We had snow on the ground icing sugar trees and beautiful blue sky – all very festive. One problem however, I sent my husbeand into the veg plot to pick the frosted sprouts for Christmas dinner, hoping that the frost would have sweetened them as my grandmother said it should. He came back in with a grand total of 3 – not even one each! The plot is rabbit fenced but rats, mice, pigeons etc can get in. I’m not sure which stripped the canes so completely. More success on Boxing Day we had another 20 yews arrive just Christmas week and a warm day allowed them to be dug in with plenty of well rotted garden compost that had been kept dry and frost free by covering with recycled black bags. This is the best compost I have ever managed to make and I’m sure that having three rather than two bins allowing a three year rotation has helped.

Last week I made a mental note to pick some holly before the goldfinches and redwings arrive and strip the berries off in one fell swoop. Friday evening at dusk I saw the first redwing of the season on the common – looked outside the next morning to see an empty holly tree – too late again for me! I have resorted to adding plastic berries inside the house. I have had success planting broad beans in pots – the mice eat the beans before germination if I plant directly in the ground. This year 49/50 have germinated and are almost growing too quickly. A neighbour recomended dipping the beans in parafin before planting to stop them being eaten, but I don’t fancy parafin in the veg plot. I have just purchased another 25 bare rooted yews to reform a hedge that has been strangled over the years by ivy and invading sycamore and ash seedlings – despite being informed repeatedly the we will not live to see a fully grown hedge – the 2 sections already replaced over the last 3 years are growing well. The thermometer has now gone above zero so some planting to do once I have filled the trench with compost.

Hello I’m the new gardener in the very windy west! The valleys are flooded and even on the hillsides the heavy clay soil is waterlogged. The “autumn clean” is in progress here – compost heaps and bonfires piled high. There is some scent and colour returning though – the viburnum bodnantense is very pink and the less showy lonicera purpusii (a shrub honeysuckle) is getting its highly scented delicte cream flowers. Ours is close to the house and is still growing well after 10 years. I’ve just acquired a climbing winter/spring flowering lonicera fragrantissima – still waiting for the first flowers. If you need some ground colour the autumn & spring cyclamen seem to be resistant to most things here except pheasants trampling them! l

In my last blog I promised an update on my peppers and chillies so here we are!  I am convinced they are not as advanced as they should be but the lack of sunshine this year does go some way to explaining that.

The photo shows the sweet peppers.  I am getting three to four on each bush which I am pleased with.  We have a few last night for tea and they were lovely.

The second photo shows my upside down growing chillies which I think are amazing and no its not trick photography – they actually grow this way!  I grew these from seed and each bush produces a good forty chillies which is great if you like curry.

Photo 3 shows some forming peppers and I have to confess I have misplaced their variety and as to how large they should grow before you pick them I just don’t know!  If anybody knows what they are, please let me know.

Finally photo 4 shows my bean row which is now producing pounds of beans.  Like everything in the garden it all seems to come at once.  Don’t forget if you have too many to eat for meals, blanch and freeze them for later in the year.

Alternatively make green bean chutney.  It is fantastic and so easy to make.  If you would like the recipe contact me and I will post it on my next blog.

Happy Gardening

The Gardener in the West

The Gardener of the West has been away on holiday with his family in France, so apologies for my lack of communication.  Going away is always difficult because nobody looks after your precious vegetables like you.  I am lucky I have my mother-in-law close by, who is able to water but still, having been away for just 10 days I had to spend a good hour or so in the greenhouse getting rid of all those shoots that appeared and how they grow!!!!!

You will see from the photos below that the greenhouses are doing alright, the tomatoes are forming well and more and more flowers are appearing, we have now picked a good couple of pounds of fruit but we are definitely behind where we would normally be, due to lack of sunlight.  However, I do believe this is a very important time to look after your tomatoes.  If you don’t keep up regular watering (everyday) and feeding with a good quality fertilizer at least once a week, you will not get the best out of your plants.  If you have got split, tuff skins, black spot at the bottom of the tomato or lack of fruit forming, you are not looking after them properly.  If you have any of these problems, please email and I will do my best to help.

My cucumbers as you will see on photo 2 are doing alright. I have three plants in greenhouse one and we have already picked seven cucumbers  - planting them on a small hill as my father said, seems to have worked ok.

Finally my last bit of advice if you

are watering – do so morning or during the day as plants don’t like to go to bed with their feet wet this is particularly the case for tomatoes.

Next week I will update you on my chillies and peppers – until then Happy Gardening!

Your Gardener of the West

This weekend I planted my very well established leek plants.  I would normally have got these in during June but this year I seem to be late with a lot of my planting.  Leeks are a wonderfully easy vegetable to grow and don’t suffer with caterpillars or slug problems which some other vegetables do.

I plant mine in square blocks as shown in the photo using a dibber which makes a good 3” – 4” hole, about 6” – 8” apart.  Drop the leeks into the hole then fill with water.  This will allow the soil to lightly fill around the leek enabling it to grow easily.  Obviously the part of the leek below the ground forms the nice white part.

We also hung our garlic up at the weekend.  This has been drying in the greenhouse.  As you know it is the first year I have grown a large amount of garlic and I tied them in bunches of eight to ten bulbs.  We used an old chain to hang them in the wood store.  This area is covered by open at both ends allowing a good flow of air which will hopefully keep the bulbs in good condition for the next six months or so.  Believe it or not there are in excess of eighty bulbs on the chain.  You can store your onions in the same way.

Finally an update on my tomatoes – I have a good supply of fruit just turning in colour.  We hope to do our first picking in the next week or so.

Happy Gardening

From the Gardener in the West

We’ve had some rain and a lot warmth over the last two weeks and it has really brought on my vegetables in the garden.

You will see from the photo, the beans are well in flower and I would hope that in the next few weeks we will be having our first few meals.  If you have too many don’t forget green bean chutney – its my favourite and great with stuffed courgette flowers!   If you would like the recipe let me know and I will put it in next time.

The second photo shows one of my cabbages.  You will see it suffered initially with caterpillar problems but a daily soak with old washing up water did the trick.

Finally the third photo shows my newly planted sweetcorn – rather late to be planted I’m afraid – and thus a little behind.  You should always plant sweetcorn in blocks rather than traditional lines.  This is to enable them to pollinate each other.

Finally I have also planted some more lettuce to keep the regular supply going, not forgetting to sow some more seeds in the greenhouse to come on in readiness to plant out again in three/four weeks time.

I also couldn’t resist baking one of my prized garlic bulbs in the top of the barbeque.  Squeezing the soft garlic onto toast was great – it is just fantastic and makes all the effort digging, planting and hoeing worthwhile.

Happy Gardening,

The Gardener in The West

Further to last week’s blog and my request for information on the best time to harvest garlic, I am delighted that many of you have confirmed that it should be planted on the shortest day and harvested on the longest day 21^st June.

So a few days late, the whole family enjoyed the exciting task of pulling up those lovely purple and white bulbs.

I planted about 80 bulbs and a good 75% of them are a really good size as shown by my daughters below.

We are now tying them together in bunches and hanging them up to dry.

Next week I will give you an update on my beans and tomatoes but until then ….

Happy Gardening!

The seeds given to me by Gardening Direct have done very well.  I have filled a complete reused bed of the four varieties given to me to test and in my opinion they are great.  A good percentage germinated and all have produced strong plants as shown.

Peas and beans are also doing well as shown in the photos.  I have never had much luck with peas but this year I think I have got it cracked.  You will see all the rows have come up well and I have put some chicken wire over them to give them something to climb.

You will also see that I have also sown some peas in pots.  This is to fill in any areas that mice may have got to!

Finally, I have taken a shot of my tomatoes.  The plugs provided by Gardening Direct have come on very well and now the fruit is just beginning to form.  I would recommend that you feed them with a tomato fertiliser at least once a week but don’t overfeed as this can cause problems.

My garlic seems to be ready but I am not sure if it is too soon to pull them.  The tops have gone brown and as with onions I would now think that it’s time to dry them.  However, I am not 100% sure as it is the first time I have grown them.  Any advice gratefully received!

After a few weeks away your Gardener in the West is back and I have been very busy in the garden.

I have now been receiving regular deliveries of my plug plants, via the Post Man, from Gardening Direct.  I must say I find them a very convenient and easy way to ‘grow your own’.

The first to arrive were the cabbages and purple sprouting.  I planted them out into slightly larger pots to help them get started and very much like us after a long journey, I felt they could do with a treat.  I was also aware that they needed to acclimatise before planting out.  First of all I kept them under glass for two days.  I then put them outside during the day, bringing them in at night for three days.  I kept them fully outside for a further three days and then felt they were ready to be planted out.  Two weeks have now passed since they arrived and I am sure you will agree they are doing well. 

You will notice from the photograph I have covered the sprouts, purple sprouting, etc. all in plastic netting as last year I lost a lot of crops to the caterpillars.  I like to be as ‘non chemical’ as possible so the net was a good alternative.  I will report later as to how I am getting on.

My tomatoes have also been doing well and have been treated very much the same as the plug plants.  I got them into the greenhouse about eight days ago and I am very pleased with them this year.  I have dug in a lot of home made compost and I think it is already having a positive effect.

The biggest mistake I feel that people make with tomatoes is they don’t pull the shoots out at regular intervals.  A shoot is fresh growth between the stem and leaf and if you don’t pull them out all of the plants energies will go into growing greenery and not producing fruit.  (TIP – if you have run out of tomato plants and want just a couple more, plant the shoots in a small pot and ‘hey presto’ another plant appears!  My father always said they would produce a stronger plant but I have no evidence to prove this.)

In my next blog I will share some more tips on getting those toms to produce fruit quickly. 

My cucumber plants have also gone in and seem to be doing OK although I must admit I have not got great experience of these.  Again my father always put them on a small mound as apparently they don’t like their ‘feet’ (roots) being constantly wet.  I am not sure if this is true or not but I have followed this idea this year.  Perhaps if anybody reading this blog has any thoughts on this, they could let me know.

Finally you will see I have got my courgette plants in and my lettuces grown from Gardening Direct seeds are also doing well.  

I will give you a full report in my next blog. 

Looking forward to next time.

Your Gardener in the West.