19th February

There has not been much to report until recently. The bulbs I potted up for indoor displays are coming along well. We have a grand total of 3 crocuses. They are a lovely purple with a yellow stamen. There are more shoots coming through, including the tulips, although they are lagging behind. The outside bulbs are also progressing well. The ones in the containers planted last autumn are looking very promising, with many crocuses shooting up, a good proportion of which can be seen to be in bud ready to flower. In fact, two in the pot of our eldest have flowered already – much to his delight. There are quite a few tulip shoots beginning to emerge now as well.

 In the borders, the daffodils are looking splendid in the budding stage and their yellow tinges can be seen from the kitchen window. More tulip shoots are emerging, some growing faster than others, and there are more bluebells and crocuses on their way. There are a few spots where there seem to be no shoots coming through yet I know I planted bulbs there. I am hoping that these are just late developers.

 I popped into the allotment last week – I was going to do some forking over and raking of the soil, but time was slipping me by. At lunchtime I had visited my Mum who told me Dad was there so I went down to see him. He was forking over my plot – well, the first section anyway. What a nice surprise. I told him that I had planted a row of garlic in the fourth section, and that the third and fourth sections were for onions and leeks and as onions like a settled ground, there was no need to fork up those sections, I would give them a weed and a rake myself later. Yesterday I visited the site and saw that Dad had progressed and forked over the second and third (!) sections. Ah well, I thought, I can move up the proposed site of the onions, but I made sure I stuck in two sturdy sticks at each end of where I knew the line of garlic was. I proceeded to work on my short project for the day – clearing out the upturned, bottomless plastic bottles I had used to channel water down to the roots of the courgette plants last summer. I would have loved to recycle them but they were filthy and mouldy. I didn’t want them rattling around the car so I threaded them over a long bamboo cane and left them until I could bag them up and dispose of them.

 I returned to the allotment today with a bag to collect the plastic bottles to find a hive of activity. Alfie, who has a plot just opposite the track and one along from me says this is because we only have today and tomorrow before the weather breaks and we have cloud and rain. For the last 2 weeks, we have had a standard frost in the mornings (window clearing has been a regular job on the car) but the temperature through the day has gone rather high for the time of year (we had the hottest 12^th February on record last week!), and so we have enjoyed warmth and sunshine – a real bonus right now. What this also means is that the soil is in a good condition to dig and fork, which is the main aim of all this activity I saw around me. I would like to employ a no-dig approach to vegetable growing but the soil is riddled with weeds especially bindweed, is heavy clay, and as far as building raised beds to be filled with loamy soil and compost (necessary on this soil for a no dig garden) I haven’t the time or money to build them and fill them before sowing time. Anyway, I again saw my Dad, and he was digging the fourth section – the one not just set aside for onions, but already containing 20 garlic bulbs.

At 36 I can’t get upset with Dad for this minor lapse. He is 70 and has been digging my plot after finishing his with all the gusto of a young-un. I have, after all, been acclimatised in my youth when he would video various TV shows with the last 10 minutes missing. We quietly chatted about the 20 bulbs of garlic (of which he had unearthed 4, one of which was sliced up, giving the air a certain fragrance) before I replanted them. I will just have to wait and see how many have survived. If I plant another 20 I may have 40 minus the chopped up one. Maybe I could go on from this to develop a garlic bulb that is grown peeled and chopped! The comforting thing is that I have far more important vegetables to grow – it would be worse if I lost most of my beloved courgettes, brassicas or squashes.

In this ‘no news to report for a fortnight then it all comes along at once’ entry, I can report that I have now bought or ordered nearly all of my seeds for this year.

 

The list is as follows:

Pumpkin (F1 Becky), wild rocket, leek (Lyon-Prizetaker), Brussels sprouts (F1 Brigitte, Bedford-Fillbasket), carrot (Chantenay red cored 2, Autumn King 2), cauliflower (all the year round), cucumber (F1 Burpless tasty green), courgette (F1 Orelia [yellow] F1 Endurance [green] ), broccoli (F1 Claret, Rudolph), squash (F1 Crown Prince), onion sets (400g Setton), oregano, sage, sweet marjoram, fennel and tarragon (I already have seeds for other herbs).

 For flowers I have bought 3 varieties of sweet pea – Red Arrow (deep red), Charlie’s Angel (blue/purple) and Sweet Chariot (blend of red, white and blue to commemorate England’s Rugby World Cup win of 2003). I have also bought a packet of sunflower seed – always a hit with my eldest boy – the variety is called Vincent’s Mixture, and a packet of Nicotiana (F1 perfume mix). I saw the Nicotiana in a seed and plant catalogue and liked the look of it, as well as the fact that it produced different coloured flowers. I was thinking of buying the plug plants but that would leave me too many. At least with seeds I can save some for another year. The only concern is slugs – they tend to get every seedling I put out. Last year I put all my tomatoes and courgettes up on the water butt and before that, in the house on our back room window sill. This year, that room is occupied by our 1 year old. At least he doesn’t have a slug problem.

 There is still more to add. I will buy the sweet peppers as plants from the garden centre as they are difficult to germinate, and I will also buy some plug plants of fuchsias. I may move one or two of the fuchsias from the back garden to the front and plant the new ones in their place – especially if that cutting proves fatal! What else I would like to buy are those turbo tomatoes, and maybe 10 Flemenco long-fruiting strawberries to replace the ones in my patch, and a blueberry bush. I’m definitely going for the tomatoes, but it’s a maybe on the strawberries and a possible maybe on the blueberry bush. Sadly, my dreams and enthusiasm are greater than my available space.

Next post: 21st Feb