Garden activity

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
British Red
Posts: 428
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:45 pm

Garden activity

Post by British Red »

It’s really getting time to put some major effort into our garden now

All the tomatoes are now potted on and moved out into the heated greenhouse. We are focusing on San Marzano & Roma this year – good thick flesh, minimal goo, great for canning

ImageTomatoes potted on by English Countrylife, on Flickr

The seed onions sown in January are also out in the greenhouse. I’ll prick them out next month – these are Rijnsburger. Nice flavour, keep well, open pollinated so we seed save them.

ImageSeed onions by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Speaking of onions, check out these Spring Onions – over a year old, cut many times, over wintered outside and happy as Larry

ImageOver wintered Spring Onion by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Spuds are chitting nicely. We normally only do first earlies to avoid blight but we are going to sack grow maincrop in one of the poly tunnels this year as an experiment

ImageChitting Potatoes by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Early lettuce is cropping now so time for second sowing

ImageLettuce by English Countrylife, on Flickr
Potted chillies and peppers up today, but they will stay in another six weeks

ImageChillies and peppers by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Outdoors it’s easy to tell it’s warming up. We are counting down to rhubarb crumble

ImageRhubarb by English Countrylife, on Flickr

Wild garlic is being used a lot now – pesto making soon with our own hazelnuts!

ImageRandom wild garlic by English Countrylife, on Flickr

What are you up to in the garden?
British Red
Posts: 428
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:45 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by British Red »

I seem to have managed to double post this - perhaps a mod could delete one please 😊
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by Arzosah »

Things are looking great, Red, your experience shows. Just one tiny case in point - you have nice clumps of wild garlic. I sowed mine a few years ago, and while it's more or less naturalised now, I put it onto a very slight slope, towards the patio, and the result, I've now found, is that I have a *really* thin edging of wild garlic. It's also being crowded out by naturalised salad burnet, which doesn't have the taste!

I think I'm going to collect the seeds and sow them underneath the rhodedendron/mahonia/witchhazel mix on the other side of the garden. It's flat, it mimics woodland, all of those shrubs are beloved by pollinators, wildlife and birds, so they're staying. There's also a lot of space for solitary bee nests, which are a thing round here.

My rhubarb is as far on as yours, but the clump has grown massive, it looks like a cats cradle of rhubarb :oops: but very nice still.

Lovely pics, thanks again!
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by jennyjj01 »

British Red wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 5:51 pm It’s really getting time to put some major effort into our garden now

All the tomatoes are now potted on and moved out into the heated greenhouse. We are focusing on San Marzano & Roma this year – good thick flesh, minimal goo, great for canning
.....

What are you up to in the garden?
Oh WOW. I exclaimed a very jealous expletive at those pictures. That's an awesome array of seedlings after my best efforts all died.

I did Roma tomatoes last two years, though last years died of blight. Tastier than any others I managed to grow and good yield.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
British Red
Posts: 428
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:45 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by British Red »

Arzosah wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 6:12 pm Things are looking great, Red, your experience shows. Just one tiny case in point - you have nice clumps of wild garlic. I sowed mine a few years ago, and while it's more or less naturalised now, I put it onto a very slight slope, towards the patio, and the result, I've now found, is that I have a *really* thin edging of wild garlic. It's also being crowded out by naturalised salad burnet, which doesn't have the taste!

I think I'm going to collect the seeds and sow them underneath the rhodedendron/mahonia/witchhazel mix on the other side of the garden. It's flat, it mimics woodland, all of those shrubs are beloved by pollinators, wildlife and birds, so they're staying. There's also a lot of space for solitary bee nests, which are a thing round here.

My rhubarb is as far on as yours, but the clump has grown massive, it looks like a cats cradle of rhubarb :oops: but very nice still.

Lovely pics, thanks again!
You can lift wild garlic and move the bulbs ( that's how we established this patch) - people say you can't, but, if you wait till the leaves are yellowing off, it works a treat. You could try three cornered leek on your slope. I'm putting in a big patch this year. Even more of a thug than wild garlic but totally delicious, self seeding, and needs no attention.

You could lift and divide that rhubarb if it's a tasty crown?
British Red
Posts: 428
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:45 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by British Red »

jennyjj01 wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 6:17 pm
British Red wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 5:51 pm It’s really getting time to put some major effort into our garden now

All the tomatoes are now potted on and moved out into the heated greenhouse. We are focusing on San Marzano & Roma this year – good thick flesh, minimal goo, great for canning
.....

What are you up to in the garden?
Oh WOW. I exclaimed a very jealous expletive at those pictures. That's an awesome array of seedlings after my best efforts all died.

I did Roma tomatoes last two years, though last years died of blight. Tastier than any others I managed to grow and good yield.
My top tip for tomatoes is get one of those dainty houseplant watering cans and never let the water hit the plant, just the compost. Use a free draining compost like John Innes no. 1 so the base doesn't rot. If I use garden compost I put 25% sand in the mix to improve drainage. Hope that helps 😉
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by Arzosah »

British Red wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 6:27 pmYou can lift wild garlic and move the bulbs ( that's how we established this patch) - people say you can't, but, if you wait till the leaves are yellowing off, it works a treat. You could try three cornered leek on your slope. I'm putting in a big patch this year. Even more of a thug than wild garlic but totally delicious, self seeding, and needs no attention.
Both those things sound good to me, I'll try both those actions.
You could lift and divide that rhubarb if it's a tasty crown?
It's too big for me to manage it, I'm afraid. I'll take a photo tomorrow and stick it up here. There's a neighbour I co-operate with in terms of council green bins and the odd crop/foraging exchange, I might ask him if he'd have a go, but first I'll post the photo on here.
British Red
Posts: 428
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2022 11:45 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by British Red »

I'm a horror to rhubarb, lift, chop up with a sharp spade, replant. But I do it when dormant
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by Arzosah »

Ah ... no hurry then, if it needs doing when dormant! Thanks Red.
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Garden activity

Post by Arzosah »

So these are the photos I took today
The attachment 2022 March summer snowdrops, salad burnet and wild garlic.jpg is no longer available
I'm digging up the summer snowdrops, they're spreading and taking up space on my lovely new south-facing fence. You can't see the slope, its very gentle, but its why the wild garlic hasn't spread.

Deleted what I could, I'm putting the rhubarb pix onto a new post.
Attachments
2022 March summer snowdrops, salad burnet and wild garlic.jpg
Last edited by Arzosah on Sat Mar 12, 2022 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.