Salad update

It's a busy month in the garden and there are so many seeds need to be sown for the vegetable plot that it's easy to get behind with things. Being an avid list maker, I'm constantly making lists of things I need to be doing in the garden and sowing a variety of seeds is a priority at the moment.

 I'm determined to be better organised this year and have more continuity with my salad crops.  In the last few days I have sown outside in a raised bed:  spring onions, lettuce--red salad bowl and a second row of radish,

radish seedlings

I'm pleased to see that the rocket and radish I sowed last month is now growing and in the last week the spring onions have germinated. In the cold frame there are trays of Tom Thumb, Little Gem and Tantan lettuce which look ready to be planted out in the raised bed, but as it's been a bit cold recently I have delayed doing that.

Watercress seedlings

In the grow house the watercress is looking good, although has been quite slow to get going. The seed packet says wait until there is no danger of frost before planting out, so I'll nurture it for a while, but must remember to sow some more seeds for continuity. I love watercress, I grew some last year for the first time. I also have some Pak Choi in the grow house which  I sowed a week ago and hasn't germinated yet. I tried growing this last year in the open ground but it didn't grow. I don't like to be defeated so I'm trying again.

I have also sown some herb seeds, Russian tarragon, flat leaved parsley, and curly parsley and the basil I started off last month has now been transplanted into bigger trays. I've tried a couple of year's running to grow french tarragon which I bought in pots but they never survived the winter. I read somewhere that French tarragon can only be grown from cuttings, not seed. So I'll try the Russian tarragon this year which I can grow from seed. I think the flavour is stronger.

Indoors I have sown some mixed salad leaves and some more of the gourmet micro greens which I grew last month and which were delicious. The pea shoots are still growing and we have been eating these.

I also have some cabbage, cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli and brussels sprout seedlings left over after having transplanted some into larger trays and pots for the allotment. I always hate having to throw away the weaker seedlings, but now I realise I can eat them with salads.
Waste not want not!

http://vegplotting.blogspot.co.uk/p/52-week-salad-challenge.html

Moving plants

 I normally find gardening relaxing, even if I'm doing really strenuous work. The sense of achievement at the end of a gardening session is a really good feeling. But on Sunday I didn't feel that way. After a rather dreary rainy day, the sun decided to make its presence known late in the afternoon and I decided that I would make the most of it and do an hour's gardening before dinner. I thought, as there were a few weeds about I would just potter around the borders with the hoe. That would be a nice relaxing thing to do. That's when I started to feel uneasy.

As I worked my way around the borders with my hoe, I realised how well everything was growing and I remembered that last year I had made a few mental notes that certain plants needed to be split up this year. And there were others which just needed to be moved because they were in the wrong place. It was all a case of a bit of overcrowding in the borders. And in my general busyness of sorting out the vegetable seed sowing and looking after the allotment I had forgotten. And so I started to feel overwhelmed with all the jobs I had to do because time was running out, the plants were getting more established and before long it would be too late to start moving them around.

Well two days later, the sun was shining, I had no grandchildren commitments and a full day to garden. So I made a start. In the end it was only an afternoon because I had a lazy time over breakfast reading a gardening magazine (jobs to be done this month!!)  a quick trip to the local shops, then it was time for lunch.

But I got loads done. I had to make a plan first, write it all down--move those two sedums, one to the middle one to the other end. Move the tradescantia and the geraniums to make way for the sedums. Dig up the grass, which I never liked, but where to put it? It ended up in a pot until I decided what to do with it.

So that's one border sorted, I still have more to do but I feel I achieved something today.  I just hope I can get the other plants moved before the growing season gets really underway.

What jobs are you trying to get done in the garden at this moment?

Alpines

I don't think we ever saw the old Alpine House at RHS Harlow Carr  I've only been a member of the RHS for a few years and when we first started visiting Harlow Carr gardens they were building the new one. The Alpine Zone was finished in 2010 and it is a very impressive place. It is packed full of beautiful, colourful alpines which are planted in pots on a raised up level built out of stone. It's about waist high, so you can see them easily. I thought they were in pots to stop them spreading and getting untidy but it's so that they can be moved  to keep a permanent colourful display throughout the year.

Colourful it certainly is and there were lots of 'oohs' and 'aahs' coming from me as we looked around when we visited after Easter. We have seen this place several times now since it was opened and I never fail to be wowed by the colourful display. Here there were plants which you would think wouldn't survive outside in our gardens in this country. But many of the plants are from mountainous areas of the world and Harlow Carr say that they would grow outside quite happily.  Even the non flowering specimens were delightful from the tiny little sedums and sempervivums to the cushiony, spongy looking mounds which were just asking to be touched, but we weren't allowed to.

It's not just inside the Alpine Zone which is of interest, because outside, around the perimeter of the building are many stone troughs beautifully arranged with alpines. In one corner outside is an alpine garden which looks to be made out of flat stones or slates arranged both horizontally and vertically.  It's an interesting way to grow alpines, they can be planted in tiny little crevices between the flat stones.

I will leave you with a little gallery of photos from the Alpine Zone to look at whilst I go and tidy up my alpine pots. On the other hand I might just pop down to the local garden centre and buy some new ones.

Spring at Harlow Carr

We visit RHS Harlow Carr several times a year and we always see changes and new developments every time we go.

Our visit this Spring saw the how well the redevelopment of the Queen Mother's Lake is coming along and we are looking forward to seeing the finished results. We also saw things happening in the woods.  Following the new path and the excited childlike voices we eventually came upon the new tree house. We didn't have our grandchildren with us on this visit but we made a note to bring them along in the summer.  They will love this.

Another new development is the introduction of the chickens which were causing much interest again amongst the children.

 

It was the Easter holidays  so there were a lot of families there taking part in the giant Easter egg hunt. I don't think the chickens had laid the big golden egg which was perched on top of their house!

We walked through the woods then up to the bird hide and were pleased to see a bullfinch  at one of the feeding stations.

We continued our walk through the arboretum enjoying the quiet . Throughout the gardens spring was bursting into life in many ways. There were drifts of colour from narcissus, tulips, hellebore, hyacinths and many other plants the names of which I did not know.

We had a rest in the summer house. Every time we go there's always someone sitting in there and we can't disturb them, but this time we managed to get to sit awhile. 

 

I love this place, it makes me long for a summer house in my garden, but space and money do not allow it, I just have to dream. I like the view through the hedges. There were some pots of spring bulbs arranged on tables which gave me ideas of things I could do at home.

The hyacinths in the scented garden smelt divine. I'm always interested to see what is growing here because I have a little scented seating area in my garden. Perhaps next year I will grow some pots of hyacinths.

There are always some magnificent containers arrangements at Harlow Carr and this visit was no exception.

Mine never look so good!

Down the lane

I walk down the lane to the farm near our house a few times a week. I don't live on the lane, I just have to walk out of our back gate and within about 5 minutes I am there. It's a place to go to when I need to clear my head, or get away from the traffic noise at the front of the house or just get some exercise.

I love the walk, it's quiet, peaceful and scenic.  I stop at the gate and look across the fields.  The view changes with the weather. Some days there's a mist clouding the distant hills, or sunshine lighting up the fields.

Along the lane the hedgerow changes with the seasons.  Last week there was pussy willow, in a few weeks time there will be hawthorn blossom.

 

The sheep were in the field last week They're a bit timid, but at the same time inquisitive, wondering who I am. They were looking a bit fat, I wondered if next time there will be lambs too.

I walked down the lane today, the pussy willow had gone over and there were lambs in the field. They were in the far field so too far away to take a photo.

A busy week at the allotment

Visiting the allotment with children can be good or bad in the case of our grandchildren. Last week they were not very enthusiastic about going, there was a lot of whinging. Once we got there though they soon settled down and enjoyed themselves. They did some digging although we did have to try to persuade them not to throw the good soil out of the raised beds!  And they found some worms.

Meanwhile my daughter and I  planted the onions and garlic which had been started off in module trays. They were easy to plant and because they were more established we didn't have the worry of the birds pulling them out.

We never get as much done as we would like when we have the children with us so a few days later I returned with my husband and he set to work barrowing manure from the communal heap to our own manure heap, whilst I did some digging and preparing of the beds. I also put some manure around the fruit bushes.

At the next visit a couple of days later we planted the potatoes.  We plant them in bags or containers, usually old compost bags. We planted some in the garden at home and the rest at the allotment. We have planted 'Foremost', 'MarisPeer', and 'Aran Pilot'.  We put a layer of compost in the bag then plant  3 potatoes to each bag and cover with more compost. As the potato foliage grows we top up with more compost until the bag is full. This is a good way to grow potatoes if you are short of space. I have about 12 bags in my garden, my daughter has 6 bags and we have another 12 bags at the allotment.

We also did some weeding at the bottom end of the plot and put some membrane down.  Weeds are are big problem here especially the Himalayan balsam which grows through the fence and can take over in the summer. Last year we covered the fence with membrane to stop it growing through and this  worked well.  So this week we covered another section of the fence and also covered the ground which we weeded first. Hopefully this will now be a good  area clear of weeds.

Our plot is a communal area which means we have no fenced off area separating us from other plot holders, it is made up entirely of raised beds built by the council of which we have 2 and our daughter has 2 and the council also has provided us with compost bins and storage boxes. We are limited with with what we can do with the space, but we are trying  to keep our area 'ours' and keep it tidy as well as putting our own personal touches to it.

This week we've also harvested baby leeks, kale and purple sprouting broccoli. I'm feeling really pleased with the progress we've made this week.

If you are new to my blog then you can read about our allotment here.

Bakeathon

I've been at bit busy for the last couple of weeks. Busy to the point of getting slightly stressed. I took on a baking challenge. I think actually that it was my suggestion, when my husband was counting off the days to his final day at work, that I could make cakes for him to take in for his work colleagues. He didn't want a fuss, no party or retirement buffet, so taking in cakes  seemed a good idea.  Until he said that I would need to cater for about 200 people.  I don't think I showed any emotion at that point. I just said that was fine, then I went away to a quiet place and inwardly screamed.

So I worked out a plan of action.  I would make tray bakes, which could be cut into small portions.  There would be no messy icing which would get damaged in transit and I would have to bake ahead and freeze some cakes.  I decided to make flapjacks, ginger cake, carrot cake, brownies, lemon drizzle cake and shortbread.  These were all tried and tested recipes which I felt confident with.

My husband said that they were a greedy lot at his work and loved cake.  So I then thought that one cake each might not be enough and that some greedy people would probably take two cakes. We realised  that I couldn't cope with  baking any more so to supplement the cakes we would also provide some boxes of chocolates.

After a few baking sessions I said I was fed up with baking and never wanted to see another cake again.  But I carried on.  Sometimes I baked in the morning, sometimes in the evening.  I got quite good at throwing a tray bake together in between doing some gardening and cooking the evening meal or collecting the grandchildren from school.

I kept running out of ingredients so I was constantly popping down to the shops for more supplies. I did start to wonder how many different sorts of sugar there were. There's caster sugar, golden caster sugar, demerara sugar, light soft brown, dark soft brown, light muscovado, dark muscovado.  I never seemed to have the right sort of sugar for the recipe. And eggs, I got through many boxes of eggs.

I did numerous calculations of how many pieces I would get out of the different cakes and when I finally finished the last baking session I had made just under 200 cakes.  Because he was also taking in some chocolates and because I had worked so hard and probably wouldn't want to bake again ever, I felt that I could justify keeping some of the cakes back for ourselves.  We were having visitors at the weekend after all. So at the final count he took in 140 cakes. Along with the chocolates that would satisfy the workers.

Did they like the cakes? Yes they did, they devoured them within ten minutes of them being put out in the kitchens. Will I ever bake again?  Yes I will, I have now mastered the art of rustling up a cake in a short space of time.  I don't recall anything in my marriage vows about baking cakes, but one of my friends said I had worked over and above the call of duty.  I did enjoy the challenge, but don't plan to do it again for a while.