re +- of qualifications. The RHS is considered the creme de la creme but there maybe this is just elitism. City & Guilds qualifications are widely recognised and last year I had a City & Guild horticultural student with me doing a work placement - on questioning, and working with her what she had covered horticulturally seemed to be on par with what the RHS courses had covered (which are the ones I have personal experience of). So on that basis I would say that horticultural qualifications from the RHS or C&G would be considered good quality.
The LANTRA ones are very job specific eg hedge-trimming and possibly more relevant to commercial applications.
#gardeningSE26
Re: #gardeningSE26
I got round to bagging up various lots of horse manure this week, which I'd left on the ground to start the process of rotting down. But soon I'm likely to want to plant something in the space, so here's what about 6 cubic metres rots down to
I've also been digging out some Michaelmas daisies, which I quite like, even though they're a bit of a weed, and over the years have encroached on a peony's space. Since I need to move another peony, it seems sensible to put them together, and the other side I'm going to put a third peony, which has been a bit lost and leggy on the shady side of my back garden. In a rown, they should look nice, even though it's a bit of a change of plan - a couple of years ago I was going to have various woody mint family herbs there, but apart from the rosemary and winter savory, they don't keep their shapes very well. And though rosemary looks great, there's a limit to how much you'll ever going to need for cooking. The savory, however, seems rather under appreciated - we use it much like thyme, which in contrast gets straggly after a few years, while the savory can be cut back any time with some garden shears, keeps putting out leaves, and keeps its shape. I also had some marjoram - much the same thing as oregano - but that just keeps growing up from ground level, and seeds itself any way where it can, so it takes an effort not to have it once you have it in your garden. Some years ago I grew hyssop, which looks good for a while but like thyme gets straggly. It's also incredibly bitter, so apart from Chartreuse, I'm not really sure what it's good for.
This isn't a great photo
largely because these crocuses aren't that impressive anyway, but it reminds me of an old friend, who took exception once to me describing her as a former hippy - she still was. Well, back in the day, when living in a commune here in Sydenham (I just checked - it was 1971) she planted crocuses in the front lawn to spell out LOVE when they came up. Such as shame that they have long since been covered by a gravel drive way.
Back on the plot, my rhubarb is starting to shoot, both the crowns which have been in position for five years
and also the one which I dug up and split up for planting in a new bed a few weeks ago
I'm also pleased that some other friends who've taken on a plot at our site have taken away most of the other newly split crowns for their plot - but there are still three left, if anyone wants them.
I've also been digging out some Michaelmas daisies, which I quite like, even though they're a bit of a weed, and over the years have encroached on a peony's space. Since I need to move another peony, it seems sensible to put them together, and the other side I'm going to put a third peony, which has been a bit lost and leggy on the shady side of my back garden. In a rown, they should look nice, even though it's a bit of a change of plan - a couple of years ago I was going to have various woody mint family herbs there, but apart from the rosemary and winter savory, they don't keep their shapes very well. And though rosemary looks great, there's a limit to how much you'll ever going to need for cooking. The savory, however, seems rather under appreciated - we use it much like thyme, which in contrast gets straggly after a few years, while the savory can be cut back any time with some garden shears, keeps putting out leaves, and keeps its shape. I also had some marjoram - much the same thing as oregano - but that just keeps growing up from ground level, and seeds itself any way where it can, so it takes an effort not to have it once you have it in your garden. Some years ago I grew hyssop, which looks good for a while but like thyme gets straggly. It's also incredibly bitter, so apart from Chartreuse, I'm not really sure what it's good for.
This isn't a great photo
largely because these crocuses aren't that impressive anyway, but it reminds me of an old friend, who took exception once to me describing her as a former hippy - she still was. Well, back in the day, when living in a commune here in Sydenham (I just checked - it was 1971) she planted crocuses in the front lawn to spell out LOVE when they came up. Such as shame that they have long since been covered by a gravel drive way.
Back on the plot, my rhubarb is starting to shoot, both the crowns which have been in position for five years
and also the one which I dug up and split up for planting in a new bed a few weeks ago
I'm also pleased that some other friends who've taken on a plot at our site have taken away most of the other newly split crowns for their plot - but there are still three left, if anyone wants them.
Re: #gardeningSE26
This week I also met up with the Millefleurs Gardening club, for the first time, the venue being the RHS Horticultural halls in Westminster. It was really nice, meeting some congenial spirits, and chatting about gardening. I once worked in the area, and had passed them a few times, but never been inside. It was strangely old-fashioned, especially for somewhere so central, but maybe that's a point of pride for the RHS.
This was where flowers were on display ... and I came away, as often happens, with an overwhelming sense of the richness of plants in general, and the obsessiveness entailed in becoming really knowledgeable about them. One of the displays was a specialist grower of gladioli, from which I come way with a small enhancement to my understanding of how to grow them - Lumen was right about planting individual corms on a small layer of sand. It makes sense, but you're more likely to know this sort of thing if you have studied the subject.
The other hall was for vegetables, in particular potatoes, of which there were innumerable varieties on offer. Since we've now settled on a couple - Picasso and Pink Fir Apple - and I've already had mine delivered, I looked elsewhere, and was intrigued by someone selling tightly bound packets of beech wood shavings impregnated with the spores of oyster mushrooms.
I managed to resist the temptation to buy these either, but from chatting I learned that freshly cut sycamore branches can also be impregnated with the spores to produce a crop - but apparently not some other trees, e.g. ash. I'd never really thought about fungi being species specific, but why should they not be? There's likely to have been evolutionary arms races between hosts and fungi which will have led to such specialisations. Since the next day, at the AGM of the Friends of Albion Millennium Green we discussed the need to thin out sycamores, I may well be trying this.
So, I'm looking forward to next month's meeting - and am thinking again what a good idea it is for a professional gardener to develop the interest of his /her clients in their gardens.
This was where flowers were on display ... and I came away, as often happens, with an overwhelming sense of the richness of plants in general, and the obsessiveness entailed in becoming really knowledgeable about them. One of the displays was a specialist grower of gladioli, from which I come way with a small enhancement to my understanding of how to grow them - Lumen was right about planting individual corms on a small layer of sand. It makes sense, but you're more likely to know this sort of thing if you have studied the subject.
The other hall was for vegetables, in particular potatoes, of which there were innumerable varieties on offer. Since we've now settled on a couple - Picasso and Pink Fir Apple - and I've already had mine delivered, I looked elsewhere, and was intrigued by someone selling tightly bound packets of beech wood shavings impregnated with the spores of oyster mushrooms.
I managed to resist the temptation to buy these either, but from chatting I learned that freshly cut sycamore branches can also be impregnated with the spores to produce a crop - but apparently not some other trees, e.g. ash. I'd never really thought about fungi being species specific, but why should they not be? There's likely to have been evolutionary arms races between hosts and fungi which will have led to such specialisations. Since the next day, at the AGM of the Friends of Albion Millennium Green we discussed the need to thin out sycamores, I may well be trying this.
So, I'm looking forward to next month's meeting - and am thinking again what a good idea it is for a professional gardener to develop the interest of his /her clients in their gardens.
Re: #gardeningSE26
I've not done much gardening this week, part because pressure of paid for work, and having a weekend break out of London, from which I've only just got back. But, while the tree was still dormant, I did get round to doing some pruning on a quince in a friend's garden, where the deal, for the last few years, has been that I pick the fruit, and she gets some quince jelly made from it. Last year there were so few fruit on it, and most of them half rotten, that no jelly got made, although we used some in recipes such as the lamb and quince tagine mentioned in this post
Three orchards walk / Special quince offer
I can't say I'm a great expert on pruning, although I understand some basic principles such as cutting branches which cross, shoots which are too thin and straggly, and letting light into the tree. But there was a lot to do, and I only managed to do about a third of what could have been done. But that should be enough to get quite as much fruit this year as the catering department can handle. So here's what some still with too many straggly shoots
and here's a bit of the tree where I hope I've done something approximating the right thing.
In my own garden, I've done little more than wander around thinking about where I'm going to put plants such as the dahlias and chrysanthemums which have been kept away from damp and frost in my greenhouses. Until recently, I've not bothered so much with ornamental plants, but most years I try growing something new from seed just to see how well I get on, and whether they good value in terms of how they look versus how much trouble they are. One year it was delphiniums, which look fantastic, but their new shoots might just as well be slug bait, so I don't bother except keep one in a large old plastic tub where I can keep slugs and snails out. Much the same also goes for lupins.
But dahlias - which I fist grew in 2013, chrysanths last year - are better value, especially as cut flowers to bring into the house. I'd never realised just how rigid the stem of a dahlia is - I wonder if they have been bred like that to help use as cut flowers. So I want to put them out .. but I'm running out of space a bit. I have a feeling some rather woody lavender is going to have to be sacrificed for them. And that's without having to think about where all the carnations, which are this year's new flower learning experience are going to end up.
During the week, I had a couple of nice conversations about gardening, in a wide sense, at least. One was a phone call from out the blue from someone who'd had an allotment on the same site, but had moved out of London. But she and her partner had kept their flat, with garden, here in Sydenham, but renting it out. OK - it's still Lent, and even if not, this would not be the place for another discussion about housing ... Anyway, my old contact needed someone to help her look after her garden, and could I advise. Indeed I could - and I gather Lumen from Gecko Gardeners has been round. There may be a problem, though, in that she doesn't have a car or van, which you will often need when clearing out a garden initially. Anyway, I hope it works out, and if it doesn't, it's another example of why independent professional gardeners need to be plugged into local networks, and an example of how their business needs to be capitalised more than might be thought.
The other conversation, by email, was with the guy I met the week before at the RHS Horticultural Halls selling Oyster Mushroom mycelium, and offering advice about growing them on felled sycamore. He seems very keen to do something, but I can't really say any more until I have discussed it with other committee members of the Friends of Albion Millennium Green. I admit I'm a bit of a wimp about fungi other than bought with the reassurance of coming from a shop or supermarket, although as a teenager I once found some horse mushrooms in a field, and survived eating them. I can't say they tasted that great, but it might have been my cooking. A few years ago a cousin I was on a walk with happily collected a parasol mushroom, but still didn't feel up to following in his foraging. Even in Mayow Park, another friend, an Italian - like my RHS contact - scooped up something rather odd looking growing on an old tree trunk. But, if it's something growing on some timber where I know that the right mycelium has been injected and comes out looking as the fruiting body should look, I can't see I have anything to fear. It would be fungus farming rather than fungus foraging. Of couse, if I was like a former Russian colleague, I'd be rushing off the New Forest every Autumn ...
Three orchards walk / Special quince offer
I can't say I'm a great expert on pruning, although I understand some basic principles such as cutting branches which cross, shoots which are too thin and straggly, and letting light into the tree. But there was a lot to do, and I only managed to do about a third of what could have been done. But that should be enough to get quite as much fruit this year as the catering department can handle. So here's what some still with too many straggly shoots
and here's a bit of the tree where I hope I've done something approximating the right thing.
In my own garden, I've done little more than wander around thinking about where I'm going to put plants such as the dahlias and chrysanthemums which have been kept away from damp and frost in my greenhouses. Until recently, I've not bothered so much with ornamental plants, but most years I try growing something new from seed just to see how well I get on, and whether they good value in terms of how they look versus how much trouble they are. One year it was delphiniums, which look fantastic, but their new shoots might just as well be slug bait, so I don't bother except keep one in a large old plastic tub where I can keep slugs and snails out. Much the same also goes for lupins.
But dahlias - which I fist grew in 2013, chrysanths last year - are better value, especially as cut flowers to bring into the house. I'd never realised just how rigid the stem of a dahlia is - I wonder if they have been bred like that to help use as cut flowers. So I want to put them out .. but I'm running out of space a bit. I have a feeling some rather woody lavender is going to have to be sacrificed for them. And that's without having to think about where all the carnations, which are this year's new flower learning experience are going to end up.
During the week, I had a couple of nice conversations about gardening, in a wide sense, at least. One was a phone call from out the blue from someone who'd had an allotment on the same site, but had moved out of London. But she and her partner had kept their flat, with garden, here in Sydenham, but renting it out. OK - it's still Lent, and even if not, this would not be the place for another discussion about housing ... Anyway, my old contact needed someone to help her look after her garden, and could I advise. Indeed I could - and I gather Lumen from Gecko Gardeners has been round. There may be a problem, though, in that she doesn't have a car or van, which you will often need when clearing out a garden initially. Anyway, I hope it works out, and if it doesn't, it's another example of why independent professional gardeners need to be plugged into local networks, and an example of how their business needs to be capitalised more than might be thought.
The other conversation, by email, was with the guy I met the week before at the RHS Horticultural Halls selling Oyster Mushroom mycelium, and offering advice about growing them on felled sycamore. He seems very keen to do something, but I can't really say any more until I have discussed it with other committee members of the Friends of Albion Millennium Green. I admit I'm a bit of a wimp about fungi other than bought with the reassurance of coming from a shop or supermarket, although as a teenager I once found some horse mushrooms in a field, and survived eating them. I can't say they tasted that great, but it might have been my cooking. A few years ago a cousin I was on a walk with happily collected a parasol mushroom, but still didn't feel up to following in his foraging. Even in Mayow Park, another friend, an Italian - like my RHS contact - scooped up something rather odd looking growing on an old tree trunk. But, if it's something growing on some timber where I know that the right mycelium has been injected and comes out looking as the fruiting body should look, I can't see I have anything to fear. It would be fungus farming rather than fungus foraging. Of couse, if I was like a former Russian colleague, I'd be rushing off the New Forest every Autumn ...
Re: #gardeningSE26
Tim, I've managed to get into the garden briefly, whilst taking kitchen waste to the compost bin, and have noticed that the three crowns of rhubarb that I took off you a few year ago are also starting to appear. This was about two weeks ago, and I ripped out any nearby weeds, and covered the area in a couple of inches of compost, and yesterday noticed that they're now poking through that too. Hopefully a good crop should ensue this year and I can make some rhubarb and ginger wine again.
Re: #gardeningSE26
That should cheer them up.JRobinson wrote:Tim, I've managed to get into the garden briefly, whilst taking kitchen waste to the compost bin, and have noticed that the three crowns of rhubarb that I took off you a few year ago are also starting to appear. This was about two weeks ago, and I ripped out any nearby weeds, and covered the area in a couple of inches of compost, and yesterday noticed that they're now poking through that too. Hopefully a good crop should ensue this year and I can make some rhubarb and ginger wine again.
Have you had anything from them before? If not, I suspect you may have been neglecting them ...
My rule of thumb with rhubarb is always to leave at least three sticks per crown - that way they always have enough chlorophyll to keep the plant's energy stores charged up. It means in the first year - or the first year you remember to give them the small amount of TLC they need - you won't be getting that much - just a few sticks from July onwards. But if you do keep them weeded, and manured, then you should be getting sticks from end April onwards, depending a bit on how warm the Spring is.
Rhubarb has some interesting cultural history. It comes from China, where the ground up root was used as a purgative, but got used in England as a sort of substitute for fruit, since it was available exactly when real fresh fruit, before modern forms of preservation, was not, e.g. April to June.
This increased demand for rhubarb may have contributed to one of the most bizarre examples of cultural misunderstanding:
Source hereThe belief that foreigners, and particularly the English, would die of constipation if deprived of rhubarb was widely held at this time in China. It had its origin, I think, in the practice, so widely spread in early nineteenth-century Europe, of a grand purge every spring, rhubarb-root being often an ingredient in the purgatives used. The seasonal purge was thought to be particularly necessary in the case of children, who without it would be sure to develop worms. However, about ten months later, Lin modified his views about rhubarb, and said that only tea could be considered an absolute necessity [to the English]. The export of rhubarb, he had discovered, was confined to very small quantities, classed at the Customs as medicine. (Arthur Waley, The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes, p. 33)
Re: #gardeningSE26
Didn't take any the first year, then some the year after, and I think some last year, I water well, but forget to weed, so they die back early through losing out to competition. This is the second or third large amount of feed that I've given them in total. They're generally doing well.
Re: #gardeningSE26
There's no way they will need watering, but if they're shaded out by weeds, that will be a problem.JRobinson wrote:Didn't take any the first year, then some the year after, and I think some last year, I water well, but forget to weed, so they die back early through losing out to competition. This is the second or third large amount of feed that I've given them in total. They're generally doing well.
Re: #gardeningSE26
It's the time of year when being away at the weekend is bound to be slightly stressful, aware of how much there is to do, but it was still nice to be invited to a wedding in Poole. On the way down, I squeezed in a visit to a National Trust property
(Kingston Lacy)
There's something about cedars which make me think there was something going for being an 18th century Lord of the Manor, although the ones in Mayow Park are good too. (The cedars. Not aware of any gentry there ...)
Back in the real world, today has involved shifting the last of the horse manure and spreading it round my soft fruit on the allotment - raspberries, gooseberries, black, red and white currants.
Being March already, I'm already a bit behind with sowing parsnips, but I did something about that.
Sadly pictures of seed beds can be very samey, this one being where the first of this year's beetroot have gone in - and also some chard
This one is where I'd put some of the horse manure before bagging it up, so I dug what I'd not scraped up into the soil before raking it level to make some kind of seed bed. As I was doing so, I was thinking how much digging I really needed to be doing. There's an approach to gardening, permaculture, which suggests gardeners have been wasting their efforts all these centuries turning over soil. Perhaps I should do some crop trials to see what's best. I can well believe that forking up roots of bindweed helps its spread - I try to pull those I find out carefully, not letting them break, to lurk on in the soil. But forking over also gives me an idea of the quality of the soil, which varies a fair bit in just one allotment. I have 3/4 of a traditional 10 rod standard plot, which, since 1 rod is close enough to 25 sq. meters, 187 sq. m. But I took on the last 2/1 rods relatively recently, and it had anyway been more neglected I think, so it is still noticeably less rich in organic matter, which makes the soil heavier - so less good for parsips.
But I'm getting there. By the time I'm old and frail, I hope the soil will be good enough, and weed free enough, for me to keep on top of it with some gentle hoeing.
(Kingston Lacy)
There's something about cedars which make me think there was something going for being an 18th century Lord of the Manor, although the ones in Mayow Park are good too. (The cedars. Not aware of any gentry there ...)
Back in the real world, today has involved shifting the last of the horse manure and spreading it round my soft fruit on the allotment - raspberries, gooseberries, black, red and white currants.
Being March already, I'm already a bit behind with sowing parsnips, but I did something about that.
Sadly pictures of seed beds can be very samey, this one being where the first of this year's beetroot have gone in - and also some chard
This one is where I'd put some of the horse manure before bagging it up, so I dug what I'd not scraped up into the soil before raking it level to make some kind of seed bed. As I was doing so, I was thinking how much digging I really needed to be doing. There's an approach to gardening, permaculture, which suggests gardeners have been wasting their efforts all these centuries turning over soil. Perhaps I should do some crop trials to see what's best. I can well believe that forking up roots of bindweed helps its spread - I try to pull those I find out carefully, not letting them break, to lurk on in the soil. But forking over also gives me an idea of the quality of the soil, which varies a fair bit in just one allotment. I have 3/4 of a traditional 10 rod standard plot, which, since 1 rod is close enough to 25 sq. meters, 187 sq. m. But I took on the last 2/1 rods relatively recently, and it had anyway been more neglected I think, so it is still noticeably less rich in organic matter, which makes the soil heavier - so less good for parsips.
But I'm getting there. By the time I'm old and frail, I hope the soil will be good enough, and weed free enough, for me to keep on top of it with some gentle hoeing.
Last edited by Tim Lund on 9 Mar 2015 07:03, edited 1 time in total.
Re: #gardeningSE26
I took a day off work today, and pottering around the garden I couldn't help wanting it a bit warmer - although at least it gave me a belated chance to prune an apple tree, before it started budding. This particular tree was there when I moved in, and some years it's produced a decent crop - but not the last two. I don't know what variety it is, but it's definitely a keeper - the fruit get much sweeter after being stored a month or so. I'd never come across this before. If it fails again this year, I may well get rid of it, though it will be a bit of a shame.
OTOH, I had already pruned my pear, which I have trained against a wall. And pears bud sooner than apples
Even so, other plants are starting to shoot - so here's my delphinium, hopefully safe in its pot from slugs and snails
and the lupin is well away
Inside the greenhouse, however, it was nice and warm, but with the earth floor, allowing early peas to grow
it meant I had to keep the cat out, who thinks nice warm soil needs to be poo'd in. So all the while there's a plaintive furry face outside, wondering how I can ignore her.
Anyway, loads of carnations have germinated, so I've potted on some of them, and just today, I also noticed that some bergamot had also, so them too.
and also some seeds which I'd started indoors
today potting on some chard and cosmos, and in their place, sowing some dill and French parsley.
(Cosmos are a flower I'd never really been aware of until last year, when Iris at Grow Mayow told me that that's what this very easy to grow and colourful plant she had there. So that's why I'm trying it this year.)
Still inside the greenhouse are the various sweet peas I sowed last autumn.
They're pretty tough, and could probably stand a late frost, so before long I'll be putting them out, but I've not quite decided where they will go. Probably up some bamboo wigwams, but wherever they go, they are liable to shade whatever is behind them. I also have to find somewhere for the chrysanths which I grew in pots last year
but will probably be happier getting their roots down now they are established.
The greenhouse is also doing well producing salad leaves - coriander, rocket
and mizuna
Thinking back to my childhood, can it really be that lettuce was the only sort of salad we had? I've nothing against lettuce - in fact I also have some coming up - but, in this regard at least, life has improved.
Outside, I registered that my sorrel is putting up new leaves
which in small amounts can also go in salads. In larger amounts, it makes a great soup, with cream. In massive amounts, it is lethal, containing the same toxin as rhubarb leaves. Best avoided, apparently, if you suffer from kidney stones ...
Finally, my 19th and last garlic clove has put in an appearance
fulfilling the original design idea here
OTOH, I had already pruned my pear, which I have trained against a wall. And pears bud sooner than apples
Even so, other plants are starting to shoot - so here's my delphinium, hopefully safe in its pot from slugs and snails
and the lupin is well away
Inside the greenhouse, however, it was nice and warm, but with the earth floor, allowing early peas to grow
it meant I had to keep the cat out, who thinks nice warm soil needs to be poo'd in. So all the while there's a plaintive furry face outside, wondering how I can ignore her.
Anyway, loads of carnations have germinated, so I've potted on some of them, and just today, I also noticed that some bergamot had also, so them too.
and also some seeds which I'd started indoors
today potting on some chard and cosmos, and in their place, sowing some dill and French parsley.
(Cosmos are a flower I'd never really been aware of until last year, when Iris at Grow Mayow told me that that's what this very easy to grow and colourful plant she had there. So that's why I'm trying it this year.)
Still inside the greenhouse are the various sweet peas I sowed last autumn.
They're pretty tough, and could probably stand a late frost, so before long I'll be putting them out, but I've not quite decided where they will go. Probably up some bamboo wigwams, but wherever they go, they are liable to shade whatever is behind them. I also have to find somewhere for the chrysanths which I grew in pots last year
but will probably be happier getting their roots down now they are established.
The greenhouse is also doing well producing salad leaves - coriander, rocket
and mizuna
Thinking back to my childhood, can it really be that lettuce was the only sort of salad we had? I've nothing against lettuce - in fact I also have some coming up - but, in this regard at least, life has improved.
Outside, I registered that my sorrel is putting up new leaves
which in small amounts can also go in salads. In larger amounts, it makes a great soup, with cream. In massive amounts, it is lethal, containing the same toxin as rhubarb leaves. Best avoided, apparently, if you suffer from kidney stones ...
Finally, my 19th and last garlic clove has put in an appearance
fulfilling the original design idea here
Re: #gardeningSE26
I have a large Sycamore tree at the end of my garden. It's never been an issue before, but this year my whole garden is covered in Sycamore shoots! Thousands and thousands of them, even in my sons covered sandpit!
Do Squirrels bury them?
Why now, this year rather than the other 7 I've been living here?
What's the best way of getting rid of them, and if I just cut them off in the lawn, will they die back?
Do Squirrels bury them?
Why now, this year rather than the other 7 I've been living here?
What's the best way of getting rid of them, and if I just cut them off in the lawn, will they die back?
Re: #gardeningSE26
Last part is the easiest - if you cut them off while they have just the seed leavesleenewham wrote:I have a large Sycamore tree at the end of my garden. It's never been an issue before, but this year my whole garden is covered in Sycamore shoots! Thousands and thousands of them, even in my sons covered sandpit!
Do Squirrels bury them?
Why now, this year rather than the other 7 I've been living here?
What's the best way of getting rid of them, and if I just cut them off in the lawn, will they die back?
you should be able to do with with a mower, or garden shears if you don't have one. There's no way they will regenerate from the little stem they will have left.
Why this year rather than any other? I can only guess that there was something different about the wind when they fell from the tree. If they got into a covered sand pit, could that also have been the wind?
I've never heard of squirrels eating sycamore seeds, and I've just been googling 'sycamore seeds edible' and discover they contain a toxin, hypoglycin, which can kill horses. That also indicates that last autumn was particularly good for sycamore seed production, so that might be part of it. Apparently not great for humans - causes something called Jamaican vomiting sickness, so since most mammals share much of their physiologies, I suspect not great for squirrels. I think they can be ruled out in this case.
Re: #gardeningSE26
I'm getting a bit fed up with this weather. Sometime last week the cheery woman on the BBC forecast commented that this time last year day time temperatures were up to 20°, but we still have a week of this
It's at such times I feel I should keep a more detailed gardening diary - although I know I'm never going to. But if I had I could confirm my impression that the peas I'd grown overwinter in my greenhouse were already producing fruit. I shouldn't complain, I guess - I'll get something, but I'm like to want the space they are in for tomatoes before they have finished cropping.
I'm also thinking about my potatoes, which are chitting away in egg trays - kindly supplied by Billings. It's these which are making me think most about the long run weather forecasts - how do you know when best to plant? I know that Good Friday (April 3rd, this year) is the traditional day for planting them, but my rationalist soul bridles at the idea of following the rhythms of the moon; the modern forecasts must be approaching the point when you can significantly reduce the risk of plants getting knocked back by late frosts. But it looks this year as if it will be Good Friday anyway.
Down on the plot, none of the parsnip or beets I planted last week have yet emerged, but that's no surprise. The aquadulce broad beans have survived the winter well enough, and have some blossom on them already
and the gooseberries
and black currants are just coming into leaf
The rhubarb is also coming on - slowly - but some weeks away from being ready to pick
The work on the plot is mainly just keeping on top of weeds, which is not so easy when the person I share a half plot with has been unwell, and so not able to keep on top of the couch grass growing her side of the line
Well, now there's some kind of cordon sanitaire for my strawberries.
And it's not only couch grass - not yet appearing above the surface, but identifiable in the weeds forked up here
there is plenty of the fat white underground stems of bindweed. They are also fragile, which is significant, because it means there are very likely to be fragments left behind, which will continue to grow. The amount does eventually go down, but it takes years, if it's to be done all by hand.
The process can be speeded up with the application of glyphosphate, of course
which I use more than I used to, but using it where it might affect a neighbour's plot is a little bit sensitive.
These perennial weeds also pose a problem in getting rid of them. The allotment rules say we should deal with green waste ourselves, but composting them means you're likely to end up with compost with them happily growing in it. Even so, it's what I generally do - with a bit of forking over, the compost will not be too bad.
An alternative is to leave them to dry out a bit on some plastic, and then burn them along with the rest of a burn pile.
although this will need to be done soon, since the allotment rules only allow bonfires weekdays during the winter months.
I guess all this doesn't make having an allotment as much fun as it's normally suggested - but it's how it is. And it's definitely better to stay on top of things.
It's at such times I feel I should keep a more detailed gardening diary - although I know I'm never going to. But if I had I could confirm my impression that the peas I'd grown overwinter in my greenhouse were already producing fruit. I shouldn't complain, I guess - I'll get something, but I'm like to want the space they are in for tomatoes before they have finished cropping.
I'm also thinking about my potatoes, which are chitting away in egg trays - kindly supplied by Billings. It's these which are making me think most about the long run weather forecasts - how do you know when best to plant? I know that Good Friday (April 3rd, this year) is the traditional day for planting them, but my rationalist soul bridles at the idea of following the rhythms of the moon; the modern forecasts must be approaching the point when you can significantly reduce the risk of plants getting knocked back by late frosts. But it looks this year as if it will be Good Friday anyway.
Down on the plot, none of the parsnip or beets I planted last week have yet emerged, but that's no surprise. The aquadulce broad beans have survived the winter well enough, and have some blossom on them already
and the gooseberries
and black currants are just coming into leaf
The rhubarb is also coming on - slowly - but some weeks away from being ready to pick
The work on the plot is mainly just keeping on top of weeds, which is not so easy when the person I share a half plot with has been unwell, and so not able to keep on top of the couch grass growing her side of the line
Well, now there's some kind of cordon sanitaire for my strawberries.
And it's not only couch grass - not yet appearing above the surface, but identifiable in the weeds forked up here
there is plenty of the fat white underground stems of bindweed. They are also fragile, which is significant, because it means there are very likely to be fragments left behind, which will continue to grow. The amount does eventually go down, but it takes years, if it's to be done all by hand.
The process can be speeded up with the application of glyphosphate, of course
which I use more than I used to, but using it where it might affect a neighbour's plot is a little bit sensitive.
These perennial weeds also pose a problem in getting rid of them. The allotment rules say we should deal with green waste ourselves, but composting them means you're likely to end up with compost with them happily growing in it. Even so, it's what I generally do - with a bit of forking over, the compost will not be too bad.
An alternative is to leave them to dry out a bit on some plastic, and then burn them along with the rest of a burn pile.
although this will need to be done soon, since the allotment rules only allow bonfires weekdays during the winter months.
I guess all this doesn't make having an allotment as much fun as it's normally suggested - but it's how it is. And it's definitely better to stay on top of things.
Last edited by Tim Lund on 22 Mar 2015 22:23, edited 2 times in total.
Re: #gardeningSE26
I make a Facebook photo album every year of my garden. I got out with my camera about once a fortnight at this time of year, once a week when the growing season really starts. This gives me a year-on-year record of which plant did what when. I usually combine it with hanging out the washing, two birds and all that.
Re: #gardeningSE26
I have a note book where I record where I planted things, and when, but mainly as a way to avoid repeat cropping the same family in the same ground each year. I just wish I had more time for gardening, and more training. And was more systematic generally 
Re: #gardeningSE26
Thanks Tim, the Sycamore has been blitzed. Will keep on top of them.
Re: #gardeningSE26
I managed to get in about three hours on my allotment today, forking over some ground to remove more perennial weeds. e.g. couch and bindweed. I'd also taken down some peas which had been started in root trainers.
(These aren't my peas - it's an image from the web site linked to below, showing how plants are when ready to be planted out)
These are brilliant. They seem to be made by a company called Haxnicks, and protected by some patents, because they are not available in all garden stores. From my point of view, the main joy of them is that plants with large seeds, such as peas and beans, can be started where no mice or squirrels will get at them, and then, when well started, they can be planted out with minimal root disturbance, as here
I just hope I've left enough space for them - otherwise I'll need to crop the rhubarb behind them to stop it getting in the way of the peas. The sticks, for the peas to grow up, are some prunings from an apple I didn't get round to burning off. I'll need to put in some more, but it was well past 2.00 pm, and I was getting hungry.
On the other side of the peas is my attempt at a gooseberry hedge, along the edge of the plot. The idea is to see if it can be trained like box round a potager style garden. Looking more closely, there's an obvious problem, that it's hard to keep couch grass from invading from the grass paths.
It's going to be difficult to remove that without damaging the roots of the gooseberry - in fact on of them has died, possibly because I'd gone after invading couch grass too vigorously.
As well as taking down some peas, I also had an auger, with which to bore holes for tanalised fencing posts at either end of a row of raspberries.
I'd tried using a petrol driven auger a few years before, but that was fairly scary; something manual would be more controllable. It was, but also quite hard work. However, I think I'm now going to be able to stretch some wires between the two ends of the row, and tie in the canes properly.
Otherwise, with this continuing cool weather, things seem only to be progressing slowly. However, I did notice the a beetroot seedling emerging
A year or so ago I saw some seed packets, which took the trouble to show what the seedlings would look like, which I think is a very good idea. I only know this was a beetroot seedling because I've grown them from seed for some years, and I just know; if asked to describe them all I could specify was a certain redness to the edges of these seed leaves, and at their base. I'm reminded of when I first started growing lettuce, and my Mum came to visit. She knew immediately that this is what they were, even though at that stage I was quite unsure. For a novice gardener, knowing which are the weed seedlings to remove so the ones you actually want stand a chance is difficult, so well done for putting photos on the seed packets.
I also noticed - although it's only just visible in this photo
that some violets had come into flower. Here they are on the north side of my shed, so nowhere that's going to be of much use to anything productive, which, because producing food is fundamentally a matter of turning sunlight into animal edible carbohydrates, always want sun. However, I'd noticed violets growing in similarly deep shade in my garden, so I just thought I might as well put them here.
(These aren't my peas - it's an image from the web site linked to below, showing how plants are when ready to be planted out)
These are brilliant. They seem to be made by a company called Haxnicks, and protected by some patents, because they are not available in all garden stores. From my point of view, the main joy of them is that plants with large seeds, such as peas and beans, can be started where no mice or squirrels will get at them, and then, when well started, they can be planted out with minimal root disturbance, as here
I just hope I've left enough space for them - otherwise I'll need to crop the rhubarb behind them to stop it getting in the way of the peas. The sticks, for the peas to grow up, are some prunings from an apple I didn't get round to burning off. I'll need to put in some more, but it was well past 2.00 pm, and I was getting hungry.
On the other side of the peas is my attempt at a gooseberry hedge, along the edge of the plot. The idea is to see if it can be trained like box round a potager style garden. Looking more closely, there's an obvious problem, that it's hard to keep couch grass from invading from the grass paths.
It's going to be difficult to remove that without damaging the roots of the gooseberry - in fact on of them has died, possibly because I'd gone after invading couch grass too vigorously.
As well as taking down some peas, I also had an auger, with which to bore holes for tanalised fencing posts at either end of a row of raspberries.
I'd tried using a petrol driven auger a few years before, but that was fairly scary; something manual would be more controllable. It was, but also quite hard work. However, I think I'm now going to be able to stretch some wires between the two ends of the row, and tie in the canes properly.
Otherwise, with this continuing cool weather, things seem only to be progressing slowly. However, I did notice the a beetroot seedling emerging
A year or so ago I saw some seed packets, which took the trouble to show what the seedlings would look like, which I think is a very good idea. I only know this was a beetroot seedling because I've grown them from seed for some years, and I just know; if asked to describe them all I could specify was a certain redness to the edges of these seed leaves, and at their base. I'm reminded of when I first started growing lettuce, and my Mum came to visit. She knew immediately that this is what they were, even though at that stage I was quite unsure. For a novice gardener, knowing which are the weed seedlings to remove so the ones you actually want stand a chance is difficult, so well done for putting photos on the seed packets.
I also noticed - although it's only just visible in this photo
that some violets had come into flower. Here they are on the north side of my shed, so nowhere that's going to be of much use to anything productive, which, because producing food is fundamentally a matter of turning sunlight into animal edible carbohydrates, always want sun. However, I'd noticed violets growing in similarly deep shade in my garden, so I just thought I might as well put them here.
Re: #gardeningSE26
There's not that much to show for the main work this week - just getting on digging over most of the rest of my allotment to clear it of weeds ahead of planting potatoes. I'd aimed to do this Good Friday, out of some weak traditionalism, but some visitors - very welcome ones, I hasten to add - got in the way. Then Saturday clearing the ground took pretty well all my time, so the potatoes may go in tomorrow, or they may wait a week or even too. They're main crop varieties (Pink Fir Apple and Picasso), so April would be more normal anyway. Instead I just finished off by spreading some of the horse manure I'd got delivered last autumn, now well enough rotted I hope. Some of the ground I was preparing was where until last year I'd had a rather unproductive apple tree, and removing it had left something of a crater, with the ground rather clayey, and harder to work. There were also a fair number of old apple roots in the ground.
In digging, a couple of times I came across this sort of grub
which I squidged between my fingers, but by the time I found the third, I thought of taking a photo of it showing from the soil on my fork. However, I'd had a couple of companions all afternoon, one of whom was rather faster than me with my camera
who you can see with the out of focus grub above, and below flitting away
Later he came back less camera shy
Having searched on line for that first picture of the sort of grub, I embarrassed to realise that, all these years, I'd not realised that this was what a wireworm looked like - so I guess writing this stuff is making me a better gardener. Looking it up on line, I discover that what I've been doing - digging over the soil with an attendant insectivorous predator - is about as much as I can do. It says there
published in 1963, which mentioned some treatment for pests in the soil, but noted that the potatoes came out with a distinctive taste ... Hmm. My gardening is not organic - I do use slug pellets to protect some plants when first planted out, and I will sometimes use Roundup, but here I'm with Joni
Now I'm wondering how serious the problem is. I guess not too bad - it says it happens where previously there had been grass, and in this case I had been digging where grass had grown under the old apple tree. Oh well, this is how you learn. I'm not used to my potatoes being perfect anyway, although it is this sort of damage which makes them go bad in storage. Last year we had load of fruit flies in the house, which we eventually tracked down to the potatoes I'd lifted.
Probably more serious than wireworm - certainly more visible, when I turn over some plastic panels with can be assembled into a temporary compost bin, are snails
which I could have stamped on, but I left them exposed like this, hoping they might attract the attention of a passing thrush, or maybe a fox. Maybe later any left will get the order of the boot.
Anyway, with this work done, the plot looks reasonably tidy, with the most obvious outstanding weeding to be done of the strawberry bed
There's also, hiding where I mark off areas from each other with some old poles, a very localised perennial weed, Thale Cress
At least that's what I think it is - I'm not 100% sure.
Apart from that, other plants are starting to recognise that spring is about here, so here's a selection
Some basil, growing indoors still, showing its first true leaves. That will go into the green house in a few weeks now.
Outside, the peony is in bud
and shoots are starting to show on the fuchsia - this is the very tough sort which grows like a weed in hedgerows in the west of Ireland
Forget-me-nots, which I allow to seed, so coming up like a welcome background to the rest of the garden at this time of year, are now getting into their stride
And this is nice
It's the cowslips which got confused last November, and blossomed then. So good that they have got back on the right beat, and right next to them the first bluebell I've seen this year. And then to the left some grape hyacinths, which, like forget-me-nots, I just allow to seed, and come up anywhere I have no other plans for.
There are a few more photos uploaded, but other matters call, and if anyone has got this far, you've been very patient!
In digging, a couple of times I came across this sort of grub
which I squidged between my fingers, but by the time I found the third, I thought of taking a photo of it showing from the soil on my fork. However, I'd had a couple of companions all afternoon, one of whom was rather faster than me with my camera
who you can see with the out of focus grub above, and below flitting away
Later he came back less camera shy
Having searched on line for that first picture of the sort of grub, I embarrassed to realise that, all these years, I'd not realised that this was what a wireworm looked like - so I guess writing this stuff is making me a better gardener. Looking it up on line, I discover that what I've been doing - digging over the soil with an attendant insectivorous predator - is about as much as I can do. It says there
although I don't suppose I would have wanted to try one anyway. A couple of years ago I came across this book,There are no effective chemicals available for wireworm control.
published in 1963, which mentioned some treatment for pests in the soil, but noted that the potatoes came out with a distinctive taste ... Hmm. My gardening is not organic - I do use slug pellets to protect some plants when first planted out, and I will sometimes use Roundup, but here I'm with Joni
(And I hope she gets well)Put away that DDT * now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
http://jonimitchell.com/Joni remains under observation in the hospital and is resting comfortably. We are encouraged by her progress and she continues to improve and get stronger each day.
Now I'm wondering how serious the problem is. I guess not too bad - it says it happens where previously there had been grass, and in this case I had been digging where grass had grown under the old apple tree. Oh well, this is how you learn. I'm not used to my potatoes being perfect anyway, although it is this sort of damage which makes them go bad in storage. Last year we had load of fruit flies in the house, which we eventually tracked down to the potatoes I'd lifted.
Probably more serious than wireworm - certainly more visible, when I turn over some plastic panels with can be assembled into a temporary compost bin, are snails
which I could have stamped on, but I left them exposed like this, hoping they might attract the attention of a passing thrush, or maybe a fox. Maybe later any left will get the order of the boot.
Anyway, with this work done, the plot looks reasonably tidy, with the most obvious outstanding weeding to be done of the strawberry bed
There's also, hiding where I mark off areas from each other with some old poles, a very localised perennial weed, Thale Cress
At least that's what I think it is - I'm not 100% sure.
Apart from that, other plants are starting to recognise that spring is about here, so here's a selection
Some basil, growing indoors still, showing its first true leaves. That will go into the green house in a few weeks now.
Outside, the peony is in bud
and shoots are starting to show on the fuchsia - this is the very tough sort which grows like a weed in hedgerows in the west of Ireland
Forget-me-nots, which I allow to seed, so coming up like a welcome background to the rest of the garden at this time of year, are now getting into their stride
And this is nice
It's the cowslips which got confused last November, and blossomed then. So good that they have got back on the right beat, and right next to them the first bluebell I've seen this year. And then to the left some grape hyacinths, which, like forget-me-nots, I just allow to seed, and come up anywhere I have no other plans for.
There are a few more photos uploaded, but other matters call, and if anyone has got this far, you've been very patient!
Re: #gardeningSE26
Some warm weather at last, and a small tortoiseshell emerges, sunning itself on the egg trays where my potatoes had been chitting
less compliant for my low tech photography skills was the dark orange blur hovering here in one of my gooseberry bushes
please believe me - it's some kind of bumble bee, going for the flowers which stand still, at least when there's no wind
The main work on the plot has been putting in the potatoes, after which I wondered if I'd over ordered. With then all planted, it becomes clear there's not going to be enough room for the beans, squashes and courgettes I mean to plant out in due course. Oh well.
Not that I'm competitive about this, but a neighbouring plot holder is a former design and technology teacher, and it shows, with perfectly straight ridges already raised over his potatoes. So for once I got some twine the width of the plot, and knotted it at regular intervals to get my potatoes in line, and a fixed distance apart. So here are the pink fir apples - rather odd knobbly shaped, but one of the best flavoured potatoes around
(Behind you can see my neighbour's use of black fabric, which helps control weeds and keep the soil warm.)
and here are the Picassos, a modern variety, which can be used for most purposes - boiling, roasting and baking
and here the trenches filled in and some compost put over them. As the shoots emerge, I'll hoe up the surrounding soil over them, as my neighbour has already.
I also took down some ruby chard which I'd raised from seed at home, ready for planting out
I'm not sure how necessary this is, but putting them in water like this
seems a good way of separating out individual seedlings with minimal damage to their roots, and then being able to pick them up with the roots point straight down. I then poke holes about six inches deep with the handle of a hand how, fill these with water, and let it drain away, so that there is a good lot of moisture at the base, then lower the roots into the hole,
before filling in the hole with soil and firming up the plant. It seems to be a sensible way to give the plants the best start in their new home.
With this lot here, which we'll use like spinach, we'll have a decent supply of greens for much of the year. Chard and other members of the beet family seem much better value for growing than brasiccas - I only have a view cavallo nero (kale) to come.
The same approach to separating out seedlings which had got tangled up with each other was called for here
when I realised that the chilli seeds picked up from Wahaca had germinated, but I'd given up on them, and sown some carnations in the same compost. I didn't really need to do this, because there are still chillies in the freezer from the plants I grew some years ago adding heat to various dishes, there's something irresistible about the challenge. So here they are, sorted out and entering their next stage of life
after which maybe a growbag in a greenhouse. Once they get going, hot chillies are easy to grow.
Elsewhere, Spring seems to be everywhere, but the pear blossom is probably my favourite
The variety here is conference, but it's just one of three varieties grafted on to the same root stock, the others being comice and Williams. It's not just for the sake of variety, but because pears need to cross pollinate, and the different varieties are noticeable now looking at the rest of the tree, because the comice is only just coming into blossom, and nothing yet from the William.
In previous years, the blossom has been out much earlier, before many bees seemed to be out and about to do the pollination, so I've resorted to using an artist's paint brush to do the pollination myself. Another occasion when I wished I'd done some controlled experiment - as it is, it's just an impression that this has made a difference. This year I'm already seeing some bees about, so it may be less important, but I think it will still be worth it.
Too many other things to show at this time of year, but here with minimal comment the rest of the photos I've uploaded
Dahlias - 8 out of 9 now shooting
This is a zelkova - the idea is to try bonsai
Bluebells coming out in strength, along with grape hyacinths
Ordinary red tulips, about to blossom. They'll look good in the house.
less compliant for my low tech photography skills was the dark orange blur hovering here in one of my gooseberry bushes
please believe me - it's some kind of bumble bee, going for the flowers which stand still, at least when there's no wind
The main work on the plot has been putting in the potatoes, after which I wondered if I'd over ordered. With then all planted, it becomes clear there's not going to be enough room for the beans, squashes and courgettes I mean to plant out in due course. Oh well.
Not that I'm competitive about this, but a neighbouring plot holder is a former design and technology teacher, and it shows, with perfectly straight ridges already raised over his potatoes. So for once I got some twine the width of the plot, and knotted it at regular intervals to get my potatoes in line, and a fixed distance apart. So here are the pink fir apples - rather odd knobbly shaped, but one of the best flavoured potatoes around
(Behind you can see my neighbour's use of black fabric, which helps control weeds and keep the soil warm.)
and here are the Picassos, a modern variety, which can be used for most purposes - boiling, roasting and baking
and here the trenches filled in and some compost put over them. As the shoots emerge, I'll hoe up the surrounding soil over them, as my neighbour has already.
I also took down some ruby chard which I'd raised from seed at home, ready for planting out
I'm not sure how necessary this is, but putting them in water like this
seems a good way of separating out individual seedlings with minimal damage to their roots, and then being able to pick them up with the roots point straight down. I then poke holes about six inches deep with the handle of a hand how, fill these with water, and let it drain away, so that there is a good lot of moisture at the base, then lower the roots into the hole,
before filling in the hole with soil and firming up the plant. It seems to be a sensible way to give the plants the best start in their new home.
With this lot here, which we'll use like spinach, we'll have a decent supply of greens for much of the year. Chard and other members of the beet family seem much better value for growing than brasiccas - I only have a view cavallo nero (kale) to come.
The same approach to separating out seedlings which had got tangled up with each other was called for here
when I realised that the chilli seeds picked up from Wahaca had germinated, but I'd given up on them, and sown some carnations in the same compost. I didn't really need to do this, because there are still chillies in the freezer from the plants I grew some years ago adding heat to various dishes, there's something irresistible about the challenge. So here they are, sorted out and entering their next stage of life
after which maybe a growbag in a greenhouse. Once they get going, hot chillies are easy to grow.
Elsewhere, Spring seems to be everywhere, but the pear blossom is probably my favourite
The variety here is conference, but it's just one of three varieties grafted on to the same root stock, the others being comice and Williams. It's not just for the sake of variety, but because pears need to cross pollinate, and the different varieties are noticeable now looking at the rest of the tree, because the comice is only just coming into blossom, and nothing yet from the William.
In previous years, the blossom has been out much earlier, before many bees seemed to be out and about to do the pollination, so I've resorted to using an artist's paint brush to do the pollination myself. Another occasion when I wished I'd done some controlled experiment - as it is, it's just an impression that this has made a difference. This year I'm already seeing some bees about, so it may be less important, but I think it will still be worth it.
Too many other things to show at this time of year, but here with minimal comment the rest of the photos I've uploaded
Dahlias - 8 out of 9 now shooting
This is a zelkova - the idea is to try bonsai
Bluebells coming out in strength, along with grape hyacinths
Ordinary red tulips, about to blossom. They'll look good in the house.
Re: #gardeningSE26
Transferring files just now, I found I'd managed to find 67 camera worthy images today from my garden and allotment, so decided I needed to edit them somewhat here. But it is that time of year when new leaves, buds, etc. start appearing.
Let's start indoors
I've loved Dutch irises ever since as a teenager on a school trip to the Pyrenees I saw them growing wild as we walked up to some mountain hut. I never expected wild flowers to be so spectacular. Only years later did I realise they could naturalise in my garden. When I first bought some, I went to the trouble of lifting them in autumn, and carefully potting up the little bulbils they produce. I guess that helped get a good population going, but no longer bother - they just keep coming back of their own accord.
The same can't be said of gladioli, which, as confessed earlier, I grew for the first time about four years ago, and then allowed to rot in cold wet ground. Naturally, I've been worrying about them, so the sight of the first few sword points emerging through the soil made me happy
The asian lilies, planted at the same time are also now showing, albeit crinkled thanks to some passing slug or snail. No show yet from the freesias, though.
Leaves are now showing on my fig, which for the first week of so look - to me - like hands held upwards
and there's also one of this year's crop getting started.
My vine, which is now two years old, is also putting out leaves
The leaves seem very attractive to slugs and snails as well, and this has had its leaves stripped at least once, setting it back a bit. This year I think it will produce some long shoots which I can start to train, and with any luck, I'll get a bunch of grapes too, but I'm not expecting much. I also noticed another house nearby, with a massive vine in the front garden. I got talking, and learned that the family were Turkish, and the vine was grown solely for its leaves - the grapes were small and sour. Another Turkish friend told me that there vine leaves were eaten as much as we eat cabbage here. I guess this makes sense - vines are very good at getting their roots down to reach water, so in a dry Mediterranean climate, they would be a reliable source of edible greenery. The grapes on my vine, however, will be nice and sweet, assuming a decent summer, and I cut back any leaves shading the fruit from the sun.
Something else putting out new leaf is the mulberry - not just on the tree, but also their pruning put in as cuttings.
This was just for curiosity - I don't exactly have space for more than one mulberry - and I'm having to stop that from taking over other parts of the garden. But it was something to do to fill the space in the greenhouse over winter - and if anyone does want a mulberry ... or possibly a fig - it's not quite to clear whether those cuttings have taken. There are also some vine cuttings which have taken. Yes - propagation by cuttings is not that difficult. I also have some lavender and cotton lavender cuttings, and somebody told me that taking cuttings of roses wasn't that difficult either. Maybe I'll try that - most of the rose bushes I have are old, and a bit straggly - they're not something I know much about - yet.
Some kind of segue from garden to allotment is to contrast the peas growing in my greenhouse, nearly ready for cropping
with their rather sad siblings down on the plot
Well, those on the plot started later, but something is clearly nibbling the edges of their leaves. On past experience, they will get on an produce something, but the productivity gains from having them in a controlled (and warmer) environment, such as a greenhouse is massive. Just googling it, it looks as this is pea weevil damage, which is not life threatening.
Also on the plot, I felt able to crop the first rhubarb of the year, from this plant
according to my rule that you always leave at least three stalks from any single growing point / crown, so that it has enough leaf area to keep the plant's metabolism healthy. So here they are, the first stalks of the season
now fully processed. I don't know if I would have said the same in a blind trial, but the first of the season always seems to taste the best.
I also had a look at the autumn sown broad beans (aqua dulce). Plenty of blossom, but no sign yet of pod forming. There was also some black fly - not excessive yet - but also this welcome visitor
Someone was telling me that I should be looking out for two spot ladybirds - and with a bit more googling, here seems to be where
Something else planted out recently was the ruby chard, which I guess will survive, even though it too has suffered some predation
That, I think, is bird damage. Well, I guess I could have constructed some sort of cage to put over it, but would it have been worth it? Easy for me to say this, since whether my family eats well or not doesn't really depend on this, but it makes me think of this book I was given recently
which I'm really enjoying - by some way, I think, the best researched account I've read about the history of gardening, or at least a part which particularly interests me, the impact gardening has on what people are able to eat. But maybe another thread, with more on the economics and sociology ..
Let's start indoors
I've loved Dutch irises ever since as a teenager on a school trip to the Pyrenees I saw them growing wild as we walked up to some mountain hut. I never expected wild flowers to be so spectacular. Only years later did I realise they could naturalise in my garden. When I first bought some, I went to the trouble of lifting them in autumn, and carefully potting up the little bulbils they produce. I guess that helped get a good population going, but no longer bother - they just keep coming back of their own accord.
The same can't be said of gladioli, which, as confessed earlier, I grew for the first time about four years ago, and then allowed to rot in cold wet ground. Naturally, I've been worrying about them, so the sight of the first few sword points emerging through the soil made me happy
The asian lilies, planted at the same time are also now showing, albeit crinkled thanks to some passing slug or snail. No show yet from the freesias, though.
Leaves are now showing on my fig, which for the first week of so look - to me - like hands held upwards
and there's also one of this year's crop getting started.
My vine, which is now two years old, is also putting out leaves
The leaves seem very attractive to slugs and snails as well, and this has had its leaves stripped at least once, setting it back a bit. This year I think it will produce some long shoots which I can start to train, and with any luck, I'll get a bunch of grapes too, but I'm not expecting much. I also noticed another house nearby, with a massive vine in the front garden. I got talking, and learned that the family were Turkish, and the vine was grown solely for its leaves - the grapes were small and sour. Another Turkish friend told me that there vine leaves were eaten as much as we eat cabbage here. I guess this makes sense - vines are very good at getting their roots down to reach water, so in a dry Mediterranean climate, they would be a reliable source of edible greenery. The grapes on my vine, however, will be nice and sweet, assuming a decent summer, and I cut back any leaves shading the fruit from the sun.
Something else putting out new leaf is the mulberry - not just on the tree, but also their pruning put in as cuttings.
This was just for curiosity - I don't exactly have space for more than one mulberry - and I'm having to stop that from taking over other parts of the garden. But it was something to do to fill the space in the greenhouse over winter - and if anyone does want a mulberry ... or possibly a fig - it's not quite to clear whether those cuttings have taken. There are also some vine cuttings which have taken. Yes - propagation by cuttings is not that difficult. I also have some lavender and cotton lavender cuttings, and somebody told me that taking cuttings of roses wasn't that difficult either. Maybe I'll try that - most of the rose bushes I have are old, and a bit straggly - they're not something I know much about - yet.
Some kind of segue from garden to allotment is to contrast the peas growing in my greenhouse, nearly ready for cropping
with their rather sad siblings down on the plot
Well, those on the plot started later, but something is clearly nibbling the edges of their leaves. On past experience, they will get on an produce something, but the productivity gains from having them in a controlled (and warmer) environment, such as a greenhouse is massive. Just googling it, it looks as this is pea weevil damage, which is not life threatening.
Also on the plot, I felt able to crop the first rhubarb of the year, from this plant
according to my rule that you always leave at least three stalks from any single growing point / crown, so that it has enough leaf area to keep the plant's metabolism healthy. So here they are, the first stalks of the season
now fully processed. I don't know if I would have said the same in a blind trial, but the first of the season always seems to taste the best.
I also had a look at the autumn sown broad beans (aqua dulce). Plenty of blossom, but no sign yet of pod forming. There was also some black fly - not excessive yet - but also this welcome visitor
Someone was telling me that I should be looking out for two spot ladybirds - and with a bit more googling, here seems to be where
Something else planted out recently was the ruby chard, which I guess will survive, even though it too has suffered some predation
That, I think, is bird damage. Well, I guess I could have constructed some sort of cage to put over it, but would it have been worth it? Easy for me to say this, since whether my family eats well or not doesn't really depend on this, but it makes me think of this book I was given recently
which I'm really enjoying - by some way, I think, the best researched account I've read about the history of gardening, or at least a part which particularly interests me, the impact gardening has on what people are able to eat. But maybe another thread, with more on the economics and sociology ..