Sun, sun, sun....

   So much sun does get a bit boring really. Over the last week there has been a few rain showers and a day or so overcast otherwise it has been sun all the way! That means watering and lots of plant growth. I am now spending the better part of one hour in the evening going round the plants watering. Still, the results are very good so I will persist.

Galina tomatoes in the poly tunnel

 

Nigels outdoor green chili (actually outdoors!)   

    The tomatoes are loving the warm to hot weather. The plants are looking good and every day there are more tomatoes set. The Galina tomatoes which were the first to start to set are now starting to ripen. They are a yellow grape variety although on the larger side. The outside tomatoes are doing well and I am watching out for them as the chickens will be at them as soon as they show any sign of ripening. I have supplemented my tomato plants by taking some of the shoots that would normally be thrown away and potting them up. They soon produce a good root system and at the end of the day they are "free" tomato plants. Much of the transplanting is now         done and my attention turns to things like    "sorting out the compost heap" which I have  done and pruning the vine, also done. That  involves getting out the long ladder and  being perched some twenty feet up in the air
 reaching out to cut off the shoots with a pair    of secateurs.  

Wautoma cucumber in the poly tunnel

   I have sorted out the meat chicken coop  and the associated run and also cleaned out  the turkey coop which is housing two geese  this summer. Six more meat chickens have    now  arrived and two geese.
   Charlotte potatoes are now being dug on a   regular basis and it is a good crop. I am      sure it will improve as I make my way down the rows. A new sowing of coriander has been made in the poly tunnel and the peas there are now coming to an end. More lettuce transplanted and I am fearful of a lettuce shortage with the failure of  the salad bowl and Little Gem lettuce which was supposed to be a stop gap between the last of the Jack Ice and the start of the Great Lakes! The next sowing of lettuce has germinated but it no where near ready to transplant yet. May be we will not eat very much lettuce? Experience says if I have a shortage whatever is short will be required. All in all its go go go!

Thunder! Rain! Sun! Whats next?

   Weeds. That is what is next, weeds. Bit of sun, bit of rain and you get weeds. Lots of weeds not to mention the grass! So a fair amount of time has been spent weeding. Having said that everything is growing away madly having loved the sunshine and then really enjoyed the rain to put on a big spurt in growth. 

Troubadour water melon patch

Blackwater water melons

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I have sorted out the melon patch in between down pours. This involved digging out the dirt and putting a layer of chopped Comfrey (a green manure), a layer of earth, a layer of cow manure, a layer of earth, more cow manure, more earth. Hopefully they will like that! Melons like their roots to be warm, hence the plastic covering the patch. Elsewhere I have planted out Blackwater water melons which have been very successful for me over the last two years. This year I have five plants. Fingers crossed that I get some big water melons.
   The year is moving on and winter vegetables are being sown already. Savoy cabbage, swede and purple sprouting have been sown in modules or pots and are well established. I have continued to cut lettuce and more has been transplanted and also sown to continue the succession. Vegetables are being harvested, in particular cabbage and peas. I have sown another row of carrot with my first sowing not germinating at all. At last the beetroot has put its head up and there is a good row. I will need to protect them from  my feather friends, the chickens! All the squash plants (Waltham butternut and  Burgess buttercup) are now planted out and established as are the two varieties of pumpkin (Hundredweight and Justkynka).       Out side the poly tunnel cucumbers, La Diva, are also out and established along with the cucamelons. Courgettes, two varieties, Straiato di Napoli and Milano have also been planted out. Two more varieties of peas have been sown to accompany the Champion of England already growing (both are home gathered seed, Oskar and a sugar snap type).   
    In the poly tunnel the tomatoes are thriving and I am watching them for the first signs of blight. There are many tomato's set and the variety Galina I think will be the first to ripen. Wautoma cucumbers are rapidly reaching for the roof and the bed of sweet peppers are growing well. I am on the look out for cucumber flowers.  Good old Basil, Mammoth, Lemon and Sweet Genoese is now established. Nigel's Green Chili's are looking good!

Sun glasses are on!

   My ten plus years old PC is unhappy. This means for the time being I am unable to load pictures to my blog.
   The sun has stayed around and there have been some hot days. I have even started to garden early in the morning giving up by eleven o,clock it has been so warm.
    Lots being done in the outside garden. Great Lake lettuce, water melons, sunflowers, early leeks, sweet corn, more tomatoes and sweet peppers transplanted and of course grass mowing. I have sowed a row of Touchon carrots and I have learned that carrot seed need to be kept moist to germinate, so more watering to do!
      Three varieties of basil (lemon, sweet Genoese and mammoth) transplanted in the poly tunnel and there are some tomatoes the size of moth balls! The Wautoma cucumbers have settled in well and are starting to throw out tentacles. The jack and the bean stalk peas, now up to the roof in the poly tunnel have had the first picking taken. 
        It is only June yet already I am thinking of winter crops. I have sowed purple sprouting again this year in hope of greater success than in previous years. I have also sown some winter cabbage, Piacenza, a savoy type, from the Real Seed Catalog. The prolonged dry spell is not helping with getting the beetroot and parsnips going. I fear this year will be a bad year for my parsnips. It will soon be time to dig up the first potatoes. The Charlotte ones have flowers out and I eagerly await the first sign that the flowers are going over.
        So it is a busy time. The hay has been cut and bailed so summer is moving on.

The sun has got his hat on...

   What can I say? The weather has turned delightful. Lots of sunshine. Now I can complain about the ground being too dry rather than too wet! Good grief!
   Taking advantage of the good weather I have transplanted celery and celeriac from pots to an out side bed. I now need to remember to keep watering them. Also Nigel's Outdoor Green 

Celery

Chili has been transplanted outside. It will be interesting to see how these do outside this year. Last year I only planted some in the poly tunnel with great success. Tomato's inside the poly tunnel are growing well. I have a couple of tomato's already set. They are the size of a pin head! Those planted outside are now showing signs of starting to grow with flowers appearing. Courgettes, pumpkins, squash and outdoor cucumbers have also been transplanted outside along with Great Lakes lettuce. Wautoma cucumbers have been transplanted in the poly tunnel and a heath robinson framework (rustic) constructed for them to climb up. Cucamelons have also been transplanted outside the poly tunnel and I put a couple inside the poly tunnel to see how they do.
   More forking and weeding has been done and there are still sweet peppers to transplant outside the poly tunnel . I have more tomatoes to go out, about 20. A new herb for me, Pipiche, Mexican coriander has been sown in a half seed tray. This herb is for the poly tunnel. It will be interesting to see grow.

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

Running around tearing hair out!

  I had managed to gain some time over the grass, however, as I type it is growing and will need to be cut again soon I fear. Fears are well founded. Sunday 26th April and the grass need cutting again.
   Progress in the outside garden. Pea trench dug and manured with Champion of England peas sown. Fingers crossed. I would love a bumper harvest of peas this year. I have been putting the Gigante runner beans out during the day to harden them off while I prepare the bed that they are to be transplanted to. That bed is now ready for the bean poles to be put up. Two loads of cow manure arrived this week from the local farm. A little late for the potatoes but good for the pea and runner bean trenches. It will come in useful for the courgettes, melons, squash etc. The potatoes are now poking their heads up and I am going along the rows covering them up and as fast as I do they reappear. The threat of frost is minimal and every day that goes by and gets us closer to May the less chance there is of there being one. The rhubarb is proving to be a disappointment. Last year I divided one of the plants and all the divided plants have failed leaving me with only one or two plants. Good excuse to get a new variety I guess. The asparagus continues to produce. One or two breakfasts of asparagus and dippy egg have been consumed.

Runner bean poles going up

   In the poly tunnel more lettuce sown and various varieties of sweet pepper transplanted to pots. Another ten Roma tomatoes also transplanted to pots. I think I will stop now with the tomatoes. I have some 150 plants in pots. Radishes are  going well as are the cauliflowers, salad bowl, salad endive and little gem lettuce.
   It is time to sow the cucumbers, melons, squashes and the such. That is a job for this week end. I am later than in previous years in sowing these. I decided that I would wait towards the end of April to try to avoid the damage that can be caused by the dip in temperature we get here in the middle of May. Hopefully the plants will not be too big by then! Still, have to sow them first! Since I wrote this the cucumbers etc have now been sown!
   On the animal front the lambs are growing well. The egg laying chickens have had a slump in egg laying down to three or four a day  but as I write it looks like they are coming back up to eight or nine a day. The meat hens are growing well and look like they will be some nice birds.