[Rosesandtea]

I began getting seeds into seedling soil in late March or so.
I've sown:
tomatoes - Gardeners Delight, some other hybrid from seeds I got last year, Purple Ukraine, Peacevine, Orange Banana (last three are heirloom type)

Cantelope : Collective Farm Woman (heirloom)

Watermelon: Blacktail Mountain (heirloom) - I don't have much hope for the ones I've planted really, and might get some more seeds. Watermelon here is extremely iffy if you don't have a very good greenhouse.

Courgettes/Zucchini: Verde d'Italia (supposed to be light green - heirloom) and a Golden type (store bought)

Peppers : Orange Bell, and Taltos (both heirloom)

Squashes: Waltham Butternut (heirloom)
Pumpkin: Cheyenne Bush (heirloom ) and New England Pie (reg. storebought)

I've also sown - and planted out some Okra and Eggplant. I have no idea how these will fare with the English weather.

I've sown in the raised bed: mixed lettuce.

I've sown amongst the golden courgettes some Eternal spinach and mixed lettuce

I've also sown :

peas - some sugar type.
Paris pickling cucumbers (heirloom)

I plan to plant some sweetcorn : Double Standard ( a bi-colored heirloom)
And lots more lettuces as the season goes : regular storeboughts, and some heirlooms which are : Australian yellowleaf, crisp mint, and Flame.

and I plan to plant some more cucumbers if I have room.

I've got some strawberry plants both in a raised bed and in a pot.

I have so many seeds that I'm not sure what else I am going to plant. I wish I had a lot more room. Our back garden is only 1/28 of an acre, 35 x 85 ft. I do plan to use containers as well for slotting around the raised beds and straight-in-the-dirt plants.

I'm not big on fertilizers but I do have some Miracle gro for tomatoes and I have some plant food from a chain store here. If I get any pesticides I'll try to mention it.

Here's a video from April 24 - you have to turn the sound way up because I didn't talk loud enough.

And here's one from today, May 5. I didn't talk through it, it's just a short less than 2 minute walk looking at things as I go from the bottom to the top of my garden. The chicken alone is in quarantine because of illness. The plants in the square containers are blueberries. You can see the long cloches I have put over the okra and eggplant I have put out today (I hope they make it!!).

 

[PrincessKraken]

Looking Great!!!! Can't wait to see more

 

[BrowserCat]

I'm amazed you can grow cantaloupe and watermelon - over here in the Seattle area we're at about the same latitude and we all get our melons from the grocery store. : ) We just don't have enough degree days here - maritime climate and too cloudy.

 

[Rosesandtea]

I'm amazed you can grow cantaloupe and watermelon - over here in the Seattle area we're at about the same latitude and we all get our melons from the grocery store. : ) We just don't have enough degree days here - maritime climate and too cloudy.

BC, You're right, the weather here is not conducive to such plants but the seeds I bought for cantalope and watermelon are from an heirloom seeds company out in Wales - worse weather than here really. These varieties are supposed to be quick-maturing, and rather small (think softball size watermelon). So, we'll see. I'm not very hopeful though.

My watermelon seeds have all done rather badly but I think that was because I didn't know how to use a heated propagator. If I get anymore seeds perhaps they'll do better as I'll avoid the same mistake.

 

[Wabbit1911]

Looking good Rose...Love the birds! I'll be coming to you next year with lots of questions hehe.

 

[2DOGS]

Nice Rose,,,looks like I'll be a plantin sometime soon or at least a trying,,,SEMPER FI

 

[Rosesandtea]

Today I discovered one of our hens is missing. I can only assume she missed being locked up last night, and was taking by an owl or other predator. RIP Susan.


On a more positive note, after a week of rain and cold and not being able to do much in the garded, it is supposed to be sunny this week. I am really looking forward to it. I'm still struggling with knowing where to put things, though.

This week I plan to start hardening off plants that are in the greenhouses, repot seedlings which are in starter trays, and plant more seeds.

 

[Rosesandtea]

Well an update on that missing presumed dead hen: dd2 discovered her this afternoon in the chicken run!! We had looked everywhere. We can't figure out where she went, or how she got back into the run. Aside from an eye glued shut due to illness she had last week she seems fine.

 

[PrincessKraken]

YAY FOUND CHICKEN!!!!!! Good to read she is ok :

 

[Rosesandtea]

May 11, 2010

Today I discovered slug have been eating the squash I have planted down the bottom of my garden. I'm going to ask dh to take me to the store to get some slug pellets. It's due to rain so I'm not sure how worth while it will be to put them out this week, but I will put some out. I pulled two dead or nearly dead plants out. The flip side of this is that I have two spaces to put in more zucchini that I didn't know what I'd do with!! And also, I didn't have out a lot of plants so the damage done is minimal. I wonder if the slugs ate the lettuce I sowed there, and that is why I didn't see any?

I need to make sure the chickens don't get out, I guess if I put that stuff out. One little girl, a newer one got out this afternoon and I discovered her as I was watering plants in the mini-greenhouse. Her feathers were so pretty in the sun that I thought I'd do a video of her (no talking in this) :

Then I thought I'd do another video just for an update. Really nothing much is going on but I thought I'd do one anyway and make a few comments. I managed to speak up enough this time. :

 

[Rosesandtea]

May 15, 2010 - work on a raised bed and other bits

Last night dh and I got some pallets from the back of a large DIY store (with permission). Today dh got started on making a raised bed from them. He didn't get all the way done but should finish in another afternoon. Unfortunately tomorrow looks like rain but hey ho, maybe next weekend or he might take some time off.

Pallet:

Dh and dd at work:

Part of a pallet to be used as an end :

Halfway done:

A bit further but not complete:

 

[Rosesandtea]

what I did while dh was doing the raised bed

While dh was making the raised bed, I did a lot of little things that needed doing.

I repotted flowers and bushes that we had bought in previous weeks and I hadn't done yet. I didn't take pictures of some of them that I put out front by our door, but here are the ones in back:

White azalea:

Pink azalea:

Blueberries (already potted) and some purple flowers:

I planted radishes in the space at the end of the bed, beyond the covers protecting the eggplant and okra seedlings :

I got dd, 17, to help me do a cane structure for the peas. Probably overkill as they dont' need to be very high, but never mind. I put what I couldn't plant there in a pot, now that might be underkill!

I got my daughter to put some hay under the strawberries as I noticed some fruit in the dirt:

I also dug a few more rows (dug last year so I am just loosening the dirt) in the patch in front of the chicken run:

I planted some watermelon seeds, and a type of cantelope called Minnesota Midget, and some tomato seeds called Amish Paste (all from Real Seeds in Wales) to go in the heated propagators inside, but I didn't get pictures of those. However I do have pics of some things indoors. My Paris Pickling cucumbers from Real Seeds came up real well,

but the Spaghetti Squash from a major brand name didn't germinate at all well:

This week it's supposed to warm up more so I'm hoping to get more done and some plants put out in the coming days.

 

[Rosesandtea]

May 16, 2010

Yesterday afternoon after church and dinner dh and I went to a place in a nearby village - sort of an organized, glorified, civilized junkyard with allsorts being sold from shipping containers and barn type buildings and lots of stuff under the sky. I had wanted a couple of little box planters of the type I got last year but alas they had no more. I got some plastic ones though and will put flowers in them to put around or in front of the raised beds.

I also got a couple of plant supports made of willow. If I got the materials I could make some, maybe I will this summer but I'll have to find the stuff first.

I used one to put the peas onto (I transplanted them away from the cane structure dd1 and I had made Saturday):

I also tried to salvage my poor zucchini plants which have not grown a lot since I put them out (too cold) , but hopefully they will now take off as we are due for weather in the low 60's this week (heat wave!!) and are supposed to be due for a hot and long summer (oh please yes oh please yes). I put a slug trap down and this morning saw 17 small slugs in it. You can see how poorly the one plant near the trap is. You can also see how I need to get various suckers out of that bed! For the trap I just used a bottom saucer from a plant pot and Budweiser and put it in an appropriately sized hollowed out area:

In the evening Dh and I went for a walk. I was really pleased at one point to come across this:

- somebody planting things in tires! They don't belong to the house you can see but to a smaller one off to the right of the view. There are peas in the one tire in the middle left, not sure what the other things are. But it was fun seeing someone garden in what little space they could.

Today I hope to repot some things and place them in the mini-greenhouses outdoors. Dh fixed the tears in the greenhouses yesterday with duct tape. :thumb:

 

[granny squirrel]

Oh Roses, I want your willow plant support cage! I have a bunch of willows and think that I might be trying my hand at making one of those just for fun!:thumb:

 

[Rosesandtea]

Oh Roses, I want your willow plant support cage! I have a bunch of willows and think that I might be trying my hand at making one of those just for fun!:thumb:

Go for it! I don't think it would be too hard to do if you have the right materials!

If you make one please post a pic!

 

[Rosesandtea]

May 19 - raised bed is finished!!

My dh worked yesterday evening after work and after tonight and finished the raised bed he started on Saturday!! I appreciate his hard work so much!! (but I'll still ask him to make me another one..... heh)

Here it is:

Except for all his work and the nails, it was free as we got the pallets from a DIY store.

I look forward to filling it up with stuff!

 

[Rosesandtea]

31 May 2010

Over the weekend dh has been preparing another raised bed.

Here's his first work, digging it all:

Yesterday he nailed the pallet pieces all together (he had taken the pallet apart earlier) and today we filled it with compost:

Here are some other photos I got today:
first one, of one of the hens - she looked a little under the weather and so I thought some real free-range time would be good for her - she certainly perked up. Behind her in the raised bed you can see radishes

On the other end of that bed is various lettuce types which are ready to be cut for their first harvest:

Next to the peas I already planted I put in some more that were started. In the same photo you can see peppers I put in today and covered with cloches:

Under these cloches are Purple Ukraine tomatoes (heirloom sort):

In between them and other tomato plants are marigold, and on the left of the bed is hot peppers, and at both ends are Paris Pickling cucumbers (another heirloom)

Along our fence dh dug some, we'll put piles of manure there to grow melons under a poly tunnel

In the newest raised bed I've put a new wicker frame and planted Dwarf french beans (and not sure what else will go in there - I have SO much stuff!) :

Finally, the next to newest raised bed and some flowers:
(the west side):

And, the east side, with the newest raised bed:

I hope you've enjoyed this update!

 

[Happygirl62]

Gorgeous!

Roses your garden is looking wonderful! Send some fresh eggs and salad my way would ya :

 

[Graywolf]

Your garden is really coming along, and I love the chickens. We are getting ready to make a chicken tractor for us soon and get some babies as well. Thanks for the comment you made on my garden. You were talking about wanting more space, and I had an idea. I posted it in my garden space as an answer, but thought I would put it here as well.

I was noticing that you had wire fencing along the chicken run ... idea!!! ... Since the fencing is away from the wooden fence, it would get more sunshine, so have you thought about putting in some extra T-poles for support, and using parts of the fence to grow things that have runners ... there are string beans that run, pole beans and cucumbers ... probably other stuff too. If you used every other panel, the chickens would still have a good view of you and you of them. You might even be able to use oblong planters at the base of the fence for the plants to grow in, so you didn't have to dig up that area. Just an idea ... maybe it will give you a little more room!

I was also noticing when I ordered my Great Northern Seed today, that they have a lot of varieties of specific plants that do well in cooler weather or places with less sunlight. Check out the Victory Heirloom Seed site at:
http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/main_vegies.html

 

[Rosesandtea]

Hi Graywolf,
thanks for the nice comments.

Re the chickens - unfortunately chickens will eat up almost any green thing they can. I thought about putting some climbing flowers on the fence, but decided not to because I realized that they'd never grow - they'd either be gobbled up as soon as they came out of the ground, or gobbled up the day I planted already-started ones. Peas and beans would be like manna from heaven to them !

Thanks for the link, I'll try to have a look later!