Dooh!

   Well only known to somewhere in the far reaches of my brain two weeks has all but gone by and I had not written my gardening blog. Dooh! I can find excuses but they are not worth putting here that is for sure.

   The continual problem of the grass continues with yet another cut over the whole garden and down by the river, however, there is promising signs that it is slowing up. That is probably because there has not been any significant rainfall. I breath a sigh of relief!

   So what has been going on? Galina, Roma, Millefleur and Gardeners Delight have been transplanted into a poly tunnel plot. As I write this they are well established and already showing flowers. Let me be a pessimist. How long till the blight strikes I wonder. I have three very good looking All the Year Round cauliflowers in the poly tunnel with one nearing the time it should be cut. Along with these are a couple of Renne de Baccalan cabbages. These were grown from home gathered seed. There is a lot of lettuce in the poly tunnel. The red salad bowl and salad endive are now coming to an end and the Jack Ice lettuce is taking  off. My section of Little Gem lettuce has suffered from a fungal attack and are not as good as I would have hoped but still edible. More seed sowed and hopefully I will  get more later. Sweet corn, variety Special Swiss, (first open pollinated sweet corn to be developed for a long time apparently) has been sowed in modules. The majority of a row of radishes have been pulled due to lack of consumption! The Hundredweight Pumpkins have been transplanted to larger pots and I am determined to get big pumpkins this year. I have the manure, I have the room, I have the plants! Do I have the willpower to make sure I water them?

All The Year Round Cauliflower

   In the outside garden a row of Sanguina beetroot, Colmar Coeur Rouge 2 carrot, small fow of Early Purple Sprouting and a resowing of Guernsey parsnips have been sowed. The first lot of french beans, Coupion, have been also sowed. Work continues to clear ground for plants nearing the need to be transplanted (Aubergines, sweet peppers, Nigel's Outdoor Green chili, celery, celeriac to mention some). I have now removed the cloches covering the lettuce and there are some lovely looking plants. Potatoes are now all but over the chickens and are growing well. My poor Gigante runner beans look a very sorry for themselves having been victims of a mass attack by my feathered rivals however the Cucamelons are looking good and almost ready to transplant. We are all looking forward to trying these this year. So onward and upwards! 

   

Someone stop the grass!

   Days are flying by and more and more needs to be done in the garden and it is not getting done! The grass continues to grow, yes, like grass!
   In the outside garden potatoes are well established despite repeated chicken attacks! The Champion of England peas are up but how long before my feathered beasts find them! I have tomatoes that now need to be transplanted. Summer cabbage has been transplanted, varieties Precoce Louvier and Golden Acre. I have taken a chance and transplanted my Gigante runner beans plants after hardening them off. Unfortunately the chickens took a fancy to them and they now have no leaves. I believe they will recover. The asparagus in the outside bed is doing very well this year and I have had a good number of spears already with the promise of more to come. The long suffering rhubarb now has enough stalks to pick some. I have lots of lettuce all but ready to cut and I think there will be glut. Lettuce soup anyone?
   In the poly tunnel celeriac and celery has been transplanted to pots along with sweet chocolate and orange sweet peppers. The new sowing of coriander has germinated. I continue to sow small amounts of radish. So far my succession planing with the radish is working well! Other seeds have germinated too - La Diva and Wautoma cucumber, Hundredweight pumpkins and sunflowers. It is all go go go!

Asparagus