In And Out Of The Garden

Hello?!

I'm still here. It has been a while since my last post but I thought it was time for me to have a bit of a ramble. I have some good things, hopefully you agree, to share. (Apologies to those who follow me on Twitter who may have seen some of my ramblings there.)

Of course let us start in the garden. (I'm doing the wordy bit first then will add the photos so if it looks a bit skew apologies but just want to get something down!)

Right, the veg patches are coming on well plus we've have had some good things to eat. These are the views from each end of the growing area a few days ago I think. I'm sure you can see the potatoes in the middle of the main patch; very pleased with these after total failure with maincrop last year.

The onions have been taken up and,along with the shallots and you can see they are now in the cellar drying out and will be ready to store very soon. I did see Darren Lakin, I think, on Twitter talking of pickling shallots for Christmas; I'd would be interested in trying that.



Other yummy treats we have had from the garden have been the early spuds, courgettes, cabbage, dwarf peas and I can't forget about the sweet peas (obvs not for eating).



However, one of THE most exciting things in the garden is this. People say they are very hard to grow and I have to say I have taken super good care of them and look -  a cauli!!!!!

And I have 4 of them I think!

Other seemingly successful edibles this year are cabbages,

garlic is now drying in the poly house due to the rain,not a massive harvest but enough for our needs,

and we are picking red and green lettuce bowl daily - this is my BEST year yet and proves I should not really bother trying to grow it in the poly house, much better result outside.

Also outside I have celery for the first time; these are looking healthy as are the other two plants in the bed outside the poly house. Growing this for Jon.

I haven't taken up any carrots yet; they've not been the most successful of edibles in the past and not all have taken this year but will take a look at them soon.

There are lots of flowers on my dwarf beans but nothing else yet. I did well with a smaller number of plants last year so I really hope to have a good yield this year.

Ah finally the PSB. Was very grateful to be given these plants, along with the celery.

Into the poly house now and the two Marketmore cucumber plants at the back are just flowering and the Butterbush squash is doing well, too. 

I have some seeds which have germinated, on the left are some more cucumber which I'm going to chance my arm with and plant out shortly where the onions were. Top left are cabbages and Kale at the bottom, again to see what they do outside over the next couple of months.

My basil posts continue to thrive. I've given some away and put one in the kitchen but I just like taking a leaf off when I pop into the poly tunnel, especially from the purple one which is delicious.

Tomatoes have, again, not been good for me this year. But, I have two fairly healthy plants - don't ask me what variety they are!

Lastly I have been given three red currant bushes and a goji berry one. I have them in the poly house as there is no way for me to net them; hope they survive.

Outside my wild flower chimney outside is proving very pretty. 

I've been working hard on the flowers outside the Airbnb rooms and have taken new photos to put on the listing details. The hanging baskets have wowed me and the planters are now full to the brim outside the first two rooms.

I'm going to have a brew now and then turn round the room from guests who left earlier this morning. My bookings have gone crazy; so good, so very busy for the next three weeks at least and it isn't even August yet!

Right, I think that is enough of a ramble for the day. Apologies again for those on Twitter who may have seen some of my progress.

Bye for now. 

Lou.xx

Chilly Day Catch Up.

Hello!

Today we woke up to a frosty start but a clear sky across to the church and the Canolfan.

I thought I'd take a few pics of what's going on around the place; nothing too exciting but just a record of the start to the year.

The Alliums are ALL doing really well so I'm very pleased about that - the garlic,

onions

and shallots.

I have more onion sets to plant out in Feb but soo not yet sure where I'm going to put them!

Yesterday Jon started the tree-cutting-back project that we have in mind before Spring arrives. He began by starting in the far corner near the small veg patch and hopefully within the next couple of weeks he'll get the roadside done; he also plans on taking a couple of trees down in the chicken enclosure ready for when we replace the taken ones next month.

Now, Spring cabbages, these will, hopefully, be ready to harvest in May or thereabouts; I was quite worried about them when I first planted them as they took ages to look like they were doing anything!

The temperatures in the greenhouse and poly house respectively were

In the poly house I planted the dwarf Meteor peas and really pleased with them.

These will harvest in around May with any luck, too.

A few outdoor shots - down the side of the poly house

and over the wall to the field across the road.

and I love the view over the gate of our neighbouring farm.

The flat leaf parsley has bounced back after it was cut back...

and I'm chuffed the snowdrops I moved from the bottom of the garden last year settled well

and the ducks continue to be happy.

My niece had an operation recently so I've made this card for her and l'll be posting it today.

Ok I think that is it for now.

Bye.

Update - Inside And Out.

Overwintering sowing and growing, but first the weather. 

We've had bouts of biblical rain recently along with some terrific wind. However, today we have ish-blue sky with a light breeze hence I had a wander around my little patch of paradise today. There may be rain later... Anyhow here's what I found.

Shallots, garlic and onions were planted out by October 22 and the first two are showing nicely.

With the onions I have some interlopers in the form of peas left over from the summer so hope that I might get a cheeky harvest!

Garlic not doing as well as these two just now but hope it picks up soon.

In the poly house the carrots and kale are peeking through and the meteor dwarf beans in the troughs are doing very well. 

The meteor beans in the greenhouse were sown a little later than the others and think I might plant them in the empty bed in there when they are all ready.

A little surprised at how well the hardy sweet peas are coming on to be honest; I need to check when they can be planted out!

In the greenhouse the beetroot seems to be growing well but there are more leaves than anything else; not sure how that is going to turn out...

A quick look at the cabbages seem to suggest they have not been nibbled by anything recently, after I removed the netting.

Have to say I'm quite chuffed that I seem to have some growing happening so just hope that they turn into edibles!

Garden prep has seen chicken poo, compost and covering put on the corner veg patch. All that needs covering now is where the few leeks and swede are in the main patch.

Inside now. 

First Christmas present is wrapped and a number have been ordered so must wrap them as they arrive.

The turkey has been ordered so can forget about that until the day before Christmas Eve.

The sloe gin is being given a shake once a week now. 

Christmas cake was made at the beginning of the month; I'll feed it some booze this week.

Ordered, as usual, a few crating bits for the festive season and have so far made this tag on the left which can be used as a decoration or given as a gift. The piece on the left is something I love making; this will be used as a back drop on a decorated table or shelf but could also be framed as a gift.

Christmas is now just six weeks away. Eeeek! Lots of planning to be done soon but not quite yet.

Autumn Planting, Sowing and Growing.

Good morning.

This is just a little update on what is going on in the garden right now; I am so loving this bright, and at times chilly, Autumnal weather. Even though it all looks a little thin on the ground I still love wandering around looking at things, normally reminding myself of jobs that need doing!

This was taken yesterday.

I've been busy planting out the garlic, onions and shallots this last week.

I have prepped one end of the main bed for the onions, used the raised bed at the back of the poly house for the shallots and one of the six tyres for the garlic.

The garlic is variety Provence White.

I've potted on the strawberry runners so have eight plants now I think sitting under the bench in the greenhouse. All looking quite healthy and I also put a couple to sell out front.

Over the last couple of days I took a look at my second compost bin. I haven't had anything out of this in possibly a year or so? It looked in such great condition and I've used this underneath the polythene covering as part of garden prep on the main patch until Spring. 

This was taken earlier this morning and today is just gorgeous, another chilly, bright day.

As well as the newly planted onion sets I still have some carrots in the small patch and spinach beet, dwarf green beans, leeks and swede in the main patch. I'll cover over the remainder of the space as and when it becomes empty but I'm getting there.

In the greenhouse I still have one sweet potato plant and the beetroot; not sure when the latter will be big enough to harvest but plan on pickling it and will not grow any next year.

I've also sown a little kale in the poly house raised bed just for me. It isn't taking up any necessary space and will hopefully grow well. Does anybody else grow kale undercover over the Winter?

I've been thinking of sowing a small wild flower area, perhaps near The Snug, but need to look at whether its best to sow seeds direct or to over Winter some and plant out in the Spring. Anyone have any experience of this? I think it would be better to have a dedicated bed to avoid my lovely husband mowing over them!!

In other news the boys break up for a week on both Thursday and Friday due to the youngest's school having an inset day. They're going to spend a few days with The Gramps from the Saturday so hope my back is feeling better by then as I hope to do some jobs outside. Struggling with a bit of a twinge I don't feel like aggravating just now, but sooo missing not being outside. Jon and I hope to go our for a meal one night, too; we don't often eat out alone so it is nice to do so some times.

We have been really busy on weekends with the Airbnb room recently even though we are into the later months. Jon needs to do a little maintenance here and there so hopefully we can get that done in the next week or so before our next booking at the beginning of November.

Right, I think that is me for now. Not too much going on but hope you are still enjoying my ramblings.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx