And then there was greenery …..

And there I saw a spike of green …..

Yesterday, the Mudlets were excited to see that in three of the four propagators we planted up last week, there are signs of life. Radish and mixed lettuce have appeared in the green propagator. Mangetout, climbing beans and a runners are popping up in one of the black propagators and mixed winter squash are peeking out in a second black propagator. Still no signs of life in the third black propagator which is home to pumpkins and another winter squash variety, or in Little Mudlets rose tin but Middle Mudlet has emerging seedlings in her tin of Gerbera. I don’t realistically expect the roses to appear for at lest another seven days, though, so all is well.

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Seeds, seedlings and a tin of Red Roses

I fell for the ‘Scardy Cat’ label

Every year there comes a point where every available windowsill in the house is home to seeds and/or seedlings because I need to get on with this years crops but it is far too cold to be setting seed in the greenhouses and if I wait any longer then many of the vegetables won’t be ready before the growing season comes to an end.

Gardening Club: Seeds and weeds

Slowly but surely the garden is turning green.

Several sessions of Gardening Club have been held now and I have to say that the children are phenomenal. The youngest of the members is only 4 years old and yet he handles the seedlings like a pro, showing a level of care and tenderness belying his age. However, what is really good to see, is that those children who have been members for the last couple of years or so, are helping the newbies, showing them how to do things, guiding them without taking over and these simple actions have helped chase away the last of the doubts I had after the disappointment and disheartening events of last Autumn. Here, in my small group of children, I have learned that whatever else happens in terms of not being able to get people to take and use the harvest, the vegetable patch has brought out the best in these young people, encouraging them to be tolerant, have patience and to help others, even, as was the case with one of my 6 year old gardeners on Wednesday, if by doing so, you miss out on the fun task of planting your own plant that session (she ran out of time).

Mangetout Oregon Sugar Pod

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

 

Variety: Oregon Sugar Pod
Sown direct: 27th July 2014
First Seedling: 4th August 2014
Germination: 1 weeks
Germination ratio: 12/15

7th August:

  

Unfortunately, although these germinated and grew well, the colder weather hit a little earlier than I anticipated and I wasn’t able to get them into the ground. I will be growing these again next season, as this variety has always done well in my garden in the past.

Mangetout – a disappointing show

Out with the new and in with the old: Oregon Sugar Pod seeds sown

Last Sunday I sowed some more mangetout seeds but this time I reverted back to the “Oregon Sugar Pod” variety I normally grow. I managed to pick up a fresh packet of seeds for half price, whilst at the garden centre, having been thoroughly disappointed with the performance of the “Bijou” and “Golden Sweet” varieties that I had purchased from the Real Seed Catalogue.

Side shoots, mangetout and some chillies

Three of the four tomato side shoot plants in the raised beds

I have this thing about not being able to throw away plants. Thinning out is something that is only done when absolutely necessary, bolting lettuces – well I get rid of them eventually and as for sickly seedlings they have to be pretty much brown and totally unrecognisable before I am convinced they won’t make it and need composting.

Pigeon prevention

I know you’re all green with envy over my breath taking creation

Last year my mangetout took a bit of a beating from the local pigeon population, with these thug like birds walking along the length of my fence helping themselves to the juicy growing tips and causing huge amounts of damage from which I thought the plants would not recover. In the end I created a grid of criss crossing yarn above and around them, using the fence as an anchor point, which made things a little more difficult for the opportunist pigeons, as the strands impeded their ability to land on the fence and every day I poked any emerging tips nearest the fence, back down and under the grid through which the pigeons were reluctant to stick their heads.

Land Rover special tool number 154 (otherwise known as a ball of wool)

Thinnings of my Carrot Early Nantes and a nice amount of mangetout

The life of a Land Rover owners wife is a strange one, especially where her husband is concerned. He is a strange and unpredictable creature, in a very predictable sort of way. Confused? I’m not surprised. I’m frequently confused and I’ve had several years to get used to the vagaries of Land Rovers and their owners.

Pigeon with mangetout and sweetcorn

A protective matrix for the mangetout

Well that’s how I would like to see the pigeon that has been happily munching away on my mangetout leaves. It has trashed the uppermost leaves of the ones growing along the fence and has now started on those growing up the wigwams. It appears that the top of the wigwams where the canes are tied together, make for a rather pleasant al fresco dining table. I am not impressed!

True grit and determination (or is that desperation)

The first mangetout of the year

Last night Mud and I spent hours trawling through the reviews and specifications on the various digital cameras, currently available on the market. As is the norm with Mud, he was instinctively drawn to the most expensive camera that fit our specific needs and criteria but, thankfully common sense prevailed, well to a degree, and we eventually narrowed it down to two possibilities, both of which were Fuji.