DAMN SHEEP!

   This country living lark has its ups and downs. Last night (20/05) was a down. The flock of ewes and lambs plus the ram escaped from their paddock. Looks like the ram must have head butted the gate once too often and it had opened. So out they came bleating away. I heard the little bug***s while in bed but did not act. So this morning what do I find? Sheep and lambs at my front door bleating leaving little messages on the floor (one or two were big ones!). There was no problem getting them back to their paddock. They knew where to go and I drove them without any problem. Only once I had them back did I begin to see what they had done. They had eaten all my celeriac plants that I had transplanted yesterday. They also ate my Cheltenham Green Top beetroot that I was growing for seed and were about to flower - takes two seasons to get beetroot seed! Annoyed is just a mild version of how I felt! I will need to assess the damage more closely but I think I will need to resow the celeriac. I should just about be able to get away with it but those plants looked really good and I am very disappointed. Guess what? Yes, you guessed it. The chickens. I sowed some late leeks a while back and they were growing well. I had covered them up to stop the chickens from using the bed as a somewhere to scratch. I decided to sow some Chou Rouge and F1 Lion King White cabbage seed in the small plot and leave it uncovered. Mistake. First sign of the ground looking dry the cockerel decides to take a dirt bath. I hate sheep and chickens!

Sheep munched beetroot

  Ok, three things working against me! Sheep, chickens and the weather. Heck do I have a chance I wonder? The weather continues to be wet and the ground is staying soggy to say the least. In between the rain when the sun shines a little I am mowing the grass. I am sowing seeds in the poly tunnel but the tomatoes now need to be transplanted outside very soon. Waltham butternut squash, Petit Gris de Rennes melon, Kohl Rabi and lemon grass all sown in the poly tunnel. Within a few days the squash had germinated and I am looking out for the melons! Outside I managed to get a row of De Colmar coeur rouge carrot sown but I have covered most of the row with cloche's to keep the soil warm and a little drier. This helped the first sowing to germinate which are now up and have their first full leaves. 
   In the poly tunnel I spied my first slug! Another "thing" to add? It has eaten one small cabbage plant. It very quickly took a flying lesson through the door of the poly tunnel. Other crops in the tunnel are looking good - Little Gem, Great Lakes and red Salad bowl lettuce, cauliflowers (lost three due to what I call soil rot - the stem rots where it enters the soil. Fungal disease no doubt), tomatoes, asparagus (still throwing up spears), radish and parsley. Outside asparagus, broad beans, peas, garlic, second early and main crop potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, onions (four varieties - gone mad on onions this year!), shallots (pickle and "banana"), orbis (root parsley), beetroot, rhubarb, parsnips, carrots, lettuce, early leeks and although at first I thought it was a weed okra are  growing away. Guess I should not be too disappointed! 

Carrot and Parsnip

   In the poly tunnel I have transplanted four Millefleur (centifleur type) tomatoes. First time trying to grow these. These should produce large quantities of  grape like bunches of tomatoes. I now have 32 tomatoes planted in the poly tunnel, four varieties. I have plans to plant at least one more row of four plants probably Moneymaker.
   First lot of sweet peppers have been transplanted outside and this year I have decided to plant aubergine outside. The variety De Barbentane is a french variety bred to grow outside. It will be interesting to see how they do and to find out whether or not I am not to far north to grow them outside successfully. 
   Still much to do around the garden as always. I have sorta got on top of the grass mowing in-between rain showers and I am now cutting the grass "short". There is much "tidying up" type work to do and as always weeding and cutting grass around the beds. Hey ho! I am wishing for better weather and now June is nearly upon us I am ever hopeful. You have to be to be a gardener!

   

As they say...go! go! go!

  Well, all h***  has let loose over the last couple of weeks. It has been a busy time at Watermeadows. There have been gite guests, an Aussie couple staying for a week and also some friends of my daughter/son-in-law staying with them! Houses were full!
  In the garden its go go go! A week of warmer weather has meant that the grass has need to be mown every three or four days and a lot of transplanting/sowing has been done. All the fruit trees has been in full blossom and the scent has just been wonderful. No frost so hopefully a lot will set! There are cherries on the sour cherry tree and I am informed that next doors cherry tree has masses of cherries on it! I think it will be a good year for fruit (famous last words!).
  It is manic in the polytunnel. Broad beans to pick, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and more growing away! Quinoa, sown for the first time, germinated within 24 hours! Lettuce and radish to cut and pull, corriander and parsly to pick and All the Year round cauliflowers to admire! The Full White celery has been a disappointment and despite sowing three lots not one seed has germinated. I sent an email to the Real Seed Catalog just to let them know really and they are going to send me some more seed. I thought that was beyond the call really but hey thanks guys! Asparagus, inside the poly tunnel and out, has been cut quite reguarly but only three/four spears at a time. Still, good result year four and hopefully next year will be better.

Transplanted in the polytunnel:
Champeau Yellow giant tomatoes (home bred!)
Latah tomatoes
Amish Paste tomatoes
Romano tomatoes
Ethel Watkins tomatoes to pots
Oregon Spring tomatoes to pots
Wytches yellow tomatillos to pots
Curly parsly to a large pot, small pots and to p/t bed
Kaibi sweet peppers to pots
 
Sowed:
French breakfast radish p/t bed
La Diva cucumber in pots
Patty pan squash in pots
Blue banana squash in pots
Achocha exploding cucumber - more about these as they grow!
Straito di Napoli courghette in pots
White celery in small seed tray (third sowing!)
One hundredweight pumpkins in pots
Water melon in pots
Sweetheart melon in pots
Teizer celery in a small seed tray  

Transplanted to the tomb!
Latah tomatoes  
     
Transplanted in the outside garden:
Spainish and Bedfordshire Champion onions
Red cabbage to the rhubarb bed (cabbage and rhubarb complement each other!)
All the Year round cauliflower
Juane (Early) leeks

  In the outside garden the potatoes are bursting through and I am nearly at a point that I will not be able to cover them up with soil. Jerusalem artichokes are pushing up and the lettuce is now ready to cut. Onions and shallots sets are going well as are the onions from seed. Lots of grass clipping around the veggie borders and I have clear the edges of the strawberry beds and I can now see that there will be some strawberries this year.  First sowing of Cheltenham Green Top beetroot is up as is the Orbis (root parsly). The first row of Tender and True parsnip is looking good and the second row has now germinated. My over winter attempt to grow peas has now been declared a failure and I have started to remove the support sticks, however, the second sowing is doing well. The over wintered carrots, more of a mistake than diliberate attempt, are growing well and when pulled look good.
  Still lots to do and the days are slipping away! This week should see the last of the possible frosts with the usual dip in temperature expected at the end of the week. After that the weather should get a lot warmer and hopefully drier. I will let you know!
 

A couple of days hard work....

   It has taken a few days to get there but the garden is looking under control again. Well, sort of. This time of year everything just grows grows grows. 
   In the outside garden over one hundred "storage" onions have been transplanted with the help of my two grandchildren. These onions are Yellow Rynsburger and hopefully will produce a yellow onion that stores well. More grass cutting around the vegetable plots and the sowing of Orbis root parsly. Never grown this before and I will be interested to see what it is like. Supposed to taste like a mild parsnip. The asparagus is really taking off now. New spurs popping up every other day or so. One more bed has been forked and cleared of weeds. Only half a border to do now and that has the green manure Lucerne growing in it so hopefully it will not be too hard to do. That area is marked to be a tomato bed so no particular hurry. Volunteer potatoes are popping up here and there and my ex-Christmas potatoes (now turned into first earlies!) are really motoring. I fear they will be frosted at some point but I will keep covering them up until they get too big. I have sown autumn/winter leek seed in an outside seed bed. My second row of parsnip which was seed gathered some time ago was a complete failure. I was not surprised and that seed has now been thrown away. Parnip is well known for poor germination and I have replanted the row with fresh Tender and True parsnip seed. First sowing of Cheltenham Green Top beetroot has been made. I really like this beetroot. It is hardy, tastes good and will stand in the ground over winter without any problem.
  In the poly tunnel the tomatoes are growing away. An early variety, Latah, is soon going to need to be planted out. Fortunately I have these earmarked for the poly tunnel. Others, Amish Paste, were destined for the outside garden but I do not know if I will be able to hang on until the last frost has past. First few radishes pulled but generally the 19 Jour (day) radish has been a disappointment. I suspect old seed. Asturian tree cabbage and Golden Acre cabbage have been sown in modules. The broad beans are now showing bean pods. Need to consider sowing winter cabbage.
  I have adjusted the mower and cut the grass shorter around the house. Looking out into the main garden I see that the grass needs cutting again. Unfortunately rain is forecast and yes I hate to say it but a little rain would be welcome. Rain yes. Hail no! Yes, it hailed. Least I did not have any lettuce out that was not under cover. It will encourage the recently planted seeds and transplanted onions. Plenty of jobs to do such as moving the cow manure heap and trimming borders not to mention cutting the grass!

Broad beans in the poly tunnel

All the Year Round cauliflower in the poly tunnel

A little warmth, a little sunshine...

   Almost three weeks have past since my last blog update. I have been away for part of that time and as always happens when one  goes away for a few days the plants in the garden have started to grow with attitude. With all the rain there has been it has only taken a little bit of warmth and sunshine to bring on spring in full force. Before I went away the carrots and parsnip seeds had not germinated. Now they are well up and growing away!

Sour Cherry blossom

Peach, pear and cherry blossom is now out and the daffodils are in flower.
   The grass is in desperate need of cutting and that is one of my first jobs to do. Seeds need to be sown and there are more onions, lettuce and cauliflowers to transplant! Man! 
   My farmer neighbour has delivered the cow manure. I would have liked it a little earlier but hey ho there it is - a pile in the field. Now I have to move it into the garden. The Jerusalem artichokes are waiting for their top dressing!
   The first pulling of rhubarb has been made and the the first rhubarb crumble consumed. There is now a lot more to pull.
   In the poly tunnel cherry bell radishes have been sown and are now up. Some "18 day" radish are now ready to eat. For some reason the germination of the 18 Day radish has not been good. Tomatoes (Millfleur, Amish paste, Moneymaker, Roma) have been transplanted to pots, some 160 in all and more to come. Aubergines and sweet peppers transplanted to pots. I have removed the purple sprouting plants (yes, fed to the sheep) and the winter leaves. Both of these have done well this winter. Oh, yes, I have a mandrake plant! One seed has germinated so far.
    In the outside garden beetroot was pulled, final winter cabbage cut and sprout plants fed to the sheep! Some Bedfordshire Champion and Spainish onions were transplanted.
   Well that was what was done before I went away. On day one of my return I mowed most of the lawns, transplanted cauliflowers in the poly tunnel, sowed Latah, Oregon spring and Ethel Watkins tomatoes. I transplanted some Great Lakes lettuce to a poly tunnel bed. Something overnight ate the rest of the Great Lakes lettuce plants which I had put outside the poly tunnel to harden off. I do not think it was the chickens but they are quick to spot the chance to eat some fresh green leaves!
   Shallots, onion sets,  garlic and peas are growing well. Leeks and carrots from the 2012 season are also picking up and will need to be pulled soon or else they will go to seed! A row of potatoes that I had hoped would be ready for Christmas (2012) and I thought were lost have popped up! Looks like we will get new potatoes this year!
   So, enough of this typing it is time to get back to the dirt face! 

Potatoes etc...

   Another week, more rain yet some sunshine! In the outside garden I have started to plant potatoes. Belle de Fontenay, an old French variety, main crop and Vitelotte, a purple potato. This potato is purple all the way through! Should be interesting. I tidied up and top dressed the asparagus bed but but no signs of asparagus yet, however, spoke too soon, in the poly tunnel one spur has pushed it way up!  

First asparagus spur in the poly tunnel

   I have sown a row of Early Nante carrot under clouche's trying to get a head start. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. Thats gardening for you! I finally took a deep breath and planted out the Jerusalem artichokes. Boy, doing that was a labor of love! Had to dig out an area, chuck manure in, cover it over, plant the few tubers I had and cover it up! Almost as bad as planting potatoes! Still, hopefully they will take and I will be able to establish a Jerusalem artichoke bed.
   In the poly tunnel transplanting continues. Aubergines, a few pak choi and tomatoes (Moneymaker, Couer de Beef, Roma, Amish Paste). Plenty more to do!

Eventful week!

   Well it has been an eventful week. One of our sheep gave birth to twin lambs. One we believe was still born and the other only managed to survive the day. We have also lost two chickens.   We suspect that their time had come rather than anything untoward but who knows! We wait and see what is going to happen with the rest of them.On the plus side the other two lambs are thriving.
   In the garden the week began wet and cold and ended warm and drier. The couple of days of warmth has encourage everything to start growing and as I look out the window I can see leaves coming on next doors willow tree and the forthesyia has a yellow hue to it. The first grass cut of the season has been done.
  In the outside garden the shallots and onion sets are sprouting. I have picked more sprouts but I think it is time to call it a day and give the plants to the sheep. I am going to need the space soon. I have planted the remains of my red onion sets and garlic amongst the strawberries.  I have sown a short row of organic Early Nante carrot seed. The Lucerne that I sowed last Autumn is growing fast. Hopefully it will flower for the bees before I need the ground! Rhubarb, garlic, peas, broad beans and spinach are all growing well. The broad beans are showing signs of coming into flower. There still a few Chou Milan cabbage, carrots and some leeks still to harvest. My potatoes are chitin away albeit a little slowly but that I do not mind and I am planning to plant most of these over Easter.
  In the poly tunnel/porch tomato's are growing. I have transplanted the remaining Latah tomato's to pots and put them in the poly tunnel fleece cloche. My own gathered yellow tomato seed has germinated and have now been designated "Champeau Yellow Giant". These were seed collected from harvested "giant" yellow tomato's that were grown from side shoots. My hope here is to breed a giant yellow tomato by selecting only seed from the biggest yellow tomato's. We shall see. 18 Jour (18 day) radish has germinated and the red salad bowl is not far behind. Broad beans and kohl rabi are growing well. One of the two cauliflowers is suffering from mould but I am hopeful it will still produce. No sign of the asparagus yet. A little early I think.
   The herb beds look "alive" and are developing a vista of shades of dark green.
   It is not going to be long now and the planting and sowing will really get underway. I have asked my farmer neighbor to drop some cow manure over. Hopefully it will arrive before I plant the potatoes.

Paaah! Spoke to soon.

   So, where did the mild weather go? It has turned cold, frosty and wet again and the inevitable loss of plants. I have lost about half of my Latah tomato's and most of the Coeur de Boeuf which is darn right annoying. I have resown the Coeur de Boeuf but I do not have anymore Latah. They were seed bought from the Reel Seed Catalogue and doing what it said on the packet - growing fast. For whatever reason the poly tunnel cloche fleece is not doing the same job as it did this time last year. Maybe it is to do with the damp rather than the temperature or perhaps a combination of both. Cauliflower seedlings are growing well, lettuce seedlings are looking good  and I have sown Chou Rouge (red cabbage) for next winter. One year I will get these to grow into reasonable cabbages. More onion seed planted. This time a french variety called Paille de Vertus (Straw of Virtue) which is supposed to be a good storing onion. The poly tunnel I believe is on average cooler and certainly I am noticing more frequent below freezing temperatures within the tunnel. Hey ho I struggle on and surely it can only get warmer!
  Outside I have sown Tender and True parsnips. A row of older seed and a row of newly  bought seed in the hope that one or the other will germinate. We missed parsnips this winter and I am determined to get some going this season. The effort to clear weeds goes on and beds have been gently forked and weeded. Still some to do but I need it to stop raining! 
  I have just read a gardening article in a local free paper. The writer advises planting garlic and onions amongst the strawberry plants to improve their health. Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained! I have some onion sets left and some  garlic so I will give it a go and see what happens! The rhubarb is going well and I have it covered up to protect it from the frost. I need some chimney pots to force the rhubarb! I left those I had back in the U.K and now wish I had not!
  Ending with a happy note our sheep have started to drop their lambs. Two born so far without any problem.

Watermeadows new born lamb