Over the past two years I have been growing the plant Comfrey. It is now established enough to chop part of the plant down, put in a barrel and allow it to rot down into a vile smelling but perfect plant food. It was ready to use after the first two weeks of letting it stand.
Well, after being on a waiting list for a second allotment, a plot has become available. What a state it is in –
It looks quite a challenge but it will be great once cleared as I will be able to grow crops that take up a lot of space such as peas, pumpkins and beans.
Its early July and the herbs are in full swing. From ‘Beyond the Garden Gate’ 20th March to this-
Started out very small but have developed and filled the window box completely. Even the Lavender in the terracotta pots has gone a bit mad this year. The amount and variety of bees is incredible with them flying in and out of the garden all day long, a joy to see.
Just over one Month now since I planted “these three kings” on 19th April 2015 and two of them have really progressed. Two of the three hot chillies I bought are finally ready to be potted on. One of them, the Ghost chilli doesn’t look happy at all but I have potted her regardless. Hopefully she will like her new home and grow rapidly from now on.
Again I have used a lot of vermiculite mixed in as advised.
Now they are in their final growing positions, fingers crossed we will get a crop this season.
The Brown Trout was actually the very first fish I ever caught. You would not need many chips to go with what I caught today but the four small brownies put up a great little scrap, a quick pose for the camera and then back to their rocky hideouts.
Spent a cracking afternoon on the river Derwent today fishing for its famous Brown Trout.
I also wanted to try out the Edgar Sealey ‘Mayfly’ rod that I had in my collection. Very easy to use and cast, even with a set in it like a dogs hind leg.
Although I got a couple of vicious takes, I didn’t land either one, both times the fish falling off the hook. Not to worry, that’s fishing I guess.
Recently, I was kindly given a jar of pickled Samphire. Marsh samphire, or ‘Salicornia europaea’. Marsh samphire is related to the beet family and is often known as ‘glasswort’ from its former use in the manufacture of soda glass. Samphire is to be found near the sea but thrives in estuaries, where it colonises wetland areas and is rich in minerals and trace elements.
With a large salad, a piece of smoked mackerel, a hunk of bread and a cup of tea to wash it down, the samphire, which I have never tasted before was quite a treat.
Finally, the sets of Sturon that I planted in cell trays in the greenhouse on March 27th this year are ready to be planted out into their final growing position.
These, as well as the Red Barron have done really well again this year in the greenhouse, unlike the seeds of Giant onions which are still looking very worse for ware.
Each onion was set 8.5 inches and one boards width apart, this provides lots of space for all to reach their full potential. With each onion I put a sprinkling of onion fertiliser and watered them in well. Although it started to rain just as I was finishing the last row. We are actually forecast to get very, very cold with even the possibility of frosts and potential snow!
I had a couple of sets left over. I will plant these out with the Red Barron which I will put in later this week.
One of the first plants to show any leaf growth this year was the gooseberry. Now they are starting to show their first flowers, which will of course form the fruits.
The bees were loving the pollen on this very sunny day, and of course while they are feverishly at work, they are pollenating my plants at the same time. Hopefully I will get a bountiful crop of goose goggs this year all being well. Il keep an eye out for the greenfly this season.
It’s been some time since I wrote an update on the giant onions; they are not doing very well at all.
I have had all the windows open in the greenhouse so they have had ample air flow. I have also tried them in the propagator inside the greenhouse incase they were getting too much sun. I have left them to dry out and I have also sat them in a thin layer of water. Everything I try is leaving the seedlings white at the tips and then simply keeling over and dying.
After doing at little research on this it looks like no matter what I have tried they have damping off disease. From what I have read, it is possible to combat this with placing ground cinnamon around the seedling as this kills the disease. I am not convinced but have given it a try.
Any fool can make money, show me the man who can make time – Chris Yates.
Its not often you can plant a Christmas present, but last year I was kindly given a vegetable planting kit.
Today I have sown French beans, aubergines and carrots. They will stay in these pots until they germinate when I will take them and transplant into the allotment. Not sure how carrots will transplant but il give it a go.
At last I have planted my first potatoes this year. I don’t know why I have left it so late this year as we have been blessed with dry warm weather for a couple of weeks now.
It has taken two attempts to riddle the soil to get rid of yet more large stones and glass, nails and god knows what else. Eventually I was reasonably happy with the soil structure and have planted the first early’s ‘Arran Pilot’.
Each row has had a good sprinkle of fish, blood and bone meal as well as organic potato fertiliser. The number of seed potatoes worked out perfectly, nine in each row, twelve inches apart.
It’s been just over one month since I last posted about my rhubarb in ‘Rooting Rhubarb’ on the 10th of march 2015. We have had very little rain, so I have been giving them a lot of water whenever I have been at the allotment.
I am very pleased that I decided to move them again. As you can see in only one month they have practically filled their raised bed.
I will continue to water and feed regularly and I shall start taking spears at the end of May. Possibly, some may end up in my jam this year.
For the past two years now I have grown very successfully Cayenne chilli’s from seed. Over these years I have also purchased plug plants of the very, very hot variety from a plant specialist and have been let down both years by the supplier not delivering what I ordered, and offering substitutes in their place.
I have grown these substitutes on, but they never have come to anything much and have never got a crop from any of them.
This year however, it is different. I have just taken delivery from ‘World of Chillies’ in East Sussex, three Guinness Book of World Record plug plants. ‘Carolina Reaper’, ‘Butch T scorpion’ and Bhut Jolkia (Ghost Chilli). These three plants are the official ‘Kings’ of heat. The plants that have been delivered are far larger than anything I have received from any other supplier previously. Further more, they all have great root systems. On top of this, the company has even emailed me detailing excellent instructions on how to grow them properly, right down to getting the potting mix at the very first stage correct.
Hopefully this season I will get fruit from them.
The greenhouse seems quite bare at the moment. I’m not sure if I am behind with my planting this year.
Sowing more seeds today for the garden and the allotment.
Morning Glory, Californian Poppy, Busy Lizzie, Petunia, broccoli (Calabrese), Agastache, and a Foxglove that will flower in the first year ‘Foxy’.
For some reason it has been really difficult to buy cayenne chilli pepper seeds this year. I eventually had to purchase from the net.
Planting these few seeds this year should provide chilli’s for the coming year.
At long last the Echinacea which I struggled to originally get to germinate can go back out into their plot in the allotment. Each autumn after flowering, I have been digging these up, planting in terracotta pots and keeping in the greenhouse in order to try and look after them through the winter frosts. these should be able to survive our winters but mine keep dying. Each of the six plants all had really good root systems on them.
Back in a very sunny position, I bedded them back in with a good drink to help them get going for this year. I look forward to some fabulous flowers later in the season.
Today we visited Beamish It just gets better and better each year.
With many steam rollers, traction engines and even a road sweeper plus many vintage cars and bicycles. Not to mention the great smell of a steam engine.
The Bank Holiday was spent in Last of The Summer Wine country, with its absolutely stunning scenery, taking long, long walks. The only thing missing was the good lady and I racing down hill in a bath on wheels.
I am growing both Sturon and Red Barron again this year as my main crop of onions, both from sets.
The first year I planted onion sets they did quite well. Last year I took to starting them off in a compost mix in cell trays with added organic onion fertiliser and fish, blood and bone feed. When I came to plant them out, they went out with really good root systems and I got some really good onions last year with this method. Carrying out the same this year, I hope for a good crop again in 2015.
Some of the sets I have bought are huge so I hope I will be able to get some big onions from them.
This year I am going to plant three varieties that I have planted before. Arran Pilot which is a first early, very earthy taste and actually my favourite spud. Then Catriona, another favourite and finally as my main crop later in the year I will plant ‘Nadine’.
The Giant Shirley onions seemed to have stopped growing in their cell trays. I have kept them frost free under the cloch and under a fleece.
Time to move I thought so have potted them on in part fish, blood and bone mix with fresh compost and put them back in the closh in the greenhouse.
Well, it’s here again, Spring! Although, it was trying to sleet today. Each year I empty the greenhouse totally, clean the floors and clean the whole greenhouse with Jeyes fluid. It smells worse than tcp and has an afterlife of around a week, no matter how you try and get rid of the smell, its impossible. But, it does disinfect the greenhouse for this years growing season as well as giving super clear glass.
Although I have seen the odd bud here and there it is only now that I notice many plants buds starting to open into leaf.
Once again the gooseberry’s were first this year. Now the Raspberries and some of the honeysuckle plants are starting to leaf up. Also, the blackbird is back in its tree again this year its song getting louder and louder. Do blackbirds hibernate? I don’t think so but they are very quiet over the colder months, its great to see them back around and also to hear them again.
Writer, fisherman, amateur naturalist and sometime Idler...
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
look ye also 
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