Healthy Plants

Tuesday 24^th May  

13:30-15:50 Time spent at the LG.

Planted  spinach from seed in a tray at home. The plants are big enough now to put into the ground.

Pumpkin seedlings I had propagated from seeds in the conservatory also look ready to be now planted into the LG.

So, put in two pumpkin plants straight into the soil.

1 more melon plant.

Dug up a few of last year's potatoes.

Dug through bed 8 as so many potatoes are coming through there also.

Dug up bed 2, took out all weeds, and leaving many of the bulbs that are sprouting up here and there in that bed.

The soil in bed 2 is very heavy, not easy to dig up.

This is hard work....

Earthing potatoes is easy

Loves hoeing and does it better than anything else

An idea from a friendly LG owner: growing green compost. Put in mustard seeds and the following year, dig it all in.

So, going to put in mustard seeds in the whole of that bed , tender shoots we can use for saag and then let it grow for compost.

Sunday 29^th May  

12:30-14:30

Our LG friend, who helped us get this LG, is in her LG bright and early with her friend and they are both busy at work.

I gave her 4 french bean plants. 

Today I planted my the beans and a couple more melon plants that I had started in the conservatory.

Dwarf French beans in the soil

Two tomato plants and been completely eaten.

Had brought two more to put in and put them where the two had disappeared..

Potatoes doing great.

Wow to the potatoes I planted from potato seed

Mangetout tops are looking healthy.

Radishes are coming through, but the leaves seem to be eaten away by something. They are covered in holes.

Covered one of the strawberry towers with net as it has many flowers and green strawberries are beginning to show.

Friday 3^rd June

2:45-5:00pm

Bought three dwarf fruit trees from Homebase in memory of my mum.

Plum   £15

Cherry £15

Pear    £15

Dwarf variety. Asked our friendly LG adviser, where it would be suitable to put the trees. He recommended bed 10, that is where he had his fruit trees (he is the previous owner of this LG).

BIG hole being dug for the fruit tree

Soaked the cherry and plum tree, as they need to stand in water for about an hour.

Put the trees in, one left to do as we only had one bucket and soaked the one in the water butt.

 

Put three more pumpkin  and two melon plants in.

Re-did the net over the peas and tomatoes.

Wanted to put mustard seeds in bed two. It needs to be dug up, so I did the digging, but did not get around to putting in the mustard.

This is the bed that keeps sprouting up flower bulbs – gladioli I think…

Saturday 4^th June

3:45 -5-00 pm

Very warm day.

Soaked the plum tree for an hour then planted that.

Watered the plants, and scattered the mustard seeds in a small area of bed two.

 AND dug up potatoes from the old stock that had started to grow from last year. How amazing is this.

WOW..

Courgettes 

Coriander-Dhania...

... and raspberries too

Planting progress

Thursday 21^st April 

Strawberry tower lined, placed the drain pipe in the centre and filled it with two types of compost. Job done!

Bought some seeds from Lidl

Carrots

Yellow beans

Planted them in trays . Seeded spinach in trays.

Other seeds in trays germinated in the conservatory

Yellow and green courgettes

Melons

Tomatoes

Friday 22nd April 

Found lots strawberry plants coming up behind the shed. Uprooted them and put them in the strawberry tower.

I planted the strawberries

Sukh watered...

Bought potato seeds to plant from Wyevale garden Centre.

Friday 29^th April

Not had chance to go to the LG last week. The weather has turned really cold.

Tip from Gardeners  World on potato beds:  once potatoes are put in bed, plant lettuce in between the rows, as the lettuce will be picked before the potatoes begin to grow, so maximum use of space.

Dug up a bed ready for potatoes and a robin came to watch

Our friendly LG Robin

Sunday 1^st May

Put in potato seeds – Aaron Pilot.

Dig a narrow trench – five inches deep.

The seed potato spaced 18 inches apart.

30 inches between rows.

OK. Sowed the spuds in 4 rows in bed number 11.

When the stems reach 9 inches above the ground they should be earthed up again to prevent the tubers near the soil surface from turning green.

Harvesting 15 weeks from planting.

Put some flower seeds in the flower bed…number 1.

Bed 1 is the flower bed

Mangetout taking off

Thursday 5^th May

Put the second strawberry tower with strawberry plants from back of the shed.

Two towers for the LG

Had bought some bulbs from Lidl, put loads of different ones in, in the flower bed.

Anemone coronana

Acidanthira murielae

Freesia mix

Brodiaea Queen fabiola

Sparaxis tricolour

Had bought radish seeds. They were on a strip, so put two strips in, in the potato bed.

Watching over us

Earthing the potatoes - so soon after planting - WOW

Saturday 7^th May

Bought bag of potato seed  from Wyevale garden centre. 
There is room for two more rows in bed number 11.

Two rows of Sharpe’s Express potatoes planted. They are suitable for salad, boiling, baking, roasting and for chips.

In between the potatoes planted some lettuce.

Created two beds and in one I planted dhania, (coriander) and in the other methi (fenugreek) and planted spinach seeds next to the dhania bed.

Monday 9^th May

Went to LG about 18:30. It has been a hot day, too hot to go during the midday sun.

The courgettes that I had started from seed now had three large leaves, therefore ready to go in the  LG ground.

Took 6 plants and put them in bed number 3, side of the methi and coriander…

Courgette Planting

Bed number 5  is quite large and I noticed potato plants are sprouting here and there.  Oh dear…

Had put in twigs Dave brought to support mange tout…the twigs leaves have begun to sprout a lovely soft brown colour.

Lettuce I put in on Saturday, some have their leaves munched. I guess the slugs have been having a party. Slug pellets will be coming soon, hope they do not munch their way through the courgettes I put in today, before the pellets are in.

Watch these courgettes grow

Friday 13^th May

Went to the LG after 5pm.

Shocked to see that all the lettuce had gone, not even a single root showed through.

The courgettes seemed ok, and some the potatoes seeds we had put in were just coming through, so I covered them in earth... as one is supposed to.

Decided to dig up bed number 10...   

There were bulbs that had come through, but as I dug I found lots roots I had to pull out. Then there were some big roots - obviously from a small tree that I could not pull or dig up.

The friendly robin came and hopped around as I dug and as soon it saw a worm it pulled it out and then perched itself on a tree root and sat there in enjoyment.

Enjoying the worm

Sunday 15^th May

Got to the LG around 11am. 

A friendly  LG owner showed us his plot and told us that he grows just vegetables, and rotates the crop. He has potatoes, garlic, broad beans, French beans, beetroot, parsnips, onions and is going to put in brassica.

Loads of gladiolus bulbs, so I pulled them, thinned them and planted them in the flower bed and tidied up.

Looking tidy

Tuesday 17^th May

Lovely warm day, we got to the LG after 12 and left at 3:15pm

I was asked by one friendly LG owner: did I know anything about gardening ?

I said no.

So he said,"I thought so. You seem to be putting things in, here and there."

"Well," I said "as you are an expert maybe you could advise me as to what I should be doing.

I would welcome your experienced help". He smiled and went away and said not me.

Spent time tidying up the flower bed, bed number 1.

The rows of potatoes I planted are showing through again, I earthed them last week. So, earthed them once again.

Potatoes cropping up from the past

Loads of potatoes are coming up in bed 5, not sure if we should pull them out as they are from last year.

Asked our LG friend,  he said leave them, they should be ok.

Just a few of methi seeds are beginning to sprout and not much of the dhania.

Spinach is coming through.

Sukh tidied up bed 10 and pulled out all the roots that are embedded  deep under the soil.

Took bean plants to put in, they are not quite ready to go in yet, so placed them in the shed.

Saturday 21^st May 2016

LG around 1ish until 3pm.

Put in 6 tomato plants in, 2 melons.

Dhania is showing through, methi is beginning to come through too.

Mange tout growing ok, trained them up the twiggy branches.

Sukh tidied up and weeded areas.

Filled the water butt from the main big Butts.

Potatoes coming through well and being earthed every time we come to the LG.