Dorset Garden Diary - Shallots, Potatoes and The List

Hi everyone,

Another early post this week as I have birthday commitments- where do the years go! The temperature has stayed pretty constant for most of the week so I'll omit those again this week - I'll just say that Tuesday reached 20C 68F and Wednesday started at 12C 54F...that must have been a shock for the plants.

Monday - cloudy and a bit chilly but warmed up in the afternoon. I was working today but I had to check on the spuds as it's been bugging me about some of them not flowering. A couple of the maris peer bags appear to not have any but there are some in the others and...in one of the pentland javelin bags I came across these

so I covered them back up and I'll empty it out at the weekend. One of the lilies out the front has come into flower

and I saw the first damselfly when I was feeding the fish. I belatedly watched the weather for the week on Countryfile and no rain forecast so I gave the garden a good watering. Thankfully I started on the veg first giving it a good soak because the hose developed a leak and had to finish the rest with the watering can. It would happen a) when him indoors is not back until the weekend and b) on a rare week with no rain forecast. Anyway, another job on 'the list'.

Tuesday - warm, humid and windy. I was working today as well. When I came home I had a stroll round the garden and the pea pods are finally filling out. I picked a few to go in my salad, they are so sweet and tender it's a shame to cook them.

I opened the vents in the greenhouse and one of the skylight windows then fed the cucumbers, gherkins and tomatoes.

Wednesday - cold start and windy, warmed up a bit as the day went on. I sowed some melon seeds to see if they'll take (I've never grown them before) and clematis cuttings I'd procured.

I picked more cucumbers and courgettes. The tomatoes are a nice size now, they just need to ripen. The rat man came back today and checked the traps. There is some evidence that they are still around as the bait has been nibbled at and there was a dead one in the top shed. He's left the traps down and will come back again in a couple of weeks or so.

Thursday - humid and cloudy. The fish are feeding well and the adults are staying on the surface when I approach the pond, whereas a couple of months ago they would dive under. I fed and watered the pots which took ages then trimmed off excess leaves on the tomatoes and secured the cucumber tendrils. Verbascum, lemon and olive doing well

and the water lilies are pretty (him indoors' favourite)

Friday - a cloudy day was forecast but actually it was quite pleasant with some sun but very windy. I still haven't had a chance to spray the rose with the sawfly deterrent as it's been windy all week. I took cuttings from the geum, pulled up a couple of the carrots I rescued last year - small but tasty

and strung up the garlic.

Three of the bulbs had rotted which is disappointing but it's better than last year when they all rotted. Felt a bit better after watching Gardeners' World and some of Monty's garlic had rotted as well. Cottage garden newbies doing well

 and remember the rockery plant from last week , well look at it now. I think it's a houseleek

Saturday - cloudy, windy and warm all day. Much achieved today especially with him indoors making inroads into his long list. He started off by taking eight bags of garden waste to the recycling centre (our compost bins are full) then he scythed his way through the undergrowth to the back of the garden, clearing all the weeds as he went, then he cleared a path out the back to the large compost bin. The blackberries are forming so hopefully, if we have some sun, they will ripen soon. Next job was to mow the lawn and then he fixed the hosepipe. Meanwhile, I dug up a couple of the shallots (Longue) Jermor. I'll leave the others for another week as they aren't quite big enough. I've put them in the pottering shed to dry out.

I then couldn't wait any longer and had to empty some of the potato bags. The first bag contained spuds grown from two supermarket basic whites as an experiment.

Not many but at least they grew. I then emptied the pentland javelin bags. The spuds grown in ordinary potting compost produced the most spuds, the ones grown in ericaceous compost grew the biggest and the bag containing the peat free compost yielded the least and was very dry even though it had been watered as much as the other two. But a good harvest, nearly 14lbs.

Also, the peat free bag didn't have any worms in it and there were loads in the others. I will empty the four maris peer bags next week if I can wait that long! Final job of the day was give the garden a good soaking...then we went out!

Sunday - started with light rain and windy. Just a few jobs this morning; him indoors removed thorns and weeds growing in the top bed and I pottered in the greenhouse. We found these raspberries that the birds had missed

Well that's about it. I hope you all have a good week in the garden and summer visits again for a bit longer this time. Catch up next Sunday,

Regards,

DD

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Dorset Garden Diary - Did I Miss Summer? No...Hang on...Maybe Not

Hi everyone,

I hope you've had a good week. There's been plenty to do here to keep me out of mischief. I'm not going to bother with the temperatures this week as the mornings have been either 13C 55F or 14C 57F and it hasn't warmed up beyond 18C 64F - is this summer??

Monday - the week started sunny for a change. I've noticed that the pottering shed roof is leaking quite a bit now so that'll be a job on 'him indoor's list'...I might even get a new one out of it if I play my cards right. I trimmed off all the brown leaves on the rose. The RHS tweeted back to say the culprit is sawfly so I'll have to get a deterrent. I took cuttings from the borage, fuchsia, and hot lips salvia, planted out more of the aquilegia seedlings and sowed more cucumbers, carrots, spring onions, fennel and radishes and tidied the greenhouse.

Tuesday - sunny this morning, rain this afternoon and windy all day. I fed the greenhouse cucumbers,

gherkins, tomatoes, chillies and peppers - first flower

and also the outdoor versions along with the celeriac and runner beans - the first flower has appeared on the latter

I pickled a few gherkins that were ready and picked a couple of cucumbers, did some weeding, replanted violas then gave in and mowed the lawn avoiding Roger 2 by using a socket in him indoor's workshop.

It was a shame to cut the clover but the garden was beginning to look tatty. Next year I'll look at having a small wildlife patch. I put down ant killer by one of the grow bags in the greenhouse as it's riddled with them.

Wednesday - the weather was atrocious this morning with driving rain, more like autumn than  summer so not much accomplished apart from feeding the fish and turning the compost tumblers.

Thursday - and another cloudy day. I watered the greenhouse and put more ant powder down, removed the outer leaves on the celeriac to promote better growth and sowed more beetroot, fennel, lettuce and spring onions. I removed the side netting from the pond to let any frogs in and out (thankfully no further signs of the rats) and cleared out some of the excess weed

The fish weren't impressd with that so while they were sulking I put the pump on for a couple of hours...they don't like that either but it keeps the pond oxygenated and them alive.

Friday - cloudy and very windy with a few sunny spells. We need some decent sunshine to ripen the fruit and veg - there are lots of pods on the peas but nothing in them yet. I went out early to feed the fish, a I neared the pond I heard a scuffling noise and thought oh no (polite version), the rats are back. But it was a squirrel that I can only presume was rooting through the drying pond weed. It scooted to the top of the fence, stopped, cheekily turned round to give me a 'look' before disappearing over the other side. It was a big squirrel, I haven't seen one that size before. Made me jump, I'll tell you. I tidied up underneath the cherry tree - before

and after

As you can see the grass needs a bit of attention...it's on his list.

I repotted the blackcurrant cutting

and generally tidied up. I'm not sure about the potatoes. Only one batch has flowered yet they are all yellowing. I've had a feel of the bags and I think, I hope, there are crops in there. What hasn't been a success this year is the chop suey greens, pak choi and kale. The Chinese leaves are doing well but I'm not sure what to do with them

Saturday - started sunny and windy, clouded over, rained this afternoon then sunny again...summer meets autumn meets April showers! I bought sawfly deterrent but couldn't apply it as too windy. We need more solar lights but couldn't find the right ones. I finally made a start on the overgrown back beds

it's going to be a long job. I picked some sweet peas as they were being damaged by the wind

The lantana huff is beginning to flower (we bought this Hampton Court flower show last year)

the aloe vera is in flower

so is the thyme and golden sedum

and there are tiny gherkins on the outside plants which is great news

Sunday - dull, dismal and cold all morning but the sun did eventually come out and, dare I say it, it felt like summer...honestly! I moved the gherkin that's not a gherkin from the greenhouse into a flower bed, still don't know yet what it is,

The cottage garden is filling out

I completed an online survey for the RHS re pollinators and pollinating plants, I was pleased to see I have many of those plants listed in the garden. Finally got round to watching Friday's Gardeners' World, jobs for the weekend were feed the rose (tick) and divide the irises - next week. And finally, this is growing in the rockery section, I obviously planted it but I've not seen it before.

Well, that's it for this week, other commitments are calling so I'll have to watch the weather forecast tomorrow. Hopefully next week I can say 'I didn't miss summer, it's here'!! Have a good gardening week and catch up next Sunday.

Regards,

DD

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Dorset Garden Diary - Garden Under Attack and a Plethora of Cucumbers

Evening everyone,

The week started off with plenty of rain. Proper rain, not the drizzly stuff, and gradually cleared as the week went on. Both the veg and flowers have put on a spurt and the garden is looking full.

Monday - the day started at 14C 58Fand with driving rain, finally clearing late afternoon which didn't leave much time for gardening but the garden definitely needed it. The fish are still eager feeders, it's like having a pond of piranhas! I picked the first lettuce for my salad - it actually taste of lettuce not the tasteless leaves you buy from the supermarket.

Tuesday (summer solstice) - 14C 58F again and sunny but still only reached a high of 17C 62F. I need to spend some serious time tidying the garden after all the rain we've been having but a) there's not enough hours in the day and b) see below.

Wednesday - a bit warmer today at 16C 60F and thick fog. It lifted mid morning but then came back again early evening. Very humid. Didn't have that much time for gardening today but I did pull out all the bindweed (or most of it) in the front garden, it had wrapped itself around the flowers especially the irises and the white daisies. I nearly filled a dustbin bag. There are snails clinging to most of the flowers and shrubs and every time I disturbed the soil an army of ants surface and run around trying to regroup. It's the same in the back garden. I've never known this many snails and ants, they're everywhere - must be a result of the warm wet winter.

And they aren't the only pests. A couple of weeks ago I was watering the garden and saw movement out the corner of my eye. When I looked I thought, at first, it was blackbirds on the lawn then when I looked closer (I didn't have my glasses on) I saw they were baby rats...aaarrgghhh!!
They were only tiny but still... I turned the hose on them and they ran into the undergrowth. I then wondered how long they had been in the garden. The thought of having come across them when I was weeding doesn't bear thinking about and now I'm reluctant to do the weeding until I know they've gone (hence the overgrown jungle). I came back in and changed out of my flip flops into thick boots and went back out to remove the bird feeder, much to the sparrows' disgust, but then it's their own fault - they should eat the seed, not throw it everywhere! The day before I had been sat by the pond and there had been a rustling and scurrying noise behind me in the bushes and I caught a fleeting glimpse of something but didn't realise it was a rat. Anyway, I rang the Council pest control and the earliest they could send someone out was today. Because I'd removed their food source I haven't seen them for over a week. The officer said they are still around but it's not an infestation. Their nest is in him indoors' top shed so when the traps are removed so will the shed be - it's dilapidated and falling down anyway. The man comes back in two weeks. Pleasant man, strange career.

Last job of the day was to remove the netting cage over the veg patch. I went into the greenhouse to check on the tomatoes and cucumbers and guess what? Not only are there cucumbers ready for picking (beth alpha and passandra mini) but I counted in excess of 30 more growing!! Had one with my salad - delicious.

I also have the first gherkin. Only one so I'll start the pickling process and add the others as they grow

Thursday - 15C 59F this morning (a centigrade warmer, makes all the difference), cloudy and humid and reaching a maximum of 20C 68F. I fed the fish first thing and the water was frothing with them feeding. There has to be at least a couple of dozen and last year's fishlings have now turned orange, it's great. Later this afternoon I started tidying up the pots and around the side of the shed. It doesn't look like I've done much and no-one else sees them but I know they're there!

Friday - 14C 58Fcloudy and humid but then the sun came up and the wind got up. There are tiny flowers on the peppers and chillies but too small to photograph at the moment. I planted one of the salvia hot lips cuttings in the cottage garden, removed the big daisy plant as it was taking over and replaced it with a cutting from last year, planted out aquilegia chocolate soldier seedlings and moved a plant as the dahlia was starting to overpower it. I then planted out the rest of the parsnip and spring onions seedlings. In the last couple of days the leaves on the rosebush have started to turn brown,

I've tweeted to see if anyone can explain why. On my way back from town lunchtime this caterpillar crossed in front of me moving at quite a pace, again tweeted to see if anyone knows what it is.

 Greenhouse 78F 25C at 4.30.

Saturday - again 14C 58F - I might as well cut and paste this every day. I was woken at 5.45am by the seagulls causing a commotion and thought 'I recognise that noise', went to the window and after a  scan of next door's garden there it was...the heron! It was well camouflaged (can you see it?)

and wasn't bothered that the seagulls were dive bombing it. It stayed there for over half an hour and caught at least one fish. I'm definitely keeping the netting securely over our pond! I didn't get out in the garden today apart from feeding the fish. I noticed in the pottering shed that Roger the spider who took up residence on my hand towel has passed away and has been superseded by Roger 2 who is bigger, menacing and has attitude - reminds me of the Terminator! Apart from leaving the clover on the lawn for the bees, he's the other reason I'm not mowing the grass as he sits above the electric socket!

Sunday - 14C 58F...boring I know. The day of high cloud and warm spells didn't materialise and we had low cloud and drizzle. I fed the fish his morning and it appears we have an albino - it's silver! It's either a throwback from generations past or the heron dropped it when flying over - I'll go for throwback.

The lionheart lilies are not far off flowering

the greenhouse tomatoes are thriving although I think there is an ants nest in one of the grow bags

 

I'm wondering if someone at the seed packing factory has either made a mistake or is having a laugh because the 'definitely not a gherkin' is definitely not a gherkin - looks more like a sunflower to me which should be interesting the in the greenhouse!

The outdoor tomatoes, gherkins and squash are doing well

the sweet peas are adding colour to the pond area

and...since I removed the netting from over the veg bed something (pigeons - you will be nameless!!!!) has eaten all the kale leaves which is not good but, I'd rather the kale than something I really like

One last thing - since we moved in nearly three years ago the apple tree has failed to deliver not only in apples but foliage, so last autumn I gave it a number one prune and said this was it's last chance otherwise out it went. Well, look at it...there may not be any fruit on it (not surprising after the harsh prune) but it's blossoming with leaves and looking very healthy (note the intentional clover in the background!).

There was no Gardeners' World on Friday because of rugby this time but the BBC did manage to fit Countryfile in today in between the football - thank you, I'm so grateful. So...the weather for the week ahead is the same as the weather for the week ahead for the last three or four weeks minus the thunderstorms, which amounts to sunshine and showers and no great surge in temperature. We now need the sun to ripen the fruit and bring on the veg. Hope the forecast is better where you are, catch up next Sunday.

Kind regards,

DD

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