U’ll be bored of my pictures by the end

Happiness is a new greenhouse……..

My dad finished off the other day, so please find my FABBY new greenhouse. Open and ready for business. I’ve already planted 4 tommy plants, and their companion plant of marigol (30 plants for £4, B&Q) into the sunken bed to the right of the pic. Happiest of dayz!

Above is the seedling ‘Asparagus Pea’ - something new I picked up. Seems it has a gourmet flavour…whatever that means. I think it just looks a pretty fruit. This little seedling is 40 days old….yawn. Should be ready for Xmas.

 I appreciate that this looks ‘arty’, as will the rest of the pics…where the front bit is blured and the rest is not. Camera - problems - AGAIN! But, the first flowers from my runners. Probably the most hated veg behind brussel sprouts I would imagine. Pretty flowers.

Strawberry flowers in my new bed…

Boston Ivy that grows up my house - nice…kind of…most of the year, aprt from autumn when it pours with falling leaves, but I like it at this time of year.

Aliums (and couch grass….damn that stuff) in my spring bed. Have loads of alliums. My fave flower.

Again, looks arty, but cannot see what I’m taking when I point the camera - £6.00 buckets from B&Q, fill them with soil and flowers. Nice.

Rosemary - my favourite herb - in flower. I ate one of the flowers - Jamie says you can. Blurgh……

At lunch, I…

planted the small brussel sprout seedlings into the ground

did some more beetroot seeds down the side of the beds with other stuff in

sowed some leeks - bit late I think, but got them done.

 

Enjoy the weekend and the sun….its time for watering cans again…..x

Sprouts

Well, not actually sprouts, but things are sprouting.

So far:

Runners - PROPER quality! Have got lots of growth and one has even got flowers!!! Whoooooo-ho! (took a leaf from Amy @ Souper Allotment and sat there all giddy!)

 

Radish - starting up

 

Spuds - bloomin Nora - they’re MASSIVE!

 

Herbs - Now I haven’t told you about these, but they are lovely little plants that I’m going to plant in some old Belfast sinks I have (from the old kitchen - lucky me!) - and I cheated, and bought them from Homebase (I pass it all the time, its soooooooo easy to bob in) and got 4 for £5.00.

 

Mangey-touts - are looking a bit mangey so I’m going to plant them and see what they do. Need to succesion sow and get some more sown.

 

Buckets - planting up buckets of flowers to go into bloom during the summer as tubs- half filled them with soil last night. Will try and finish tonight and take pics

 

Greenhouse - my dad, bless him, has finished it! Thank god! May have a ‘1st planting of the tomato’ ceremony. Will be happy.

 

Grass - cut by my mum when I got home last night.

 

Thank ye gods for my parents. They are a god send. And they love doing all things gardening. Thinking of renting them out-  any takers…? (pics tomorrow!)

Weapon of Choice…

Mine this weekend was salt (looking a bit grubby cos I’d just been in the garden)

 

 

 I planted some lilies the other week directly into the soil to see if they would grown without going into containers – they need watering, blah blah. So…on my rounds on Sunday, the 4 bulbs had been eaten to the core by bloody slugs! I think that the copious amounts of rain followed by sun through really thick cloud, meant it was really humid on Sunday and the blighters were out in force.

 

 

Not really being into Christine Hamiltons slug control of ‘snip them in half’, I chose my more evil plan of burn them alive with salt….so, I paraded round the beds burning the evil little blighters. Teach them. I think I need to get into Nematodes (Is that right) as the dogs like anything that smells, so would probably eat slug pellets, and I’m not that happy about them to be honest. The dogs will drink beer in the beer traps, so its idea nr 3 which is biological control. Has anyone had any use of these,…and did they work..?

 

 

My tuplis are looking fantastic at the moment – I have them in two tones in 3 of the 4 beds that I have, and I have to say that the back breaking work of planting them has paid off – they look fab (The Self Appreciation Society has now resumed).

 

 

 

I also took some inspiration from my friend’s garden at the weekend – she is a gardener and has a lovely and ‘compact’ garden in York. As such, she has planted up the trellis fencing she has. I had some bare trellis (its there to keep the dogs in, who like to escape if not), so thought I would take a leaf from her book.

 

 

Bought some cheapy galv tins from Homebase (bargain @ 99p each), mixed in water retaining gel and dried chicken poop pellets and then stuck in some trailing geraniums and some of them pink flowers from B&Q (you can see them in the pics, not sure what they are…?). Says spring bedding, but fingers crossed they last a while! So, hopefully that should brighten up a dull corner till the sunflowers come by.

 

 

 

 

Greenhouse update - piggin’ nightmare. Taking ages to put it up, but hopefully this means it won’t leak. Shall take picky and post. Will be vvvvv pleased at the end!

Tears…

Dunno about your places in the country but last night at my house i nearly had tears at about 11 o’clock as I put my head out of the back door to get the dogs in, and could see my breath!! OMG i thought….its a bloody frost! But, I may be a crazy idiot, (and had consumed half a bottle of wine….well the weekend starts on a Thursday!) but there is no way I was fleecing up my green beans at 11 at night. Haven’t been to see my beans today…hoping they’re still there. Don’t think it was frost….but was vvvv cold.

 

See, that ‘the gardens all rosey’ lasted one day…….cack.

Moaning About Rain

I’ve just read the blogs on my side bar and we’re all moaning about the rain….and I’ve just joined in on Mrs Be’s. So, I’ve now decided in ‘Cat Land’ the sun is shining and the weather is lovely.

 

You’ll all be jealous.

 

Think I’ve got mild concusion or something…….nurse!

Tag’s

Seems I have been tagged by OPSP - thanking you!

 

So a few points below.

 

What Was I Doing 10 Years Ago?

Well, I would be 21 and still at Uni, the University College of Ripon and York St John (now just known as St John – was posh when I was there!) studying Geography with Management (2:1 BA Hons). At this time I was applying for jobs, doing my dissertation on the bomb in Manchester, and drinking lots. Yup, my liver would tell you, I was drinking lots.

 

 

Snacks I Enjoy

Anything savory – crisps, Doritos with dips…<dribble>

 

Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire

1. Make sure I was mortgage free
2. Invest
3. Donate a fair chunk to charity – for strokes, hearts, RNIB, and some pet ones
4. Not work
5. Spend the stuff!! Woooo-ho!

 

Three of My Bad Habits

Surfing too many gardening blogs and not doing work!

Swearing like a trooper. Can’t help it…..So un-lady like.

Okaay, just 2 then….

 

Five Places I Have Lived

Bolton

York

Leeds

Castleford

Tis only 4…….but all oop north…

 

Five Jobs I Have Had

#1 Saturday girl at WH Smith – fastest till girl in the north West!

#2 Barmaid at my local in Bolton – places like that have died now. But they were boring mind….old blokes staring into their pints while the Beatles played in the background….zzzzzzzzzz

#3 Allied Domeqc graduate scheme for the pub trade – became opening manager for Rat & Parrots and then Bar 38

#4 escaped that eternal hell, and went to Asda Head office in Leeds and got promoted over 7 years to 2^nd in command of dishing out and managing nearly a billion pounds (£900 mill - is that right…?)  worth of capital expenditure in the Construction Department. Was a good laugh, but Asda expect their pound of flesh.

#5 “Co-ordination manager” for the hubbys firm. Construction again. Such a boy. Basically getting sub contractors to do things like plastering, flooring, brickwork. A girl in a mans world…I enjoy it!

 

Bit dull really, but hey! Now it seems that you are supposed to TAG other people, but everyone i read at the moment has had it done, so think I’ll leave it…but I have put in OPSP link, so say hello!

Rain…Shine…(5 Star from the 80’s)

For those of you young enough to remember them…has it got you singing…? Thought so.

This weekend was an eye opener for the whole North/South divide.ie. its bloomin waaaaaaarm down south! Was there on Saturday and it was 21 degrees. Came home on Sunday and it was warn-ish when I set off, and then when I reached the sunny north, it was …………….yup…………raining and 12 degrees!

 

I mean, come on, its only a couple of hundred miles away, not a flight to the Maldives! Give us some sun!!

 

So, the heat had got to me and so on Sunday I decided that that was it…I was sick of the sight of runner beans faffing around my shed, they were going in! The ground that is. So that’s where they went. So fingers crossed there are no low temperatures/ frost. And I’d also like less of the driving rain too which has already taken off a full leaf from the runners….

 

 

 

So after my runners, I thought, fantastic! Potatoes! So all of my Deseree went in (5 rows of about 7) as they were large and healthy looking and then only one row of Cara cos they were smaller and shrivalled. Race of survival and best crops, so Deseree went in!

 

Then decided to try my hand at parsnips. Never tried them, heard they are slightly nightmare-ish, so put in 2 rows and see what they do. Planted radish at the same time, I read this is a good idea, as you can see where you’ve planted your parsnips, and you’ll have a cop of those before the parsnips start to grow!

 

Also planted a real mix of lettuce leaves. Just mixed all the packets of cut and come again and sprinkled them and them rubbed the surface of the soil and covered with a cloche. Lets hope they germinate. Love fresh lettuce! 

 

BIT OF HELP REQUIRED PLEASE;

Now dunno if anyone can help me, but on the parsnips and the lettuce bed, I put loads of manure last October and dug it in, I also turned it again in Feb (i think) to try and dig in the manure. Now its all nicely rotted, but there is like a layer of hay on the top, only thin, but I don’t want to dig it in (trying a no dig philosophy) – is it okay to kind plant in this…? Seeds…? Too late if not, but can anyone help? Ta muchly!

 

Other things this weekend & to do:

 

Staked the sweetcorn that had arrived from my dads. Some had rotted a bit at the base and just came off in my hand, so I have about 6 left of about 12 plants. Think I need to plant some more.

 

Need to sow some corgettes – no more than 4 plants or otherwise you will eat them till they come out of your ears, and make sure you leave enough space in-between the plants cos they’re massive when fully grown.

 

I also planted some lupins I had bought and some cheap lilies from B&Q – they were running over a bit, and were £1 each, but have some life in them yet. Bargains! Love ‘em!

 

I’ve been Tagged by Ourpintsizedplot, (first time so thankyou!) but as I can talk for ever will need to do a bit of thinking…..with a glass of wine.

 

Leave you with my Angelique tulips that have started to bloom…

 

 

Them runners are running

At last - for those of you bothered, I have actually got a pic of the runner beans. Now please contain yourslves, as this is very exciting….

 

Okay….I lied! Sorry! This just shows a pic of someone who is very impatient to get on with things. But you can see they are quite tall, and better off here than in the house!

 

Today, my tommys and peppers spent the day outside for the first time…bless. They were basking in drizzling rain first thing, and now its glorious sunshine. Last night was the same - fab sunshine - and I planted up some strawberries into the bed that had some leeks in for a little while - they didn’t bulk up, so I took them out, so its been dormant for the past few months. Better with some produce in!

 

The lillies that were in my bouquet from Monday (Boys - good hint - flowers, they work everytime! Just buy some/ cut some…they make your lady smile!) look absolutely GORGEOUS, and they smell divine, so I took a pic of them…yey!

I also got an email today form Recycle Works - i bought my compost bins from them - and they had a link to ‘Lovefoodhatewaste‘, which I thought was quite apt after my little list the other day. On there it gives you ideas for not wasting food, and recepies for stuff rather than throwing it out. One of the ‘Eat it rather than chuck it’ recepies was for chocolate….dunno about you, but its never a problem in our house! 

Bit of a catch up…

You know that my stoopid camera broke a few weeks ago, hence the ‘words only’ posts, but I have pinched a camera off my (disabled) dad - blind and a dickey ticker, as they say in ‘ello ‘ello, so was quite easy to pinch!

 

So, you now get a run down on whats happening, apart from the triffids (aka the runner beans) as the file is too large. I hate cameras and computers, i tell you! Maybe tomorrow…..

 

 

So here are my Tommys and peppers on the window cill (Note to self - do not let th’ubby see the actual window cill as he will realise there is most of the newspaper left on it from the plants there before! Oops. Needs sanding & repainting….). The ones on the right are from Homebase @ 99p each, and the ones on the left are grown by my own fair hands. The ones on the right look better….

Next on my window cill are sweat peas to the left, mange tout in the centre and some begonias on the right. As you can tell th’ubby not really too pleased with plants in house at mo…..

 

Next is my shed - okay working left to right we have:

#1 runners and dwarf green in loo roll

#2 Summer squash near the window

#3 winter squash next to the runners

#4 Tiger plants (rescued from tescos @ £4.50 for 60 plugs - sucker for a good deal)

#5 Large sunflowers

#6 My mangetout that are quite tall to the right

…and the base of new greenhouse lying on the lawn

 

Okay…next is:

The base of the foundations for my greenhouse. The brick riser to the right is an old tommy bed so that its raised. The new greenhouse is 2 ft longer than the old one, so the bricks lying in the ground to the left, to the right is some soil…well that is going to be another bed, but at a lower level. My dad is a retired structural engineer. This baby will withstand a nuclear blast! Should come in handy….

Next are my cardoons - Now, my not so fave guy Monty D (sorry, I love Mr T!) had cardoons a while ago in the long border and they are an artichoke familty member. They looked all large and majestic, so thought i would give them a try. I’ve lost one already, and another looks like its on the way out (to the right), but i’ll keep feeding it…..they are at the back of a flower bed, but they are ornamental and look quite large! Bringing veg to flowers.

 

 These are my tulips in the veg patch that I have planted purely for cutting - Angelique - so they should be cut soon. (But as we celebrated 5 years of marriage on Monday just gone, I have a house full of flowers already - may give these away to next door….)

And finally, this is the Victoria Plum blossom that hopefully the frosts won’t kill, and I’ll get some plums this year - fingers crossed!

 

I had a friend of my dads round yesterday, a rather dour Welsh-man, but hot on veg! So, he suggested hardening off the veg - must get round to doing that - so that in a weeks time it can be planted out. I am going to get up early tomorrow and put out all the veg next to a brick wall that gets sun all day to harden off, as the weather looks poo, but the temps are better! He also said to start planting stuff out, but also making a small polytunnel of your own with long pieces of wood, either in the ground, or attached to raised beds, and clear visquine, so that should we have a frost, you can cover them slightly for a bit more protection. Good idea me thinks……

 

Phew, thats me over and out….hello…..are you still awake….??!! 

Bin Day

As I drove down my drive this morning, it was bin day. There are 3 houses on our little piece of land, and there was only 1 bin out. Strange you may think – why is she telling me this? Has she had too much Chardonnay over the weekend? Nope. The reason there was only 1 bin out, is because our bin only had 1 bin bag in it from a weeks worth of rubbish for (2 people). The rest of it was either in the recycling bin or the compost heap. One next door neighbor has moved out and the others bin was overflowing….it normally jangles with all the glass in it as it goes down the drive. Hence only 1 bin!

 

 

Now I am not a greenpeace activist, I drive a sports car (and love it, so am not changing it!!)…so need to reduce my impact in other ways, and I’m trying to do this by doing the following:

 

 

#1 I have used Ecover for years now for my bleach, but not washing up liquid as it burns my hands (HOW?! Its supposed to be gentler!) and also as washing powder and conditioner. I turn lights off when not in use, and all my electrical stuff is turned off at the plug – when I remember!

 

 

#2 I compost all my food stuff, and even take home the tea bags from work to put in the compost bin.

 

 

#3 If its glass, plastic, paper or tin, it gets put into my girly pink recycling boxes in the utility, and I take them to the recycling centre at the supermarket, as Wakefield council are sh*t when it comes to trying to make people recycle at home! I don’t even have a recycling bin, and when I asked, I had to write to someone to request one. I mean…..how faffy!

 

 

#4 I buy my veg from the local farm shop, or the market

 

 

#5 I buy my meat from the local butcher that has his own heard and culls his own meat. (even I’m impressed by this one!)

 

 

#6 If I have any veg left over at the end of the week, it gets made into soup for tea!

 

 

If we can all do a bit, then it helps in the end….