Lettuce and pepper

Yay! lettuce seedlings growing like mad.

The pepper plant was large enough to move into a large pot today. I’ve not grown this variety before, it’s a long type rather than the bell.

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Build-as-you-grow potato sack

Being the lazy cheapskate that I am and following on from the build-as-you-grow potato bin idea here is my build-as-you-grow potato sack.

Roll down a sack and then roll it up as the spud grows. Will it work? Dunno. Find out in a few months.

Baby chamomiles taken from a field. I hope they thrive.

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Pallet Planter

I made a couple of these four years ago and they have produced many lettuce and toms. The idea was to make a cheap (free) raised bed. Cut a pallet equally to get the sides and then use the leftovers to make the ends. Line the walls with poly or whatever and fill. If they were painted/treated at birth they would last a good few years and with a bit of ingenuity the sides and top edges can be planted into as well (bit like the wood anemones are self doing – at least I think that is what they are).

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And Hi from my backyard

Worlds worst gardener signing in. Signs of life at last. I think these were kept too wet and too cold. They are in the house but I have windows open at night. Bubble wrap blankets at night from now on.

A gooseberry bush that revealed itself once the hedge was cut back. I’ll trim around it to make sure it gets a little room. Might even take some cuttings and spread it around. Not that I know how to take a cutting.

Aint it just the best colour green? Hope they are tasty ones.

The woods on the west side of the valley in almost full bloom.

A chive that grows every year on the path.

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Hi from the back yard

I’m not sure where to start but I guess a picture of my latest toy is as good as any. I decided that it was no good planting seeds and having them rot away because of the cold weather. Our garage has a sort of ramshackle potting shed at the back which last year in incredibly warm spring conditions was useful as a place to propagate everything. This year however, it is not doing any good at all. Of 12 runner beans I planted only 2 have germinated, the rest simply growing a nice coat of mildew. Infuriated by this I invested a whole £9.99 in this little beauty.

To date it has the following all tucked up on it’s shelves:

Lettuce mixture, carrots, mini aubergine, Mexican mini tomatoes, Roma plum tomatoes, runner beans (the original surviving 2 plus some more just planted), purple podded peas (it’s a long story lol), 2 sweet pepper plants, a chilli pepper, a hazelnut and a fuschia. Now to see if it works. The weather today has been superb but the forecast is not too good for the rest of the weekend apparently.

Our broad bean plants are doing very nicely, in flower and almost ready to be moved out of the summer house to their new home in the driveway.

And finally, here is the new bed for the runner beans (hopefully more than 2) that was made a few weeks ago. You can also see our compost bin which is absolutely full at the moment. Needs a bit more sun on it to speed the process up.

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