January update.

I’m a few days late here and I’m well aware that we are now into February, but just where has the time gone. January is always a strange month for me as its my birthday and every year the numbers get higher and as my brain believes its still 30 I get more dispondant. This year I got an electric propagator for the said event, it doesn’t top the industrial sized wheelbarrow I got the other year, but it’s pretty darn close!

I started some chilli and tomatoes in it last weekend and the tomatoes sneaked up yesterday while I wasn’t looking and are already a bit leggy. It’s not a problem as I tend to prick out quite quickly so will plant them deep.

In the garden we mainly missed the snow with only a millimetre or 2 Friday night which soon went. We’ve had some sharp frosts though so that has knocked things down.

A few Hardy souls carry on. The hebe is an unexpected treat as we often loose them and usually I move any in pots into the tunnel. This one was just a bit big. The primrose spreads everywhere but usually flowers later, it does look very nibbled though so some bug is still awake. Probably the slugs who are prolific all over the garden.

Here in the tunnel I’ve surrounded the cauliflowers with ash from the log burner to keep them at bay.

The fleece is giving the impression I’ve got a huge spider in there. It’s not needed today but the temperature drops to freezing at night. The poor plants must wonder what is going on. I leave a spider plant amongst them, if that survives I know the rest have a good chance. It’s still going strong this year!

My favourite plants at the minute are this little hellebore I brought for 75p at the supermarket this week. I do love a discounted plant!

And my sarrococca or winter box. It was given to me as a tiny cutting, by a fellow beekeeper, a couple of years ago. It’s very slow growing but these few flowers smell amazing. It promises a wonderful future and will be planted near the house to be enjoyed for years to come.

2019 is looking like being a better year here at the cottage. We have upheaval to face with building work scheduled for the water damage we suffered last year and I’ve had a huge birthday that I just didn’t want, but I’m feeling positive. Funny what a bit of sunshine, a few pretty flowers and some new growth can inspire in you, if you only look for it!

October update.

The weather has taken a real turn for the worse. The sun may be bright but the temperatures are cold and last night we even had hail stones that laid in piles. This all seems so much worse when your house still has no heating and falling masonry due to a water leak of phonominal proportions.

Outside the garden clings on.

The dahlias I grew from seed in the spring have been lovely and, although everything else in the bed has gone over, they still flower with abandon.

A heather in my blueberry bed makes up for the death of the actual blueberry bush.

A tray of viola seedlings needs a permanent home. The front garden is calling!

My new strawberry bed is establishing well. A November strawberry would be amazing.

In the polytunnel the peppers and chillies are still cropping and lots of tender pots are ready to over winter.

My cauliflower seedlings were eaten by a sneaky group of late caterpillars but, since planting out, look like they might recover.

My £1 bargain pear tree will be a fun experiment.

The edible fuchsia which quite honestly tastes horrible has got tired of my insults and is not ripening but my bargain bucket herbs are coming on a treat.

Outside the Brussels are struggling with white fly, wooly aphids and sooty mould but give their best.

Mildew has attacked the peas, who gallantly pod on.

Sweet potato still looks fairly green and the onion and garlic bed looks healthy if not a bit weedy.

The same can not be said of the raspberries that have been on their last legs all summer and yet still fruit. Amazing plants and definitely worth the space.

George the cat followed me everywhere today and I struggled to keep his tail out of all the pictures. So here he is, along with Mr Bones.

Happy Halloween.

Veg update.

It’s been raining  on and off here all week. The weak mizzly rain that doesn’t fill the water butt but makes you wet should you be caught out in it. Today has been overcast and windy but dry and I was very pleased to get a line of washing dry the outdoors way.

With that in mind I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when I went to check the garden this afternoon only to find it all in need of a good watering.

These potatoes have grown to tall and fallen sideways and I can’t help thinking that the dying leaves are not a good sign. I gave them a good water and will have to keep an eye on them.

My sweet potato continues to grow as does the oca

The polytunnel is looking lovely.

The watermelon puts on growth every day

There’s a tiny fruit on the cucumber and lots of male flowers, which are always the first to appear.

The peppers look healthy. I hope I’ve got them in early enough to get fruit this year.

Melons grow on the plastic netting. Hopefully this will be more supportive as I am growing more than last year and am aiming to improve on my crop total if I can!

The first tomatoes have set. Thanks to my group of little bumble bees who often work so hard they actually have to sleep over night in the tunnel.

Outside the onion tops are starting to fall over. I hoped they would be bigger but last year once this happened they seemed to stop growing so I will just have to see what happens

The leeks are going to seed which is a pity. I planted my second batch of peas up them and I had run out of space and thought it might be a novel idea. That was perhaps a mistake!

A bigger mistake was taking the net off the other peas as they grew to tall. Something has definitely had a nibble.

The Pak choi has also gone straight to seed, at seedling stage, in another bed.

The strawberries look promising though.

The grape and fig have both recovered from their late frosting

The grape even has a couple of tiny flowers coming

I had an inspired idea for my lack of space the other evening and planted my 2 giant pumpkin plants in the piece of lawn where I had the bonfire some weeks ago. Hubby intended digging it into more veggie bed space later anyway so I thought it was a great idea. He rolled his eyes but said nothing so inspired by the extra space I have now planted my courgettes there as well.

He wasn’t so impressed by that and dark mutterings about how he would keep the lawn tidy or dig around all the leaves have continued all week. Should I tell him that I have 3 butternut squash and some left over Brussel sprout plants that I need to fit in somewhere, or should I just sneak them in while he’s at work and claim they are self set.

He’s not really a gardener, he might just believe me!!!

Hills and Holes.

There’s a quarry in Lincolnshire that has been mined since Roman times. The stone has been used to build everything from houses to cathedrals. In more recent times it’s become a nature reserve. As a little girl we visited on one occasion and I distinctly remember rolling down the hills over and over again.

Today we were back as more recently my parents have moved to the area. My niece is spending some time with us and it seemed a good way to spend an afternoon.

These days large areas are roped off to protect the ground and it’s precious flowers. Having two teenagers with us did inspire Hubby to challenge them to roll down the biggest hill to much squealing and laughter though.

The area is home to a number of rare plants and today we were lucky enough to see some of them.

The pasqueflower​ and orchid were prolific in a number of spots along with huge swathes of cowslips.

The weather was lovely. The plants and bird song were amazing but best of all was the company. We visited with my parents and my 86 year old dad put us all to shame by climbing every hill quicker than we were. He’s a force to be reckoned with and long may it continue, but I bet his legs will ache in the morning!