Garden, Gifts and Guests!

Hello!

Busy few days here on the Homestead. We had Jon's family here for a couple of days as the boys have been on half term this last week - gone back today, aaaand relax!

This is a bit of a mish-mash with what happened when but never mind! 

I've been busy in the garden with more of this glorious weather. Lots of the tomatoes have been put into planters ready to go into the greenhouse hopefully by the end of the week. I potted on some of the smaller toms and planted out some of the courgettes.

I have earthed up the first early spuds and I'm using up the last ones I bought so we can hopefully try our own by the weekend. Eeeek! Last night we harvested our first salad leaves and had them with herbs for tea; (no photo as too busy enjoying them!) soooo tasty and I'm chuffed how the salad leaves are coming on and I'm very glad I have sown and will continue to sow more as we go along.

We have cut the grass this weekend as Jon acquired a mower after doing a job over the Bank Holiday weekend and was paid with that. Alfie helped out with one side of the garden whilst Jon was putting the greenhouse on a base. I have membrane to put down and we hope to get the glass in this week.

We have also acquired/been gifted a couple of other things for the garden like this fab picnic table which was in use for lunch yesterday; perfect as half in the sun half in the shade. 

And for the garden, along with some onions and leeks,

these Kelveden peas have been put in a planter which came with a couple of pods already! Apparently they grow to about 17 inches tall so have installed some willow sticks as support.

I seem to be embracing the mixed planting ethos in the main patch. Here I have the leeks in the main patch

along with the lettuce, one broccoli, a courgette and a cabbage. I'm looking forward to trying the spinach beet which is also in there, I've a little more space but once the spuds start to come up soon there will be a little more area to use. The onions have been put in with existing ones in one of the tyres.

Talking of spuds the first earlies are just flowering.

In other news we had a one night Airbnb booking on Saturday night. They left at 10am, I received another booking at 2.45pm and they arrived at 6.45pm on Sunday evening! What is mildly exciting is that one of the guests was working updating a travel guide for Wales. What a hoot it would be if we got a mention in that? Also I expect a comprehensive review for these guests and frankly I can't wait!

Today is an inside day as much as I can manage. I'm on my second wash load, the guests have left and the bed is stripped. I'll get the room top and tailed after lunch when I have to pop our for chicken pellets and go to the post office. I need to fit in making some biscuits or a cake as the tin is empty and I was given rhubarb by our neighbour and Harry has requested I make a crumble. There are a few other things on my list but we'll see how we go; phone calls and admin/paper work can be done whilst I eat lunch - oohI need to watch the 2nd part of the British Scandal thing with Huge Grant, first one was ace!

Right I had better get on.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Mixed-planting Mayhem and Stuff.

Good morning.

I am embarking on a mixed-planting scheme this year, something dear to the hearts of certain gardeners - hi Kim.😄

I've already admitted that being an organised kind of girl - yes, at nearly 50 I still consider myself a bit girly! - I always have a plan and a number of lists on the go therefore the process is something quite alien to me.

I've wondered if this method of planting has a detrimental effect on your harvest. I have my spud tubers and last year knew exactly where I was going to plant them, how much space I would need and a very rough idea of how many spuds I may eventually earth up. Now I have some fairly random planting in my main bed and a couple of tyres just now. When block-planting you can see at a glance exactly what you have. Also I would normally put the spuds in all in one sitting but I feel I need to wait for seedlings to be a healthy size as I am planting in the open not in a polytunnel; individual sees could get lost without tonnes of labels.

I'm not saying I'm averse to the process but as I still class myself VERY much as a novice but learning all the time and I also lack confidence sometimes. I'm going to give it a go as I can really see the benefits for the plants themselves and also me as a gardener, but there are things to  consider. I'd be really interested to hear from any other mixed-planting virgins! How are you getting on with the idea?

In other news, regarding no-dig gardening which I am also trying this season, I have a question.

Does the no-dig philosophy help get rid of 'keen' weeds such as chickweed, especially as they can remain viable under soil cover for 20 years plus? Just wondered.

Ok, the weather is dry just now, if a bit blustery, so going to get outside for a bit before I need to do some baking and other indoor jobs later. Thankfully I cleared the ironing pile yesterday due to the rain. Yay, go me!

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Go The Rocketeers! Post No.2

Hi! 

Here I am with the second post about the time spent with Kim at Green Rocket Courses.

In the afternoon, after our delicious lunch, we did a few practical things which I'll talk about but will also cover other things we had talked about in the morning and the afternoon.

A really good reason for growing in a poly tunnel (PT) is that you can extend your growing season but you can also grow things which will not necessarily grow in a greenhouse. Along with this a big part of Kim's philosophy is mixed-planting in the PT; she is a great advocate of mixing things up when it comes to planting; there are a number of reasons behind this way of doing things this way so here we go.

Why put all your hungry plants together when this means they will need loads of watering and also take all the goodness out of the soil/compost? Crop rotation is also not something you need to practice if you go down this route.

Plant your sprouting broccoli with your peas which are nitrogen fixers as we did here!

Nitrogen fixing plants contain symbiotic bacteria called Rhizobia within nodules in their root systems, producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other plants. When the plant dies, the fixed nitrogen is released, making it available to other plants and this helps fertilize the soil. Its always a good idea to leave what is left of your peas at the end of the harvest to rot down into the soil.

Why not mix up your herbs and salad leaves with your tomatoes, or plant your basil with your tomatoes when they go together so well in cooking why not when they are growing. This means you can go foraging in your patch for everything you need for a summer dish! You will also be able to grow a range of mediterranean herbs in your PT.

Here you can see a variety of plants all growing quite happily together - leek, strawberry, carrot and coriander.

Another fun part of mixed-planting is that if plants self-seed then you get a nice surprise for no work really!

Now there is no reason at all why you shouldn't try some of the hints and tips here even if you don't have a PT so why not give some of these things a go outside on your plot or in your green house?

Now part of the day we talked about something which Kim is very keen on and that is the no-dig approach to gardening,; this can be practised either in your PT or on your plot outside. I have written about this recently but the idea is that you cover over your soil, or a new area to make a growing patch, with cardboard as this will degrade. Then you cover that with your compost and you don't ever dig over the earth; if you do you disturb the earth then it is more likely to recover after being dug by producing weed growth. By continuing to mulch over the surface you will prevent the vast majority of any weeds from returning. 

If you take this approach it means there is a lot less work. If you are no-dig gardening outside then there may be some weeks or plants such as brambles or docks and woody plants which will need removing before you start.

(Just a tip, if you are using cardboard from large boxes it is worth is taking a bit of time to take off any sellotape or remove any staples.)

If you want to buy compost in bulk when setting out your PT it is wise to look online as the more you buy of anything will always be a bit cheaper; this goes for gravel, too, if you chose that for your pathways.

Ok this part of my post is some random things we talked about.

Should you use old seeds?
Try not to waste anything so older seeds will probably be slower to germinate but may still grow. Sprinkle the seeds in between other plants but put a marker to remind you they are older seeds so you know how they perform.

Carrot fly
Carrot fly are attracted to the actual smell of the carrot so it's a great idea to plant something with a strong or distinctive aroma close to it like garlic close to it or you could just try squashing something to deter it and leave it close by.

Slugs
One way to help cut down on the number of slugs getting in among your plants is to lay a piece of wood on the soil/compost. Slugs will always gravitate to underneath something so when you lift up the wood and find them you can just dispose of them as you wish away from the plants.

Cheat growing
It is more than acceptable to buy some things from the supermarket to grow in your PT. A great example is herb pots. If you buy a lovely, healthy looking basil plant how long does it last - not long. The reason being that if you take a look at the roots it is pot-bound so it can hardly breath let alone thrive. So, you can divide the plant into 3 or four parts and plant out and they will do much better. Basil does tend to do better in doors but if you have more than one you can keep one in the kitchen and the others elsewhere. 

- A great herb for over-wintering is parlsey and it self-seeds easily, too, so happy days!

Well, I do hope you have enjoyed my overview of Kim's Poly Tunnel course, but nothing compares to the real thing so son't forget to check out her website where you can find dates for up-coming courses this year. I had a fantastic time and I thoroughly recommend attending any of Kim's courses.

Go Rocketeers!!

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

(Apologies for the inconsistencies with typing - Blogger not playing ball I'm afraid but hope you still enjoy.)