Bloody Cats!

Or birds...I'm not sure which, after another slow week in the garden (still pondering whether to go for a brick wall or decked structure for my new raised bed), I had quite a shocking discovery this morning! Some bloody cat (or bird) has messed up one of my carrot buckets!

Once very neat with lots and lots of green shoots appearing, this bucket is now flipping well almost ruined! I am still holding out a bit of hope, and decided that I'd be proactive about it....


....so I constructed this:

Hopefully this will keep away both cats and birds, though I can imagine a cheeky cat coming along and thinking it's a fun tunnel, or something to play with, perhaps I should get a cat in order to keep other cats away.

In other news, my sugar snap peas are starting to pop up! I also noticed today that last year's surprise potatoes are coming again this year! I'm pleased about this as I didn't bother to plant any purposefully, I hope they'll be as creamy as they were last year.

Anyway, here's a hazy photo of the sugar snap seedlings....I guess they'll be needing bamboo and nets as well soon....

....also in the background is the bottom of my blackcurrant plant - looking very healthy!

Propa...Propa...Propagation!

This week I have been mainly......not gardening! Though I have done a little bit, and I've been closely monitoring what I've already planted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attempt at propagating Bay.

I was really pleased to be given the bay, especially as I now have about forty dried leaves jammed into 2 jars, but also so that I could try to produce my own tree from the cuttings. However, on further research I've discovered that apprently it's best to do it in November, although some people advise that it's more about the conditions of growth than time of year. I'm hoping this is true, as I want a bay tree dammit!

My desire for a kicthen garden has taken another turn towards fruit. Last year I found one of the best places to buy supplies from was in fact the 99p shop! I bought a blackcurrant bush that was just a twig from there, and in it's first year it produced a couple of currants. It's looking ultra healthy this year and I am keeping my fingers crossed for some fruit to eat! So when I saw some leafy gooseberry and blueberry plants in there I had to give it a go!

 

After a nice long soak in a bucket of water (about an hour and a half) to loosen up the roots,  I decided to make a sort of wall of fruit along the edge of my lawn. I think it'll make a nice barrier between the veg patch and the nice lawny seaty bit! 

Here's a bad photograph of the gooseberry plant:

Anyway! Let's see how these plants get on!

Gifts from a fellow gardener

Still waiting for my seeds to really get going and getting rather impatient I have been given some things to get on with in the meantime. A regular customer of mine at work with whom I often talk about gardening with, gave me some bay leaves, shown in this photograph are some of the branches hung up to dry. He gave me quite a large amount of bay, so I am also going to try and propagate some myself.

and a clump of garlic:

to plant out in a sunny spot:

As you can see I divided the garlic into two clumps, and it seems to be very happy next to my chives!

Digging A Trench

I realise it's been a good week since my last post, but as with gardening, you must be patient for things to happen. The last week has been a bit quiet, lots of seeds have been planted, and now it's a waiting game for them to germinate.


In the mean time I've been looking around my garden to see what 'hardware' I can 'upgrade' as it were! My garden is a lovely south facing enclosed space, warm in the sun, and not particularly prone to gusts or winds. Very sheltered, and sometimes quite mediterranean. However, I have a big pile of rocks and soil and roots and weeds piling up alongside one wall.

Quite clearly an eyesore, I'm fed up with it being there, I really would like to show off my garden to my friends over summer with barbeques and afternoon drinks on the lawn (visable back left) and I feel this small area of the garden dominates it with it's hideous appearance. So I have formulated a plan with a good friend who happens to be not only an illustration student but also a builder. The plan is as follows:
For me to dig a trench along the length of 'the pile' about four inches in depth and ten inches in width.
Builderstrator and myself to lay foundations and build a wall along the whole length, fitting snuggly to the path, followed by filling the walled area with the existing soil and rocks. I estimate that this plan will be completed by mid-late April (at least it better be!).

Hopefully then I will be able to plant some more plants within the raised bed, and I'm hoping I might be able to get some vines....

Proof in the pudding?

So today I decided that it was probably high time I tried some of the rhubarb. After a long day slaving away at college portioning turkeys as part of my nvq (I pay £30 a day to do this - I have no idea why), I hurried home in the glorious, yet cold sunshine to see the progress of all my plants, but mainly to address the rhubarb question. I have a fellow gardener friend at college, who didn't really know how to advise me on my rhubarb, other than to tell me the purpose of 'forcing' it by covering it with a big pot. Supposedly, rhubarb that has been 'forced' is more tender and has a different colour stem. Now, my array of plant pots is quite limited in size, I do have some big ones, but not really in the realms of how big the plant had become, so I figured 'what the heck' and cut off three big stems and covered the remaining plant with my biggest pot!

 

 Out of these three stalks I made these rhubarb crumbles! It tasted actually very good, quite tangy and certainly very flavoursome. I'd like to get some stems that have a pinker colour to them as these stewed extremely green!

Today has been a strange day in my garden, a good friend of mine took a leap of faith this afternoon and got on a plane to New Zealand, with a one way ticket. Here's her blog: http://skatersjourney.blogspot.com/ This skater used to live with me in my home, and had the special responsibility of weeding and sweeping the path, a job I found myself doing at almost the precise time of her boarding her flight. So I think I am going to plant a sunflower to remind me of her this summer. Keep your eyes peeled in July!