Sunday, March 27, 2011
Mini greenhouse!
The mini greenhouse has arrived! An eBay bargain, it's a 4 tier Gardman - very sturdy, but easy to put together, took only a quarter of an hour by myself. It's now in place at the back of the house, getting all the afternoon and evening sunshine. Very soon (poss next weekend) I will have to get on and do some sowing...no excuse not to, now!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
First post of the season!
This blog rather ground to a halt last year, so I am going to try to be better at keeping it up to date this year. My back problems caused me to have to give up on a lot of things last season, and although it is rather better this year, I now know that I have severe limitations when it comes to gardening, and must be sensible about what is achievable.
Th autumn clearing up never got done, as it snowed at the end of November, and that was that really for a couple of months! I am attempting to enthuse Matthew about bramble clearance, as it really does need to be dealt with, along with clearing the large pots, drilling drainage holes in a couple of them, weeding the patio, and a few other jobs I can't do myself because they involve bending and/or lifting.
The mole is back - again, as last year, when the snow melted, the molehills became apparent. Am trying to prevent Matthew from calling in the mole catcher, as I really don't want it killed.
I am awaiting the arrival of my Gardman mini greenhouse - I went for a 4 tier one in the end, had toyed with a 5 tier one but decided that this might be more likely to blow over, and also replacement plastic zip-up covers (and indeed fleece covers) are easily available for the 4 tier size but not for other sizes. The idea is that the growhouse will go against the back wall of the house, and benefit from the fact that the wall soaks up the sun from about lunchtime, and radiates for quite a while after sunset. Last year I found that I had insufficient windowsill space in this house for seedlings, and would definitely need some greenhouse space if I was to grow anything much!
As soon as the growhouse arrives and is assembled, I will get on with some early sowing - sweet peas and some salad veg - by the end of March, with more sowings planned for April and May. I am hoping the sweet peas will actually grow this year! They were very disappointing last year, mostly I think due to low light indoors in the early stages.
The raised beds need weeding too, and then some time in the next few weeks I will get the broad beans in. The asparagus bed is pretty much clear of weeds, and the first fingertip-sized spear of asparagus came up at the weekend, which is very exiting. Next year we cut our first crop!
Th autumn clearing up never got done, as it snowed at the end of November, and that was that really for a couple of months! I am attempting to enthuse Matthew about bramble clearance, as it really does need to be dealt with, along with clearing the large pots, drilling drainage holes in a couple of them, weeding the patio, and a few other jobs I can't do myself because they involve bending and/or lifting.
The mole is back - again, as last year, when the snow melted, the molehills became apparent. Am trying to prevent Matthew from calling in the mole catcher, as I really don't want it killed.
I am awaiting the arrival of my Gardman mini greenhouse - I went for a 4 tier one in the end, had toyed with a 5 tier one but decided that this might be more likely to blow over, and also replacement plastic zip-up covers (and indeed fleece covers) are easily available for the 4 tier size but not for other sizes. The idea is that the growhouse will go against the back wall of the house, and benefit from the fact that the wall soaks up the sun from about lunchtime, and radiates for quite a while after sunset. Last year I found that I had insufficient windowsill space in this house for seedlings, and would definitely need some greenhouse space if I was to grow anything much!
As soon as the growhouse arrives and is assembled, I will get on with some early sowing - sweet peas and some salad veg - by the end of March, with more sowings planned for April and May. I am hoping the sweet peas will actually grow this year! They were very disappointing last year, mostly I think due to low light indoors in the early stages.
The raised beds need weeding too, and then some time in the next few weeks I will get the broad beans in. The asparagus bed is pretty much clear of weeds, and the first fingertip-sized spear of asparagus came up at the weekend, which is very exiting. Next year we cut our first crop!
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