20th June

I finally got round to planting out the French tarragon, replacing the Russian one. In fact the Russian one is now in the pot the French one came in. I want to be able to compare the taste of the leaves so I am keeping both going. I have given up trying to grow butternut squash as the second batch of seeds did not germinate. What is interesting is that there are 3 plants growing in the front garden from the home made compost I put in for the fuchsias that bare an uncanny resemblance to a squash of some sort, so may I have butternut squash after all?

 

Down at the allotment, I cannot believe the onion situation. It must be a rabbit that has got in as the tops are neatly nibbled off. How can the bulb take nutrients from the leaves if they are passing through the digestive system of a rabbit? There are 2 gaps in the fencing where someone with a strimmer has caught the netting. The holes are large enough to allow rabbits to get through. The courgettes are establishing, but the crown prince squashes and the pumpkins do not look incredibly green, and 2 of the pumpkins have bit the dust, or been bitten off by slugs. The cucumbers are standing upright but look a little pale. I have found some rocket plants. I sowed them about 7 weeks ago and they are still small, much smaller than nearby weeds. I harvested a supermarket bags’ worth each of the oriental and Italian salad leaves. That is 2 more lots of £1.49 I have saved. I have therefore already got my money back on those seed packets.

I came home and fed the sweet peppers and chillies and the sweet peas, and tried out the nettle feed on the fuchsias and roses. The big news of the week in the garden is that the sweet peas have started to flower. The middle fence panel of the Charlie’s Angels has bloomed with the pale blue petals, and a great scent. I have never grown them before so this is all new to me. I tidied up some of the pots and made a bit more space in the conservatory, but rain stopped play.

 

Tomorrow is the Gardener’s Question Time Summer garden Party at Sparsholt College near Winchester.

Next post: 21st June