gwyddno

In which I witter at length about gardening stuff.

So, yes, Saturday afternoon. .While the rest of the Enleytonment set were ganging up horribly on poor Eve and killing them bloodily many times over, Miriam and I had a weedthrough.

We weren't able to do as much as I'd hoped because of my sciatica but we still managed an impressive amount under the circumstances.  Miriam dug the borders side and back (no mean feat when you realise that she was hoiking out foot-long taproots) and I pootled about doing bits of potting on and transplanting.  The parsley that Elly managed to grow from seed, and the mint both got potted on, and the thyme got planted out.  From the two hairy potatoes we'd brought with us I got about six good chits and those were duly planted in a largish tub by the back door. I  forked over the compost heap (to improve aeration and make it easier for the earthworms to move about, thus speeding up decomposition) pruned the holly tree (took off a side trunk which ought to make a nice staff for Sam) and we attacked the forstyhia (removing suckers and dead wood to allow more light through and give more room for growth).

One of the first jobs this evening was to water the greenhouse.  I now have white raddishes, lolo rosso lettuces, two varieties of lettuce, calabrese, and purple sprouting broccoli and/or leeks germinated,while the rocket which germinated last week has raced ahead.  Even though I'm fairly sure I'll have to resow a lot of things as the cold weather will have prevented them germinating, it's still very pleasing to see any amount of new growth.

I still need to finish digging and tidying the garden, and the greenhouse has an unpleasantly catty smell about it.  I may have to have a word with young Smith.

I may try and call in at Hafal tomorrow just to show my face for five minutes.  I need new boots and Hafal may just reimburse me the cost as it's their stipulation that we wear steel toecaps.

Off to bed now to dream about growing triffids in the greenhouse.

Spent a lovely afternoon in the greenhouse.  I'd planned to get the garden dug today but my leg had other ideas so I did some light sowing and planting instead.

I planted two tubs of Marabel mainrtop potatoes (chitted from a pack of four bakers that never got eaten), According to the Potato Council, they boil, mash and roast well and make lovely potato wedges.

I sowed asparagus - an F1 variety whose name I can't remember but I kept the packet, half a tray of leeks and half a tray of summer sprouting broccoli.  The leeks are an interesting variety I discovered on the Real Veg Company's website, called Bleu de Solaise.  The leaves are dark blue but they still taste like leeks.  The broccoli was a bog standard Sutton's variety.  I have a packet of Rachel's Veg late-flowering and some Real Veg Co early-flowering (or vice-versa) so we should have plenty of broccoli :).

As well as that, I made up the chives and basil grow-your-own pots that Miriam fancied in B&Q on the basis that it's impossible to have too many chives or too much basil.

I planted up the Rosemary cuttings that have been on the kitchen windowsill all winter and repotted Em's orchid.  There's nothing to lose with the orchid as she was going to sling it out when she moved so if I can get it to grow in multipurpose compost, I get loads of kudos and if not, well I tried :)

The cold spell has set everything back two or three weeks.  For some things, such as grass and weeds and digging the garden, this is good thing.  For others, such as the rhubarb I'd hoped to be picking for tomorrow, not so good.

If I remember, I want to rake over the surface of the garden before digging this year to gather up all the little stones and bits of assorted crap that have no business being there.

There's plenty of firewood in the trolley in case we manage to have a barbecue this summer, just need to keep the heat well away from the greenhouse!