Organic Gardening - A Beginners Journey

Growing things

2010-05-10T16:00:00.009+01:00

The last couple of days have been cold but sunny. I took advantage of this and did a little pottering in the garden.

Here we have the raised bed with lettuce, spinach and cauliflower. Plus
a couple of sunflowers that Jake planted. I've covered it with fine mesh
primarily to stop the cats/foxes from digging up the seedlings, as they
are prone to do in this area. It also may stop the slugs getting in but I'm
not holding my breathe on that one.

This year I've decided to plant a lot more sweetcorn so I've filled this plot
with these, a mini sweetcorn variety. So far they have not grown as well
as expected. They need a lot more sun than they are getting. The plastic
bottle ends are to try and protect against slug damage. So far so good.
Only and little chomp here and there.

The lavender(bought as a present from M&S) is growing nicely in it's pot
on the patio. This is a different variety from the lavender seeds that I sowed
last year. I'll try and take some photos and put them on the blog. They
are really growing well and smell divine. This lavender plant has a more
subtle smell.

I planted this honeysuckle plant two years ago. Every
spring it would flourish and then succumb to mildew.
This year seems different. It is growing well and sending
out nice long shoots in all directions. Below the honeysuckle
is Jake's wild flower patch that he planted last year. Last
week I sowed some chamomile seeds just under the
honeysuckle which have started to germinate. Unfortunately
the foxes have been about digging here and there so I
hope at least some of them survive.

This beast is growing in the wild flower patch. Is it a wild
flower or is it a weed? It looks pretty either way.

Various things on-the-go. Clockwise from top we have tomato x 2,
runner bean, cauliflower x 3

This bay tree was a present last year. I thought now was
the time to treat it to a little TLC so I re-potted it into
a very large terracotta pot which I found languishing in
the front of the house. The previous owners had left it
there along with a dried up privet bush. After some
new compost and a good soaking, the bay tree is really
springing to life. This bad boy should provide us with
bay leaves for years to come :-).

Another present from a neighbour. Swiss Chard. The smaller ones have
been covered by bell cloches to protect them against slugs.

I'm slowly getting there

2010-05-08T19:40:00.003+01:00

Okay, so I haven't posted anything for a while. Naughty me. Slap on the hand. I have been spending most of my time supporting Amy in the care of our new little one, namely Mia. This has meant that time in the garden has taken a backseat. Mia is now four months old now. How the time has flown! I have done bits and bobs here and there. On the patio at the moment I have tomatoes. Only two of the original five that I planted have survived. I am thinking that maybe the compost has something to do with it. The plants germinated then soon after just wilted and died.

I also have Chillis, three this year, runner beans, sunflowers, coriander times 2 and lots of cauliflower seedlings given to me by my kind neighbour Paula.

In the plot I have mini sweetcorn, which I have to say, is looking a little yellow. I'm not sure what is going on there. At least the slugs haven't done too much damage, just a little nibble here and there.

In the raised bed I have lettuce and spinach and in the remaining plots I have dwarf french beans and onions. So on the face of it I haven't done too badly with my limited time.

Slow start

2010-03-26T20:29:00.002Z

Things have conspired against me to get the ball rolling with my planting this year. The first was the birth of my lovely daughter which obviously means that my time is taken with looking after her and my family. The second has been the weather. Just last week there was a frost and I hear that we may have snow next week!

However, the children are in bed and I have made a start. I have seeded the following :

Tumbling tom tomatoes
Chopping tomatoes
Chilis
Mini sweetcorn

Courgette and Chilli Salad

2009-08-25T09:22:00.007+01:00

I've got lots of courgettes and lots of chillis plus mint and garlic. All home grown so this recipe from Jamie Oliver fits the bill nicely. Full details here.

I thought I'd give it a go tonight. Ames and Jake are away so I thought I'd experiment on myself in case it goes terribly wrong.

The recipe feeds four so I used one courgette instead of four. I sliced this using a cheese slicer which worked really well. I then thinly sliced a medium-sized chilli and half a garlic clove.

I put the courgette slices in a dry hot frying pan. After letting them brown for a few minutes I placed them on a plate and added some salt and pepper. You should wait 5 minutes to let the salt season the courgette.

I sprinkled on the garlic and chilli along with some olive oil and lemon. I had the mint ready to go but I forgot to add it.

It tasted really lovely. The combination of spicy chilli, lemon, olive oil and garlic really worked. I will deifnitely be trying this one again. Yum!!

Nip in the air

2009-08-25T08:50:00.009+01:00

The Summer is almost over, if you listen to the weathermen. However last week has been lovely. This morning while mooching in the garden I did detect a slight dip in the temperature. It's a Bank Holiday Weekend so it bound to turn arctic.

The tomatoes are producing around half a dozen per day. Yes, you could say I rather overdid the tomatoes. They taste fantastic though especially the 'Tumbling Tom' cherry tomatoes. I have noticed that the squirrels have been making early morning raiding parties. I saw one the other day with a tomato in each cheek. Damn you pesky squirrels! ;-).

Other developments include the cantaloupe melon which is around the size of a tennis ball. Hopefully it will grow a little bigger than this. I have put a cloche over it to keep it warm but I have to say I'm not very hopeful.

Jake's wildflower garden seems to have been overtaken by the nasturtiums which again have gone all rampant. There are some lovely blooms though which have been attracting all sorts of nice predatory insects. What I need is a battalion of ladybirds to fight off the blackfly. To encourage them I have built a bijou ladybird house. It's currently sitting next to the shed and is vacant :-(.

So what's on the cards for next year? Well, I plan to terrace the existing plot. I may demolish the old small shed and if finances allow(which they probably don't) I would like to purchase a nice potting shed. This means I will officially be an 'old person'(maybe I should put off the potting shed for a few years).

Sweetcorn

2009-07-29T15:16:00.004+01:00

The corn is going very well. I have four or five cobs almost ready to be picked. The hairy ends have started to turn brown which I believe is the indicator that they are ripe.

Tomatoes

2009-07-29T15:11:00.003+01:00

The toms are coming along nicely, especially the Tumbling Tom variety. So far we have had four succulent red beauties that Jake has immediately gobbled up. The heavy rains and strong winds have blown a couple of the pots over so I have moved them against the back wall of the house.

Next year I plan to grow the tomatoes up a lattice of canes erected against the wooden fence on the right-hand side of the patio area. It is a nice sunny spot and sheltered from the wind.

Monster Courgette

2009-07-29T14:57:00.002+01:00

My courgettes are doing really well and have produced some monsters. In total I have three plants which are producing 2 or 3 courgettes every few days. Next year I shall limit it to one plant.

Coriander

2009-06-19T09:35:00.014+01:00

My coriander has flowered early so instead of nice thick leaves they have gone all spindly and thin. I think this was because the position I chose to place the herb trough was too sunny. Coriander is very susceptible to changes of temperature and can get stressed if replanted(which is what I did!).

All is not lost though. I have cut off most of the flowers to try and get the plant to grow thicker leaves. A few flowers have been left to wither so I can collect some seeds for next year.

Three Sisters technique for growing corn

2009-06-04T10:02:00.006+01:00

I just came across an interesting agricultural technique called the 'three sisters' for cultivating corn crops.

It is an ancient technique first used by Native Americans. You start by making a large mound 60cm high and 50cm wide. You mix in plenty of manure. Now comes the interesting part. In the middle you plant your corn. When the seedling is 30cm high you plant pumpkin and runner bean seeds around the corn.

The corn then acts as a support for the beans, the beans add nitrogen to the soil and the pumpkin acts as a natural mulch, supressing weed growth.

I have already planted my sweetcorn so I will be definitely experimenting with this.

Tomatoes

2009-06-04T09:59:00.007+01:00

Okay, so I have overdone the tomatoes this year, but I have managed to find homes for all of them. Most are in 12 inch pots. So far the 'tumbling toms' are going great guns, and have started flowering. The 'normal' tomatoes have not flowered yet. No sign of any fruit on any of them. I have been religiously feeding them with my special Shetland seaweed fertilizer to assist them.

Summer is here

2009-05-02T22:14:00.007+01:00

What a lovely day it has been. I was out watering the veggies this morning. My brocolli is going very well and the artichoke has gone bonkers. Last years 'mad' borage has started to appear again. I will move them to Jake's wildflower garden as they threatened to take over last year.

Elsewhere in the raised bed the potatoes are doing well. I have started to raise up the earth either side to encourage more shoots.

It's now 10pm and I have just come back from a slug clearing session. I picked off several of the beasties that were feasting on my potatoes, courgette, spinach and brocolli.

Courgettes and Spinach

2009-04-20T08:32:00.004+01:00

I have been busy planting my spinach and courgette seedlings under the cloche. That was two days ago. Luckily the slugs have only had a little nibble of one of the primary leaves on one of the Spinach plants.

I was amazed by how much space one has to give the courgette. It's taken up almost the entire length of the cloche.

Elsewhere in the garden we have Swiss Chard and White Sprouting Brocolli. A gift from my neighbour :-).

Rainy Easter weekend

2009-04-14T09:08:00.004+01:00

I took advantage of a break in the rain to start potting some of the seedlings which are beginning to jostle for space in the seed tray.

On Saturday I bought three 12 inch pots. I put three tomato plants into each one.

I also set to work on the herb trough, planting loads of Basil and Coriander. I hope the Coriander will be okay as it is not very tolerant to transplanting, which can cause bolting.

My first potato has sprouted! This is in the pot, the potatoes in the raised bed have yet to show signs of life. Finger-crossed they will be okay especially after the foxes tried to dig them up a while back.

Chilli

2009-04-14T09:04:00.006+01:00

My Chillis are doing well on the kitchen windowsill. Of the four seeds I planted, three have germinated and are 20cm high already. In the next two weeks I intend to transplant each one into a separate three inch pot. Last year my chilli plant was infested with little white tiny caterpillars. Let's see what happens this year.

Ready to plant

2009-04-10T00:07:00.003+01:00

I'm almost ready to plant my seedlings, so I've made a list of the planting distances required:

Cantaloupe melon 120cm
Spinach 10cm
Courgette 90cm
Lettuce 25cm
Rocket 10cm
Aubergine 60cm
Lavender 30cm
Tomato(2 types) three per 30cm (12in) pot or 35cm (14in) hanging basket
Coriander 20cm
Basil 30cm
Parsley 20cm
Sweetcorn blocks of 40cm
Runner bean 30cm between plants in 60cm rows

Potatoes

2009-04-06T09:03:00.005+01:00

How exciting! This is my first time at trying to grow tatties.

I have put my chitted seed potatoes into the raised bed. I am using half the available space so I only put 6 of them in there. I used a dutch hoe to create three small trenches about 60cm apart and planted each potato with the tubers facing upwards 40cm apart. Afterwards I covered them with a little compost(roughly 8cm).

I still have about 12 left so I have also put three in a large pot. It will be interesting to see how they progress. The remainder I may give away or plant in another large pot.

Ecogreen Aerated Polythene Tunnel

2009-03-31T08:14:00.006+01:00

I have started to double-dig the trench for the poly-tunnel.

The tunnel is a nice bit of kit. It measures 3 metres by 60cm and comprises of a number of steel loops covered by thick a green-tinted polythene.

According to the blurb, the green tint filters strong sunlight to prevent scorching and the large aeration holes keep young plants ventilated and encourage pollinating insects to enter. Plants in the growing tunnel are easily watered either by hand or natural rainfall, without the need to remove the cover.

We'll wait and see how effective it is.

The digging was hard work. I have done half now and will finish the rest today. The technique is as follows.

1. Dig a hole 60cm wide and 1 spade deep, placing the soil in a wheelbarrow
2. Once the hole is dug, fork and loosen the soil at the bottom
3. Put a layer of manure into the hole
4. Move along, dig another hole, putting the soil excavated into the previous hole
5. When you get to the end of your row, put the wheelbarrow contents from the first hole into it

Orkney seaweed and other things

2009-03-27T11:02:00.006Z

I have been on a spending spree recently. I've bought a giant poly-tunnel, some Orkney seaweed fertilizer and some large bell cloches. The cloches come in very handy protecting young seedlings from slugs.

Most of the seedlings are now outside in a specially prepared 'nursery' area. I've planted six of my seed potatoes. I didn't realise that potatoes took up so much room! I have placed them in one half of the big raised bed. The rest of the bed contains purple sprouting brocolli and a lone artichoke.

Yesterday I planted some lettuce, spinach and coriander seeds. Today I potted six runner bean seeds. I thought I would plant these again as they were a great success last year.

My next job is to weed the carrot plot and double-dig the marked-out plot for the poly-tunnel. Once I have done this I can plant the aubergines. I might also get some courgettes in under there where they will be nice a toasty warm!

Good news on the onion front. There are numerous shoots appearing!

I was thinking about how best to attract beneficial insects into the garden. Jake's wildflower garden should help a great deal. Maybe I should plant some more nasturtiums this year. I remember last year they were covered in caterpillars that would surely have been chomping away on my veg.

Wildflower garden

2009-03-23T08:37:00.006Z

I have started planting my seedlings into three inch pots. So far I have three each of basil, sweet corn and tomato. I popped into the garden centre and bought some manure, potting compost and some rather snazzy large bell cloches. The latter are for protecting my purple sprouting brocolli, which I'm glad to say is going great guns!

Jake helped me prepare a bed for his wildflower area. This should encourage beneficial insects into the garden. There is still plenty to do . I've marked a plot for my growing tunnel and now it needs double-digging.

I have planted some Cayenne chili seeds.

Spring is here

2009-03-20T10:13:00.007Z

We have had a couple of lovely Spring days so I lost no time in getting out into the garden and mucking about. I have now planted the raspberry canes. I went a bit mad and not only double-dug the plot but also knocked up a small raised bed for the raspberries.

The seedlings are going well. Jake's corn and tomatoes and carrots have germinated although in a haphazard fashion! I will have to make a separate little plot for his produce :-).

I ordered a giant eco-green growing tunnel with a fine green tinted mesh to keep out the nasties and have marked out a new plot. I also want to order the same tunnel but with a polythene cover to grow the aubergines as they need plenty of warmth.

The slugs are back and made a nice meal out of the brocolli. I've bought some bell cloches to protected them while they are small and a slug trap. I will also order some nematodes and treat all the raised beds and plots.

Looking at my little plot now I can see it is slowly filling up and it is only a matter of time before I run out of space! I would like to get a couple of chickens too. A friend told me I needed 1 sq metre per chicken so I'm not sure where I would put them. This is the problem when you don't design your plot beforehand. In my case it has grown organically as and when I've decided to grow more.

Early start to proceedings

2009-03-06T11:55:00.006Z

The garlic experment is going well. All three bulbs have shooted, so that bodes well. Only one brocolli has survived the winter and has been chomped on by unknown insects even though it has been 'protected' by the enviromesh cover all Winter :-(.

In the kitchen I have seeded two trays containing basil, tomatoes and lavender. I have a nice blueberry bush bought from Homebase and a pot of parsley on the go. As if this wasn't enough Trudi gave us a nice artichoke which has just germinated. I almost forgot, I also have a large pot full of aubergine seedlings!

Out in the garden I have been busy preparing the plots for the carrots and onions which I have also seeded as of last weekend.

Fin came round yesterday and gave us some raspberry canes. I am just in the process of double-digging a trench next to the old shed to accomodate these. Unfortunately there are lots of bricks and rocks to contend with. This is not as bad as the mahoosive bramble roots that need digging out.

Today there was a slight frost so I am taking a gamble with my broad beans. A couple of them seem a little limp. I may pot a few more in case these don't make it.

Time to start thinking about what to grow

2009-01-14T12:44:00.007Z

Greetings to 2009!

I found this excellent article about what to grow in February. I will get an early start as last year I left things a little late. Definites for February are:
Broad beans(Trudi has given me some seeds. Thanks!)
Potatoes(I didn't grow these last year)
Garlic(grown in my 'trough' or maybe a large pot)

My raised bed is currently home to a number of purple sprouting brocolli plants that I planted last year. Some of these little fellas have suffered trampling damage by those annoying foxes, who have by now become completely immune to the sonic fox scarer. I am hoping that one or two plants will survive. Fingers-crossed on that one.

In the next few weeks I need to start preparing the growing beds.

Seasons end

2008-09-19T16:41:00.006+01:00

Well this will probably be the last post until next year. It has been a good start. I've successfully grown and harvested carrots, chilis, chives, mint, runner beans, broad beans, rocket and lettuce.

The rocket has gone mad probably because the slugs don't like it. Yesterday I picked a bunch of broad beans and another load of runners. The runner bean plant has been invaded by blackfly and the broad beans don't look very healthy.

The borage I planted as a companion plant in front of the broad beans have almost taken over so next year I'll put them in a place of their own.

My nasturtiums have completely covered the trellis I had originally put up for the honeysuckle. I think the honeysuckle is still hanging in their behind the foliage. It was good to see all the caterpillars happily chomping away on the nasturtium leaves but not my crops.

So what is for next year? Well I will start a lot earlier. I'll plant more herbs like parsley, coriander and basil. I'll definitely do runner beans, lettuce and carrots again. I would also like to plant some potatoes and dwarf beans. The slug problem still needs sorting as the nematodes on their own weren't enough.

I have a lot of garden related chores in the coming months. There's the issue of the office pod and the garden path at the back. So I'll have a lot to keep me happy until I start planting again :-).

Slugs...again

2008-08-12T08:49:00.004+01:00

Ah yes, another slug post! Due to the rain we've been having I thought it would be prudent to go on a 'slug watch'. I went out shortly before dusk yesterday to check the lettuce beds. There they were happily chomping away upon my 'lollo rossa'. And judging by their size they had been there a while. I dispatched seven or eight into a jar. I probably need to apply some more nematodes. I have also been thinking of putting some copper strips along the tops of the raised beds, which I think will be a good deterrent.

The good news is that I have harvested my first crop of broad beans. they are around 5-6 inches long and taste delicious.