Update

Hello all,
I keep on apologising for lack of posting but I'm going to stop that. I am posting what I can when I can but things have been a bit hectic of late, which is probably a good thing.
I am finally breaking even financially which shows that slowly but surely my new career path is beginning to work. No spare cash but now my savings are not really being touched which is good news except for the untoward. I have 9 students now when they all come which is good, taken 5 months but it is slowly starting to happen and word is getting about that I exist at least. The best bit is that I am really really enjoying it, especially when I think that in my old life I would now be battling up to London weekly  and misssing all the joys of my garden at home. No regrets and completely my own boss.
I have had a productive weekend and have opened new bank accounts, changed my gas and elctricity provider to Ovo and am exploring changing my internet service provider to Sky, all in a bid to make monthly cash stretch a bit further.
So I continue to shop carefully, and am becoming a dab hand at stretching a single chicken out to 4 or 5 meals making it super good value even for a greedy man like me.

Enough about all that.

Meanwhile every day brings fresh joy in the garden. My pride at the moment is for my lupins and my alliums.

There are 17 healthy looking flower heads accross just 3 plants, which, for me, makes a lupin record. These majestic flowers are among my very favourites.

And 30 alliums in the big bed make a very happy view. I had hoped the astilbe would be out by now and that the alliums would be surrounded by clouds of pink frothy flowers, but the best laid plans and all that.

Also my gladioli and dahlias are all growing away happily, as are the delphiniums.

Dahlia patch wants weeding I think. 3 varieties, Bishop of Landalff and ....er.....two more.

A usual my veg plot is poor at the moment (one day I will get good at veg), although the tomatoes in the greenhouse are doing very well this year, far better than the precious two years.

The veg bed is looking a higgledy piggledy mess and that is because after a poor beginning I have planted crops in no particular order as my original ones all died (my green fingers turned very grey on that day). I've decided to call it a cottage garden bed and to pretend that it was supposed to be random by design. I have 2 courgettes, some runner beans, French beans, peas, broad beans and a cucumber. I think I will plant some complementary flowers to make it look better. Given time it might look ok, here's hoping there will be some crop at least.

Finally a photo of lovely iris hidden away in the whale bed.

 Blue is never captured very well on my camera, but they look lovely in the flesh.

Hotting up

As I write this a blackbird is endlessly singing just outside the window, he has been at it for about 3 days non stop it seems; it's a gorgeous song and every now and again I am sure he is singing selections from Die Fledermaus. It is a nice accompaniment to my day and my writing.

Plenty happening outside at the moment, the garden is really coming to life with something new appearing every day. being up in the hills I am usually slightly behind most people, even though only half a mile away in the valley things are further ahead. just that one degree colder in temperature seems to make all the difference, so where my mother's primroses have come and gone mine are just in flower now.

But my bath of tulips (of an unknown colour) are really getting ready to burst forth, can't wait, they will bring some much needed colour to the garden.

And my daffodils under the apple tree are in full flower. I like these very pale ones, sorry, no memory at all what sort they were.

A few plants in the cold frame but I have now put most into the greenhouse as my stock increased.

This year I am experimenting with growing my tomatoes in growbags in the greenhouse.
The last 2 years has been dismal for tomato growing here so a new approach is needed. I will still plant a couple outdoors, but I hope that the warmth of the greenhouse will make the difference that has been lacking in the past. So I will be setting that up over the next few days even though the tomatoes are a way way off being planted out yet.

Meanwhile my raised bed is slowly being revealed. For those who don't know, the local cats love my raised bed as a litter tray which is why it is covered over when not in use. As I plant rows of things I have to cover the gaps in stones and twigs to deter them, so far it's working. 2 rows of broad beans, one of carrots and one of beetroot for now.

The herb pot I planted up last month is thriving, but, as predicted by some of you, the lemon balm is already making a bid for World domination in there. oops.

 This is the rhubarb after I took the first crop yesterday, I've stewed it up and will have it for my tea over the next few days. It seems that my patience in only taking small amounts over the last couple of years has paid off and this year promises to be a really big crop. Lucky for me.

I will leave you with this photo of a lovely little saxifrage that I took this morning. It is small and perfect.  Sorry if my photo doesn't do it justice.

Ideas anyone? - follow up

Thank you for all your comments yesterday, it seems there is a great choice for using the windowboxes for veg. I can't quite work out why I didn't think of using them at any other point during the last 2 years. Out of sight, out of mind I suppose. I am going to compile all the possibilities and suggestions into a list and then decide which to do. There were some great ideas.

Whilst thinking about it I was remembering my first attempt at gardening when I lived in London. I had no outside space so had to utilise anything I could. hence buying the windowboxes.

I found these photos of what I did with them that year.

So they have been used as a herb garden before.

Dwarf peas, I don't think I got many.

Strawberries and marigolds.

More strawberries and cut and come again leaves.

And under all of that, my tomatoes and courgette (hence the marigolds)

I can quite see why I was so delighted with the results of my first ever attempts at gardening. I actually don't think I have had a crop of tomatoes as good as I had that year, ever again.

The following year I ditched the veg because a) I was beginning to get the flower bug but b) because I was trying to sell the flat and thought flowers would help. So went bedding plant crazy.

So back to the veg again now I think.

It was nice to go back and see where my love of gardening first started

Ideas anyone?

I have been thinking about the veg patch (something I find that happens increasingly during winter, as a substitute for cold grey days). I suddenly remembered that I have four empty window box containers sitting in my greenhouse from my London days when all I had was window boxes, they've never been used since I was in my cottage because they aren't really suitable for use as a window box where I am now.
I just remembered about them anyway and decided that one of them (maybe two) would be a perfect container for growing a row of lettuce, save space in my raised bed.
So what about the other two? Anyone have any suggestions as to what veg would grow well in a window box, obviously nothing that requires massive deep roots Maybe some peas (I have a suitable trellis). I don't know, I am throwing ideas around at the moment so all suggestions are considered. Has anyone any experience growing successful veg in a windowbox??

Lions Beware.

I was determined to get into the garden today, always planned to come rain or shine. Well it was rain, surprise, surprise but I made the job more appealing by taking out with me some essentials, in the way of

 a flask full of hot chocolate (laced with Bailey's Irish Cream - oh yeah, now we're talking!) Just what you need on a cold, wet, wintry, dull, dismal, dank, dire day.



First job was dealing with the lion sized kitty litter tray that is my vegetable raised bed. I cleared this out of all it's remnants last week and ever since then it is like a massive beacon going off to all the cats in the area - 'woohoo, someone has opened a massive cat toilet for us!'

Yes I'm talking about the likes of you!!:

Looking like butter woulnd't melt - My parent's evil cat, Diego

Last year I had the same problem and stood small rods of wood and stones in the bed to deter them, a bit unslightly but probably very uncomfortable on a cat's behind. This year I had a different (hopefully better) idea.

The added advantage being that it might kill off a few weeds in the process. Just look at that poor box ball above the bed - why is it losing it's leaves????? arghh

Next it was into the nice tidy greenhouse (it won't look as tidy as this again until next winter I think)

 to deal with some very late in the season jobs. Jobs I should have done a good while ago (slap my wrists).
I lifted some dahlias (too late, I know, I forgot them, but you never know they may survive) and hung them to dry for a few days. When they have dried a bit I will get all that wet soil off and bring them into the garage to continue drying off.

 Then repotted some digitalis that I had growing from seed all last year and have survived surprisingly well despite complete and utter neglect, yes, can you believe it, me, the ultimate in an organised gardener neglecting something! Well anything that battles against all odds and still survives deserves a little bit of attention, even if it comes rather late in the day.

Finally I came back indoors (mainly because my hot chocolate was finished) and stared lovingly at some of the seeds that arrived yesterday.

And very happy I was too.

Carrot

I dealt with the raised bed yesterday, clearing it out and preparing it for this new season. In it I found my entire carrot crop for 2013:

Impressive eh?

Not what you may call a roaring success but, you know what, the one mouthful it gave me was delicious and I will try harder next year. It may be tiny but it is so beautifully formed that it makes me want to try again this year.
In a nutshell, I planted my carrots as an afterthought too late in the season and they got rather swamped by the purple sprouting broccoli who stole all of their light, so I gave them up for dead. But here was one fighter.

Greenish Fingers.

When I labelled my last post title as a date it is a stark reminder that 2 weeks has passed since my last entry! Sorry. All is well. After my nasty bug I returned with from London (laid me out for about a week actually) I'm now fighting fit. I have been preparing for winter which doesn't seem to have hit with full (or indeed any) force yet. I spent a few days putting the garden to bed as it were. I have cut things back, laid some mulch and manured some beds. I have spent many an unhappy hour picking cat poo out of the new flower bed (I really love cats but truly this does try my patience) but my favourite job of the last week was to do out the greenhouse. I emptied it, washed a lot of the pots and put them back in good order. I have enough pots to last my a lifetime quite honestly - it is funny how quickly a stock builds up. It got me very excited for next year and the gardening I will do. As I will be away from home less (if at all) I will be able to make better use of the greenhouse this year and with any luck some of my veg from seed will do better. So far my green fingers have only displayed their hue when dealing with flowers, my veg has been a disaster over the last couple of years. Even my leeks which were doing so well, succumbed. Here's me thinking that they could be left out for as long as you want (I'm sure I read that somewhere) and what do I find when I come to use them? slimy leeks. If the weather is okay this week my final garden job of the year will be to clear the raised bed ready for next year. Over Christmas I will have the pleasure of reading through garden seed brochures and decide what I want to try next year. Most of my old seed packets have dregs in that are so old that I doubt they would germinate now so it is time for some new ones. The anticipation is great.
Looks like it will be a sunny day.

greenhouse pleasure.

What a joy it is to still be able to potter about in the greenhouse even when it is raining.
Things are looking great in there, most of the plants look strong and healthy and happy and will soon be ready to go out after any lingering frosts have passed. In hindsight, living here, where it is colder than in the South, I will start things off just a few weeks later as some of them are getting too big and I am trying to waste time before they can go in the garden.

Plenty of sweet peas, amongst other things. If there is a poor performer it is the lobelia but I do actually blame the compost. I usually just use a multipurpose from B&Q but this time I bought a special John Innes seed compost and, do you know, it is terrible, by far the worst compost I have ever used. It has ruined the lobelia because it clumped into rock hard piece and I am sure the roots have had great difficulty in pushing through. After 2 months they are still only half a centimetre and some are dead. Everything that I did in the multipurpose has thrived beautifully.

The daffodils around the apple tree are ready to burst forth which is going to look lovely.

And finally, tada, here is my new freezer.

Now I'll be able to find things and not have food frozen in lumps at the bottom, never to see the light of day.

I'm back

Hello everyone,

The wanderer has returned and somehow, although I have been away for a month, it is still cold! I've had to put the heating on this morning, partly because the house has been empty for a long time, but mostly because there is such a chill in the air. however, it hasn't gone below freezing and isn't forecast to either.

The good news is that all my seedlings and plants have survived, just about. The longest they were left unattended was a fortnight as I popped home for Easter and my home style seedling irrigation system - a washing up bowl full of water in the bath with a large wet towel draped across the bath with all the seed trays on it, one end in the washing up bowl - worked a treat, maybe a little too well as everything was very damp.

All the seedlings, with the exception of the aqualegia and cosmos, have germinated, which seems something of a miracle considering how cold it must have been indoors here and the bigger plants that I left in my mothers care are all ok she says, although desperate for potting on.

The garden, if not a picture, is at least pleasant. The daffodils are going to burst forth imminently everything is budding, but all the clematis look dead! Last time I saw them they were budding forth and then the snow came and all the buds are dried husks now. I hope they may come back, but I am concerned about them. Also one of my azaleas looks decidedly unhappy.

I was staying with lovely friends who made my time away a joy and from them, I have learnt new recipes, 2 of which I have tried already and one of which will be started today. I have never had great success with home made hummous, but the one they made me was so delicious that I tried again last night with much greater success. I think the problem with my old attempts has been that they have lacked flavour so their  coriander and lemon hummous has changed this and it was absolutely delicious. Had that for my tea last night.
This morning I made tzatziki, another simple dish, but one that I have never actually tried to make before. Since I got my yoghurt maker for Christmas from my sister I always have a surplus of yoghurt so this is a perfect solution for using some of it up each time I make some.

The recipe that I am curious to try today is to make a sourdough starter. I was fascinated by how my friends nurtured this pot of slimy beige liquid, but one taste of their delicious home made sourdough bread was enough to convince me to give it a go. If nothing else, it will be fun, so today I will make my sourdough starter, I think it takes about a week, but I will play it by ear.

All good, cheap, easy things to make today then.

Oh, and I had a spot of good financial news while I was away, so I treated myself, finally, to a new freezer, yes, a brand spanking new one, which will be delivered tomorrow. Mine is absolutely about to give up the ghost and I am terrified of losing all my food stores if it suddenly stops working (also I am rather concerned about it blowing up or setting on fire or something, it ices on the outside now as well as the inside and all around the electrics is solid frozen ice, can't be good). It is not often I actually get something completely new, so I am like a kid at Christmas.

Well, I am glad to be home for 3 and a half weeks and will finally catch up with all of your blogs over the next few days.

No pictures today I'm afraid, but I will remedy that next time.

March seed planting.

What a treat and a pleasure to be able to do my seed planting in the greenhouse and to make as much mess as I liked! The weather has been beautiful today and so, although it was a very chilly start to the day, I knew that the weather would be good. So the washing was on at 8 this morning and has subsequently dried on the line outside - after years of living in a flat in the past, I still get immense pleasure from something as simple as drying clothes outside.
At the weekend I made another greenhouse bench and a potting table, so the greenhouse is fully equipped now. I only spent £20 as I mostly had offcuts of wood left to use.

So today I have planted:

Tomatoes (Gardeners Delight and Tumblers, which have been highly recommended to me)
Cosmos
Aquelegia
Verbena Bonariensis
Shasta Daisies
Echinacia
Snapdragons

Definitely run out of windowsill room now, but tomorrow I am taking my seedlings that I planted a month ago to my mum to look after as I have to go to London next week (yes, it is that time of year again - sigh) for 4 weeks, so I have left the new seeds wrapped up in plastic bags to germinate. I am hoping to get home every weekend this time so keep your fingers crossed for me that this works out. I don't think I could bear a repeat of last year.

Last job of the day, I put up a little birdhouse. I don't know if any birds will use it, I hope so, but it looks really pretty anyway.

It is only 2 metres off the ground, which possibly isn't high enough, but sadly is the highest suitable place in the garden. If I have no luck I will rethink.

From tiny seeds.....

All the seeds that I sowed at the beginning of February have germinated and are beginning to reach for the sky, some faster than others. In a week or two I will start the second lot of seeds to germinate.

Meanwhile, this is what I have got:

Lobelia, Crystal Palace variety (you can just see my greenhouse in the background there)

Some leeks, only just appearing.

One tray of sweet peas, standing tall and even like a regiment.

Half of this tray is filled with delphinium, pacific giants and the other half with sweet william.

Some more sweet peas, in pots this time.


This next week will see me starting tomatoes and cucumbers, squash and yet more flowers, among other things.

Vegetable Growing 2013.

I think a lot of us in Britain can quite safely say that 2012 was not a good year for vegetable growing. It was rather disheartening to nurture seedlings and then plants, watch them grow their first shoots and finally produce little or no edible content at all. It wasn't all bad, I had successful potatoes and my apple tree and rhubarb took nicely so that I will hopefully have something from them soon, fingers crossed. but tomatoes were disastrous giving me only about 20 tomatoes from 8 plants, my cucumbers all died before they grew a single one and even my rosemary looks like it lost the will to live.

So onward and upward, 2013 is another year and we can only hope that the weather is a bit better and the vegetables actually grow.

2012 was always going to be a bit hit and miss for me, to be fair. I had only just moved in to this garden when I should have been starting seedlings off and the garden needed tons doing to it before I could get stuff in the ground.
Now I have a raised bed solely for veg growing and plenty of mixed beds that have been inundated with organic matter, manure, soil improver etc. All this will hopefully give my veg a better chance.

So I have been browsing the catalogues that I get regularly. I like Suttons, Mr Fothergills and Parkers and there is no pleasure like browsing the various sections on a cold winters night. It is easy, however, to get swayed by the lovely pictures of veg and to want to grow everything, so this week I got my act together and made a list of what I actually want to grow and eat this year. The is no point at all in growing stuff that you never actually eat, so that gets rid of a certain amount. Also, when space is a premium, I only really want to grow stuff that is pricey to buy in the shops, so I am going for stuff that I enjoy eating but can be expensive to buy. I am sure home grown carrots are delicious, but I haven't got room to grow many and after all a massive bag is less than a pound.

In the end I have whittled my list down to:

Vegetables

Spring onions
Tomatoes
Cabbage
Leeks
Squash
Lettuce
Garlic
Potatoes
Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Runner beans

Fruit

Apples (eventually, may get one or two this year)
Raspberries
Strawberries
Gooseberries
Red and black currants
Rhubarb

I am going to divide my raised beds into sections - a bit like square foot gardening, but because of the dimensions of the bed the sizes may be slightly different. At the moment in the raised bed are some rather sad looking cabbages, that have been in there for an eternity. By the time other things want planting out I will eat what I can from the cabbages and ditch the rest as a poor job. I will try and get the spring onions, leeks, squash and more broccoli into there, and some cabbage if I can. In pots or growbags I will grow my tomatoes and I have some old windowboxes that will be perfect for the lettuce. I had good success with potatoes in potato bags last year so will try that again and everything else will go where it can.

On top of all of this veg I will plant up all those remnants of seeds I have from last year, I have a whole load that were not quite used up and which I carefully stored. Anything that comes from them will be a bonus, there are things like radish and beetroot among other things.

With the exception of raspberry canes, all the other fruit is already planted from last year so we will see what happens there.

If all of the above grow successfully I will be a happy man, but as half the pleasure is in the eating and the other half is in the growing, I will enjoy myself whatever comes of it all.