Category: Garden

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70th BIRTHDAY

Lovely to have children and grandchildren together at the ROTH in Bruton. A lovely setting with nice garden, superb shop and lovely restaurant, although to be honest I was not that impressed with the food. The company however was excellent. Erin and Adam are developing into witty nice adults, I mean nice in rthe nicest way – they interact fantastically with Corinne and Ottilie. These two are just a bundle of fun with smiles never far from their faces. So well behaved despite a long wait for lunch and also in the car on the hour long journey. Felix step son of sorts was also cahtty although I knew nothing about his immense knowledge of gaming and computers and cartoons/films.

The parents, my offspring were lovely as were their partners. It was lovely to see them all interacting so well together. No bitching or point scoring – just genuine friendship. Where to go next year? Or later this summer?

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GARDEN 20MAY 2023

First day of real warmth at 9am. Tomatoes in greenhouse begining to flower, chillies looking good and red peppers are coming on. Basils are doing ok. Most mints have survived and some of the thyme I thought was dead is showing signs of life. Apricot and lemon and lime trees are all looking good. Wisteria and honeysuckle are again amazing – scent should be bottled! Last year on this date I picked elderflowers to make a cordial – it will be. few days yet this year.

Making ciabatta and some chocolate ginger cookies later.

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PLANTING

I just put in 3 “Flame Lilies” – I hope they will end up in the porch. Tomato plants look to be doing ok – 6 transplanted so far – at least 4 more before I start giving them away. Seeds for latest tomatoes are looking good. Rosemary also planted out, marigolds tomorrow in the long trays. Sage still looks sad, thyme – some are doing ok though so fingers crossed. Basil amnd greek basil moved to kitchen.

Jam strawberries bought and I am just deciding how much lemon to put in! And may be some lemon balm?

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TOMATOES

6 potted up and 2 to go when they.get bigger. I might put another 4 in? Chillies looking good. Just planted out 2 rosemary in front of the ailing sage! I might get some more rosemary for along the road – smells good and looks good. I am waiting to see if lemon verbena survived. Left hand bed is – wait and see what comes up! Last year evening primrose and chickory were nice – I will keep the comfrey under control, and the garden mint night have seen off the oregano. I have marigolds to put out – in trays I think, and greek basil and ordinary to bring up to the kitchen window for the summer. Maybe a tray of dill in the greenhouse too?

I think I will plant some parsley and some nasturtium seeds and see what happens.

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LAWNS

Some facts -20% British Wildflowers are under threat. There are an estimated 23 million lawns in the UK. Bird’s-foot trefoil is a rich sources of food for 140 insect species. Cutting lawns prodces an estimated 80000 tonnes of CO2 – the equivalence of 10000 households.

So leave the lawn mowers in the garage and enjiy the buttercups, daisies, dandelions, yellow rattle and many others. I had evening primrose and chicory arrive last year. I am planting more herbs with blue and pink rosemary joining te 25 mint, 6 lavender, and 4 sage species.

No Mow May

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WEATHER 18 APRIL

A chill wind from the north east before veering to the west on Friday night. But nights are set to be chilly througout the next week so I will leave the heater in the greenhouse on! tomato seeds are growing – I will have to think about potting them up in the next couple of weeks – whilst the chilli plants will need doing this week. Amaranthus seeds are doing well! I will harden them off in a couple of weeks and then put some by the pavement?

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APRIL – Weather

8th April and bright and sunny but still cold in the mornings. Hanging baskets going up tomorrow – plants have been potted and hardened on patio table so should be ok. I am leaving the heater on in the greenhouse until hight temperatures are above 10C – seeds have germinated (well some!) so I hope to be able to plant them up into their pots in 5 or 6 weeks. Chillies looking good, but not sure about the basil plants I bought – they are on kitchen window sill so getting sunlight and water. Green wheelie bin filled again – one more time should put me on top of things for a while! Although I will need to cut back various plants around the greenhouse and raspberries.

Weather forecast is to get wet and windy again for a bit and then maybe high pressure again with warm days.

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MINTS

Some new mints bought, cunaniti, lime, orange, white pepper. I will look later to which ones have survived the winter.

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SPRING SEEDS

Pots primed for seeds, but I decided to make sure I had done the labels first – Itried last year, but still ended up with random plants! So planting seeds tomorrow – daylight is now 50-50 so hopefully we will see all systems go. Tomato seeds are Garden Pearl (cherry), Marmande, San Marzano (plum), Golden Sunrise, Red Cherry, Tigrella. All in today. I will keep 2 of each in the greenhouse and maybe sell some at the shop? But probably give them away (if they all sprout!). 30 small pots with 2/3 seeds each – we will see. Basil on kitchen window sill? Chillies in conservatory.

Filling the tomato pots with water ready for transplant later. Plant rest of seeds tomorrow – temperatures should remain above 5C at night from now on – heater if necessary.

Garden needs tidying over next week – green wheelie to fill. And cut back around raspberries and greenhouse.

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GARDEN AND COOKING

Long range forecast is looking a bit chilly so no rush to plant tomatoes, last year was 3 March but I think wait and see what the weather is like then. Just toms, cucumbers and chillies and maybe red peppers this year? I might move my avocado plants to the greenhouse once it gets warmer and see if we can get just one!

Cooking – I think a Cornish Saffron Cake and a Simnel Cake for Easter?

Before that is pancake day! Can I get beyond brown sugar and lemon juice – probably not, yet again I will not even try!