Greenhouse in June

I particularly enjoy the evenings when I come back from work and go straight out to check if there are any strawberries ready for harvest.

We’ve had our first pea harvest which was so tasty that you can actually eat peas uncooked, but the quantity was rather disappointing – a big shelling job for a couple of handfuls of peas. I am considering sowing some snap peas next time.

We are finishing up the last of the green cabbage this week (much to everybody’s delight!). The rest of it has been ravaged by the white butterfly caterpillars and will probably end up in the compost bin too.

One of my favourite vegetables which I can hardly find in supermarkets: the artichokes have done really well this year. I have started to harvest a few heads and had to scrub off the black flies from a few heads but otherwise they are very tasty.

Artichoke Plant

The roses are looking great at this time of year and my flower borders are filling up nicely. My favourite rose this year is called Jude the Obscure, for its delicate scent and lovely shaped flowers.

My red oriental poppies all came up and now have gone very quickly so I didn’t even have a chance to take a picture. But I did finish planting all the flowers which I had sown indoors back in spring including the asters and more recently some zinnias which I have simply placed along the garden path.

The coming week is forecast to be a hot one, so I shall give the diary a rest to go and water my vegetables.

Tulips

My tulips are all out including the bulbs which I planted back in autumn in containers along with pansies grown from seeds. In turn, I have also spotted a few butterflies including the lovely red peacock butterfly.

The rose bushes are growing new leaves following the spring pruning which I carried out earlier in the year (I must remember to give them a good feed!).

Moving on to the vegetables, the broad beans are growing slowly and have a few flowers but I wonder if it is too early? The salads in the cold frame have grown well and overcrowded the area which definitely needs thinning (as you can see on the picture below)!

Overcrowded Cold Frame

The cherry tree is in full bloom as seen on the header of this website and the apple tree is just about to blossom. And while I am looking at the fruit trees, I notice that the redcurrant and black currant bushes are currently adorning many clusters of flowers. Like last year, I will have to compete with the birds to get a handful of fruits!

The lawn is looking good as I gave it a bit of a cut and lawn care over the week end.

Finally, the weeds have taken over the flower borders, so there is a lot of weeding to be done. Any volunteers out there?

Fritillarias in my garden

The Pasque flower is similarly a very stylish flower which is referred to in the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady and in bloom at this time of year.

For scented bliss, try Skimmias who are in full bloom at present although the flowers are probably not their best asset. Similarly Mahonias are average size bushes which yellow blossom at this time of year and could make a nice addition to the back of a border or near a fence.

Otherwise, although not yet in bloom, I will be looking to plant more perennial flowers which will grow on and blossom for many years. For my blue border the addition of the heart shaped pink flowers of the Dicentra bleeding heart may complement the blue theme nicely.

Delphiniums are also a must-have perennial which are dominating my blue border and this year I shall try to propagate them this by doing some cuttings for the first time.

Happy gardening!

Digging my garden

Now you don’t have to dig your garden if you do not want to, particularly since it is now commonly acknowledged amongst experienced gardeners that as an alternative to digging you can mulch and cover your soil with compost or well rotted manure.  And you can just let the worms get on with the task of incorporating the organic matter into your soil.
 
Personally I prefer to dig my vegetable plot every winter because of the nature of my soil – heavy clay which benefits from being broken up and enriched regularly.

As I am writing this I realize that I am behind on my digging and currently I am still tackling the area where my squash, sweet corn and dwarf green beans were grown last year.
 
Naturally my faithful mascot – Fat ball Rob – will come and join me and seek any little worm which I have exposed in the process.

Obviously any arduous activity such as digging is always followed by a comforting cup of English tea and that’s me for the day!
 
My top tip: if there has been a lot of rain recently it is best not to dig the ground not just because it will be messy (this has never stopped me!) but trampling over wet ground only compacts it further.

Was it tip-top for you? Please leave a comment.

Robin in the snow

This is January and it’s time to prepare for the growing season, although I tend to think that November is when it all starts for me as I look back on what has been cultivated and start clearing the dead crops and flowers from the garden.

So this week I shall take another look at all the seed catalogues to see what new varieties will tempt me (what with so many varieties of flowers, vegetables and fruits to choose from!).

I shall also look back at which seeds I will continue to grow this year and establish a sowing schedule for the calendar.

Already it looks like the first seeds that I will grow this month will be chilies. Chilly seeds are very easy to grow and the plants do well on a sunny window sill which is ideal if you do not have a garden.

I hope that you will follow me on this journey as I am aiming to post my gardening activities on a weekly basis. So look out for my next post on my gardening plan!

I am only an amateur gardener and therefore welcome your comments and ideas for improvements.

May 2009 be a Happy gardening year for us all! (with a lot of sun…)