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RoF gardenators update

The garden veg and greenhouse is now in full swing after a very slow start. 

In the g/h the tomatoes (cherry, beefstake and plum) are in the beds and off and running.   Still at seedling stage: watermelon, melon, peppers, aubergine, cucumber. 

In the veg beds: a row of carrots and a row of red chard have been scratched up by a pheasant. Fukr. Saw him doing it.  Oak leaf lettuce and little gem doing ok. Onions (over wintered and new season sets) doing ok. Rocket, chard, beetroot, radishes all a bit slow but coming.  Runner beans have started to climb. Broad beans really good. Other beans (purple and green French varieties, borlotti, and an interesting speckled borlotti) doing nicely but a but behind due to the cold wet April.  Courgettes (yellow and green ones) on their way now but not yet flowering. Three rows of peas coming.  

I still have some space in the beds. Sweetcorn has been a disaster. Twice I have planted and the seeds rotted in situ. So might have one more go or plant other stuff in that space. 

I am thinking we should have a virtual village fruit and veg show here but start at this end of the season with pics. Then as they grow through. Anyone up tor that?

My veg did so badly last year and year before one bed is mostly heather now with some other flowers and strawberries and the other I made mostly a herb bed this year although it is lovely - gets covered in many bees, dragon flies etc and smells good so I am content with the compromise. I have had to put slug pellets down this year as slugs almost completely destroyed some new herb plants.

 

The muttley garden sounds lovely. It is a pity my mother is not still around as she was a keen gardener even having an allotment and so was my father when he was younger. 

update. Third attempt at sweetcorn seedlings now germinated. These seem to need much more heat than other things.  Two sets just went mushy in the compost. Even the new lot, third time lucky, still only produced 3 out of 6.  That's not a lot. so these will be a token veg. 

 

Elsewhere in the garden I'm loving the irises this year. will do a pic. They have been slow to appear (usually end April/early May, all over by mid May, but this year they are only partly out.

 

That lavender the duck hid in is now producing flowers, should be a good show in a couple of weeks/a month.

I put my lemon tree out too early. It didn't get frosted but got hit hard by torrential rain and some hail. It has shed a lot of torn leaves but has valiantly produced new leaf shoots on the stems and there are two new baby lemons, and the third one this year approaching ripeness. 

My herb/physic bed is great this year. Lovage, parsley, golden thyme, lovage, chives, thyme, lemon balm, mint, coriander, dill all at best for a long time. Chives now joining in with the alliums in the borders with their purple pom poms.  Big purple and white alliums doing well in the beds.

Shout out to the aquilegia which is looking good in the borders this year. Brief loveliness in May. 

 

I just had a very exhausting day on Saturday sorting out the weeds which have very thuggishly invaded my veg bed. I have started the planting out much later than usual this year due to only growing stuff that can't stand frosts so having to leave it later, and they have taken advantage. Smothered the area with control fabric, I know it will still keep going underneath but should keep a lid on it at least. Planning to finally put the tomatoes out next week.

Carrots starting to poke their tips up .

 

Just in time for Chelsea!

Which reminded me to chop the sedums yesterday.

Snailmageddon here, but I have found the new snail nursery, they were hiding in a messy pot of old daffs and crocuses. Thought they’d foxed me by abandonning the agapanthus.

What's amazing is how short the nymph shell is compared the new dragonfly. Imagine the rrelief as your arse decompresses from being squished into half it's proper length...

Two are not

Four are

But the ones that score are the two actual characters who are pointless*

(According one assumes from a random sample of their daytime tv audience of coffin dodgers, me and 3dux)

m6 of mine is an ex-RAF chap and was delighted when I managed to find a decent quality jpeg of "Jump Jet Fanny and her Hawker Siddeley twot", printed it and framed it for him for his birthday.

Heh

One of my mates had, on the door of his downstairs loo, a Ministry Of Bottom Inspectors poster.  Think Lord Kitchener but with the tagline:

Now, wipe your bum!!

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