In Need of my Spring Fix

The weather seems to have subtly changed here in East Lancashire. It is still cold, but finally all the snow is melted and there have been no frosts for a few days now. When this happens I find my mind turning towards Spring time and all that joy to come. I love seeing the first snowdrops, which are nodding their white heads in my garden now.

My small narcissus are  growing nicely too although my daffodils are yet to appear.

At this point I would usually be reaching for the compost and seed packets, desperate to get growing things, but I am forcing myself to wait this year as I am always too early. I have decided that the first week of March will be my first planting, desperate though I am. For someone who isn't interested in gardening this itching to start planting must seem like a strange desire, but anyone who has grown plants from seeds knows that this is one of the most exciting times of the gardening year.

I have given into my planting fix by buying an azalea which is going to go in a pot. One afternoon I was sitting in my arbour with a cuppa looking at the garden from a different angle and I realised I was misssing a trick. At one end of my deck is a lovely azalea that has rich purple flowers when they come and on the other side of the deck was nothing. I thought a pair would look nice at opposite ends. I am not usually one for symmetry but this appealed to my gardening eye. The other factor was that it is in a very pretty pot that I got for free from freecycle and I had another one exactly the same with nothing in it currently so they really will be symmetrical. Just to mix it up I got one with pink flowers though instead. It is currently residing in my greenhouse awaiting potting up - this afternoons job so photos will follow.


Has anyone else given in to the planting temptation?

June is busting out all over.

I have been so enjoying the weather. We have been very lucky over the last few weeks with weather here in East Lancashire, glorious day after glorious day with just enough occasional rain soakings to keep the garden very happy. My house is full of sweet peas which fill every room with their glorious scent and, as is the way with sweet peas, as soon as one batch is finished there is another huge crop ready to pick, they really are a wonderful Summer treat.

As you can see, the garden is at it's absolute best at the moment, with flowers galore, all spilling out on top of each other, with something to look at in each direction.

The hebe turned out to be a good choice to replace the blighted box, I just have to try and stop it from getting leggy as time goes on.

Finally I can safely say that the tomatoes are the best year ever. This is great news after 2 very poor years. I have 9 plants, all of which are doing well. Keeping them in the greenhouse for their whole life has definitely been the answer and the growbags have really come up trumps. I should have masses and masses before long.

Couldn't quite get a good enough angle on the photo to get them all in, but you get the idea.

I have been dieting and am only 4lbs off my target of 13 stone, (if you'd asked me last week I was 2lbs off target but something went wrong this week). Meals are so easy to plan at this time of year I find and it is also pretty easy to eat healthy food (as long as you like salad that is haha)

So life is ticking along well, my budgeting is going like a breeze right now, not much spare money but enough to be happy and certainly that is what counts :-)

Hotting up

As I write this a blackbird is endlessly singing just outside the window, he has been at it for about 3 days non stop it seems; it's a gorgeous song and every now and again I am sure he is singing selections from Die Fledermaus. It is a nice accompaniment to my day and my writing.

Plenty happening outside at the moment, the garden is really coming to life with something new appearing every day. being up in the hills I am usually slightly behind most people, even though only half a mile away in the valley things are further ahead. just that one degree colder in temperature seems to make all the difference, so where my mother's primroses have come and gone mine are just in flower now.

But my bath of tulips (of an unknown colour) are really getting ready to burst forth, can't wait, they will bring some much needed colour to the garden.

And my daffodils under the apple tree are in full flower. I like these very pale ones, sorry, no memory at all what sort they were.

A few plants in the cold frame but I have now put most into the greenhouse as my stock increased.

This year I am experimenting with growing my tomatoes in growbags in the greenhouse.
The last 2 years has been dismal for tomato growing here so a new approach is needed. I will still plant a couple outdoors, but I hope that the warmth of the greenhouse will make the difference that has been lacking in the past. So I will be setting that up over the next few days even though the tomatoes are a way way off being planted out yet.

Meanwhile my raised bed is slowly being revealed. For those who don't know, the local cats love my raised bed as a litter tray which is why it is covered over when not in use. As I plant rows of things I have to cover the gaps in stones and twigs to deter them, so far it's working. 2 rows of broad beans, one of carrots and one of beetroot for now.

The herb pot I planted up last month is thriving, but, as predicted by some of you, the lemon balm is already making a bid for World domination in there. oops.

 This is the rhubarb after I took the first crop yesterday, I've stewed it up and will have it for my tea over the next few days. It seems that my patience in only taking small amounts over the last couple of years has paid off and this year promises to be a really big crop. Lucky for me.

I will leave you with this photo of a lovely little saxifrage that I took this morning. It is small and perfect.  Sorry if my photo doesn't do it justice.

Spring Time

Oh yes, we've made it to the official first day of Spring, and rather than the weekend of promised snow the papers have been over-emphasising, I have woken up to the most beautiful weather for a long, long time here in Lancashire. Sunny and bright, but there is a Spring change in the air too. I know we are expecting a cold spell next week, but nothing can dampen the spirits on a beautiful Spring day such as this

To begin with this photo will only make sense as being amusing to anyone who knows Victoria Wood:

A new shop has opened up near me, one wonders at their using this name.

(Sorry to those who don't get it, but Acorn Antiques was a fictitious shop used in a spoof soap opera in the 1980's, you'll understand why it so amused me if you remember it)

So I have been out gardening (of course), getting on top of any potential weeds before they get on top of me for starters.

But first let me show you my new toy:

A cold frame. I have wanted one of these for ages and was delighted to find one being sold off at a garden centre for a song (OK, not literally).

Protected from any frosts are my new project of a herb bowl which so far has in it sage, oregano, thyme and lemon balm. On the left are some campanula, hollyhocks and delphiniums.

On the subject of my electric propogator all I can say is WOW. These things really work. I have had trouble germinating seeds in the past because I keep a relatively cool house and sometimes they have taken weeks to germinate. Well these surpassed all expectations and had all germinated within a week. In fact they are well on their way.

The sweet peas are huge after just 2 weeks:

Way too big actually, the trick will be in slowing things down (yes, you don't need to say it, I know I was too early, I just couldn't help myself).

Other things are not quite so far on fortunately, but happy enough.

I have put up a trellis and hanging basket for use later in the season. The plan at the moment is to plant a pot of morning glory for the trellis and I haven't decided what will go in the hanging basket yet.

The photo highlights that I really need to get the jet wash to deal with the moss on the brickwork. I will borrow my brother's when I next see him.

My pot of iris are looking lovely.

Here is today's view of the garden:

The new bed is a bit bare, but you just wait. But the grass is in such a state!

Finally a photo of my self inflicted wound, done during the night - who knows what I was dreaming about but it wasn't fluffy bunnies:

OW!

Lions Beware.

I was determined to get into the garden today, always planned to come rain or shine. Well it was rain, surprise, surprise but I made the job more appealing by taking out with me some essentials, in the way of

 a flask full of hot chocolate (laced with Bailey's Irish Cream - oh yeah, now we're talking!) Just what you need on a cold, wet, wintry, dull, dismal, dank, dire day.



First job was dealing with the lion sized kitty litter tray that is my vegetable raised bed. I cleared this out of all it's remnants last week and ever since then it is like a massive beacon going off to all the cats in the area - 'woohoo, someone has opened a massive cat toilet for us!'

Yes I'm talking about the likes of you!!:

Looking like butter woulnd't melt - My parent's evil cat, Diego

Last year I had the same problem and stood small rods of wood and stones in the bed to deter them, a bit unslightly but probably very uncomfortable on a cat's behind. This year I had a different (hopefully better) idea.

The added advantage being that it might kill off a few weeds in the process. Just look at that poor box ball above the bed - why is it losing it's leaves????? arghh

Next it was into the nice tidy greenhouse (it won't look as tidy as this again until next winter I think)

 to deal with some very late in the season jobs. Jobs I should have done a good while ago (slap my wrists).
I lifted some dahlias (too late, I know, I forgot them, but you never know they may survive) and hung them to dry for a few days. When they have dried a bit I will get all that wet soil off and bring them into the garage to continue drying off.

 Then repotted some digitalis that I had growing from seed all last year and have survived surprisingly well despite complete and utter neglect, yes, can you believe it, me, the ultimate in an organised gardener neglecting something! Well anything that battles against all odds and still survives deserves a little bit of attention, even if it comes rather late in the day.

Finally I came back indoors (mainly because my hot chocolate was finished) and stared lovingly at some of the seeds that arrived yesterday.

And very happy I was too.

Greenish Fingers.

When I labelled my last post title as a date it is a stark reminder that 2 weeks has passed since my last entry! Sorry. All is well. After my nasty bug I returned with from London (laid me out for about a week actually) I'm now fighting fit. I have been preparing for winter which doesn't seem to have hit with full (or indeed any) force yet. I spent a few days putting the garden to bed as it were. I have cut things back, laid some mulch and manured some beds. I have spent many an unhappy hour picking cat poo out of the new flower bed (I really love cats but truly this does try my patience) but my favourite job of the last week was to do out the greenhouse. I emptied it, washed a lot of the pots and put them back in good order. I have enough pots to last my a lifetime quite honestly - it is funny how quickly a stock builds up. It got me very excited for next year and the gardening I will do. As I will be away from home less (if at all) I will be able to make better use of the greenhouse this year and with any luck some of my veg from seed will do better. So far my green fingers have only displayed their hue when dealing with flowers, my veg has been a disaster over the last couple of years. Even my leeks which were doing so well, succumbed. Here's me thinking that they could be left out for as long as you want (I'm sure I read that somewhere) and what do I find when I come to use them? slimy leeks. If the weather is okay this week my final garden job of the year will be to clear the raised bed ready for next year. Over Christmas I will have the pleasure of reading through garden seed brochures and decide what I want to try next year. Most of my old seed packets have dregs in that are so old that I doubt they would germinate now so it is time for some new ones. The anticipation is great.
Looks like it will be a sunny day.

greenhouse pleasure.

What a joy it is to still be able to potter about in the greenhouse even when it is raining.
Things are looking great in there, most of the plants look strong and healthy and happy and will soon be ready to go out after any lingering frosts have passed. In hindsight, living here, where it is colder than in the South, I will start things off just a few weeks later as some of them are getting too big and I am trying to waste time before they can go in the garden.

Plenty of sweet peas, amongst other things. If there is a poor performer it is the lobelia but I do actually blame the compost. I usually just use a multipurpose from B&Q but this time I bought a special John Innes seed compost and, do you know, it is terrible, by far the worst compost I have ever used. It has ruined the lobelia because it clumped into rock hard piece and I am sure the roots have had great difficulty in pushing through. After 2 months they are still only half a centimetre and some are dead. Everything that I did in the multipurpose has thrived beautifully.

The daffodils around the apple tree are ready to burst forth which is going to look lovely.

And finally, tada, here is my new freezer.

Now I'll be able to find things and not have food frozen in lumps at the bottom, never to see the light of day.

March seed planting.

What a treat and a pleasure to be able to do my seed planting in the greenhouse and to make as much mess as I liked! The weather has been beautiful today and so, although it was a very chilly start to the day, I knew that the weather would be good. So the washing was on at 8 this morning and has subsequently dried on the line outside - after years of living in a flat in the past, I still get immense pleasure from something as simple as drying clothes outside.
At the weekend I made another greenhouse bench and a potting table, so the greenhouse is fully equipped now. I only spent £20 as I mostly had offcuts of wood left to use.

So today I have planted:

Tomatoes (Gardeners Delight and Tumblers, which have been highly recommended to me)
Cosmos
Aquelegia
Verbena Bonariensis
Shasta Daisies
Echinacia
Snapdragons

Definitely run out of windowsill room now, but tomorrow I am taking my seedlings that I planted a month ago to my mum to look after as I have to go to London next week (yes, it is that time of year again - sigh) for 4 weeks, so I have left the new seeds wrapped up in plastic bags to germinate. I am hoping to get home every weekend this time so keep your fingers crossed for me that this works out. I don't think I could bear a repeat of last year.

Last job of the day, I put up a little birdhouse. I don't know if any birds will use it, I hope so, but it looks really pretty anyway.

It is only 2 metres off the ground, which possibly isn't high enough, but sadly is the highest suitable place in the garden. If I have no luck I will rethink.

More DIYing

I couldn't believe the price of greenhouse benches/staging. They were either monstrously expensive £70+ for a 3 foot bench for the nice ones or about £20 for something so small and flimsy that it would hold only a few light plants and probably break in a second.
What do I do when faced with this? make my own of course.

This lovely 6 foot bench cost me £30 in wood and is a foot and a half deep too, suits my needs perfectly and would have probably cost me over £100 if I had bought it from somewhere.

I am rather pleased with the labours of one afternoons work and look forward to filling it with my trays of seeds etc. I will make another some time, but next project will be a larger platform for potting.