Gooseberries galore

Gooseberry bumper crop, picked  1.5lb tonight, but there are tons left to pick!!

The other crops are doing well as well, its amazing what a bit of sun does.
The new potatoes are not far off ( late being ready because of how late they went in). The currants are dripping and just turning  black and red. There are one or two strawberries. There are little apples, pears and plums on the fruit trees.  The runner beans are romping up the frame and starting to flower, however the peas are struggling a bit. They were  munched by something when they just came up and I think this has knocked them back.
We also have a lovely load of basil in the conservatory (Thanks hubby), so its delicious fresh pesto
for our tea! Hubby also growing on some chilli plants donated by Richard the neighbour.


We have bought some climbers for the patio and rigged up some wires to encourage them to climb. A couple of honesuckles, and a jasmine. They are planted in large pots, so lets see how they get on.
 We also have a few pots of sweet peas growing up nicely

Borders

 

Theleft hand border now a couple of months on from the picture in the last post

The right hand border in front  of the chicken run

The left hand border looking towards the house 

Generally doing ok, particularily the perennials, however due to chucking them all in, it is a bit crowded in parts. I have started labelling all the ones that need to be moved to a better position or one with a bit more room for them to spread.
Some of the shrubs did not survive the damp over winter and I have popped in a few new ones, to see how they go on.
I have also  sown some cosmos seed directly into the border and they are growing away happily, so will fill the gaps left by the small shrubs.

Doggie Destroyer,

Being surprisingly good, no chewed shrubs so far. He does pelt through the borders but oh well!!! His favourite thing is to lie flat out on the grass and soak up the sun. He also likes to wander past the chicken run fence and pounces if the hens decide to ignore him. He obviously can't reach them but I think he likes to keep them on their toes. The other week one of the kids left the gate open to the run and barney got in with them. I ran out to the garden thinking he would be after them, but all he did was sniff around them. I think he was shocked to be next to them and did not know what to do.

On news of the chickies,  the one who had the mites on the legs passed away the other day. We bought a 2 new girls  a few weeks back, Patricia and Molly. I think the older one, decided enough was enough an gave up. 

 

Hopefully the weather will last a few weeks, I may even have to water the borders at this rate, a bit radical for Cumbria

Bank Holiday Gardening

We were all set for a day in the garden today after a jaunt to Lowther Castle plant fair yesterday.  But it was overcast when we got up and quickly turned to drizzle then full blown rain.  I spent the morning potting on leeks & purple sprouting broccoli & sent hubby off to get some bamboo canes and a few other essentials from the garden centre. It soon brightened up, and the canes were fashioned into an A frame support with side bracing (thanks Monty for that tip). No 2 daughter helped me plant the french beans. They were the ones I sowed in old toilet roll tubes a few weeks back, therefore all I had to do was pop the whole thing into the ground and water them in. Now the bean supports are up and the pea sticks are in the whole veg patch is looking great. The fencing is almost finished, just needs the gates hanging and the patch will protected from the elements and hopefully passing creatures looking to munch my lettuces.

Harvesting news!

A few mizuna and rocket leaves were picked to have with our dinner last night.

The new border is more than half dug and also half planted. I decided to use it as a nursery bed this year,  just to get some plants out of pots and growing on a bit. A friend gave me some perennials from her garden the other day, including, Hemerocallis, Campanulas, Crocosmia, Anemone and some Astrantia.  I popped it all in except for the Astrantia, I found a space for it in the planted border. We also had some extra seed potatoes so I have planted a few rows in there too.  I am also going to put a few rows of peas in here as well to use up the seed I have. And the children have some annual seeds they want to grow, what a hotch potch!


The weather dried up nicely by the afternoon, and a little gentle nudge had hubby marching up and down with the mower, while I edged!. Seems to be the way of things, as both jobs take about the same time.

We relocated the bench seat into the veg patch, a perfect resting spot now after a bit of weeding!

As the sun went down we had a little game of cricket. No 2 daughter can't half whack it for a 7 year old!