When the term blog wasn’t invented, I was “blogging” of sorts here with How Does Your Garden Grow? It was a few years ago, when a friend told me he was captivated by my blog, that he started to grow his own vegetables. (Thanks David!) I said “what blog?”, that’s not a blog, well I suppose it was!!!! If you not seen it, it’s still here How Does Your Garden Grow? (please be patient, it’s not bandwidth friendly and badly coded!)
So I’ve really been blooging of sorts since 2003! Which reminds me to why I posting…..
In Memory of Esme & Charlie, this is a piece of video footage I found on a DV tape, down the back of my desk. Where better to archive it, but on youtube!
It was shot in June 2003, what we didn’t know at the time this video was taken was that Charlie would fall seriously ill and die in September of that very same year. Esme died 3 years later in July 2006 of aspirated pneumonia. Esme is the soggy cat, that has just fallen in the pond, and Charlie is the white cat in the background that comes into frame.
An update on the tomatoes and chilli plants growing in the porch. Tomatoes are doing very well, chilli plants are very slow growing, I may transfer into 3″ pots now. I’ve been asking people, if they want any free tomatoe plants, not had any takes yet! I don’t know what’s the matter with them, if I was offered FREE tomatoe plants, I would take them. The weather has been so warm outside, that two of my tomatoe plants were severely affected by heat and wilted, one has recovered fully, the other looks very poor.
I’ve been neglecting my blueberry bushes over the past few years, and just reaping the benefits, lots of fruit from May through until September. Last year, the first time in five years, the crop wasn’t as good, I’m not too sure if this was seasonal, birds eating the fruit, or time to prune, top dress and fertilise the bushes. In the five years I’ve had them, apart from potting them up and investing in an automated water irrigation system – I’ve just eaten the fruit! So in the last couple of days, I’ve weeded, and top dressed, and washed all the hydroleca on top of the pots. I’ve also purchased some fertiliser to feed them in May.
Blue and Goji berry bushes
The other plants in the smaller pots, are my Goji Berry bushes, and hopefully I’ll have some fruit this year from them. In the background, is my potatoe farm, covered with frost protction fleece!
Since transplanting the seedlings into 3″ pots, they’ve started to romp away and grow very quickly. Here are some updated photos. The only small issue one of my trays has sprung a leak so when watering, water gets on my shoes, underneath in the shoe rack. I’ve applied a little bit of science this year in growing tomatoes, rather than plant any seeds, I’ve gone for early cordon and bush varities. I’ve only planted half the allocation of seeds I received, the other half can be used next year, but out of this half, only 1/4 germinated, but I still have too many plants for me! So I’l be gving some away! The varities being grown are:-
Bush Varities
Red Alert
Tumbling Tom Red
Gartenpearle
Cordon Varities
Black Cherry
Money Maker
Alicante
Tigerilla
Golden Sunrise
Genovesa Costoluto (Italian seeds)
Tomatoe plants, cordon varieties
Tomatoe plants, bush varieties
Tomatoe plants, cordon varieties
Tomatoe plants, cordon varieties
Tomatoe plants, bush varieties
The porch where they are located was getting a bit cold at night, and also there is a small damp issue, because of a poorly fitted damp course, so I’ve installed a Glen tubular electric heater on a timer, thermostatically controller, so if the temperature falls below 20 degrees C, between the hours of 12.30 – 7.30 GMT, the 200 watt heater comes on. (I’m on Economy 7, so 200 watts of electric is neglible, when your average is 3 kwatts a day!).
I’ve now planted all my potatoes , first and second earliers, salad and main crop in exhibitor bags. Not having an allotment or space to put a row of potatoes in (unless I did up the lawn, now there’s an idea, wouldn’t need cutting then!), exhibitor bags will have to do for the moment.
Potatoes in exhibitor bags (from above)
Potatoes in exhibitor bags (side shot)
Tags: potaotes Posted in All, vegetables | Comments Off on Potatoes in exhibitor bags
I’ve planted out my First Early potatoes today in exhibitor bags, and dug out over 216 litres of organic compost from the compost heap to fill the bags. I’m a little tired!
I transplanted all Tomatoe Seedlings into 3″ pots today. These will stay in these pots, until moved to their final position, in large pots or growbags, not decided yet! I may give some away, as there’s too many here for me! These are currently growing without heat, in the porch, I’ve now turned off the heated propagators.
Here are the glass “Pyrex Cloches” in use protecting my tomato plants. This variety is Totem, a bush variety, suitable for containers and patios.
I’m determine to get a crop of tomatos this year, and hence, I’m trying to get a head start by risking moving two plants outside in late March. In the warm weather the cloches get removed, but I leave them on in the cold wind and rain, and I night I put them to bed and cover them up.
“Pyrex Cloches” in use
At night the cloches get wrapped in large bubble-wrap, and covered with a draw-string frost protection fleece.
UPDATE 29th March 2009 It got that hot today, in the first hour between 11.00-12.00, that one of the tomato plants in the cloche, got fried! I don’t think it’s going to pull through! Umm!
I use them as garden cloches to protect the plants from frost, the wind and rain, I cannot remember how they came into my possession, but I’ve had them roughly 10 years now, they’ve been stuck behind the greenhouse for the last 2-3 years, but I want a head start on my outdoor tomatoes this year, so I’ve cleaned them ready for use to protect my tomato plants from the cold winds and frost.
If you know what they are, answers on a postcard to …
Pictured from the top, it has a metal pipe screwed into the top, sealed with a rubber seal.
The makers stamp can be clearly seen. Manufactured by Pyrex, Made in England
I have two of these glass items, and as you can see, they’ve had special metal frames that carry them. They are open at the bottom, and the glass fits the frame exactly.
Not very exciting, I’ve got four varieties to try and plant this year, First and Second Earlies, a Salad and Main crop.
First Earlies Epicure
Second Earlies Edzell Blue
Salad Anya
Maincrop Organic Lady Balfour
I’ve got plenty of compost in the compost heap, and this year I’ve purchased 14 and 36 litre plastic exhibitor bags. Not that I’m entering any competitions, it was just cheaper, than purchasing ready made filled compost bags!
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