More little bits here and there!

I had arranged to meet Derek on site at 10am as he insisted on earthing up my 1st earlies for me, so here we are, forking over the rows in between the little tufts of green, and yes I did help!

There are only 2 rows of 1st's so it didn't take us long.

He then got to work with his Ridger, and "Voila" a hard job made easy peasy lemon squeezy!

I then got stuck in with raking the last of plot 144 - it took me about 2 hours of hard labour to remove as many of the stones as possible - I think it must rain stones on our site, as the more you rake and remove the more turn up the next day!!

Isn't this the cutest picture?  It's Laddie, Derek's dog.  I have promised him that I will get it printed off for him so that he can treasure it forever.

Little bits here and there.....

A view looking down 144 from the mid way fruit trees

 The Plum Tree with pond in the  background

 The Apple Tree blossom

 The raked area just in front of the fruit trees (with stone piles)!

The Spinach and Beetroot sunbathing

The Earlies enjoying a soaking in the hot weather

 A baby Parsnip

Another baby Parsnip

The Radishes are germinating

Potting on the Savoy Cabbages

From here, to there!

The weekend update

 In no particular order....

The Sweetcorn

Cucino (snack size) cucumbers

The "normal" cucumbers after only 7 days

Butternut Squash - 7 days old!

The Garlic "Provance" on plot 121

The Onions on 121 - all weed free

Asparagus Bed

One of many asparagus spears (2nd year)

The Strawberry Bed on 121

The weed free Onions(to the right) and Garlic (to the left) with Maincrop potatoes to the far left - all on Plot 121

Today 2010

April 2009

April 2008

Cable Tie repairs on my bicycle basket

The Hot Chilli Peppers

The Tomatoes have grown really big - wil need potting on again soon

The dwarf french beans have decided to make an appearance

More pond work......

I went to the Garden Centre today in search of some pond and pond perimeter plants - this one is call cyperus alternifolius or umbrella palm The pale green foliage fans out like the spokes of an inverted umbrella.  An attractive, adaptable plante, equally happy in or out of water.

I also bought a gratiola officinalis or summer snowflake dainty white flowers and bright green foilage.  A good plant for carpeting damp borders around the pond and growing over the edge of planting shelves.

I dug out a small area to the back of the pond and lined it with an old compost bag turned inside out.  I then popped the two plants into that and filled it with water.  I think the water will very slowly drain away, but as they are both good border plants, I don't think that will matter as when I next water the plot, I can then top it up!

The last plant I bought (3 for £12) was a caltha palustris or marsh marigold A favourite in every pond, the marsh marigold heralds the spring with a gorgeous display of vibrant yellow flowers.  Dead head flower heads for another flower display again in Summer / early Autumn.  Suitable for a small pond / water feature.

You will notice that the marsh marigold was in the photo that I took yesterday, but the plant that was given to me didn't have any roots on it, so it died overnight.  I liked it and the sunny yellow flowers it displayed, so I was pleased to find the exact same plant today! I added more foraged flint stones around the border and I also found some small logs to make a log pile with (sorry no photo).

And the tadpoles survived the night - can you see how many there are??  Will there be space for them all or will I need to make them another pond??













In other news!

I was given this lovely picture to put in my greenhouse - are my plot neighbours trying to tell me something??

The butternuts have grown overnight!

The Greenhouse is getting FULL and soon there will be "no space at the inn"

The seedlings are coming along well.

A pond at last!!

All loaded up again with garden waste, grass cuttings and the new pond liner aka an extra large washing up bowl.

To my excitement I noticed that the Butternut Squash in the Greenhouse is already showing signs of life

And the spinach outside  (still covered at night due to the frosts) is also looking good!!

Now for the pond!!

I decided this time last year where the pond would go, and I still think it's a great site, so that's were it went in!

This was the washing bowl (extra large) that I bought from Islington - I was walking passed this shop, I spied it sitting there with this "buy me, buy me" vibe coming towards me and I thought to myself - that would make a perfect pond!

So I started to dig. 

And I couldn't decide if I should leave it as it was or if I should line it!!  The green plastic I used was an old mulch bag - but had a small hole in it, so I decided to leave it without.

In went the stones, so that if any poor creature got into trouble it could climb out

And with the help of a kind plot neighbour I had a few plants

And even a few tadpoles too!!

I found a few nice big(ish) stones to add a small haven towards the back, which as you can see backs onto the mini nature reserve, and the toad house is there too!