Leaf And Flower Week

One of my Grapevine chums started a thread around the old adage of "oak before ash in for a splash. Ash before oak in for a soak!"
Now we are having some pretty wet and cold weather for April and all I can see at home are the oaks, no ash trees up here. So I have no idea if we are in for a soak other than we have yet to see much sun. The tomatoes have been back and forth from the greenhouse to dining table more times than I care to admit owing to very low night time temperatures. The gamble on us having a warm start to Spring, as we had last year, has not paid off. All seedlings are currently in a state of limbo whilst I wrestle with my itch to sow. This brings me nicely to my next post of what to sow in April during my lunar period of leaf and flower week, which starts today. I must set out that raised bed of salad and herbs at home, but need to sort compost and top soil, so this is a job for later on. But what else at this time of year? I have sown pretty much everything I need to for now, coupled with a lack of room in the greenhouse, except kale and maybe some PSB. I intended sowing those, along with Winter cabbage in May, as by then some seedlings should have left home. All other seeds that need sowing in April are my roots and fruits...but lo and behold the postman came to my rescue. For it was he, who brought a large brown A4 envelope from Garden Organic, which contained my exotic seeds. Back in February I signed up to a new project led by GO called "Sowing New Seeds". This is designed to get non traditional crops growing across the Midlands. I have Shark Fin Melon, Chick Pea, Calaloo and Fenugreek. The latter two fall into my week of leaf, so guess what I will be sowing now!

Progress Report

As we creep ever closer towards the main cut and thrust of the growing season, here are a few snaps to whet your appetite as to what is happening "down on the plot."

Celery in the greenhouse

Tomatoes in the greenhouse

Sweetcorn in the greenhouse

Cucumbers in the greenhouse

Potatoes In Bags

Peppers in the greenhouse

Strawberries/Raspberries/Currants on the allotment

Rhubarb on the allotment

Potatoes on the allotment

Broad Beans on the allotment

Onions on the allotment

Brassicas on the allotment

Leek seedlings on the allotment

Beetroot on the allotment

Munty frame ready for action and trenches are dug!
Now let's see yours :)

Light and Shade

Pics from the weekend!

Hard Graft Pays Off

Swotting up on grafting techniques at Ryton's RHS taster day has paid off. My grafted apple tree is budding up - it rooted, yeay!

A Job That Could Not Wait!

Celery pricking out/potting up. One module tray space has expanded to ten trays, fifteen plants to a tray of Giant Red, Full White and Solid Pink. Anyone have a spare allotment? :)
The greenhouse is now officially bursting. Need that polytunnel!!!

Tar Heel Beans - To Be-an Or Not To Be-an

As the sky has turned slate grey, yet again it's time for some indoor experimental sowing. My chum Zazen999 has asked me to try and get these little beauties germinating, so I have taken half and put them in the freezer, half dipped in miccorhizal fungi, all dampened for pre chitting in plastic freezer bags. Fingers crossed I don't let her down and manage to crack at least one plant each :)

UPDATE cold stratified beans are bursting after four days and are putting out their feelers

April Showers...

What a difference a week makes. Last week I was working in the garden, t shirt and bare arms, yesterday at the plot, hailstones the size of marbles pelted my sodden back!
I had taken up my hardened off plants of peas, broad beans, lettuce, leeks, beetroot...I started planting out beetroot clumps, leek clumps and was just about to move onto the pea/bean bed, when without warning the great one upstairs began throwing ice at my head. I persevered, thinking it will pass, but no, it just came harder. So a quick sprint in the wet around a sodden plot, ensued, gathering up tools and battered lettuce, peas and beans before the mercy dash to the car. Last year at this time I was planting up toms, peppers and cukes in the greenhouse. I fear that will not be the case this year.
Just off to the plot now to unwrap my tarp covered potato foliage and to check out what I planted yesterday.
As I write this the sun is shining down...

Will Victoria Reign Plums This Year?

Wow, last year this tree was in a pot and although it is on a not too good piece of ground, it is fighting like a trooper. All main branches are dripping in blossom. Fingers crossed this means a fruitful summer for the VVGs.

VICTORIA PLUM

Sweetcorn Is Here

Well the seedlings are poking through and in an unheated greenhouse that ain't bad! Twenty five sown and over half are showing their noses. Must snuggle them up tonight though as frost is signalled, yet again :(

Kale, Kale, Kale

Filling that hungry gap you can easily get sick of a vegetable. Kale becomes one of those, when at this time of year there is little else. I rather like my Nero Di Toscana from Real Seeds, but as an alternative picture for you, how about the brassica my local farmer is growing all around us...
His

Mine

Solanaceae - Potato, Tomato

I think I have gotten to the root of my addiction! It's related to the Solanum family. Having just blogged about my potato problems, I now turn to the growing problem I have with tomatoes.
Twenty eight varieties times three of each sown. Of course I intend only keeping one or two of each, the rest I will donate to the plant fair at my local RSPCA fundraiser. But if I kept two of each, that is still fifty six plants maximum. Multiply that by the number of tomatoes each plant yields and that's a hell of a lot of passata making. Mr VVG has agreed that we can purchase a polytunnel - thank God is all I can say. Twelve tomato plants in the timber greenhouse last year was a squeeze, when coupled with cucumbers and peppers. Not to mention the pop up plastic tomato houses we had last year, lining the boundary fence. I really do have a thing for Solanaceae, to give the family its correct name, don't I?

Varieties sown for 2012

Salt Spring Surprise
Tiger Tom
Black Krim
Pink Cherry
Black Trifele
Cyril's Choice
Best of All
Green Sausage
Christel's Plum
Gold Medal
Essex Wonder
Black Brandywine
Andine Cornue
Cuor Di Bue
Gelbe Konigin
Blue OSU
Waspinicon Peach
Kenilworth King George
French Black
Ararat Flamed
Costoluto Fiorentino
Irish Gardeners Delight
Blaby Special
Turkish Kara
Black Russian
Orange Favourite
Grushovka
Purple Ukraine

To think I was going to go to the Heirloom Tomatoes, Yorkshire open weekend over this Easter holiday too. Thank goodness I didn't!

I Blame Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake and The Spanish

...well somebody has to be held accountable for my predilection for potatoes!
Having already planted first and second earlies into a bed that's roughly nine foot by twelve foot, on Saturday (renamed Taturday) I planted twenty five Bluebelle seed potatoes into the recently split root bed. That measures roughly nine by seven foot. Over one hundred seed potatoes have already been planted. I have counted another ninety at home awaiting shoe horning. Poor Mr VVG has gone off to the allotment to dig over a skimmed off area of about four foot by twenty foot, which will become my spud overspill area for 2012. It was destined to be a paved area for seating and impromptu picnicking, but hey who needs to sit when there are jobs to be done?!?
When Potato Day takes place at Ryton's Garden Organic in 2013 will somebody please HOLD ME DOWN?

Varieties planted thus far:-
Lady Christl
Amorosa
Swift
Red Duke of York
Arran Pilot
Pentland Javelin
Ulster Prince
Shetland Black
Sharpes Express
Yukon Gold
Bluebelle

Good Friday Good For Potatoes?

Happy Easter everyone!
Well in accordance with tradition we have planted our maincrop potato tubers around the Good Friday weekend. One complete bed of 25 Bluebelle seed potatoes. That's all potato beds full at the allotment. First earlies, second earlies, mains; all are in the soil. I have used organic potato feed on the small bed only. We manured the large bed containing the new potatoes, some weeks prior to planting.
Just the potatoes in bags to get done now.