But I am definitely not calling the whole thing off, quite the opposite in fact!

Last year I got some potatoes from my local DIY store and grew them in a variety of heavy duty bags, including one of the old green waste recycling bags from the council.

This was the second year of growing potatoes and although I got a good crop, it wasn’t enough to keep a family of four potato lovers fed for more than a week.

As I don’t have an allotment or the space in my garden I know that there is only a certain quantity that I can grow. However, what I have not really got my head round before is the 1^st Early, 2^nd Early and Main Crop planting. I have no idea when each should be planted or harvested.

I do certainly feel more confident this year having learnt a few basic potato growing rules and would like to set my crop expectations slightly higher this year, and dare I say it…. eat my homegrown potatoes for Christmas lunch???

So this year my aim, with the help of Gardening Direct, is to have a continuous supply of potatoes and I am hoping that the Potato Successional Collection will do just that.

It comprises 5 x 1^st Early, 5 x 2^nd Early, 5 x Main Crop.

Pentland Javelin for a May, June, July harvest

Carlingford for a June to September harvest

King Edward for an August to September harvest

 As I have 6 bags I am thinking of maybe also including a salad potato but am wondering if I may be biting off a bit more than I can chew or, more importantly, that my garden size dictates!!

Still feeling like a bit of a newbie to this gardening business I was quite relieved to see that on the homepage of the Gardening Direct website is a ‘what to do now’ section which is giving me some much needed guidance.

With it being school half term I should be able to steal a couple of hours in the garden with the kids. I need to divide up a perennial plant, which since its arrival in my garden about 3 years ago has gone great guns. I have no idea of what it is, as it originally came from my parents garden but it is a lovely tall plant with lots of tiny yellow flowers.

I have never divided up a plant before, but there is a first time for everything. I am hoping to get about 3 or 4 clumps from it which I will probably put at the back of the garden by the compost bin where there is more space for it to stretch its legs.

I think the beds also need to be tidied up and forked over ready for the Spring planting. I am busy making lots of newspaper pots at the moment for my plug plants. This is as an alternative to using the plastic pots as I find these a real eyesore at the bottom of the garden and they take up some much space in the grow house that I would rather recycle them at my local garden centre.

Last weekend my son and I took part in the great bird watch weekend and even got the grandparents involved too. After providing a delicious meal for the birds using our Gardn Bird Supplies food we waited in anticipation armed with notepad and pen, binoculars, camera and bird guide book. Our job was to observe for an hour and mark down how many of each variety we saw. The lure of the food worked and my son completed his homework recording many blackbirds, blue tits, chaffinchs, magpies, robins, woodpigeons and even a seagull.

We didn’t quite make the hour time-frame as this is a long time for my 5 year old to sit still watching the garden. However, since last weekend he has become very interested in the birds that enter our garden and is now reminding me to feed the birds so that he can see what comes into the garden.

 After feeding the birds today I took some photos of the garden and am really pleased to see so many bulbs coming through. I have no idea of what I planted where so we will just have to wait and see what happens over the next few months. The window boxes of violas and wallfowers are doing really well, as are the primroses in their pots.