Not a drop of rain this week which means Peter has had to get the hose pipe out at the crack of dawn each morning. It is now over two weeks since we have had any rain at all and I am seriously thinking of doing a little dance to the rain gods, praying for a real downpour. (My apologies if you are currently on holiday enjoying the sunshine).
Unfortunately, we are still experiencing ground frost at night so all the plants currently hardening off outside have to be tucked away in the greenhouse each evening. The runner beans are now a good size and I am anxious to get them in the ground but the tender plants will have to wait a bit longer yet.
The peas "Kelvedon Wonder" have come through a little erratically so I have just pushed a few more into the ground filling up empty spaces. I use the very technical method of wearing a rubber glove and using my thumb, simple but it works. I had to do the same thing last year but we ended up with an excellent crop.
The Alpines are looking particularly pretty just now with their gorgeous colours but I must admit, although they look wonderful , later in the season I will have very few in bloom. I guess that is just bad planning on my part but if anybody knows of late flowering alpines I should be delighted to hear from them.
A dear little Olive tree that was a gift to us for Christmas 2008 has now been brought out of the greenhouse and put into the garden for the summer. It is still very small and I am not optimistic that we will see any fruit for the next couple of years at least but I shall continue to lovingly tend to it and eventually I am sure our patience will be rewarded.
I still find it impossible to resist the temptation of buying salad and vegetable bags every time we go out and they are now in every available space in the garden. Surely they are the best way of container gardening ever and you only need to spend a fraction of what you would pay for large tubs. I must admit seeing the little seedlings popping through never fails to thrill.
Our peas are going crazy, threatening to take over the greenhouse. They have been hardening off so I have taken the plunge and put some out, hopefully they will be OK but I have a few put aside as back up!
ReplyDeleteOur runners are going like the clappers too, but they can wait a little longer before going out. Wishing you a good crop this year xx
Mary, thanks for your rhubarb cooking tips on my blog.
ReplyDeleteOne little tip I have for growing olives is that they love a little bit of lime. Not too much, of course, but they all come from limestone country and so a slightly alkaline, limey potting mi.x
Thanks for your comment on my blog! I'm hoping to get a whole website online soon full of tips and photos and all kinds of things. I'm writing it at the moment so should hopefully appear sometime soon :D
ReplyDeleteHow have you found those veg and salad growing bags? I have seen them about when shopping but never given them a go.
The veg and salad bags have proved an enormous success and have increased our growing area by 25%.
ReplyDeleteEverything is romping away after planting in Miracle-grow compost and, at the end of the season, we shall carefully wash the bags and bring them out again next year.
Many thanks for the comments.