Snowdrops with Ivy

Snowdrops with Ivy

Hurray, spring is on it’s way! I am beginning to  re-awaken after my Winter hibernation and  am venturing out into the garden. I am definitely a fair weather gardener.

Seed sowing has now begun in earnest, but I am now behind having been struck down by a horrible virus – not a good time of year for it!

Things I really should do!

One of the things that I need to do, is keep a proper list of all the seeds that I sow, and the date sown. I do try to do, but usually end up with scraps of paper scattered about, wet record books (wayward watering with the hose), lost pencils and pens so can’t write what I have done. Luckily though, I remembered that my daughter did a spreadsheet of all of my seeds a year or two ago, so I have printed these off and am determined to keep a record of what I am doing – watch this space!

Sowing and Planting Undercover

Mustard in the greenhouse

Mustard in the greenhouse

Our greenhouse is about 10ft x 8 ft and has raised  wooden beds on one side, which are divided into three sections. We  bought some large bags/containers from Marshalls Seeds  which fit exactly into these  beds and we have used them for growing tomatoes in previous years. As I am once again embarking on a healthy eating programme, I decided to start growing some veg a bit earlier this year. I have sowed  lettuces, rocket, beetroot and spring onions in one of these containers and  will hope that they will have been cropped by the time the tomatoes go in.

The tomato seeds were sowed into individual modules yesterday, a bit late, but I’m sure they will be ok, and it will give the salads a bit more time to grow (see below for our tomato info).

As I say, I am not usually one for ‘early crops’ but we have covered one large bed in  the kitchen garden with fleece to see if it has an effect on soil temperature. Being in the northern part of the country we are usually a few weeks behind those balmy southern counties, so I think that it may be a good idea to see if we can warm things up a bit earlier than usual.

Tomatoes

As usual, we grow some which we must have :

  • Sungold, a yellow cherry tomato, very sweet and prolific
  • Gardeners Delight, a traditional red cherry tomato, very tasty and prolific
  • Tumbling Tom, a red cherry variety ideal for pots and hanging baskets, and does well outdoors

And also try some others:

  • Super Marmande, a large irregularly shapes variety, mainly for salads and sarnies. Not liked by Paul!!
  • San Marzano, a plum tomato for cooking with. Quite late to fruit here, but a good doer.
  • Latah, a red heritage variety from the ‘Real Seed Company’ I have had the seed for about four years, and am trying them out for the first time this year!

I would like to grow Black Krim and Chocolate Cherry but as they are quite expensive, I am too stingy to pay for them. Does anyone know if Black Krim and Russina are the same tomato?

Freecycle

We grow quite a lot of raspberries in the garden as it is our favourite fruit. We have tried summer berrying varieties in the past but they haven’t been very successful, so we have stuck to Autumn Bliss which is reliable and tasty.

However, I have decided to try to extend the berrying  season so have bought some  summer fruiters again and have planted about 12 foot of Glen Ample raspberries. I will report back on their success.

We were very reluctant to throw good stock away, so Paul put the raspberries on  freecycle yesterday afternoon, and literally within minutes had a number of replies. In the end three local women arrived (individually) and took away the canes – how’s that for recycling?