I've always wanted to go to the Chelsea Flower Show, just once, just to see if it really is as great as it looks. Cameras on TV programmes always turn away from the avenues I want to wander down, photos are never enough and I'm really not interested in what hat the Queen is wearing (sorry probably treason).
Gardens/plants/flowers are sensory things to me, I need to be able to touch and smell them, I want to be able to stop and stare and discover it all for myself. For so many reasons I've never been able to go and this year wasn't going to be any different, until...
Until today when my phone rings whilst I'm on the bus on my way home from work. My heart sinks....you hear so many inane phone conversations you wished you hadn't whilst trapped on a bus...I don't want to be another phone bore. I see it's a call from a really good friend so I sink down in my seat and answer it...
'You need to get the day off work...I've got tickets to Chelsea...'
What can I say? I have a great friend, a nice boss who would rather let me have the day off than listen any more to my pleading;) and Chris who I am leaving with all the lovely children to sort out on a school day. So I can go to Chelsea...just once...wonder if I should wear a hat?
Friday, 15 May 2015
Monday, 11 May 2015
From bluebells to asparagus...
Just daft dog and me this weekend on a sneaky afternoon up to the allotment, thanks Chris for taking small boy to the library;) The woods were beautiful on the walk there. I tried to take an 'arty' photo of daft dog, a blue Beddlington in a sea of bluebells...he being a very fast, typical terrier with a complete lack of understanding for my poetic nonsense had a different idea...not a chance, hence the blurry Beddlington shot! (nothing at all to do with having a terrible camera phone and no photography talent)
When we got to the plot, I finally had to admit to myself that the sticks I'd been lovingly watering were going to stay sticks and not miraculously spring into life, willing them to live just wasn't going to be enough. So, sadly but without any great surprise I pulled up over half of the raspberry canes that I had planted in autumn. I had planted them with snow on the ground, small boy had built a snowman next to me as I had scrapped the snow back with frozen fingers to put them in. I had made the fatal mistake of thinking just because there wasn't any snow in my garden at home that a 5 minute drive to the allotment up a hill it would be the same, it wasn't. I'd had them planted temporarily at home in a container with a straw mulch and made the decision that it would be worst to take them home to have to dig them up a second time, so I scrapped the snow away and risked it. There is a reason why you never see Monty Don planting raspberries in snow...it kills them! I suppose the actual miracle is the 2 plants that have survived, both Joan J's. Obviously tough little plants, I like to think that it's because they share a name with my aunt, she wouldn't let a bit of snow stop her...talking at least;) (pretty sure she'll never read this!)They even have the beginnings of little flower buds on them.
I've also lost my borlotti beans to frost and my inexperience. I was lulled by the beautiful spring weather into a false sense of security completely forgetting I live in the north! The sun beat down as I happily built them a twiggy wigwam, the birds sang...lambs were definitely skipping about somewhere, there was a scent of BBQs in the air. That night the temperature plunged, the BBQs were quickly put away and my poor borlottis keeled over immediately. A bit like that great Peter Kay sketch when he's impersonating a rich tea biscuit dipped into tea, 'it's too hot, it's too hot'...my borlottis were crying, 'it's too cold, it's too cold!' (please try an watch that sketch it's a classic!)
So I've learnt a few lessons the hard way...do not plant raspberries in the snow and last frost dates must be learnt and abided by even if the lambs are dancing the Tango!
But there were things that made me smile too. The broad beans I planted last year are looking very happy the flowers are just so pretty and I've noticed that they are scented as well, so hopefully we'll get some beans from them. I had to take a photo of the snails I found near my compost bin too, I know they are a gardeners nemesis but these are particularly well dressed snails...snail fashionistas who'd have thought? they match the broad bean flowers perfectly;) but as much as I could admire the atheistic of that I wouldn't be too impressed if I found them there!
The peas I planted, Early Onward and Douce Provence, at the same time as the borlottis thankfully didn't go all Mediterranean on me and just brushed the frost off. I noticed they are getting flowers on them already...woo hoo!
My most exciting moment though was seeing the first spears of my asparagus coming through. My excitement was tempered a bit when I looked up and saw that the plot directly behind me (that has just been taken over) is slowly turning yellow, which I'm guessing means they've just put weed killer on the whole lot. Oh please, please, please let my asparagus be ok, its right next to the tide of yellow that is descending. I have no idea what they've used, they weren't about to ask. Bit cross if I'm honest, I have a sea of weeds to battle but I fight with them fair and square with a fork and the occasional bad back...using chemicals just seems like cheating, not to mention using chemicals so close to someone who just wants her asparagus to survive seems a bit cruel! I guess that's one of the drawbacks of an allotment, you really have no control over what people right next to you can do.
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
A Spring green Monday...
What's not to love about a 3 day weekend? On our bonus day we ended up walking somewhere I used to walk a lot when my big boys were small, I thought I knew it quite well, but we turned off the main path and I realised that I didn't know it at all. We had always followed the main path all those years ago and I would have to not look whilst the boys clambered over the rocks in the river with their dad, they would be having a great time...I would be having the minor heart palpitations of an hysterical mother!
Anyway, off the main path yesterday, it was all beautifully new to me which was lovely to rediscover with Chris and Small boy, Chris had never been there himself and the sun was shining which made it all the better...and warmer! I would always recommend going off the main path wherever you are...unless on a cliff edge of course:)...you might just find something you never knew was there.
Small boy discovered the ruins of a giant's castle whilst we were walking. Oh to have the imagination of a 4 year old...that can make a pile of old stones seem so magical! There's Chris and I trying to think what they were once part of in a very grown up (boring) way, Small boy just saw a really exciting climbing frame (the heart palpitations were back in a second...)
I was really happy to see the same bonkers cafe at the end of our walk where a chip butty and a barking dog are compulsory. You can buy your tea by the pint...honestly...borrow a dog or 3 (make sure they can bark) forget the diet and find the Grindleford station café. It's not fine dining but when you've climbed a few hills who needs salad? It's not a very well kept secret either, so when the sun is shining be prepared to join that great British queue:)
The blue sky made the fresh springtime green even more vivid if that was possible...it has to truly be one of natures happiest colours...I thought I was an Autumn season lover but I'm starting to really appreciate the colours of Spring now...perhaps it's an age thing;)
Anyway, off the main path yesterday, it was all beautifully new to me which was lovely to rediscover with Chris and Small boy, Chris had never been there himself and the sun was shining which made it all the better...and warmer! I would always recommend going off the main path wherever you are...unless on a cliff edge of course:)...you might just find something you never knew was there.
Small boy discovered the ruins of a giant's castle whilst we were walking. Oh to have the imagination of a 4 year old...that can make a pile of old stones seem so magical! There's Chris and I trying to think what they were once part of in a very grown up (boring) way, Small boy just saw a really exciting climbing frame (the heart palpitations were back in a second...)
I was really happy to see the same bonkers cafe at the end of our walk where a chip butty and a barking dog are compulsory. You can buy your tea by the pint...honestly...borrow a dog or 3 (make sure they can bark) forget the diet and find the Grindleford station café. It's not fine dining but when you've climbed a few hills who needs salad? It's not a very well kept secret either, so when the sun is shining be prepared to join that great British queue:)
The blue sky made the fresh springtime green even more vivid if that was possible...it has to truly be one of natures happiest colours...I thought I was an Autumn season lover but I'm starting to really appreciate the colours of Spring now...perhaps it's an age thing;)
Saturday, 2 May 2015
A lesson in green manure...
I have books, magazines, the internet and tv to learn from, seems like a lot to go on but sometimes you read something and think...great I'm going to do that...you do...only to read something later that tells you why you really shouldn't have bothered!
And so it was (in part) with my lesson in green manure last year. I read loads, it all seemed so positive. I researched meticulously about which to plant before which crop, the ones that are from the brassica family, the legumes, the all rounders.
I had my brand new plot marked out and Chris built me raised beds on one side with old decking that we'd taken up from our garden. Eventually though we ran out of decking so I had concentrated the initial planting in the beds that I had. I needed to do something with the side that I wasn't ready to plant quickly before the bindweed realised that I had stopped watching for a second. I hated the idea of covering the whole thing in plastic, beside I couldn't afford the decent weed suppressant fabric, the stuff that doesn't just shred into a thousand pieces at the slightest gust of wind (believe me cheap weed fabric isn't worth it...said in my best EastEnders accent for emphasis...it just ain't worth it). So I did my homework, green manure seemed like a great answer.
I sowed 4 lots of different green manures in early Autumn dictated by what I was hoping to be able to plant there this year. I grew Phacelia, Italian rye grass, Winter Tares and Mustard all from Sowseeds.co.uk, who have great information on their site. I grew Mustard on what is now the potato bed, it grew and looked brilliant, the healthiest thing on my plot. It did battle with the bindweed and seemed to win, the nettles still held a corner though;) It flowered and looked even better, I know you're not really supposed to let it flower but I was doing it for the bees, the Phacilia was particularly beautiful.
It was the Mustard that I had a bit of an issue with though, it just kept growing...I had no idea it was such a monster plant, nothing beat it, it was quite spectacular. I should have realised when I started to have to hack at it to keep it within my boundaries and not let it thugishly take over my neighbours plot, that I had unleashed a monster. The first frosts came and the Phacilia soon succumbed as I knew it would, it just laid down and gave up, it had done its thing very beautifully, I'd had vases of it in the kitchen, I would miss it. The mustard however wasn't quite ready to give up, it fought on, the gloves were off but eventually a few inches of snow put an end to its nonsense...or so I thought. It was when the snow cleared that I had the first indication of my possible naïve mistake, where the mustard had been I had what looked like a patch of bamboo...rigid hollow stalks like so many fingers put up at me saying, 'take that you idiot'. Now I read Bob Flowerdew's book on companion planting, saying green manures are great...for farmers with acres of land and the tractors and machinery to clear it. I didn't have acres or a tractor, I had a lot of digging to do and god knows if those lovely strong hollow stalks didn't just scream 'slug hotel' come on in!
The jury is still out for me on my green manure experiment. It had to be a good thing for the soil in the long run, but the proof will be in this years planting, which I've only just begun in my new raised beds. I'll probably avoid Mustard this year, it took an awful lot of digging to clear it, but I've already got my Phacilia seeds at the ready;)
I've just seen this article by Alys Fowler on the Guardian website...
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/18/alys-fowler-green-manures-gardens
I'm going to give Crimson Clover a go too now around my raspberries. It's an on-going experiment in green manure for me but hopefully I will find the right formula eventually:)
And so it was (in part) with my lesson in green manure last year. I read loads, it all seemed so positive. I researched meticulously about which to plant before which crop, the ones that are from the brassica family, the legumes, the all rounders.
I had my brand new plot marked out and Chris built me raised beds on one side with old decking that we'd taken up from our garden. Eventually though we ran out of decking so I had concentrated the initial planting in the beds that I had. I needed to do something with the side that I wasn't ready to plant quickly before the bindweed realised that I had stopped watching for a second. I hated the idea of covering the whole thing in plastic, beside I couldn't afford the decent weed suppressant fabric, the stuff that doesn't just shred into a thousand pieces at the slightest gust of wind (believe me cheap weed fabric isn't worth it...said in my best EastEnders accent for emphasis...it just ain't worth it). So I did my homework, green manure seemed like a great answer.
I sowed 4 lots of different green manures in early Autumn dictated by what I was hoping to be able to plant there this year. I grew Phacelia, Italian rye grass, Winter Tares and Mustard all from Sowseeds.co.uk, who have great information on their site. I grew Mustard on what is now the potato bed, it grew and looked brilliant, the healthiest thing on my plot. It did battle with the bindweed and seemed to win, the nettles still held a corner though;) It flowered and looked even better, I know you're not really supposed to let it flower but I was doing it for the bees, the Phacilia was particularly beautiful.
It was the Mustard that I had a bit of an issue with though, it just kept growing...I had no idea it was such a monster plant, nothing beat it, it was quite spectacular. I should have realised when I started to have to hack at it to keep it within my boundaries and not let it thugishly take over my neighbours plot, that I had unleashed a monster. The first frosts came and the Phacilia soon succumbed as I knew it would, it just laid down and gave up, it had done its thing very beautifully, I'd had vases of it in the kitchen, I would miss it. The mustard however wasn't quite ready to give up, it fought on, the gloves were off but eventually a few inches of snow put an end to its nonsense...or so I thought. It was when the snow cleared that I had the first indication of my possible naïve mistake, where the mustard had been I had what looked like a patch of bamboo...rigid hollow stalks like so many fingers put up at me saying, 'take that you idiot'. Now I read Bob Flowerdew's book on companion planting, saying green manures are great...for farmers with acres of land and the tractors and machinery to clear it. I didn't have acres or a tractor, I had a lot of digging to do and god knows if those lovely strong hollow stalks didn't just scream 'slug hotel' come on in!
The jury is still out for me on my green manure experiment. It had to be a good thing for the soil in the long run, but the proof will be in this years planting, which I've only just begun in my new raised beds. I'll probably avoid Mustard this year, it took an awful lot of digging to clear it, but I've already got my Phacilia seeds at the ready;)
I've just seen this article by Alys Fowler on the Guardian website...
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/18/alys-fowler-green-manures-gardens
I'm going to give Crimson Clover a go too now around my raspberries. It's an on-going experiment in green manure for me but hopefully I will find the right formula eventually:)
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