July 2010
1 post
Moving
I am supposedly moving house, and can’t think of much else to say about my Carshalton garden (the same thing happens every year, to be honest) so I’m going to wrap up this little blog and move over to kleruez.wordpress.com, which *might* have non-gardening stuff on it too, though possibly won’t. Who knows?
January 2010
4 posts
More birds
Having spent some money on a bird box, a large box of buggy balls and more mealworms, the birdwatch-fest is in full flow. I have to say that I hope they don’t just all disappear when the weather improves.
This morning I saw the blue tits, blackbird, robin and also a tiny little wren. The latter was on the fence, hopefully doing a good job on the overwintering pests.
Speaking of pests,...
Perhaps it was a fieldfare after all? →
November 2009
2 posts
Dig up your drive
I don’t have a hope of digging up my drive. It’s solid concrete and fit for purpose, and a layer of gravel will make it reasonably attractive too. However, my patio is neither attractive nor practical. When it rains water pools on it, and the whole thing gently slopes towards the house so when it rains properly (and for the last few days it has REALLY rained) the rear of the house gets...
Battening down the hatches
It still hasn’t really got cold so lots of stuff is still limping along when it should really be dying back. The shasta daisies are still flowering, which means their clumps are spreading unchecked. I’m desperate to chop them up into lovely new plants but can’t bring myself to sacrifice some of the few flowers in my garden.
Today I did manage to do quite a few things though...
October 2009
1 post
Autumn approaching
The amount of time I’ve been spending updating this blog is an accurate reflection of the amount of time I’ve been able to spend in the garden recently. Everything’s a bit neglected.
I received a big order of bulbs last weekend so aimed to get them planted on Sunday. However, by the time I’d felled the sunflowers, untangled the tomatoes and separated the blighted ones to...
September 2009
1 post
Slim pickings
I think the 2009 veg season has finally come to an end - we had two tiny peppers today, a couple of courgettes and a few garden peach and snow berry tomatoes. There are still plenty of green tomatoes and some courgettes that look like they might turn into something edible but the weather has taken a real turn for the worst so we’re not holding out much hope.
It seems impossible that we...
August 2009
12 posts
July 2009
3 posts
Basil
Historically, I’ve never had much luck growing pesto-sized portions of basil but this year I seem to have (eventually) got it right.
I tried the first lot of seeds off in February and they came up and died off, since diagnosed as damping off. The compost was too damp and the air was too cold.
The second lot were sown indoors in April and came up much stronger but, again, suffered the...
Eating
It’s been a quiet couple of weeks as far as gardening goes - I’ve just been watching stuff grow.
Tonight, we ate the first tomato - a brown berry, which is one of the cherry varieties - and it was very good indeed.
There are also two more cucumbers ripening up on the plant (one conveniently rested on the upper shelf), yellow and green courgettes fruiting and blueberries ready every...
The fruits (and veg) of my labours
It’s been a fruitful couple of weeks - we’ve eaten three good-sized beetroot, already a record harvest after last year’s paltry one. There are more in the ground too that are fattening up nicely. We’ve also had the first small and large cucumbers, which are paler than the ones that come in the veg box but very tasty and not at all bitter.
The main news over the past two...
June 2009
9 posts
The end of a pea-ra
As the courgettes are getting a bit big for their pots, yesterday I decided it was time for the peas to be pulled up. This was quite well-timed actually as there was a colander full of peas hidden away desperate to be picked and pulling them up allowed me access to these.
In all, we’ve had two risottos from the peas and also a few salads plus there are some in the freezer. As a crop planted...
Wildflower weeds →
As a lover of anything bees like, I happily let clover and nettles and dandelions flower in my garden. Here though is a proper collection of weeds that can be planted as flowers - definitely one for next year’s planting scheme.
Incidentally, I planted some thistle seeds that I took from a plant in wilderness island. These all germinated but haven’t done much since.
Short-haired bumblebee to be reintroduced to... →
May 2009
19 posts
Apres 'oliday
Spent a week in Cornwall and the garden looks like I’ve been away a month. Everything survived a hot week with no water, with the exception of the fennel seedlings, which have been eaten I think. There are aphids and ants on everything and the cucumbers were a little wilted after a day in Vince with temperatures soaring to 49 degrees. The tomatoes look particularly good.
We ate a proper...
Dad on the telly! →
