Archive for April, 2009

Two Rows of Beans

April 19, 2009 at 10:26 pm · Filed under Beans, Brassicas, Greenhouse, Progress, tomatoes

Yes, after all the problems with mice etc. (totl count 4 so far). I have succeeded in producing two double rows of broad beans. One from those grown in the greenhouse and another from those planted direct. The direct planting was missing three plants, so I filled those gaps in with greenhouse ones tonight. Below are the results – greenhouse ones on the left. There are at least two varieties from the greenhouse and a different one planted outside. I’ll fill in the details when I find the packets.

Two rows of broad beans

Two rows of broad beans

Note the slabs, I’ll be planting dwarf or french beans between those as well. The runners and climbing french beans will go along the fence at the right of the picture.

Meanwhile the digging is pretty much complete, I’ve finished section B, and spread the spent compost from three growbags over the area along with some ‘growmore’ fertiliser and forked it all in. Once more the male blackbird kept a close eye on my digging looking for worms.

Apart from that the seedlings in the grenhouse are coming along. This evening I noticed that some of the cucumber/courgettes were popping up and some of the curly kale as well. No more tomatoes have appeared for a few days, so it loks like a totoal of 11 seedlings, which may well be enough. The lettuce are just about big enough to plant out now and the broccoli are looking a bit ‘leggy’ but growing ok. Three of the dwarf beans are through now as well. There are still about 10 broad bean seedlings left in the greenhouse, so I’ll have to fit them in somewhere once they are hardened off. Still no sign of the peppers though…

I had to drag the lawnmower out a few days ago and mow the lawn, it was so long thet the sparrows were getting rather wary of landing on it in case they got lost! Of course this can only mean hedge cutting can’t be far behind.

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There’s Bean Progress

April 15, 2009 at 11:39 am · Filed under Beans, Brassicas, Greenhouse, Progress, tomatoes, wildlife

Yes, given a couple of fine days over the Easter Hols lots of progress in the garden. Also, seedlings have been coming on in the greenhouse. Including planting beans of several types - hence the title.

So, where to start… Well I guess most important, I’ve started digging (well actually forking and removing weeds) the last undug section of the garden (section B)  Over Monday and Tuesday (13/14 April)  I have managed to dig most of it – at the same time helping out our local blackbird who was desperately looking for food to feed what I suspect is a nest full of hungry chicks – I was chucking worms in his direction whenever he appeared and he seemed quite happy with the arrangement, even coming within a few feet of me to check up. Fortunately that section of the garden hasn’t grown too many weeds, though I did harvest some leeks from last year initially – not blanched but cooked that day and very nice.

As well as the digging, I had a seed planting frenzy. A half-row of mangetout peas (Oregon Sugar Pod – they grew well last year), and the other half row (in the section with the broad beans – parallel to the second row) of ‘full’ peas (Kelvedon Wonder). I finally planted some salad seeds outside as well,  short rows of rocket, ‘lambs lettuce’ and mustard (Oriental Red), the last two from a packet of mixed salad seeds. In section A I sowed short rows of carrots (Early Nantes) and pak choi, close to the greenhouse. Further away, a half row of spinach (Toscane) and spinach beet (Perpetual). I also limed a section close to the spinach in anticipation of the broccoli. In the picture below you can just see where the spinach has been panted, just above the slabs (new innovation this year). The markers at the top of the picture show where the short rows of carrot and pak-choi are planted

Section A - some seeds planted

Section A - some seeds planted

In the greenhouse, things are coming on. Some more of the broad beans are outside waiting to be planted out (three are already in) and more should be ready soon. Some of the supplementary plantings are through now so altogether there should be a full row. I planted some dwarf beans (Speedy), climbing french beans (Blue Lake, they did well last year), runner beans (Scarlet Emperoro) and a small tray of kale (Redbar).

The tray of broccoli seedlinga are coming on well, as are the lettuce. There are now about ten tomato seedlings coming up which may well be enough. Worryingly though no sign of the peppers yet…..

Meanwhile the blueberry bushes in containers are well into sprouting leaves. Most of the currants (9) I acquired a few weeks ago are now sprouting happily, but one of them has failed to produce anything yet so looks like a failure. One or two others have only a few buds in leaf, but I guess they will survive. The gooseberry bushes planted last year now have flower buds. The apple is just about in flower, the buds are just opening and the pears are in full flower. The  ‘wild’ damsons at the bottom of the garden are flowering like mad so we may be in for a good year (it only seems to happen every few years) but they may not produce much – we’ll see. 

Blueberry Bushes in leaf

Blueberry Bushes in leaf

On the wildlife front as mentioned, the blackbirds have been very active looking for food. None of our bird boxes seem to be inhabited though, there are too many good natural nesting spots for the tits I think.  Something (a fox I suspect) dug a hole into the area where the runner beans are going to go – maybe something from the compost below attracted them?

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More Seeds and Sprouting

April 11, 2009 at 7:58 pm · Filed under Beans, Brassicas, Greenhouse, tomatoes, wildlife

Although the blog has been quiet I have actually been moving a bit as far as planting i concerned. The broad beans have come on a bit and now the situation looks a bit more hopeful. There are now around 14 that have come up so those (see picture below) plus some more I planted separately. You can see in the pictures below top left the empty pots where no beans have come up. Just below you can see another tray with four pots I planted later – the beans are just coming through.

Meanwhile I looks as if the broad beans planted outside look as if they have started to come through.

Seedlings in Greenhouse

Seedlings in Greenhouse

In the greenhouse as well as the broad beans there is also a tray of lettuce – coming on nicely (right hand side) , also several tomatoes are through now (the seedlings in the middle of the picture) .

There are some peppers planted, plus courgettes and cucumbers but they won’t be through for a few more days yet. There are a few french beans also waiting to come through.

The tray lower middle with seedlings has two kinds of broccoli – despite problems when growing brassicas before I thought I would try again.

Meanwhile, outside, there is still one section of garden to dig but I have started to remove the large weeds. I have at least trimmed the ‘Russian vine’ which occupies an arch in the middle of the garden – if it doesn’t get a good trim it’s liable to take over the whole garden.

The grass is now long enough to need cutting – but true to form it has been rainy every day for the past few days. The hedges have started growing as well…..

The blackbirds have been very busy all over the garden, and have been very happy to search the ground within a few feet of me when I’ve been digging. I suspect they already have chicks to feed – hence their desperate searching for food.

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