This week in your Kitchen Garden.

[tarannau]

Supermarket herb pots? Easier to keep alive the one's you've planted yourself ime.

I have been lucky with a basil pot (from lidl) in the past - stayed alive all season last year - but it's probably more luck than skill or special treatment. They're often hothouse plants grown in Israel or similar, growth speeded up by nitrogen and timed so they look good on the shelf for a few days. They're not really adapted to the conditions of a British windowsill, plus they're generally lots of small plants shovelled into too little soil. Repot them in bigger containers and take your chances (allow it to acclimatise for a little before you take the protective plastic wrapper off) or get a plant from a garden centre/grow from seed if you can take the time.

 

[pennimania]

Supermarket herb pots? Easier to keep alive the one's you've planted yourself ime.

I have been lucky with a basil pot (from lidl) in the past - stayed alive all season last year - but it's probably more luck than skill or special treatment. They're often hothouse plants grown in Israel or similar, growth speeded up by nitrogen and timed so they look good on the shelf for a few days. They're not really adapted to the conditions of a British windowsill, plus they're generally lots of small plants shovelled into too little soil. Repot them in bigger containers and take your chances (allow it to acclimatise for a little before you take the protective plastic wrapper off) or get a plant from a garden centre/grow from seed if you can take the time.

I have just now discovered this blog which is very relevant to what tarannau says
http://arneblog.arneherbs.co.uk/blog/_archives/2012/3/3/5009183.html

and also I find the blogger's style hilarious (that might just be me tho).

very interesting plant list too

 

[tendril]

Turned over the potato patch today and did a bit of weeding. Lovely day for it. And christened my new greenhouse

 

[sheothebudworths]

I still haven't started

Going to go and buy seeds/compost etc this week though, WITHOUT FAIL

 

[sheothebudworths]

It's not quite true that I've done nothing, actually...I did finally get my compost spread with the help of a friend to motivate me, did a bit of tidying up in the flower beds etc...AND I chopped up/chucked out the Christmas tree ....before discovering just now, barely a week later, that, being fairly acidic, pine needles are the perfect mulch for blueberries ....hopefully I'll remember that next year, at least.

 

[Me76]

Tidied up the garden yesterday and a trip to the garden centre tomorrow as only two of my pots still have anything in them. Even my Chinese/Japanese (I'm not sure which) seems to have died but I haven't given up on that yet.

 

[sheothebudworths]

Pruned the peach tree and various flowers/shrubs, weeded the beds and round the strawberries and gave everything a good old feed, then had a good sweep up so it's at least looking a bit tider. Got me right back in the mood to crack on this week with some sowing etc (especially since it looks like the nice weather'll be staying for a bit).

 

[Citizen66]

I'm dipping my toe into horticulture this year. Planted three varieties of tomato plant into propagators and they're all doing surprisingly well after just a week.

The one i really want to do well is sun gold. Tried some that a mate grew last year, sweetest tomato i've ever tasted. You dont get many seeds in a packet but thankfully all eight that i planted have sprouted. What is worrying me a bit though is on the packet it says 'hybrid' and im sure my mate said you cant plant the seeds from the fruit. They're not genetically modified are they?

Also planted some red devil chilis and my oh has planted various root vegetables. Cant be arsed growing them tbh as i like to see visible progress.

 

[BoatieBird]

I'm dipping my toe into horticulture this year. Planted three varieties of tomato plant into propagators and they're all doing surprisingly well after just a week.

The one i really want to do well is sun gold. Tried some that a mate grew last year, sweetest tomato i've ever tasted. You dont get many seeds in a packet but thankfully all eight that i planted have sprouted. What is worrying me a bit though is on the packet it says 'hybrid' and im sure my mate said you cant plant the seeds from the fruit. They're not genetically modified are they?

Also planted some red devil chilis and my oh has planted various root vegetables. Cant be arsed growing them tbh as i like to see visible progress.

It's good to know about Sungold being so sweet and tasty, it's one of the varieties we're trying this year (along with a plum tomato and a tumbler in hanging baskets).

 

[hmmph]

I've not got anywhere near planting yet but I hope to be ready by the time the Brixton Plant Sale is on. I do have an excuse this was moving in...View attachment 17705

I'm getting there...

 

[invisibleplanet]

I've not got anywhere near planting yet but I hope to be ready by the time the Brixton Plant Sale is on. I do have an excuse this was moving in...

I'm getting there...

Wow! Well done! My garden looked a bit like yours when I moved in (fences draped in ivy, patio strangled by brambles). That ivy would have rotted the top of the fence if you hadn't removed it. I kept one bramble against the back wall, trained it, trimmed it, and now I get a small amount of blackberries.

 

[Me76]

Productive day today.

Plants planted:
Chamomile
Some pretty white ones
A brassica
Garden Thyme (smells gorgeous)
Sugar snap peas
Strawberries
Tomato

Seeds planted:
Radish
Carrot
Spring onion
cos lettuce
Coriander
Some pretty coloured flowers to hopefully get some bees and butterflies in.

Nice combination of instant gratification and the anticipation of watching things grow.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Just a quickie note to say I hope my potimarron grow well, as I'm looking forward to being able to cook and eat them!
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/10/roasted-pumpkin-recipe-potimarron-kuri-hokkaido-squash

I will be growing them amongst the 18 sweetcorn plants that will go into the front garden, next to the giant and dwarf sunflowers. Gets a good 8 hrs of sun and sweetcorn seems to do well in the local fields, so fingers crossed

Also bought 30 strawb plants (earlies, mid and lates) which should keep the teen (and the birds) in strawberries this year and an orange and lemon tree (which can overwinter in the main hall, next to the olive tree).

 

[invisibleplanet]

So far...

The seeds from the two coriander plants I allowed flower/seed have sprouted in their tub, and the horseradish has thankfully re-appeared in it's (hugely oversized) tub.

In the greenhouse and cold frame are:
. Onions: 3 pots each of white bunching and 'Furio' (red) spring onions, plus 3 more pots of chives (it's not possible to have too many chive plants). Will plant those out in clumps as I feel rows are too regimented, plus they grow in clumps in the wild;
. Beans: 30 pencil 'Cobra', 12 runner 'Eden', 6 Okra;
. Tomatoes: 6 plum, 6 beefsteak and 8 cherry;
. 10 cucumber (small, think they're marketmore);
. 1 marrow, 5 globe zucchini, 4 potimarron;
. 12 mange tout (will sow more in May/June);
Once all the beans have germinated, I'll sow the Romaine lettuce and lots of basil plugs.

Also sowed seeds of Nepeta, Salvia, Aquilegia, Baltic Parsley, Verbena. Currently soaking sweetpea seeds and around 100 crocosmia corms, for planting in situ tomorrow, and will sow the remaining in-situ flower seeds.

Trimmed the bay tree, which is currently in flower and has lots of big fat leaf-buds just waiting to burst. Will have to head to our local to persuade two stout fellows to carry the olive tree out onto the patio, tomorrow. Did lots of other little garden jobs over the last few days but can't remember them all right now.

Lots of little garden-y jobs planned for tomorrow evening, such as changing the soil in various tubs, sieving soil for the carrot tubs, and quite relieved that it's light until 8pm!

 

[tarannau]

Nice work IP - sounds a healthy mix of sowing and those little jobs that need doing.Fine selection of plants too.

Mainly down the allotment over the past couple of weeks, readying the soil and finishing off the last of the raised beds. Fair bit in, but plenty of things to get growing too. Chilles are well advanced now, with most of the second batch now having at least 4 sets of leaves - the next big repotting session starts this weekend as a result, following by the usual flurry of handing plants out and rebalancing the windowsills/growhouse/greenhouse. Have promised a few plants to Whippersnappers (Rasta Santa himself), so have picked a good selection of colours and shapes.

Loving the light too. Was down the greenhouse at the allotment tonight, happily watering the few test plants down there. No frost should penetrate the greenhouse now, surely? Have fingers crossed, but not risking more than handful of plants. It's a little too far away from home to make it easy to relocate any plants from there.

 

[sheothebudworths]

I've cracked right on, too and have sown peas, beetroot, spinach and salad leaves and got tomatoes, peppers and aubergines into propagators as well as strewing some flower seeds around in gaps in the beds. Mowed the lawn again (the first mowing never quite does it, eh? ) and trimmed the edges, cut back the clematis and netted over the veg bed to stop the cats shitting all over it.

I need to go to the garden centre and get some more canes, lots of compost for all the pots, some more flower seeds, some sweetpea plugs (lazy option, unlike invisibleplanet! ) to give some height along the fence and some courgette and psb seeds.
I didn't do psb last year cos it takes up so much of my limited space but I tried raab and errrrr...something else...chinese broccoli? summink like that....and didn't do well with it...it's a quick crop but bolted quickly, too and I never got the hang of picking it before it was stringy....not nice ....but anyway, I regretted not going with the psb in the end cos the two plants I had the year before went on providing me with delicious stems for WEEKS, even though they'd got very tatty and unhealthy looking, so I'm cutting back on some other stuff this year and going with the psb again.

I've tried to reduce the number of plants in pots, too...cos there's a trampoline now where I used to keep the bulk of them, plus I do get a bit overstretched with the watering when there's a million tomatoes or whatever but I've still potentially got 12 on the way, plus maybe another 10 in total of peppers and aubergines
I'm going to have to be strict with myself and give some away.

Anyway - had a couple of great days and am itching to carry on but I'm going to leave the garden centre till Monday when the kids are off school and I can go and come straight back and get on with it.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Made space in the shady border for the foxgloves that had self-seeded into the future tomato bed and transplanted them all in a drift around 3 x 3 x a curvy 4 ft.
Having a barbeque tonight, and while I'm waiting for the teen to make his special recipe chilli and apple burgers, I shall turn over and weed the tomato bed, then dig some organic fertiliser in, in readiness for the tomato plants in around a month's time.
A friend unexpectedly called by on their way back from a cycle ride, so the olive tree is now sitting proudly on the patio, waiting for a top-dressing and moving into it's final position before giving it a thorough soaking. Will continue working until last light tonight, as the weather is forecast to turn tomorrow.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Couldn't resist - aren't they beautiful?

Violet Globe Artichoke - edible too!

Also bought 5000 chive seeds ... can never have too many chives

 

[Citizen66]

My tomato plants are still doing quite well. I planted a tonne more than needed to account for ones failing to germinate etc but now seems like I'll have waaaay too many.

 

[invisibleplanet]

Citizen66 - hopefully your friends will be glad of your excess tomato plants

Today I split and planted out the windowbox of chives in front of the foxgloves right up to the path - will form a triangular drift approx 1.5 x 1.5 x 1ft. I planted this scabiosa mid-border, close to the chives, and in front of those (close to the path, so they'll spill over) I split and planted a clump of pinks my mum had given me from her garden.

,

Also mowed the lawn again, burned the holly and ivy clippings, and dug over some more of the back veg bed.

Now deciding where to put the two small hostas and around 30 nasturtium bulbs that I've just been given by another neighbour

 

[tendril]

Went to the garden centre yesterday to get some early colour for the garden







Also bought some fritillas, planted one in a pot with some tarragon and 3 under the apple trees





Babies in the greenhouse are coming on nicely:

 

[tendril]

Most of the spring bulbs are on their way out but this lovely triple header is just coming into flower



And the hot weather has brought the succulent and cactus shelves in the porch on a treat

 

[Citizen66]

Some really nice photos there, tendril.

As is usual with anything I get into, I've now decided to throw money at it and purchase a greenhouse. So, the growing vegetables as a way of saving money (as well as having fresher veg!) will probably take a little longer to break even.

 

[tendril]

Some really nice photos there, tendril.

As is usual with anything I get into, I've now decided to throw money at it and purchase a greenhouse. So, the growing vegetables as a way of saving money (as well as having fresher veg!) will probably take a little longer to break even.

I know what you mean. What starts one year as a few pence for a couple of packets of seeds quickly becomes something to indulge oneself in

 

[invisibleplanet]

I think the only way for me to start breaking even is to have a stall on our Thursday market (£20) and sell my excess plants there - some of the more unusual flowers and veg that I grow would probably sell very well. People might prefer a real Italian plum they can save the seed of, and grow themselves, rather than the ubitquitous Shirley F1 tom.

 

[sheothebudworths]

I think the only way for me to start breaking even is to have a stall on our Thursday market (£20) and sell my excess plants there - some of the more unusual flowers and veg that I grow would probably sell very well. People might prefer a real Italian plum they can save the seed of, and grow themselves, rather than the ubitquitous Shirley F1 tom.

Do it, defo!

 

[invisibleplanet]

Planted up 20 x 3 in each pot sweetpea seeds; zip had broken so put new cover on the mini greenhouse which had picked up for £1 in the bargain bin (got 2!!). Planted up a drift of aquilegia in the semi-shade side-wall border. Weeded & turned over the front wall border. Swept the paths.

Bought 3 x delphiniums (blue 90cm, white & pink 150cm), 1x gypsophilia, 12 white snapdragons, 2 greek oregano, 2 fennel, 1 chicory and some borage seeds

5000 chive seeds and 50 violet globe artichoke seeds arrived. Plan is to exploit the fact that weeds grow at the edge of the degraded pavement, by digging out weeds, removing soil, replacing with grit/soil/John Innes #3 mix, and sow chives, brachysome and snow-in-summer to soften edges and stop weeds growing there!

Got two huge pieces of frosted glass which my dad is going to build into a non-blowawayable cold frame of Victorian kitchen garden proportions

 

[invisibleplanet]

The mange tout have germinated, the Italian plum toms have one seedling showing, and the jalapenos (yes, I know I'm late with them!) have germinated.

Planted some narcissus bulbs into a window box and some hyacinth into a shallow, wide pot with a surrounding ring of forget-me-not plants - very pretty

 

[sheothebudworths]

My peas, beetroot and spinach are all poking through

Put sweetpeas in the other day and butchered a few more plants....and today I've done courgettes, sunflowers (black and yellow), sweetcorn (I know it's early but I have my reasons ...it's an *experiment* ) and...something else, I can't remember....

Sitting in the sun now with a spritzer

 

[Me76]

I think all the seeds I planted are pretty much wasted. They went straight into big pots in the garden and I think the cold nights have probably done for them.

In better news though the sugar snap pea plants have taken very well. I have made them a trellis from straws . It is magic how they grab on to things.