Four generations gardening

My mother, daughter and granddaughter were all at the plot on Sunday helping me to get my legumes in and pot on some plants and fit the roof to my new fruit cage.
We planted out the pea's iv'e grown in pots and also placed a few beds from seed.
Also the last of my beans which are french, borlotto and runner
That's four generations including me, all enjoying the lovely weather.
All three seemed to enjoy it and we caught a tan as well.
After all this i put my Brassicas in the cold frame to get ready for planting out at the weekend weather permitting.

Also my tadpoles are growing and their mum still hangs around in the pond.

mulch

Its not much but its effective.

3 Barrows full and a patch of compost later.

That should keep the weeds at bay and the mud off my boots.

The manure patched bed is my purple asparagus.

Weed weed weed

I spent the morning digging up my leeks which are now simmering in the pan to make soup with.
I then removed my plants from the same bed which is going to have my wall rebuilt next week.
Once i had completed the plant removal i weeded out the perennial weeds which were very big and very deep but i got them all out and left them on the path to dry out in the afternoon sun.
Next i decided to weed the lower asparagus bed ready to cover it with manure and then wood-chips.
I also harvested my first Rhubarb so a nice crumble is on the cards now mmmmmm.
Just before leaving i checked on my Tadpoles who seem to be loving my little pond.
And my plumb tree is in full bloom with new leaves following on.

All i need do now is add the manure and wood chips.

They are small but you can just make them out.

I hope the bee's have been busy pollinating the flowers.

Strawberry bed

My strawberry's arrived today so on my way home  i went straight to my plot to plant them out.
Even with 30 plants i had lots of space left so i filled the space with some old plants from last year.
These ill renew with runners from the new type at the end of the year.
I now have 37 strawberry's in that bed plus a few spare in my fruit bush bed.

you have to look close to see them.

Bean Pole

Had a great day today even though the weather was not sunny like the weather sites said.
My first job was to get my strawberry bed dug over ready for the 30 Elsanta strawberry's i have ordered.
I dug out the old strawberry's which were hand me downs last year and then dug over the bed, breaking it up as much as possible, i then manured it and then planted out my two step over apple trees that will align the beds like a fence.

My next job was to plant out some of the plants in the greenhouse, i have planted one tomatillo two million tomato's (cherry type), two cayenne chili pepper's and two big Jim chili pepper type along with two cucumbers, french marigold's and a load of mini lettuce.

I then potted on some more small lettuce for succession growing.

Next was the job of getting my broad bean supports erected and then plant the broad beans, of which i have 8.

I took a few more pic's to show the plots coming along nicely with some weeding needed.

Lastly i straightened my bed planks with metal poles for strength.

On my way off the plot i picked some daffodils for the house.

Wild Garlic in bloom

Today i potted on a lot of my herbs and flowers before they become pot bound. i fixed my bird nest box and put it in a tree with a fat ball hanging from it, hopefully ill get one nesting in there.
I watered my greenhouse bed ready for planting out my tomatoes  cucumber, tomatilloes, chilies and lettuce which is to keep the bed full and weed free.
Ill also plant out my french marigold that will help keep the green fly away.
When watering my beds i noticed my wild garlic that i had potted up whilst making my two beds into one, have flowered.
Im very pleased about this as i hope to get them established well in my new herb bed once i have rebuilt the wall around it.
I also noticed my Plum tee was starting to flower.
Ill be spending all day tomorrow on my plot to get a lot more done.

My Rhubarb is starting to flourish and i cant wait to get my first harvest to make a lovely crumble. 

Spawn to Tadpole

When i popped to my allotment to water my seedlings, which are doing great, see pictures, i had a sneaky look at my pond to see how the frog spawn was doing and noticed they had developed little tails.
It wont be long before they are big enough to hatch and start swimming around.
Apparently they will eat soggy lettuce until they develop legs then they become meat eaters where ill need to provide some sort of meat or they will start to eat each other...

Weeding time

I spent my time down the allotment mostly weeding today.
My asparagus bed was riddled with buttercups and the odd strawberry runner.
I managed to clear it all and replant the strawberries.
I just need to add manure and then mulch the bed to keep it weed free.
Then when i got home i ordered 30 strawberry plants so i can get that bed finished and then plant out my step over apple tree's.
After watering my seedlings in the greenhouse i fixed my raspberry supports and then tidied my shed a little then put out my broad-beans sweet-peas and beetroot into the cold-frame to get used to the colder weather ready to plant out.

Slug Destroying Army

On my way home today i popped to my allotment to check how my seedlings are doing and did a bit of watering.
Just before i left i decided to check my little pond i put in for the frog's.
Last weekend i found a large frog and popped her into my pond and i wanted to see if she had made home there.
To my surprise she had decided to lay all her frog spawn there and i will have an army of little frogs soon to eradicate all those pesky slugs over the summer.

Potting on

I managed to pot on my chilies and tomatillo's and a few flowers of which i am not sure what they are as the label has faded.
Ill have to wait until they grow fully.

Monday night chore

I had to go to the allotment tonight to check what damage the wind may have done.

Luckily it had only shaken up my plastic greenhouse so all is well.

After watering my seedlings i decided i need to do at least one job a visit, so i moved my netting tubes that support the netting over my brassica's.

After this i took two large pots home as i had received my new cherry tree and wanted to pot on another plant.

I bought at asda some compost and cheap pots for potting on and after filling them it started to rain so they are in my conservatory ready to get potting on.

 

Rained off

Well i was all set for a full day on my allotment and went there with high enthusiasm.
I started by planting more seeds and potting on my cos lettuce.
I then planted out my shallots and onions and was very pleased with myself.
So i decided now was the time to start tidying up areas so i can develop new beds etc and managed to manure my rhubarb, cleared all the pruning's from last week and then pulled up all the weed prevention from my old strawberry bed as i am renewing this with all the same type of strawberries for either jam or wine making.
It was at this point i was rained off.
Before this i was quite worried hanging around the greenhouse with the wind gushing so strongly, especially after last year when a piece of glass had flown out and smashed into the ground.
The good news is i got a lot done in the few hours i was there and i also came across a large frog who i popped in to my new frog pond, fingers crossed it will be her new home and ill get tadpoles and then an army of slug eaters.

A few pics of my greenhouse filling up.

The move

Over the weekend i spread out the fruit bushed in my newly made larger fruit bed.
I first pruned my Goosberrys and moved them then i moved my three Blackcurrants then my BlackBerry and then my Jogiberry leaving just my two Blueberry's which i just moved a few feet.
Also i moved my temporary planted Apple trees that will be two of my step over apple trees.

After all this and some good watering in i planted out most of the remainder of my seeds.
There is a lot to mention so ill get the list together for a later post.
Here are a few Picks of the new layed out bed that needs mulching with manure and wood chips and the last one is a picture of my present pots in the greenhouse.

Two become one

I spent most of Easter Sunday cleaning outside of my greenhouse and cleaning the cloche ready for new plants.
I managed to also manure the new greenhouse bed and the bed for Legumes.
I dug the new frog pond and covered it because i don't think i'm allowed one but i need the frogs to help with all the slugs.
And then i started my move two beds that are fruit and herbs into one bed for a larger fruit bed which i finished off today.
All i have to do next is get my flower bed changed into my new herb bed and then transplant my herbs so i can spread my fruit bushes out ready for my new fruit cage.

Before, frog pond to the back right hidden for now under glass.

After a nice 10' x 10' size ready for a new fruit cage.

I can't believe its still freezing

I spent the morning on Friday washing out the inside of my greenhouse and my staging giving it a good spring clean ready for warmer weather.
Unfortunately i have caught the bug i had at the start of the year off my wife and it slowed me down and i had to keep taking rests.
I managed to get it all done and just need to manure the greenhouse bed and two beds i have left ready for crops.
Jobs then left to do, dig the hole for my mini frog pond, clean out my shed then paint it, fix my wall then fit a fence to secure it more then rearrange my fruit bed ready for a large cage.

After all that i'm hoping to grow some crops.
here's a few pic's of my seedlings so far.