waste that was there. Not a great deal of actual poo, but quite a lot of very humid straw, wood-waste bedding and no doubt horse pee. Seems organic, that should do the trick. I managed to snaffle three big bags of the stuff. Hope to God no one saw me digging around in a big pile of s**t.
I will dig it into the remaining beds this weekend and see if it helps anything. Might be good mulch around the fruit trees too which for now just have some shredded paper round their bases to keep them warm. OK some people say wood type waste might just carry disease but really I don't have much in the way of permanent planting and it's hard to see what harm it could do to what I do have. As far as I can see, the more organic material you can get on the garden, the better.
Question: does anyone know if I can grow Coriander in a pot? I put some seeds in, they are doing well. But maybe it gets quite big? I also put some in the garden, just to be on the safe side.
Happy Easter weekend everyone gardeners or chocoholics.
- 10 geraniums, dunno what colour yet,
- the sparaxis bulbs I got for free (wonder if they will ever see the light of day),
- a packet of what was termed as "Summer flowers for balconies",
- some leftover seeds of chives and parsley,
- a couple of nasturtiums.
Also went to get my organic veg and had forgotten that there was no distribution this week :-( But since it is at the horse racing track, I took advantage of the lack of people to dive onto the pile of horse pen waste that was there. Not a great deal of actual poo, but quite a lot of very humid straw, wood-waste bedding and no doubt horse pee. Seems organic, that should do the trick. I managed to snaffle three big bags of the stuff. Hope to God no one saw me digging around in a big pile of s**t.
I will dig it into the remaining beds this weekend and see if it helps anything. Might be good mulch around the fruit trees too which for now just have some shredded paper round their bases to keep them warm. OK some people say wood type waste might just carry disease but really I don't have much in the way of permanent planting and it's hard to see what harm it could do to what I do have. As far as I can see, the more organic material you can get on the garden, the better.
Question: does anyone know if I can grow Coriander in a pot? I put some seeds in, they are doing well. But maybe it gets quite big? I also put some in the garden, just to be on the safe side.
Happy Easter weekend everyone gardeners or chocoholics.
Labels: balcony, compost, coriander, flowers, mulch
Friday, March 23, 2007
A friend at work gave me a nice gift: a pot of thyme and two little plants that she described as a sort of ground cover violet. She says they have pretty flowers and cover a lot of ground quickly, and they tend to invade but she says that she just attacks them with the hoe when they over-grow and don't mind. Good for path edges. I might put one just near the door of the shed instead of the weeds that are there. I will get some stones and make a little bed for them.
Looks like it will be a sucky weekend, probably rain, but then again that is the weather forecast so forgive me for being cynical. Will have to at least dig in this artichoke stump my friend is giving me.
Went past the pony club yesterday - WOW! the pile of manure and straw that is there! beckoning me... Tomorrow morning I will go, I swear, and get a few bags of it. Then I will be able to dance in it, like this guy... ha ha
Oh and big excitement, I got a big black bin (4€82 at Brico Depot, the discount hardware place) and I am going to try the vertical potato method in it. So the horse crap could be handy there too! SO is looking at the bin last night - "This isn't staying here, is it???!!!" He's just not into all this - and composting seems to be a pretty disgusting business all round to him.
I popped down to the lot yesterday morning, and even though we are having a cold snap, the raspberries and gooseberries seem to be starting new growth! Onions are coming up, and some spuds. Hope they don't catch cold. My peas are not looking well though. I might pop some seeds in this weekend, just in case the others flatline. The compost bin is dodgy, part of the front had dropped off!! I shall have to get some nails and screws in some strategic places I think.
To all those reading, have a nice weekend in your gardens (weather permitting...)
Looks like it will be a sucky weekend, probably rain, but then again that is the weather forecast so forgive me for being cynical. Will have to at least dig in this artichoke stump my friend is giving me.
Went past the pony club yesterday - WOW! the pile of manure and straw that is there! beckoning me... Tomorrow morning I will go, I swear, and get a few bags of it. Then I will be able to dance in it, like this guy... ha ha
Oh and big excitement, I got a big black bin (4€82 at Brico Depot, the discount hardware place) and I am going to try the vertical potato method in it. So the horse crap could be handy there too! SO is looking at the bin last night - "This isn't staying here, is it???!!!" He's just not into all this - and composting seems to be a pretty disgusting business all round to him.
I popped down to the lot yesterday morning, and even though we are having a cold snap, the raspberries and gooseberries seem to be starting new growth! Onions are coming up, and some spuds. Hope they don't catch cold. My peas are not looking well though. I might pop some seeds in this weekend, just in case the others flatline. The compost bin is dodgy, part of the front had dropped off!! I shall have to get some nails and screws in some strategic places I think.
To all those reading, have a nice weekend in your gardens (weather permitting...)
Labels: compost, flowers, potato, spring
Monday, March 05, 2007
Another weekend - Saturday was a nice day but impossible to get out gardening. I did however go down to the allotments because we had to elect a supervisor. Exactly what that person does is unclear. What is clear is that there is a large portion of the gardeners on our lot that go down there to drink several bevvies and smoke their Gauloises Brune while fannying around with a couple of sad looking cabbages. The meeting was held in our communal shed and the alcohol vapours in the air when I went in would have been enough to knock a large herbivore of its feet. To sum up, the guy that actually has the approval of most people does not want to stand again because of the hassle and the guy that is standing (and ended up being elected) is said to have "numerous good qualities" but is suspected of having pocketed over 300 euros that were amassed by unofficial (paying) drinking sessions!
A few negative issues were also brought up, namely that in the past people had been evicted from the allotments without any official consultation and that the waiting list had been corrupted and some people's mates were given a plot ahead of others. Since I was on the waiting list for 3 years I was a bit peeved to hear that.
When I saw the association secretary on Sunday, I mentioned all of this to her. She said she was staying on as secretary to keep an eye on the supervisor!! Crazy. Just remind me never to leave my handbag unattended...
On Sunday finally got to garden a bit, despite blustery weather. I bought a few more strawberry plants at the garden centre, a variety called Cijosée, which according to the web is similar to the Mara des Bois, has a "pretty conical fruit, bright red, shiny good presentation, fine juicy flesh of medium acidity". Well, we will see what it gives us. I got some black plastic down with the help of Smallest One and planted them in that. Of course once I got it all in, I realised that the rows were really not terribly straight. Oops.
Also put in a few sugar snap peas, once they come up I will put up some trellissing to help them on their way.
There are a lot of weeds again but I didn't have time to deal with most of them. Next week if it is fine, I want to start putting in the spuds and early carrots which will give me an opportunity to weed a big patch.
Pleased to see the garlic sprouting very well, the green tips are now about 8 to 10 cm high. The radishes I planted under plastic are also coming up, so in a couple of weeks we might have our first crop!!
Unbeknownst to SO I took some photos of my seedlings, he would wonder what the hell I was doing. Must download them soon. The peas are doing well:
and the tomatoes are starting to get proper leaves:
The lettuces though seem all legs, very spindly, I don't know if that is normal?
Also did a bit of balcony gardening: a nice potted rosemary plant, I bought two primroses that are now hanging outside and I planted some asters (think it is a dwarf variety, it says 30 cm tall). Just now the balcony is full of purple crocuses that were hiding from last year, some pretty white hyacinths, and some orange and yellw tulips. To my surprise, some herbs from last year, mint and tarragon is starting to appear from the pots I had left outside in gay abandon. Surprising how things cling to life!
A few negative issues were also brought up, namely that in the past people had been evicted from the allotments without any official consultation and that the waiting list had been corrupted and some people's mates were given a plot ahead of others. Since I was on the waiting list for 3 years I was a bit peeved to hear that.
When I saw the association secretary on Sunday, I mentioned all of this to her. She said she was staying on as secretary to keep an eye on the supervisor!! Crazy. Just remind me never to leave my handbag unattended...
On Sunday finally got to garden a bit, despite blustery weather. I bought a few more strawberry plants at the garden centre, a variety called Cijosée, which according to the web is similar to the Mara des Bois, has a "pretty conical fruit, bright red, shiny good presentation, fine juicy flesh of medium acidity". Well, we will see what it gives us. I got some black plastic down with the help of Smallest One and planted them in that. Of course once I got it all in, I realised that the rows were really not terribly straight. Oops.
Also put in a few sugar snap peas, once they come up I will put up some trellissing to help them on their way.
There are a lot of weeds again but I didn't have time to deal with most of them. Next week if it is fine, I want to start putting in the spuds and early carrots which will give me an opportunity to weed a big patch.
Pleased to see the garlic sprouting very well, the green tips are now about 8 to 10 cm high. The radishes I planted under plastic are also coming up, so in a couple of weeks we might have our first crop!!
Unbeknownst to SO I took some photos of my seedlings, he would wonder what the hell I was doing. Must download them soon. The peas are doing well:
and the tomatoes are starting to get proper leaves:
The lettuces though seem all legs, very spindly, I don't know if that is normal?
Also did a bit of balcony gardening: a nice potted rosemary plant, I bought two primroses that are now hanging outside and I planted some asters (think it is a dwarf variety, it says 30 cm tall). Just now the balcony is full of purple crocuses that were hiding from last year, some pretty white hyacinths, and some orange and yellw tulips. To my surprise, some herbs from last year, mint and tarragon is starting to appear from the pots I had left outside in gay abandon. Surprising how things cling to life!
Labels: balcony, flowers, peas, planting, seedlings, strawberry
Monday, February 26, 2007
Decided to make a separate post for my seedlings! So I can take some photos and add them. They are all sprouting! I am so pleased! The peas are now about 3 cm high and the tomatoes have just given me their two spindly leaves and popped off their seed caps. The peas I am planning to put in once they get to ten or fifteen centimetres. And the lettuce too is just poking its head through the soil. So apparently my pantry is a good temperature for these, it is cooler there than the rest of the house. But I will harden off the peas for a week before I plant them. Luckily I have these planter boxes outside my windows, where I can sit them, they will be cool but out of direct wind.
On the home front, my hyacinths are starting to bloom in the window box and the tulips are about 5 cm high. Some mint from last year that I thought was dead has brought up some new growth, which is a cute surprise. I must start to put in some seed for some flowers, which worked well last year. My geraniums have karked it though, brown and shrivelled. I will buy some new ones I think, some trailing ones.
On the home front, my hyacinths are starting to bloom in the window box and the tulips are about 5 cm high. Some mint from last year that I thought was dead has brought up some new growth, which is a cute surprise. I must start to put in some seed for some flowers, which worked well last year. My geraniums have karked it though, brown and shrivelled. I will buy some new ones I think, some trailing ones.
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