Calling Galanthophiles

No words required...February cheer!

Potting On and Pottering Out

It's a fruit day and the weather was good, so I ventured out into the greenhouse, pepper seedlings in hand. They were module sown back in January and had now got to true leaf stage. So out they came into three inch pots.
Next came my main tomato sowings. Peas in gutters too, plus broad beans.
I am sowing the two latter in successional batches, so that I end up with regular cropping and harvesting.
It was also time to clean up all those dirty pots, trays and trugs that have lain around all Winter. Still only part way through on those.
I threw open the doors on the greenhouse and poly today, as it reached a balmy 8°C.
The last job of the day was to cut back in the garden. Two out of six borders are cleared of decaying leaves and have pruned roses. I feel we are ebbing ever closer towards Spring.

A Day In Which I Find Black Gold!

Wow! We have had two compost bins out of three cooking away with a combination of kitchen scraps/peelings, newspaper, coffee grinds, brown cardboard, newspaper, hen's bedding, last year's grass clippings and chicken poo. We turn the compost regularly with a pitchfork to maintain heat and even cooking. Keeping your mixture fairly even of greens to brown seems to aid effective composting. Keeping it not too wet, but not too dry either is key.
Today, we riddled out this...

There's half a bin full and that should more than cover my home veg patch, once it's finished

Fruits, Roots and Leaves

The New Year arrived with a bang and so did my sowing. Back to the biodynamic schedule means I am sowing something every couple of days. So far in 2013 I have the following

FRUITS
- Early Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Broad Beans

ROOTS
- Carrots
- Radish
- Onions
- Leeks
- Celeriac
- Spring Onions
- Shallots (for sets)

LEAVES
- Lettuce
- Mustard and Cress
- Celery

New Year, New Plans

Hurrah for sunshine! At last the sky had blue patches and the sun's rays reached to earth, despite a biting wind. We have spent a good six hours outside today as we set to on the field hedge. We have hacked back to the wire fence and in places, beyond, so that we may hedge lay and chicken wire along that portion of the garden. It has given us two foot by 40 foot of ground back. The hedge width itself is about four foot so time to reclaim a little more methinks. I am hoping that Mr VVG sets about laying a bit each weekend and then posts and wires straight in. It will mean the girls have security along the open edge.
Today was also time to notice the bulbs starting to spring through at the base of the big old lime trees. Crocus I assume or maybe the scillas. As the girls dust bathed in the sun, my next task was to set to on the polytunnel. The celeriac needed some outer leaf pulling. It received a comfrey feed as indeed did the alliums. Their patch needed hoeing to remove green algae growth, a byproduct of a winter polytunnel. Rockdust has been added to the beds in there, so I'm hoping it will condition a poor soil, although I have added more mulch compost for enrichment. Mr VVG has taken the remaining garden leaves, dutifully raked into piles by me and put them into our wire cage. This should rot down nicely now over the course of the year. The composters are filling too as the girls add newspaper and chicken poop every day. Must find more greens to add!
I intended cleaning the greenhouse out today, although as you can see, it was not my first job. This I completed so pots are scrubbed and ready, benches are cleared and awaiting seed trays. As 2013 starts I am hopeful of a decent GYO year. Tomorrow is a fruit day, which sees me start off my tomatoes, peppers, broad beans and peas.

Let's Get Growing - 2013

Happy New Year's Eve to you all on what will be my final post of 2012!
I have today started my biodynamic schedule for sowing and growing in 2013...it's a leaf day today, changing tomorrow to a fruit day part way through. I always leave sowing to a full sign day, therefore my beans, peas, early bush tomatoes (experiment on the Grapevine) and peppers will not get sown until the 2nd, leaving me New Year's Day to get some vital greenhouse tidying completed. I am going to need those cleared benches real soon.
Today I sowed a tray each of Precoce de Louviers Cabbage, Greyhound Cabbage and mixed lettuce leaves. They are currently occupying my sunniest windowsill, but as soon as they are through, I will pop them into a double walled propagator in the greenhouse.
Let us hope that 2013 is a better GYO season than 2012...personally I can't wait to see the back of it!

Days 3 and 4 - Chook Book

What dreadful weather in which to introduce new chooks. They have managed some "out time" inbetween squally showers. New feathered friends can be introduced to free ranging after three days and so here are the newbies on days 3 and 4.