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

Spring 2013

Spring 2103,

I have been extremely lapse at updating this blog. I think I sort of lost the will, due the never ending rain last summer/autumn/winter etc etc etc.

However onwards!!! Despite the lack of posts I did not neglect the garden and inbetween downpours I did manage to plant some more ornamental trees over the winter.
I put in some willows in the wet corner, and some silver birch ( jacquemontii) in another area. These were joined by a Prunus padus, and an Amelanchier as well as a native Rowan.

A few weeks after the Amelanchier went in we had a few days of rain. This resulted in tree surrounded by a deep puddle, which just refused to budge. The doggie destroyer thought this was a great addition to the garden and took ownership of the puddle and rapidly turned it into a mud bath.  Eventually I had to rescue the poor tree. I put my fork under it and it came out with a big slurpe, as if to say thank heavens for that. It has now been relocated in another dryer part of the garden.
Hubby then took it upon himself to investigate the cause of the water and dug down and down, made a bigger hole then gave up!!!

The borders are springing to life and we continue to extend them when we get some time to lift the turf etc.  I made some plant supports out of hazel, they are a bit wonky but hopefully they will work.

Veg news

The veg patch is all prepared and planting for this year is underway. Last year's crop was a disaster, the only veg we had any good success with was the savoy cabbages, they were fab. But carrots, parsnips, french beans were all a wash out.

We put in a few more rasp cane to replace the ones that did not take last year. The gooseberries and the currants are looking great.

So far I have put in the 2nd Earlies, a row of peas, 3 rows each of carrots and parsnips, and onion sets. I have some garlic and overwintered lettuces on the go. I also have a couple of purple sprouting broccoli plants which are taking an age to start cropping. I can see all the buds ready to go but no joy so far. The weather has warmed up over the last week or so so hopefully it will start soon, only a couple of months late!!!

Orchard news.

We seem to have a few flower buds appearing on two of the pears and one of the apples, its all very exciting. I wander down there every few days to have a little look.

Doggies destroyer news.

Barney has recently turned one, he is slightly less of a doggie destroyer, though summer has not really started so he may still eat all the shrubs. He is cute though!!

Chickies News.

Sugar has got scaley leg mites or something. Basically the scales on her feet are lifted because little mites are underneath them. Well a quick search on google gave me the solution:- the last two night we have been dipping her feet in cooking oil. Apparently this smothers the mites and solves the problem. She is not impressed by the oil dipping... I will report back.
 Puts a whole new slant on chicken dippers!!!

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!

Spuds!

Spent the morning meeting customers at a local garden centre, handing out leaflets and giving out free advice.  But wanted to do a bit in the garden this pm.

Weather is still holding up here, cooler yes, but still no rain. I have had to water my pots, and recently planted fruit trees. One of the water butts is nearly empty!  My clay soil has dried to a hard crusty layer, except where there is the manure has protected it. I met a friend, who is gardener at a old stately home near here,  and he promised to drop off a few bags of 18 month old leaf mold. Ideal for a soil conditioning mulch. He has heaps of the stuff but none goes to waste. I was also tipped off via twitter that a local nursey has a good soil conditioner, so I must pop down and get a few bags.

I planted out a couple of rows of First Earlies, Epicure. I had a few left over, so I have popped them into some compost filled old grow bags and left them near the shed in the afternoon Sun. I have grown potatoes like this before and its always successful. I would normally use my own garden compost but mine will not be ready until this time next year.

Hubby potted on the artichokes I sowed on the 8/3, so he a happy bunny, but he still does not have a place to put them in the garden!

On your marks... get set.... sow

I really cannot believe the weather we are having. Kids are running around in shorts, wanting to have water fights, and its not even April yet. 
But at least the planting can get underway, with a little cross fingers it doesn't all go wrong in April and start snowing or something.
The onion sets are in, approx 180, mix or white, red and some shallots for good measure. Varieties I am trying are Turbo, Stuttgart Giant, Piroska, and Red Sun shallots. I have also put in some Marco garlic bulbs.
Started off some sweetcorn in my conservatory on Friday and they germinated in 2 days! Also have some leeks and courgettes in trays/pots inside.

I have sown some small rows of carrots, turnips, beetroot, mizuna, radish, pakchoi, and rocket, to see if the ground warm enough to let them germinate. I am pretty sure they will as the weeds are making an appearance and the grass is growing like its July.

In fact the first grass cut of the year happened yesterday. The new lawnmower (Honda) is much easier to start than the old prima donna (Suffolk Punch). In fact the old girl would not even start and needs a visit to the lawnmower man to do what ever it is he does to make her go.  I think we need to find  her new home with a nice garden with a lovely manicured lawn, and replace her with a rotary equivalent.

Still struggling to find someone to do the bit of fencing I need. The chap I had round a couple of weeks ago called to say he is too busy to do the work, he did tell me how much it should cost so at least that is something. Called another chap today so hopefully he will turn up for a look see soon.

Hubby has planted his Horseradish is a corner up by the compost bins, the best place for it......
 

Beantastic