7th July
It really is salad time! Some of my earlier sowings have produced, plus I bought 3 lettuce in the market but my nth sowing is just producing so I should have salads for the rest of summer. There are lots of flowers on my tomatoes, plus my first green tomatoes. The peppers are doing well and I have 'Mange-tout'.
My onions are pathetic again and they are drying off so they will get no bigger. I thought I watered more this year but I think I only watered the top soil, next year I must soak the ground more often.
The potatoes are really good, I still have gooseberries, the raspberries have almost finished now but I have had loads. The cherry season has been poor but there are a few plums and the pears and apples look promising.
I continue to learn, but, for a non-gardener, I think I don't do too badly. This year is hard as we have had so little rain and there have been some very hot times.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
June
8th June
This Spring has been very warm and there has been very little rain so everything needs watering all the time.
My vegetables have been fairly unproductive so far, the carrots have done nothing, I won't try again, the second sowing of leeks has done nothing either, usually they do well; the second sowing of beans has produced 1 shoot so far. The last sowing of lettuce has produced a couple of plants and I have sown again, I have had a couple of salads now. the strawberries are doing well and the raspberries have produced the first ripe fruit today, the cherries will not be far behind and I have had gooseberries for a couple of weeks now, so all in all things are doing well. I will sow more leeks and probably buy some plants as they are useful in winter.
19th June
It is nearly summer. Finally I have leeks and beans sprouting. The tomatoes have their first flowers, the peppers are flowering, and I have a couple of small courgettes that, for some reason, seem to want to stay as small courgettes! The 'mange-tout' are growing well, so hopefully I will have some to eat soon. I have had my first potatoes, to eat with my lettuce, and I have plenty of fruit.
The weather continues to be warm, last week got a bit cooler but, apparently this has been the hottest Spring since the 19th Century, everything needs watering every day
This Spring has been very warm and there has been very little rain so everything needs watering all the time.
My vegetables have been fairly unproductive so far, the carrots have done nothing, I won't try again, the second sowing of leeks has done nothing either, usually they do well; the second sowing of beans has produced 1 shoot so far. The last sowing of lettuce has produced a couple of plants and I have sown again, I have had a couple of salads now. the strawberries are doing well and the raspberries have produced the first ripe fruit today, the cherries will not be far behind and I have had gooseberries for a couple of weeks now, so all in all things are doing well. I will sow more leeks and probably buy some plants as they are useful in winter.
19th June
It is nearly summer. Finally I have leeks and beans sprouting. The tomatoes have their first flowers, the peppers are flowering, and I have a couple of small courgettes that, for some reason, seem to want to stay as small courgettes! The 'mange-tout' are growing well, so hopefully I will have some to eat soon. I have had my first potatoes, to eat with my lettuce, and I have plenty of fruit.
The weather continues to be warm, last week got a bit cooler but, apparently this has been the hottest Spring since the 19th Century, everything needs watering every day
Friday, May 15, 2015
May
So, it's 15th May, that magical day after which there should not be a frost! Everything is now in. I have sown carrots and lettuce for the 3rd time, no sign of germination, so sowing early was not such a good idea, on the other hand the Spring onions did germinate so I got that right. I have bought 3 lettuce plants and put them in today so I will have some lettuce and hopefully the last lot will do OK.
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| A beautiful lizard |
Sunday, March 29, 2015
March 2015
Time to start again. The winter has been variable, although it has rained and snowed we have also had some dry, sunny days. I have been away again and I sowed some carrot seeds before I went. I think I let the ground get too dry usually so I thought it would be good to sow whilst it was still sure to rain, unfortunately it has hardly rained, it has been cold with very cold winds so I don't know if it was such a good idea, now I must remember to water regularly.
Today I have sown lettuce and Spring onions, I think I left it too late last year. I have also planted the onions sets.
I have sown tomatoes indoors and they are doing well.
Today I have sown lettuce and Spring onions, I think I left it too late last year. I have also planted the onions sets.
I have sown tomatoes indoors and they are doing well.
Friday, September 19, 2014
September ?autumn
Well it may not be quite autumn technically but it is by weather, it has rained most days for the last 2 weeks, very sad for September.
Today I have cut back the beans but they have been producing regularly up to now. The last sowing of Spring onions are almost at an edible size, which just goes to show that I sowed them too late. I need to be a bit quicker next year but I was lulled by the enormous Spring onions that I had. In fact I sowed too many too close together, I am just finishing the last of them and I have nearly finished the lettuce. I will have a few more salads but I no longer need to eat salad every day. The tomatoes are ripening well now though they are late, I still hope to get enough to make some soup and I have frozen a few but it is only because of the Cherry tomatoes that I have had plenty to eat for the last 4 weeks, and the Cherry tomatoes that is doing really well is one that self seeded!
The courgette is still going slowly but surely, very slowly. It is producing lots of flowers but they are nearly all male so not much good! My peppers are probably the best I have had so I will continue with Ourense and Anoia peppers, they seem to be the right ones.
I am still getting regular raspberries and all the plants have flowers on them, this is a bit disconcerting as the majority should be spring cropping and on the previous years shoots, I am wondering if they have somehow trans mutated and that this is a feature of Spanish raspberries! Maybe I should write a paper for a botanical journal :) The time to tell will be Spring next year, will I have any raspberries?
I now have my first pears and I have picked all the apples, the apples are tiny and are badly scarred but they are very tasty.
My neighbours have dug their onions this week, they are all enormous, I think I should be more patient, next year I will dig them at the end of September, or the beginning of Autumn.
I have had a visit from a deer, or 'deers', they have eaten the leaves of my vines and my raspberries, I have to find a way of securing my top plot.
Next year I will look at growing a cucumber, I will look out for a plant in the Spring, otherwise everything has done pretty well.
Today I have cut back the beans but they have been producing regularly up to now. The last sowing of Spring onions are almost at an edible size, which just goes to show that I sowed them too late. I need to be a bit quicker next year but I was lulled by the enormous Spring onions that I had. In fact I sowed too many too close together, I am just finishing the last of them and I have nearly finished the lettuce. I will have a few more salads but I no longer need to eat salad every day. The tomatoes are ripening well now though they are late, I still hope to get enough to make some soup and I have frozen a few but it is only because of the Cherry tomatoes that I have had plenty to eat for the last 4 weeks, and the Cherry tomatoes that is doing really well is one that self seeded!
The courgette is still going slowly but surely, very slowly. It is producing lots of flowers but they are nearly all male so not much good! My peppers are probably the best I have had so I will continue with Ourense and Anoia peppers, they seem to be the right ones.
I am still getting regular raspberries and all the plants have flowers on them, this is a bit disconcerting as the majority should be spring cropping and on the previous years shoots, I am wondering if they have somehow trans mutated and that this is a feature of Spanish raspberries! Maybe I should write a paper for a botanical journal :) The time to tell will be Spring next year, will I have any raspberries?
I now have my first pears and I have picked all the apples, the apples are tiny and are badly scarred but they are very tasty.
My neighbours have dug their onions this week, they are all enormous, I think I should be more patient, next year I will dig them at the end of September, or the beginning of Autumn.
I have had a visit from a deer, or 'deers', they have eaten the leaves of my vines and my raspberries, I have to find a way of securing my top plot.
Next year I will look at growing a cucumber, I will look out for a plant in the Spring, otherwise everything has done pretty well.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
August
I've discovered that now is the time to harvest peas! My mange-tout were looking dead and I thought I had done something to kill them off but then I found a neighbour shelling peas and she told me that pea plants will die off now. Next year I will try sowing a second crop and see if they last longer, I have quite enjoyed my mange-tout. I have also discovered that the plums are ripening, ripening so fast that they are already falling off the tree, this is my neighbours tree that leans onto my land, I have been having plums for a few days now, I tried to pick a lot this morning but it started to rain heavily, it will be a shame if they all drop off. My trees haven't started to ripen yet, I will keep watching and keep watching to see that no-one comes to steal them :(
The spring onions that I sowed last month are now through though there is no sign of the cabbage.
I have bought myself a strimmer, it is only small and runs on a battery but it will help me to keep on top of the grass and weeds that grow under my pear trees, mostly the work now is just keeping up with the weeds and that is quite a job.
August 27th
Well, no-one stole my plums!!!! I am now eating the last of those I have picked, some have stayed on the tree but out of reach and they are now over ripe, I reckon I have been eating plums for about a month, it is time to change fruit, having said that I still have some raspberries and I have been eating those since May:)
I still have a few 'Mange-tout', I pulled up most of the plants but one looked green so I left it and it is still flowering. I have had a plentiful supply of beans and the tomatoes are just ripening, I think they are very late this year but summer has not been very hot. All in all it has been good so far.
Having decided that my cabbage seeds were doing nothing I bought 3 plants only to discover that some of my seeds had germinated, I will have quite a few cabbages I think.
My courgette is very slow this year, I don't know if that is good or bad, I don't like being overwhelmed but I like to manage to have a supply in the freezer, hopefully it will continue producing for a month or two yet.
August 27th p.m.
Sooooo! I spoke too soon! I locked up this evening then, for some reason, I decided to go out again. I had just opened the door when I heard foot steps and my neighbour appeared from around the corner carrying a bowl of plums, they looked very familiar and she looked quite sheepish so I decided to check. There are now no plums on my tree and they haven't all fallen on the floor. She must be very athletic but I would swear to the fact that those plums were mine. Fortunately she has left it a bit late this year and I had most of them, to the point that I wasn't going to pick anymore. Next year I will know who to watch.
The spring onions that I sowed last month are now through though there is no sign of the cabbage.
I have bought myself a strimmer, it is only small and runs on a battery but it will help me to keep on top of the grass and weeds that grow under my pear trees, mostly the work now is just keeping up with the weeds and that is quite a job.
August 27th
Well, no-one stole my plums!!!! I am now eating the last of those I have picked, some have stayed on the tree but out of reach and they are now over ripe, I reckon I have been eating plums for about a month, it is time to change fruit, having said that I still have some raspberries and I have been eating those since May:)
I still have a few 'Mange-tout', I pulled up most of the plants but one looked green so I left it and it is still flowering. I have had a plentiful supply of beans and the tomatoes are just ripening, I think they are very late this year but summer has not been very hot. All in all it has been good so far.
Having decided that my cabbage seeds were doing nothing I bought 3 plants only to discover that some of my seeds had germinated, I will have quite a few cabbages I think.
My courgette is very slow this year, I don't know if that is good or bad, I don't like being overwhelmed but I like to manage to have a supply in the freezer, hopefully it will continue producing for a month or two yet.
August 27th p.m.
Sooooo! I spoke too soon! I locked up this evening then, for some reason, I decided to go out again. I had just opened the door when I heard foot steps and my neighbour appeared from around the corner carrying a bowl of plums, they looked very familiar and she looked quite sheepish so I decided to check. There are now no plums on my tree and they haven't all fallen on the floor. She must be very athletic but I would swear to the fact that those plums were mine. Fortunately she has left it a bit late this year and I had most of them, to the point that I wasn't going to pick anymore. Next year I will know who to watch.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
July
The weather is a bit temperamental and much cooler than last year. I have been away for nearly 2 weeks, though I popped back occasionally to pick raspberries, I have loads again this year, the freezer looks nearly full. I have now dug up my garlic, which look much healthier this year and some of my onions look like they may reach a decent size as well, though many have 'bolted'. I have dug up my first sowing of potatoes and there are a lot and all a good size.
My strawberries did well but now something has come and eaten the leaves, fortunately after I had the fruit, whatever it is, a deer I think, has also decided to eat leaves off the raspberries.
My last sowing of lettuce has taken off and the first plants are now very big so it is lettuce, lettuce, and lettuce! The 'mange-tout' have flowers and some of the beans are looking good. I think the courgette is slow this year but the last couple of weeks have not been very warm.
My leeks are getting very big but some-one (something) has broken one of them, I'm not sure if it is worth while digging it up and freezing it, I may try.
There are loads of plums, I will try and pick them myself this year and lot let someone rob me.
All in all things look promising.
9th July
My strawberries did well but now something has come and eaten the leaves, fortunately after I had the fruit, whatever it is, a deer I think, has also decided to eat leaves off the raspberries.
My last sowing of lettuce has taken off and the first plants are now very big so it is lettuce, lettuce, and lettuce! The 'mange-tout' have flowers and some of the beans are looking good. I think the courgette is slow this year but the last couple of weeks have not been very warm.
My leeks are getting very big but some-one (something) has broken one of them, I'm not sure if it is worth while digging it up and freezing it, I may try.
There are loads of plums, I will try and pick them myself this year and lot let someone rob me.
All in all things look promising.
9th July
These are the pretty flowers from the 'Mange-tout', I hope this means I will have plenty of peas.
These are some of the plums on one of my small trees, I am tempted to sit on the 'look-out' this year and see if I can catch whoever steals my fruit.
My raspberries have nearly finished, looking back to what I wrote last year they seem to have been much earlier this year. I have enough to last until the beginning of next week. The cherry season is under way but I think that won't last much longer either.
The courgette is still not doing well, it just gets one flower at a time so the fruit never has chance to be pollinated. My tomatoes are looking healthy, I have had 2 tomatoes already but that is because I bought one plant with baby tomatoes on it, I thought that was a good idea but it wasn't as the plant put all it's energy into the tomatoes and made no effort to grow, now finally it is growing but it is well behind the others. I have one plant that is a self seed and it is doing really well, it compares very favourably with the plants I tended carefully over the Spring!
The old barn I bought next door is now down and slowly turning into a garden, at least it is at the front, the back part is still full of wood to saw. I have bought myself a saw and have been very busy. There is now a good supply of wood in the garage but the mound of wood outside doesn't seem to get much smaller.
25th July
It is nearly the end of July and the Feast Day of Santiago, a special day here in the village. For lunch I had courgettes, potatoes, mange-tout, lettuce and Spring onions all from my garden and then finished with Raspberry Sorbet, made with my raspberries.
Once again my vegetable patch is nearly full. I have frozen some beans and I have sown cabbage and some more spring onions, I will see what happens.
29th July
Nearly the end of the month and what a difference a month makes. This afternoon I sat outside in my garden and enjoyed a cup of tea.
The patio isn't quite large enough so I have bought more slabs to add another row but, all in all, I am very pleased with my garden, all I need now is a door into the kitchen.
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