July

Phew what a scorcher. It ain't half hot mum. Etc, etc. Plenty to eat from the plot as per - peas and French beans, cabbages and kale, tomatoes, strawberries and raspberries, rocket, carrots and new potatoes...I've posted dozens of pics of these in previous years but in case you've forgotten what they look like here's a couple more:

 Some peas

A cabbage patch

Hottest summer for a long time. So many butterflies on my plot today - battalions of whites, 100+ gatekeepers, 50+ tortoiseshells - so it's just as well there's plenty of nectar for them: my buddleia is only just coming out so the tortoiseshells have been favouring the scabious and the perennial wallflower whilst the gatekeepers have mainly been going for the marjoram and the whites have been monopolising the verbena bonariensis.

 Small tortoiseshell on cultivated field scabious...

 ...underwing view...

...so many to choose from!

Gatekeeper on marjoram...

...and a large white on verbena bonariensis.

More plants for pollinators

If you've been paying the slightest attention you'll know I've been expanding my collection of plants for bees and butterflies - and if this is becoming an obsession then so be it! So here just for bragging rights is a list of the goodies flowering this month:

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
Aster frikartii "Monch"
Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
Catmint (Nepeta mussini)
Cerinthe major
Cleome serrulata "Solo"
Coreopsis verticillata
Cosmos sulphureus "Ladybird Mixed"
Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum)
Cupid's Dart (Catananche)
Echinacea purpurea
English Marigolds
Evening Primrose (Oenothera fructicosa)
Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)
Golden Marguerite (Anthemis tinctoria "Sauce Hollandaise")
Helianthus "Lemon Queen"
Helichrysum monstrosum "Eternity"
Knautia macedonica "Red Knight"
Lavender
Nicotiana mutabilis "Marshmallow"
Ox-eye Daisy
Perennial Wallflower "Bowle's Mauve" (Erysimum)
Phacelia tanacetifolia "Lisette"
Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria)
Rudbeckia
Sainfoin (Onobrychis vicifolia)
Scabiosa "Beaujolais Bonnets"
Scabiosa caucasia "Perfect Blue"
Scabious "Tall Double Mixed"
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)
Sweet Marjoram (Origanum marjorana)
Sweet William "Messenger" (Dianthus barbatus)
Verbena bonariensis
Veronica "Good Blue"
White clover (Trifolium repens)
Wild Basil (Clinopodium vulgare)

Ok here's the candy:

Scabious "Beaujolais Bonnets"

Verbena bonariensis

Cosmos sulphureus "Ladybird Mixed"

Erysimum "Bowle's Mauve"

Anthemis tinctoria "Sauce Hollandaise"

Echinacea purpurea

Field Scabious

Meadow mixes

Many of what are sold as "meadow" seed mixes are no such thing, as I've ranted on about before, but if they bring in the pollinators then it hardly matters.

At the bottom of my plot I've got a cornfield mix which happily self sows itself with different flowers dominating each year - this summer it's mainly field poppies, phacelia and a few cornflowers, night-flowering catchfly and corncockles:

At the top of the plot I sow a mix from  www.pictorialmeadows.co.uk. This years was meant to be a "pastel mix" but has turned out to be mainly red poppies, bishop's flower and cornflowers - and again, not properly meadow flowers at all but rather a mix of colourful annuals, but the bees aren't complaining:

Next to my cabin I cleared an area of brambles where I'll be adding an extension (one day over the rainbow) and threw in seed from various old seed packets and saved seed. This has been my favorite mix this year as what came up was a complete surprise - mainly mustard, field poppies and phacelia: 

June

More and more to eat from the plot now. Mizuna and wild rocket for salad, kale for cooking greens, the first cabbage, peas and broad beans any day now, more asparagus than you could shake a stick at, baby carrots and the first strawberries.

Lots of flowers for the bees and butterflies and a few sweet peas for me, the solstice and a supermoon, sunshine and showers  - what more could I ask for?

Clover paths

I've been dividing the plot up into beds about four feet wide over the past couple of years, divided by paths sown with white clover. This means I can work the beds from the paths without compacting the soil; it also makes it easier to get around. The paths have needed some resowing here and there and a bit of weeding in spring but otherwise are working out well. I've made them sixteen inches wide - the width of the mower.

Plants for pollinators

My collection of plants for pollinators is growing apace and the bumblebees in particular seem well pleased, pollinating my peas, broad beans, raspberries and strawberries. Flowering this month have been phacelia, ox-eye daisies, perennial wallfower, sweet rocket, nepeta, wild roses, hardy geranium, corn poppies, knautia macedonia, cupid's dart, crimson clover, pink and bladder campions and love-in-a-mist. And new introductions this year have been vipers bugloss - a biennial which I sowed last year - and giant scabious, which I snaffled from someone's garden. There's been May blossom in the hedgerow and the one they're really mad for - cotoneaster.

Vipers bugloss (Echium vulgare)...

...soon being investigated.

Giant scabious (Cephaloria gigantea)...

...also arousing some interest...

...but the annual phacelia is still the most popular.

May

I'm sure I'm not the only one who could wax lyrical about the delights of spring. May has to be my favorite month, nature at it's very best, all the new growth and promise of what is to come.

It's also the best month for birdsong; I love the way they're well at it an hour before sunrise. Here the swifts are back although I've yet to hear the song thrush.

Out on the plot the broad beans, first peas, carrots and early potatoes are all growing away nicely. The first cabbage patch is planted out and the tomatoes are in their growbags. The strawberries and raspberries are in flower and the blossom on the fruit trees has been stunning.

Been eating broccoli, asparagus, wild rocket and the first salad leaves.

As usual I'm planning lots of flowers for the bees and butterflies, new ones this year include alfalfa, sainfoin, annual scabious, penstemon and helechrysum.

Plenty of butterflies here already: lots of whites of course, commas, brimstones, peacocks, holly blues, small tortoiseshells, orange tips and speckled woods - our site is a hot spot for this last species.

And here's a little friend I rescued from the greenhouse:

Wishing you all a bountiful season, love and peace and happiness, sunshine and soft summer rain. Told you I could wax lyrical.

April

So spring is really here - better late than never. I've got the early potatoes in, some broad beans and a row of peas. Seedlings are coming along in the greenhouse, the birds are singing, there's bees and butterflies on the wing and I'm eating lots of broccoli. Can't ask for much more than that really.

Spring Equinox

So spring is here, not that you'd know it, cold as the proverbial witch's tit up here. Still, best to show willing and all that, so I've made a start on sowing some seeds in the greenhouse, now that the days are finally getting longer.

(Picture by Amanda Clark)

Records 2013

Broad beans "Aquadulce" - Sown last autumn, some direct, some in coldframe planted out 19.4. More sown for next year in open coldframe 13.10, 9cm pots x24.

Broccoli "Early Purple" - Sown in greenhouse 21.4, small modules x10. Potted on to 9cm pots x5 10.5. Moved to coldframe 13.5. Planted out from 1.6.

Brussels Sprout "Cascade F1" - Sown 21.4 in greenhouse, small modules x10. Poor germination, another 10 sown 5.5. 6 potted on to 9cm pots 10.5. Moved to coldframe 13.5. Planted out from 1.6.

Cabbage "Greyhound" - Sown in greenhouse 21.3, small modules x20. Potted on to 9cm pots x16 20.4. Moved to coldframe 29.4. Planted out 10.5 30cm apart. 20 more bought in 17.6. Planted out 6.7 30cm apart.

Cabbage "Hispi F1" - Sown in greenhouse 17.5, small modules x20. Very poor germination, moved to coldframe 31.5. More sown in 15cm pot in JI No2 compost in open coldframe 27.5. Poor growth, not planted out.

Carrot "Amsterdam Forcing" - Sown 27.5, short row.

Carrot "Autumn King 2" - Sown 14.6, 3/4 row. Gaps resown 30.6.

Carrot "Early Nantes" - Sown in greenhouse in trough 21.3. Moved to coldframe 21.4.

Cleome serrulata "Solo" (saved seed) - Sown in greenhouse 21.3, small modules x20. Potted on to 9cm pots x12 8.5. Moved to coldframe 13.5. Planted out 1.6.

Climbing French Bean "Cobra" - Sown 21.4 in greenhouse, medium modules x24. No germination, 20 more sown 10.5. Only 4 germinated, moved to coldframe 31.5. Planted out 7.6.

Climbing French Bean "Purple Cascade" - Sown 21.4 in greenhouse, medium modules x24. Only 8 germinated, moved to coldframe 1.5. Planted out 13.5.

Cosmos "Dwarf Sonata Mixed" - Sown in greenhouse 21.3, small modules x10. Potted on to 9cm pots x6 26.4. Moved to coldframe 9.5. Planted out (at Rosemary's) 16.5.

Cosmos sulphureus "Ladybird Mixed" - Sown in greenhouse 21.3, small modules x10. Potted on to 9cm pots x9 26.4. Moved to coldframe 13.5. Planted out from 25.5.

English marigolds (saved seed) - Sown in greenhouse 12.4, medium modules x20. Moved to coldframe 1.5. Planted out 25.5.

Eryngium planum "Blue Hobbit" - Sown in open coldframe 15.8, 1/2 seedtray.

Helechrysum monstrosum "Eternity" - Sown in greenhouse 12.4, 1/2 seedtray. Pricked out to medium modules x12 5.5. Moved to coldframe 13.5. Potted on to 11cm pots x12 17.5. Planted out from 1.6.

Kale (Cavolo) - Sown in greenhouse 21.3, small modules x10. Potted on to 9cm pots x5 20.4. Moved to coldframe 29.4. Planted out x3 10.5 50cm apart.

Leeks "Musselburgh" - Sown in greenhouse 21.4 in 15cm pot. Moved to coldframe 1.5. Planted out 12.6.

Lettuce "Mixed" - Sown in 15cm pot in greenhouse 12.4. Moved to coldframe 1.5.

Lettuce "Red Salad Bowl" - Sown in old compost in greenhouse 24.5, small modules x10. Good germination, moved to coldframe 31.5.

Mizuna - Sown in greenhouse 23.4, small modules x10. Potted on to 9cm pots x3 10.5. Moved to coldframe 13.5. Planted out from 1.6.

Nicotiana mutabilis "Marshmellow" (saved seed) - Sown in heated prop 12.4, 1/2 seedtray. Moved to greenhouse 19.4. Pricked out to medium modules x24 2.5. Potted on to 11cm pots x15 17.5. Moved to coldframe 31.5. Planted out 15.6.

Onion "White Lisbon" - Sown 7.8, short rows x2.

Peas "Early Onward" - Sown in greenhouse 16.3, 9cm pots x48, 3 seeds per pot. Moved to coldframe 12.4. Very poor germination; planted out 20.4, 1/4 row and rest of row sown direct.

Pea "Onward" - Sown 18.5, 2x 1/2 rows.

Pea bean - Sown in greenhouse 21.4, large modules x3. No germination, more sown 10.5, medium modules x4. Moved to coldframe 23.5. Only one germinated, planted out 1.6.

Penstemon "Summer Bluebell" - Plugs bought in and potted on to medium modules in greenhouse 16.5. Moved to coldframe 31.5. Potted on to 10.5cm pots 7.6. Planted out 27.8.

Potato "Pentland Javelin" (earlies) - Bought in for chitting 14.3. Planted out 6.4, 1 row, 30cm apart, 15cm deep.

Runner Bean "Enorma" - Sown in greenhouse 21.4, large modules x36. Only 12 germinated, moved to coldframe 8.5. Planted out (at Ina's) from 13.5.

Sainfoin (sown in coldframe last autumn) - Planted out 21.4, 30cm apart x9.

Salad Leaves (saved seed) - Sown in greenhouse 12.4 in 15cm pot. Moved to coldframe 1.5.

Scabious "Tall double mixed" - Sown in greenhouse 21.3, small modules x20. Poor germination, more sown 13.4 as before. Potted on to 9cm pots from 2.5. Moved to coldframe 13.5. Planted out from 1.6.

Snapdragons (saved seed) - Sown in greenhouse 12.4, 1/2 seedtray. Pricked out to medium modules x20 5.5. Moved to coldframe 31.5. Planted out 15.6.

Summer Savory - Sown 21.4, 1/4 row broadcast.

Sweet Pea "Giant Waved" (sown in pots in coldframe last October) - Planted out 19.4 x6. More sown in open coldframe for next year from saved seed, 9cm pots x6, 3 seeds per pot.

Sweet William "Auricula Eyed Mixed" - Sown 6.6, short row. Planted out 14.9, 9 plants 40cm apart.

Tomato "Gardeners Delight" - Sown in heated propagator 3.4, small modules x10. Moved to greenhouse 12.4. Potted on to 9cm pots x6 26.4. Planted out in growbags in greenhouse x4 17.5.

Wild Rocket - Sown in greenhouse 21.3, 1/2 seedtray. Pricked out 21.4, medium modules x12. Moved to coldframe 2.5. Potted on to 12cm pots x6 5.5. Planted out from 25.5.

WILD FLOWERS/MEADOW MIXES/GREEN MANURE:

Alfalfa - Sown 28.4.

Phacelia tanacetifolia "Lisette" - Sown 28.4.

Pictorial Meadows "Pastel Annual Mix" - Sown 12.4.

PERENNIALS BOUGHT IN (all good for bees/butterflies):

Actaea simplex Altropurpureum Group (Bugbane) - planted in back garden.

Agastache aurantiaca "Apricot Sprite"

Ageratina altissima "Chocolate" - planted in back garden.

Anthemis tinctoria "Sauce Hollandaise" (Dyer's chamomile).

Aster novae-angliae "Barr's Pink"

Cirsium rivulare "Atropurpureum"

Eupatorium purpureum subsp "Atropurpureum"

Helenium "Sahin's Early Flowerer"

Verbena rigida

Pruning olive trees

Not much work for gardeners here in the winter so I spent February pruning olive trees in Spain.

With some trees it's just a matter of opening up the centre of the tree:

With the larger ones more drastic action is required:

You can see the rest of my photos from Spain here.

Sheds in the snow

OK so winter's here...

Back again

Well here I am again. Temperatures in double figures when it should be freezing. Heating off, doors open. All very pleasant but also a bit weird.

I seem to have eaten my way through all the carrots and leeks but still have plenty of fresh sprouts and some kale.

I realize I threatened to stop blogging but that doesn't seem to have happened so happy new year to us all is what I say.

Sprouts: not just for christmas

Rocket stove

 
These seem to be all the rage at the moment so I thought I'd have a crack at making one. It's basically just cooking over a chimney but is meant to use less fuel than an open fire.

Starting with an old five gallon cooking oil drum...

...cutting the top off:

Chimney parts from old stove pipe cut to size and ready to assemble:

The chimney will be joined like this inside the stove:

Parts assembled and drum insulated with sand:

Fire started:

Sticks are then fed in at the bottom on a bit of metal shaped to fit inside the chute:

Kettle on, job done: