May ups and downs

What a conflicting month of weather, the coldest night so far was 2.7 degrees and the warmest night was 11.3. Daytime temperatures have been no more consistent as the coldest was 10.3 and warmest 23.8, and these just in the last 10 days. Little wonder that the plants do not know whether to grow or not.

The couple of frosty nights saw us going out at dusk to protect vulnerable plants with fleece, will have to do that again in the next few days as temperatures at night are forecast to be 0-3 degrees. Even in the greenhouse the cucumbers suffered in the cold.

The brassica cage is finished now and we have already started to plant the brussels, petit posi, an open floret variety we grew for the first time last year, much sweeter than the traditional sprout.

Brassica cage in its new place

Despite the ups and downs of the weather, May gives a glimpse of what is to come and a tantalising preview.

The first roses are out, iris are budding with a couple now in flower and the greenhouse is full of seedlings waiting to get outside. The asparagus is growing madly, I picked 1.5 kilos this morning!

What’s this? a white flower on the budleija? The iris has grown through the bottom of the budleija and is putting on a great show.

white iris pushing through the budleija

May

We had a bit of rain last week which was most welcome and the garden greened up nicely, the soil is now more crumbly so is easier to weed and plant. The big cracks in the soil have closed a bit but much more rain needed for them to close completely.

More perennials are coming up and flowers opening. The camassia planted in the “wild” area at the end of the lawn are bulking up nicely after the original bulbs were planted 5 years ago now. I first saw these on a visit to Highgrove were HRH has them in the grass alongside a path.

Camassia

The lilac is out nicely now, pity it only lasts a couple of weeks before turning brown, never looking so good for our open gardens in June.

You may have guessed, most of the colours in my garden are pinks/purple/blue or white, with the early yellows(daffodils etc.) and an occasional splash of red or orange in the summer

This Pelargonium Tomentosum is in flower now. Kept in the greenhouse over winter it looks great now in a pot against a sunny wall. The flowers are tiny, very delicate but the leaves have a wonderful peppermint scent.

Pelargonium tomentosum

Spent most of today moving the brassica cage. It has to be dismantelled and put back in a new space, posts to bang in the ground, tubes to attach and the netting to tie on.

The reason we move it each year is to prevent the build up of pests and disease which occurs if the same crop is grown in the same position each year.

The cage works so is worth the effort as it prevents any of the cabbage whites from laying eggs with the resultant caterpillars on the cabbages, sprouts, cauliflower and kale.

28th April 2020

With the mild but very wet winter we have had it may seem surprising but we have been longing for rain. Despite the soil, heavy clay, being moist lower down, the top 10 – 20 cm is rock hard and the surface covered in a crazy” paving” of 1 cm wide cracks.

When it started to rain in the early hours and now 12 hours later it is still raining it was most welcome. After the morning in the potting shed potting on cabbages and tomatoes I am now able to catch up on the jobs inside.

Time to write a blog. We have spent the last few months sowing seeds and getting vegetable and fruits ready for a harvest in the summer and autumn. Beans and peas are still in the freezer, the soft fruit has just about finished, last pack of blueberries for breakfast tomorrow, potatoes and onions are coming to the end of their storage life. There is still fresh food to be had from the garden. The leeks finished a couple of weeks ago but have been replaced by asparagus, and with this rain there will be plenty to pick tomorrow. The rainbow chard has a few meals left although the hot weather has caused it to start bolting. With the mild winter the globe artichokes fruited early and the first two were picked for tea last night. The spring cabbage grown over winter were delicious but now all gone. We still have lettuce ready and fresh to pick in the garden are parsley, chives, rosemary, sage, thyme, mint. Basil, corriander and rocket are just starting to grow so it will be several more weeks before they are ready.

Just add steamed potatoes and fish!!

The Duchess of Edinburgh

I find this a most intriguing and fascinating flower.

Clematis Duchess of Edinburgh. A deciduous plant so not a pretty sight in winter (a tangle of brown sticks!) But by March the leaves are beginning to unfurl. Then flower buds appear and are amazing.

The bud itself is tightly packed curled up inside itself surrounded by 6 bracts on long stems, which gradually open out to give a sputnik type appearance.

The flower opens in May and although not bright and colourful, I think it is very beautiful.

Duchess of Edinburgh

April 2020

April showers have not reached us here yet only 0.25mm rain so far this month.

The garden keeps moving on and has had lots of attention over the past few weeks so is looking good.

Pear blossom along with the plum and peach are buzzing with bees and the fist apple blossom from the Greensleeves and Belle de Boskoop are now in flower.

I grow something around the base of the old apple trees and on one is white honesty. Looks lovely at this time of year and keeps the weeds off!.

White honesty under the old apple tree

These old apple trees were originally espaliers but over the years the lower arms have died off just leaving the top ones giving the tree a T shape. From this the branches grew up until it was like a row of trees along the T. Since we have been here we have gradually taken these big branches down and now we have a single espalier at about 4 feet from the ground.

The birds have taken advantage of the holes left by the lower arms, blue tits are nesting in it this year.

March 2020

These are difficult times for us all; those with gardens are so lucky to have that space to go into and see what nature is doing. The odd Brimstone has fluttered by, joining the buzzards aloft and the honey bees resting on the chard.

Earlier in the month late flowering snowdrops were in bloom, these were then replaced with daffodils. Many are still around with other spring bulbs joining in the colour show, including anenome blanda, crocus, and scilla to name a few.

Tulips are in bud now and will open over the next few weeks.

The clematis Constance also provides plenty of colour along with food: chard, purple sprouting broccoli, rhubarb to go with the green of the leeks, the ‘sprouting’ parsnips.

Clematis Alpina Constance

Angelica in the sunshine

Primroses

Rainbow Chard, delicious and decorative

Seed Storage

Where to store seeds? Over the years they have been in numerous containers, plastic boxes etc but we do have rather a lot of seeds and could never find the one wanted!

Storing in the house was not an option, no space and too hot some of the time.

In the shed was the only option but we had problems with mice eating the seeds.

For the last five years the seeds have been stored in the storage shed in an old broken freezer, in boxes in one of the drawers, almost alphabetically!

During that time we have been searching for an old metal set of drawers the right size for seed packets.

Last week were found some, on ebay and with the help of our son who knows how to bid on ebay we were successful.

Once cleaned up we were able to fill the drawers. I made laminated sheets to list the alphabet and in sections such as C made individual labels for the many crops in C. Cucumber, cabbage, celeriac, courgette, cauliflower, carrots, calabrese, chard etc.

Very pleased with the purchase so hopefully the mice will not get in, we can find the seeds we want quickly and get rid of the freezer to make more room in the shed.