Growing things

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

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.