There were several unworkable areas, including cosmos corner, where I had forked the ground over a couple of weeks ago but as of last Friday were still the same.  However  by Monday, after a rainy weekend, I was able to easily use a hoe to break up the lumps much to my surprise. The onions have grown noticeably and I’ve replaced less than a handful which were still dormant, and sowed the rest of the spares. Yesterday I noticed a couple of the first early potatoes Pentland Javelin were now just showing.   I haven’t sown any Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes douglasii) seeds as the fe ..read more

I sowed some annual flower seeds Candytuft Fairy Mixed Colours (Iberis umbellata), Cornflowers Polka Dot (Centaurea cyanus) and Pot Marigolds Flighty’s Favourites and Daisy Mix (Calendula officinalis). I also sowed a double row of carrots Short and Sweet,  and also prepared the areas where I’ll be growing beans, both dwarf French and Runner, and the sweetcorn. One of my least favourite jobs is rough cutting the grass path edges but I made a start, and the compost heap is now covered in a grass duvet which will keep it nice and warm. Yesterday was damp and dull, today is cold and rain ..read more

The first Tomato Red Robin I sowed was a no-show so I sowed another one which germinated and started growing in less than a week. It’s now over 1 in/2.5 cm tall and I’ll be replanting it into a 5 in/12.5 cm pot in a couple of weeks.   It’s shown below right, picture taken earlier in the month. The Sunflower Big Smile (above left) is doing well and is now over 2 in/5 cm tall. It will also be replanted into a 5 in.12.5 cm pot when I do the tomato. The English Daisies in a 3.5 in/9 cm pot, which I showed last month, have been flowering continuously with six flowers at one point.  ..read more

Yesterday I planted out the last of the potatoes, the main crop Picasso, and can now turn my attention to making a start sowing the annual flower seeds on the flower patches. The onions Sturon are now starting to grow leaves, and so far the birds haven’t pulled any out of the ground as they often do. At home on windowsill the first of the tomato seeds, a Gardener’s Delight,  has germinated and started growing.  They’re taking longer than usual, I guess due to the cool, dull weather. Some good news is that new growth has finally started to appear on the white flowering Aster/Michaelma ..read more

I was looking round the site one day last week and noticed a lot of forget-me-nots, then wondered why I didn’t grow any. At home I browsed some gardening books, then looked at various websites and decided I should grow them both on the plot and at home. I found this small flowering plant on an untended plot which I dug up and is now in a 3 in/7.5 cm pot on the windowsill. I’ve bought a packet of the common Forget-me-nots, or true wild form, (Mysotis arvensis) which I’ll sow in various places.   Chiltern Seeds list a white one (Mysotis sylvatica Snowsylva). In the description it says thes ..read more

I planted the rest of the onions Sturon on Thursday afternoon, and so far none have been hoicked out of the ground by birds. I started planting out the potatoes on Friday and I’m just doing one row of ten each time I’m there, which is easier for me nowadays.  It also means that I’ve got time while I’m there to work on the flower patches, and the main one is now ready to start sowing seeds.  I generally just hoe all these areas over before sowing  but I’ve forked cosmos corner over as it was the soggiest area on the plot apart the bottom corner by the crocosmia. That should help ..read more

I’ve always grown onions Sturon and generally do well with them. I buy the sets from the horticultural society trading shed and plant them out around the end of March or beginning of April.  I’m a bit late this year as the ground has been so soggy but on Monday I planted out half of them, and will do the rest over the weekend. I’m happy when they grow to around the size of a tennis ball, but they do generally vary.  Last year wasn’t a good year, which I think was due to the hot weather which restricted the size to about a golf ball.  This archive picture shows two I grew back in ..read more

I did some plotting on Monday, mostly hoeing round where I’ll planting the onions Sturon and first early potatoes Pentland Javelin.  I also re-weeded a couple of areas on the flower patch. Yesterday I only looked round and pottered as it was all much too soggy again. This is part of cosmos corner by the stone feature, which is roughly in the middle of the plot. This area has only been like this a couple of times before, and nowhere near as bad as this. Something that is doing well is the rhubarb, but sadly the daffodils Sweetness seen below/in front of it have come up blind with no flower ..read more

I thought about doing a post titled Miserable March or Marking Time but I try to keep positive here, which certainly hasn’t been easy of late. Yesterday was a rare dry and sunny day but today it’s drizzly and dull  again.  Last week I only went to the plot twice, on Monday and yesterday, when I did some hoeing and weeding. Here are four pot marigolds Flighty’s favourites from July 2016. Happy Easter, have a good week and take care ..read more

Last Saturday I sowed some seeds in pots most of which are plants I’ll be growing on the windowsill.  Of course the first thing I did on Sunday morning was to have a look at them even though I thought that it would be at least a week before any  germinate and start to appear.  In fact the first few were just showing by early yesterday, much to my delight and relief. The dwarf sunflower is the variety Big Smile, which I’ve not grown before, and the tomato a Red Robin.  More details about these in next months post. Once they’re big enough I will replant them into 6 in/15 cm b ..read more