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Monday 21 May 2012
A Taste of Summer
Monday started off dull and cool and stayed that way until mid afternoon when it brightened up and became much milder. A taste of things to come.
Our potato experiment on the plot, forced on us somewhat by the weather, reached phase 2. All our potatoes planted on 21st April are now pushing through the soil.
They’re a little difficult to spot in this picture but these Nicola and Charlotte varieties are just beginning to make an appearance.
So one month on some of our remaining tubers were planted today. The plan is that these will provide some new potatoes later in the season. The string line marks the row planted and I’ve enough tubers left to plant another row alongside.
Last year at this time our potatoes were certainly more advanced as this picture below shows. It was taken on 17th May last year.
I wonder how much catching up this year’s crop will do given their very late planting compared to last year.
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Phew!
After a long wait some warm weather has turned up. Tuesday’s temperature was 25.3°C, the warmest day of the year.
Our celery and celeriac were planted out on the plot today. After all my doubts about how well they were doing at various stages of their development I was pleased with the condition of the plants.
They were sown on 27th February and placed under the grow light to germinate. The seeds had germinated by 6th March but even under the light the young seedlings took on a rather leggy look.
They remained under the light until the 9th April when they were transplanted into modules still a bit on the leggy side.
They were left to grow on in our unheated greenhouse. By the 5th of May they were starting to develop into much stronger looking plants.
So now they are planted out into their final positions. All we need to do is make sure we keep them well watered and hope that they remain pest free or attack from any allotment predators.
Celery and celeriac planted out on 22nd May 2012 from seeds sown on 27th February
Wednesday 23 May 2012
In Search of Perfect Sunshine Trace
Wednesday produced another fantastic day with virtually unbroken sunshine and a new hottest day of the year 25.7°C (78.3°F) beating yesterday by 0.4°C.
The last couple of days have produced almost unbroken sunshine. Tuesday gave 10.2 hours of sunshine according to my weather station and the trace for the day looks like this.
Through most of the day the trace gives unbroken sunshine. But in the morning and late afternoon there’s a crab apple problem. Around 08:00 the measurement is affected as the sunshine is broken up by the top branches of our crab apple “John Downie” and then later by another crab apple “Profusion”. For the next month as the sun gets higher in the sky the dappled effect might disappear to give a perfect trace if the weather plays its part.
In the garden I cleared the summerhouse base of construction debris and it’s now ready for the summerhouse to be erected next week. The pond filter still needs to be located in its final position but that can wait until after the the summerhouse is completed.
Thursday 24 May 2012
New Horizon
Thursday produced a new hottest day of the year just a tad warmer (hotter?) than yesterday 26.7°C (80.1°F).
I’ve been experimenting using New Horizon Peat Free Multipurpose Compost. As you may have read on Sue’s blog we’re struggling to find a good consistent compost. New Horizon got a good review in Kitchen Garden magazine and was credited with a Which Report “best buy” tag so I thought it was worth a try.
Beechgrove Garden on BBC Scotland have also been trialling several composts reported the results so far on in last night’s episode. Each programme has its own fact sheet and you can view this by clicking on the picture below. The compost report is on page 2 under Garden Diary.
Our results have been much the same. I’ve thought for a few weeks that the plants were very slow growing but put this down to the cold weather rather than the compost. I’m sure the cold weather has played its part.
These pansies were transplanted on 7th May and look generally OK but frankly I would have expected larger plants by now. Below are some cabbage plants “Golden Acre” sown on 6th April and transplanted on 3rd May.
They’re not looking too bad now but I’m sure I’ve grown better plants. The advice from Beechgrove garden is that feeding should help so I’ll give them a feed with some liquid seaweed fertiliser.
Germination rates in New Horizon were excellent as reported from the trial on Beechgrove Garden. I’d say these peas and French beans have an almost 100% germination rate and perhaps they too will get a feed when I give the plants a water this evening.
So far I reckon it’s worth persisting with New Horizon Peat free. Perhaps it’s a case of developing a technique for growing in this new medium so if I can do my little bit to help save a peat bog somewhere I’ll give it a go. My next step is to sow some lettuces and radishes in the compost and see how they perform.
Friday 25 May 2012
Phacelia Progress
Friday was another warm day with a pleasant breeze in the afternoon.
Our first green manure crop of Phacelia is now progressing well after a very slow start. It was sown on the 20th March and then followed what seemed like weeks of damp cold weather. There were signs of germination by 12th April but even then growth was very slow not what I expected from green manure.
This is how the crop was fairing by the 5th May. This was 4 weeks after first signs of germination and I was thinking that perhaps I should have sown the seed rather more generously than stated on the seed packet.
Without me noticing the crop has suddenly taken off especially with the much warmer weather over the last week or so.
Just like the grass it’s put on a spurt in the last few days. I guess it does look a bit untidy but perhaps that will improve when the grass is cut and edged. There is some grass growing in parts of the bed which will have to be removed as the bed is dug. Its now a matter of do we leave it to flower or dig it in before it has a chance to set any seed.
The Phacelia has certainly produced a dense carpet of vegetation and should do wonders to improve the soil once it has been dug into the soil. The crop will grow up to 1.0m in height so it has a way to go yet. The flowers are very attractive to insects and are even supposed to be good as a cut flower. On the downside it sets seed easily so its a difficult decision on whether to let it flower or not. Perhaps I might leave just a small patch to flower for the bees and other pollinating insects.
Saturday 26 May 2012
Filling Up
The brilliant spell of weather continued on Saturday making it the fifth day in a row that the daily high temperature has exceeded 20°C.
On the plot the grass was cut, some more flowers added to the wild flower patch and some radishes and spring onions were sown in the celery and celeriac bed. At last after a very slow start to the season parts of the plot are at last beginning to look like something is growing rather than just patches of soil. As we gardeners are a hard bunch to please some overnight rain would be welcome on the plot as that April soaking has now dried out.
Sunday 27 May 2012
Unkempt - We Have Those Bits Too!
Sunday was another brilliant day. We visited the plot and did a little bit but spent much of the time sitting in the shade and putting the world to rights with our plot neighbours.
We certainly have areas of our plot in desperate need of attention and as you might guess we tend to avoid posting photographs of these areas.
This is one of those beds. It’s our over-wintering brassica bed from last year. Some old roots have been removed but the bed is now ready for a good clear out. It doesn’t matter which way you look at this bed it’s definitely untidy.
But lurking in amongst the weeds and old broccoli plants I found a Mayfair cauliflower and a Durham Early cabbage so I felt much better for not having already cleared this bed.
I guess I’m out of excuses now for not sorting out this patch, but it is rather hot at the moment and a drop of rain would soften the soil up to make getting weeds out easier. Maybe the end of the week might be a good time.
Monday 28 May 2012
A Scorcher!
Monday continued the heat wave that has suddenly arrived and produced the hottest day of the year with the temperature reaching 28°C (82°F). It may well turn out to be the hottest day we get this year especially if this summer turns out to be like last year.
As you can see from the temperature chart for the last 12 months the spell of weather at the moment is better than anything we managed last summer.
In the garden it was a question of finding a nice shady spot to do some pricking out of cucumber and courgette plants as well as sowing more french beans.
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Summerhouse Day
The fine spell of weather continued on Tuesday but a few degrees cooler than the scorcher we had yesterday.
After spending from last autumn through to this spring preparing the base for our new summerhouse the big day arrived and our summerhouse was constructed. Much to my relief it fitted the base. We don’t have space in our garden to allow for large overlaps so the base was just the correct size.
This was probably the best this area ever looked when the wisteria was in flower. Other than that there was never a desire to take any photographs of this part of the garden.
By the middle of winter though things were looking much worse as most of the demolition work had taken place and construction had still to begin.
But now it’s all sorted and the summerhouse is built and ready for use. It’s certainly made a massive improvement to this area of the garden.
All we need to do now is sort out some furniture to make use of our new acquisition. There are more pictures over on Sue’s blog too.
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Torrential Rain and New Horizon Compost Update
Wednesday was warm and muggy with less sunshine than we’ve become accustomed to. Then around 21:00 the heavens opened and it tipped down. At one stage the rain was falling at 100mm/hr (4”/hr) equivalent to a month’s rainfall every 30 minutes. Thankfully it didn’t last long.
Before the rain came I had a check over some plants growing in New Horizon peat free compost. I was a little unsure, in my last post on this topic, about my brassica plants growing in this medium. Perhaps it was the cold weather holding them back as they’ve now produced good plants, helped on by this recent spell of warm weather, and are now ready for planting in the plot .
Cabbages - Golden Acre (Sown 6 th April)
Foreground red cabbage Huzaro, then cabbage Kilaton and at the back sprouts Crispus. Cabbages sown on 16th April and Brussels sprouts on 6th April)
I’ve also tried sowing French beans and runner beans in modules of New Horizon peat free compost - as an experiment to see if this compost suited them. I thought it a bit of a risk at the time as, due to the cold weather, I was already late sowing these seeds and didn’t want another set back with poor germination as a result of poor compost. I needn’t have worried as the results have been very good with almost 100% germination and some strong healthy looking plants.
Runner beans - Painted Lady (sown 17 th May)
French beans - Tendergreen (sown 13 th May)
So far so good with this peat free compost. I’ve also got some courgettes and cucumber growing in this compost and I’m hoping the results will be just as good.
Thursday 31 May 2012
Very Dull
After all the sunshine over the past week, Thursday turned out dull with some light rain on and off throughout the day. It was the first time in 9 days that the temperature didn’t manage 20°C.
It certainly wasn’t a day for doing much outside. I had some rhubarb to cook and decided to compare the difference between 2 varieties. The first is a little uncertain it comes from one of our old mature roots which we think is probably Victoria but we’re not absolutely sure. The second is Giant Grooveless Crimson a variety we added a few years ago which now crops reasonably well.
On the left is our typical stewed rhubarb compared with the much darker red colour of Giant Grooveless Crimson living up to its name.