A Dry Week In The Garden

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.

A Busy Week In The Garden

At this time of the year there is always plenty of jobs to be done in the garden, most of them really enjoyable.

This week Peter has put the blade down on the mower and we now have a really nice looking lawn rather than the somewhat miserable grassy area we have been looking at for the last few months.

My contribution to the flower garden this week has been limited to walking round admiring the spring flowers.  Surely tulips are amongst the loveliest of spring flowers and the pretty primroses which bloom year after year, in spite of following a very hard winter.

Although I have done little in the flower garden, I haven't been totally lazy and potted up lots of tomato plants grown from seed.  The only problem I have is that I simply cannot resist potting up every single brave little seedling that germinated and always end up with far too many plants.  I shall have to try really hard to find good caring homes for the surplus.

I had five tiny little seed potatoes left and, as I can't bear to throw anything away, I went out to buy yet another potato bag to grow them in.  Unfortunately I accidentally picked up and "extra large bag" and when I opened the pack was astounded at just how large it was.  I promptly went out and bought another small bag and the potatoes are comfortably settled in their new home.

The extra large potato bag has now been utilized as a "mobile garden" which we filled with compost and have sown cabbage seeds in.  In fact I am so impressed with this that I think we shall buy some more bags to put in any available spot in the garden and therefore obtain extra growing space for yet more delicious vegetables and salads.

The runner beans in the greenhouse are now growing strongly and, in the next few days, will be put outside to harden off prior to, planting out.

A Necessary Chore

Before telling you about today's chore I should explain something first.

My husband of many years, Peter, is the first to admit that his gardening knowledge is zero. In spite of years of trying to educate him, he still can't tell a daffodil from a dahlia or a weed from a wisteria. However he is always willing to carry out all the heavy and not so pleasant jobs in the garden and that, to me, makes for an absolutely perfect gardening partnership. While he does all the hard work I can thoroughly enjoy selecting what to grow, planting, lovingly tending and reaping all the benefits.

Today it was time to give our small greenhouse its annual clean so I enlisted Peter's help. He started by removing everything in there, tools and shelving and those hundred and one miscellaneous objects that have been put there simply because you couldn't find anywhere else to store them. Next was washing everything. The smell of lots of soapy water to which a strong disinfectant had been added pervaded the air and I am sure drifted into adjoining gardens. We didn't get any complaints so I think we can safely assume that we didn't upset the neighbours too much. Having completed the cleaning he re-assembled everything and lit a "Monrobrands dead fast sulpher greenhouse candle". This will exterminate any univited guests of the bug variety and leave the greenhouse pristine clean.

My only contribution to today's events was to remove the plants and put them in a sheltered part of the garden until it was time to return them to the greenhouse.

With that job out of the way and conciences clear it was time to relax with a glass of wine, read all the seed catalogues and start planning for next season.

Cucumbers

As the fledgelings have grown and flown the nest we are now just two with a small garden so I attempt (not always successfully) to grow small quantities of produce for the kitchen.

This year I lovingly planted just one cucumber seed and it rewarded me by growing into a sturdy little seedling which I then planted into one corner of our greenhouse. It appeared to be showing it's displeasure at being moved as, although I fed, watered and even talked to it for weeks it remained just a few inches tall. However it must have then decided that the protest had continued long enough and it started to grow and produce fruit at a remarkable rate. So much so, all four walls of the greenhouse were covered with the plant and it even tried to escape through the roof vent.. Literally, dozens and dozens of cucumbers were ripe for picking and were presented to all and sundry whether they wanted them or not. In fact, I suspect my neighbours tried to avoid me in case yet another cucumber was thrust into their reluctant hands.

I did however find a solution to use up the cucumber mountain when I discovered they are great as a hot vegetable. Sauteed in butter with chopped fresh herbs or braised in vegetable stock, they are delicious.

This will definitely be on my "must grow again next year" list.

Cucumber seed - Mr Fothergills. Variety Fadia F1