Je voudrais des tomates s’il vous plait
I love the photo below.. its amazing to think what can come out of a little seed! Cuuuuuute!
This year I’ve planted two types of tomatoes: Yellow Pears and Orange Bourgoin
I used one of my boyfriends bits of polystyrene that encased his laptop, chucked some compost in and scattered some seeds (see here for more info on seeding).
I would like to point out that the hands above are not my own, they are that of my boyfriends (note hair on wrist). My hands are positively more wrinkly and witch-like due to not wearing rubber gloves when I wash up, and rarely moisturising. Listen hard, kids…always, always moisturise.
I took the photo below on my phone tonight - I planted the seeds on the 20th March - so you can get an idea on how long its taken for them to grow. I think I will plant them out, two or three to a small pot, this weekend with a view to planting on each seedling to their own pot at the end of April.
Love that song. Here are some peppers that I sowed back in November. I actually saved the seeds from the peppers that I grew last year, and I planted them as an example on ‘how to seed’ for the London’s rather wonderful Egg Mag. I wasn’t really expecting anything to happen, but they’re coming along lovely. So if you’ve not ventured into the land of seeding before, Here’s ten easy steps how…
1. save loo rolls 2. Fill with compost 3. water 4. place three to four seeds in each roll
5. lightly cover with soil 6. Cover with clear plastic bag, or cling film to create greenhouse effect and condensation
7. place in sunny area indoors and wait to germinate 8. When the seeds have germinated and are getting too big for the cover, take cover off and gently water when needed.
9. After a week or two, plant one or two seedings on to their own bigger pots (small herb pots will make do for now) by gently removing the seedling out of the loo roll. I tend to lay the loo roll on its side and gently break away the compost. Think of the seedling as a small wee baby – DO NOT PULL THE SEEDLING FROM ITS HEAD as this will cause much considerable damage. Scoop out gently!
Crikey – witches hands or what?
10. Let the seedling grow its root systems on its current abode for a month or so (see below). I placed mine into my makeshift green house outside so its fairly sheltered from the harsh realities of life until it gets used to the big outdoors.
When its considerably stronger pot each plant onto their final home (window box, decent sized pot depending on what you’ve grown or hanging basket) etc.
I quite like the name Spencer.
Sweet Peas were one of my favourite plants to grow last year, however I was a bit late this year so instead of sowing from seed again, I cheated and managed to get hold of some lovely little seedlings from a local nursery back near my parents. I got hold of some Spencer Mix which I’m really looking forward to growing. Last year I grew Old Fashioned, which produced beautiful colours and a soft scent, but small blooms. This lot, if I remember what Toby Buckland on GW said (a misty haze of sauvignon blanc hovers in front of me), are a mix of Old Fashioned for their scent. And Spencer’s for their growth. Which gives you an 8ft tall sweet smelling Spencer Mix.
Hmm pretty sure I made that up. At the moment they are in the playpen with the rest of the kids (some garlic, peppers, chitting potatoes) until they are grown up enough to play outside by themselves.
Ideally I’d like to make a willow and hazel arch to grow them up however, this a high rise in Hackney darling, so I’ll have to make do with a compost bucket and a couple of canes.
I purchased some normal peas too – £1.50 for each tray. A midland’s bargain at its best, ay it? check it….
Spencers to the left, edibles to the right
As if by magic… the Aliums have appeared.
They must have heard me moaning, because midweek they appeared. HUZZZAAAAAAAAH
Where for art thou, Aliums?
Yes, quite. What’s happened? See here for all the lovely bulbs I planted last October. See below for the poor show from the Alium family that had tickets booked for the backrow. Complete no show. Hmmmm, excuses please ?
Absent back row.
Some lovely bulbs just about to flower that I found hiding away in the greenery above…
Snakeshead Fritalathingys
Potato update
Further to the tattybumbum post below, the first signs are poking through… excuse the bad photo. My Canon is getting a bit tired of being put on Macro all the time..
Potato buds coming through
As these get taller, I’ll keep layering up with compost until it reaches the top of the container. The shoots will eventually turn into hardy branches with big green leaves, and often flowers. Positively bush-like.
Bill and Ted the Blueberry bushes
After a dismal attempt to grow fruit last year (wild strawberries out of a foil do-it-yourself packet, and some strawberry spinach – both of which had less chance than a cat in a canal) I promised myself that I would attempt to do it properly this year. Well, as best as I could to my limited knowledge. I decided grow blueberries.
Before I purchased ‘Bill and Ted’ the only things I know about blueberries were that I liked blueberry pancakes, and I don’t really like the blueberries from tesco’s as they are too bland and rubbery.
I purchased my plants from the lovely folks at The Dorset Blueberry Company and they arrived in brilliant condition, and a lovely deep burgundy colour. I potted them into bigger pots (about 29cm).
Further to a bit of blueberry research about which ones to buy – I bet this is how Hollywood are when they’re choosing their adoptee children – I found out that they are fabulous container plants, that it’s best to buy two different types of plants so they can pollinate and make sweet berries together, and they need to be grown in ericaceous soil.
Ericaceous soil is not some soil made by a bird called Erica, but an acidic soil. Yes, that’s right acidic. God knows why they couldn’t just call it “Acidic Soil”. The local (Growing Concern’s on Victoria Park, not to be confused with the Royal Inn on the Park – my other local) didn’t have any in, so I’ve made do with a bit of compost mixed with farm manure and I water with an ericaceous feed to supplement it. I haven’t managed to kill them yet.
As the weeks have got warmer, they have shedded their red skin and the stems have turned a spring green, with plenty of buds shooting through. Its all very exciting. To this day I have no idea how to pronounce ‘ericaceous’ so I’ve slung it in the folder in my head that files the word “bodacious” hence why I’ve named the the two plants Bill and Ted.
Tatty bumbums
Potato season is upon us. I loved growing potatoes last year, they were easy and tasted amazing. And digging them up for the first time is more exciting than opening your presents at Christmas (especially if you only get socks and smellies every year). I digress…
Last year I planted out in February, however this year I have been too busy / lazy / hungover (delete as appropriate) and have left it until now. However, all is not lost as apparently the traditional day to plant out is on Good Friday. Which is this Friday. So I can still put the rest off until then, I suppose.
I planted mine in sacks, and they worked fine. A very large laundry bag will work or a tub / bin. If you’ve got some ground then stacked tyres are also good. I would recommend using Salad potatoes (Charlottes, Maris Peer) and they are small and versitile, and work well for small spaces. Potatoes also come in a range of planting stages such as Earlies, Second earlies, and Maincrops – which I haven’t quite got my head round this yet. Last year I planted second earlies in February (way before the season starts) and they worked fine… so I’ve decided to ignore this probably essential part of my potato career.
To Chit or not to Chit.
For that is the question. Chitting is basically aging the potato so it sprouts roots and basically looks like something you’d find at the back of the cupboard in university. It’ll eventually look like this…
Chitting is often recommended to give the potato a good start as soon as it hits the compost really. However some gardeners don’t believe in chitting and say that by planting potatoes as you get them, they’ll produce just as good as crop as a chitted potato.
Its best to get your seed potatoes from a recommended outlet such as garden organic so you can guarentee that they are pesticide and disease free. Tesco’s Finest will not suffice.
How to…
Fill your sack with a third of a good organic compost (doesn’t have to be organic but your tatties will be nicer).
Plant potatoes a few inches apart and cover with a few inches of compost. After a few weeks the potato shoots will start poking through. As they do, keep layering around with compost (this is called earthing up). Eventually these shoots will start developing leaves (sometimes flower) and you’ll be faced with a postive jungle of potato leaves.
Potatoes will be ready to dig up when the leaves have all died away – I planted in February last year, and potatoes were ready in July. I dug mine up on a ready to eat basis. There’s no need to dig them all up as they will be perfectly happy sitting in the soil until you are ready to eat.
If you are in a sheltered area you will need to water regularly, but be careful not to water too often as this can rot the potato. Its easier to judge the watering when the leaves and branches are fully developed as they’ll soon look knackered if they haven’t been watered enough.
If you are feeling generous, throw in some organic potato feed and mix it in to the soil. This will ensure that the compost has sufficient nitrogen to feed the potatoes and make them taste lovely.
Snowdrops
These beautiful little things were the first to appear after, quite frankly, a winter so hideous I’m suprised anything planted back in September survived. I didn’t realise quite how obsessive some people actually are about snowdrops - the term I believe is a Galanthaphile – these crazy kids will buy up some bulbs at £40 each. That is a meal at my favourite restaurant…
Anyway, there are a few different varieties here http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/allotment/2010/feb/18/allotments-gardeningadvice but my favourite has to be ‘Grumpy’ with its two little cross eyes and downturned mouth… I love it! (image taken from RampantScotland.com).
I can’t think of a flower that would sum me up better, so I am going to be surrounding myself with these little terrors next year… brilliant. Here’s a couple of pix of the ones I grew on the balcony a couple of weeks ago. I suppose I could always get the sharpie out and put two eyes on myself…
Somehow, they are never quite as pretty as they are when you see them growing in their natural territory … I came across these taking the family dog a little walk back in Staffordshire. It was amazing to see how strong and big they get in the woodlands… I’ve probably been spoiling mine a bit too much with the gardening equivalent of massages and cocktails.
Irises
The balcony is starting to spring (ahem) to life. I planted some spring bulbs back in September and its lovely to see them coming through as I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I’ve been obsessed with my Irises, which have produced a beuatiful purple and orange colour. I love the delicate inner petals that contrast with the outer ones. The flower reminds me of a chinese mythical creature, or maybe I enjoyed my teenage years a bit too much…
Just about to bloom
