I’ve been tagged 26 April, 2008

I’ve been tagged by Darlington Allomtment in one of these tell-us-about-yourself things.

These are the rules

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write six random things about yourself.
• Tag six people at the end of your post linking to their blog.
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six random things about me:

• I’m 100% geordie.
• I abseiled off the Tyne Bridge, Newcastle while pregnant.
• I love red wine and hate tomatos.
• I dream of owning a cottage with a big garden, chickens and pigs in the Scottish highlands.
• I can cook a mean sausage casserole.
• And I once met Matt Lucas in the lift at the Trump Tower Hotel, New York.

I will pass the tag onto the following people:

Vegmonkey

Reads Retreat

Carrots & Kids

Manor Stables Veg Plot

Growing our Own

Fresh as a Daisy

 

Full of flu but…. 21 April, 2008

That didn’t put me off getting out there on such a lovely day. OK, so probably not the best thing to do when you’re feeling rough, but I had bought a pot of leek seedlings at the weekend from my local nursery and they really needed thinning and re-potting. So complete with tissues, I ventured out to the garden.

And what a lovely day it is, actually warm for a change. It was so good to be outside after being stuck in all weekend. My leeks, (Lyon Prizetaker), were squashed into one pot and unfortunately weren’t pencil thick so they aren’t ready to go into their final positions. Instead I gathered my loo rolls and potted them on. I did have to snip the roots which were incredibly long, but hopefully this won’t do them any harm in the long run. I reckon it will be a further month perhaps before they are the correct size for planting. They are however half hardy so at least I don’t have to find room on my windowsills for them! I simply have cover them with a cloche for the night time and leave them open to the sun and rain during the day. Simple…

 

 

If I remember correct I have managed to re-pot 21 leeks which is more than enough for my tiny plot, but does provide me with spares in case some don’t make it. I absolutely love leeks and can’t wait to taste these one… yum yum yummy!!!!

 

Whilst out and feeling quite good, I decided to risk the elements and planted a row of radishes (French Breakfast), a row of spring onions (Guardsman) and a row of cut and come again lettuce (Italian Mix) as I’m desperate to get my salad started. I had planned on covering them with my little poly tunnel, but its too big, so they’re hiding under a layer of fleece, which should keep them ticking over. I watered the soil before planting and them scattered the seed as thinly as possible, to minimise thinning later on. Then I took handfuls of dry compost and sprinkled this on top of the seedlings. I got this little tip of Monty Don, so it must work… right?!?!

 

 

A little update about my onions sets which were planted earlier this month. They appear to be doing great, you can now clearly see some shoots which is soooo exciting! However, my potatoes which were planted at the same time, aren’t showing any signs of life, but its still early days so its a case of watch this space…

Planting my Peas! 20 April, 2008

OK, I have a confession to make, these aren’t actually my peas (Klevedon variety), I bought them from a lovely little nursery, but given the recent weather I’m sure no one will mind this little cheat…

 

 

I have to admit that I’m slightly nervous about planting these but I am hoping we’ve seen the last of the really cold weather. I was itching to get them planted and thought what the heck, I’ve got plenty of fleece in case it turns nasty, plus Vegmonkey has got his in so I can’t be doing it that wrong…

I have decided to have a go at two different growing methods, one up a support with netting, the other I stole from Harlow Carr, five peas planted in a block so little support is needed. Not sure which will work best, but as the peas only grow to 3-4ft and are pretty much self supporting both should work just fine. And the recycling bug in me meant I didn’t have to buy any supports. Whilst clearing out the garden we took down some large shrubs and saved the branches for some unknown use, anyway, these have now been fashioned into the support frame. It looks a bit messy but I am confident it will stand up to the task!

 

                               

All about onions 13 April, 2008

I am soooo excited… I’ve just planted my very first vegetable in the raised beds – my lovely Fen Early onions, about 20 sets in total. The sets arrived last week and have been sitting it out in my kitchen waiting for a break in the weather. Some had succumbed to rot but those lucky few are now safely tucked up in their beds! 

After raking the soil, which is looking pretty good, I added some fish, blood and bone fertiliser and raked it over again. The sets were then placed in little holes using a dibber, this is said to be much better than pushing them into the soil, as they sometimes tend to push themselves back out again! I have decided to try out close planting, opting for a block plant system to maximise space. This means instead of planting in the traditional 20-30cm spaced rows I used a cross design, planting each set 15cm away for the next. I did add a couple extra for good luck, just in case some don’t make it. And due to a huge sparrow population in my garden, I’ve placed some fleece over the top to stop the birds digging them out.

My recycling has been put into good use as well this weekend, as I’ve managed to collect lots of plastic bottles to use as mini greenhouses over my pea seeds (didn’t manage to find any guttering!) and I hope to get my leeks started off in the seed bed sometime this week. The cabbage and broccoli seedlings are doing really well in my dads cold frame and they should be ready for going into the garden sometime next month.

Looks like things might be starting to happen… heres hoping!!

News from up north 7 April, 2008

Well the wonderful British weather has struck again. Who would have predicted snow in April, I’m beginning to think that this year might not have been the best to start our veg garden. But never being one to be put off by a bit of bad weather I managed to put in a mad couple of hours on Thursday morning while little Emma was sleeping and with a little help from Grandma, I managed to fill the beds with compost and get them covered again before the snow hit. And yesterday I finally got round to planting the potatoes, a early variety, Vale Emerald, which should be ready to harvest come June/July. Nice salad potatoes for the summer, yum yum!!

 

My onion sets finally arrived from Marshalls this week and instead of getting them straight into the beds as intended, they’re sitting in a box waiting for some dry weather. I just hope next weekend is ok so I can get on with some much delayed planting. In the meantime, my precious seedlings have gone on holiday to my dads to enjoy the benefit of his cold frame. That is until Pete makes ours!!

 

A couple of pics from our lovely stay last weekend in Buxton with Aunt Julie, Beccy, Livvy and Bailey the dog xxx