re-roofed the chickens
After that I started to fit the roof timber. These are classic lapped planks. Shortly after this it started snowing.
So I moved inside and fitted some of the bracing. The A frames are 2"x2", so should hold a fair amount of weight.
I thought that it would be easier to paint the roof as I built it. The final result is a rather smart dark stained wood roof. It took me about 5 hours in the end.
It's not quite finished - I'm going to add some guttering and water barrels at some point this spring.
chicken coop roof
This has to be fixed so I'm building a full roof with a solid, lapped roof. As this is quite a lot of wood, I need to strengthen the uprights in the center of the coop.
I've added 4 columns plus two cross bars in 2"x2". The cross bars effectively hold the sides of the coop in. They were already been pushed out by the weight of large puddles of rainwater that collect on the roof. The corners are ok as they are as the sides form L columns. It already helps hold up the saggy, puddled roof. All I need to do now is to build the A frames for the peaked roof. I've built one, just 4 more to go.
seeds: swapping and buying
dig for victory
Well, it’s stopped raining and, with the clear blue skies, got an awful lot colder. Very heavy frost today plus a very slight drizzle of snow. Nothing for it but to use my new spade and dig some compost into the empty bed ready for planting in April. Looks pretty doesn’t it? This took about a quarter of one of my big compost heaps. The top half was not well composted, but I put it into the bottom of each trench anyway, it will break up and rot in the next few months. I’ve also been planning where to plant things in 2010. I don’t follow a proper crop rotation as I usually end up with lines of different things. What I make sure of though is that I don’t plant the same sort of plant in the same place two years in a row. Works pretty well.
infilling
A tip that I read is to line the trench or hole with potting compost as that’s a nicer medium for the seeds to sprout in and it makes them easy to find and water.
first seeds sown
I’ve also sown carrots, chili pepper and tomatoes in the propagator. Good old Gardener’s Delight which was really good last year. The other type were ‘Alicante’. The peppers are ‘Ring of Fire’ (wonder what that means?).
Carrot ‘Paris Market’
One of the best all rounders, as the sphericall ‘baby’ carrots are unlikely to grow more than an inch in length.
Tomatoes Alicante
Cordon (Indeterminate). Ideal variety for beginners. A superior variety possessing all the things we look for in a tomato. Alicante produces a heavy crop of greenback free fruit early in the season and the flavour is excellent.
Chili Pepper Ring of Fire (Heat Level 6)
Cayenne type chilli this is ideal for drying and grinding into powder. 4 inch long thin chillies, red when ripe after 80 days. Very abundant 2 foot plants form a perfect shape. (Capsicum annuum)
The carrots were Nantes 2. I’ve grown these for a couple of years and they grow really well and cook well too.
can't wait to start planting
I’ve had them a little while, but I’m starting to think seriously about planting them. I’ve tidied up the greenhouse, trimming dead bits of over-wintering plants (pelegoniums and herbs mostly). I’ll plant tomatoes and peppers in the heated propagator next weekend.
You’ll notice a non-vegetable lurking. I’ve bought some sunflower seeds, I’ve wanted to grow these for a while now.
2009 seeds ordered
FRENCH BEAN The Prince
RUNNER BEAN Enorma Elite
CARROT Nantes 2
CRESS American or Land
COURGETTE Rondo di Nizza
PARSNIP F1 Gladiator
HOT PEPPER Ring of Fire
RADISH Rudolph
TOMATO Gardeners Delight
TOMATO Alicante
POTATO Swift 1.5kg
POTATO (non-organic) Anya 2kg
BEETROOT Detroit 2 Bolivar
RADISH French Breakfast
LEEK Almera
LETTUCE Tintin
RUNNER BEAN Butler
ROCKET Rucola
SPINACH Giant American
the thrifty gardener
this year's planting, a summary
|
Plant |
Variety |
Description |
Comments |
r |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Asparagus |
Bachlim |
Mid to late season male variety, with consistent yields of large, smooth spears with well closed tips. It boasts good disease resistance, and is a very reliable performer in the kitchen garden. |
||
|
Asparagus |
Crimson Pacific |
This mid season purple variety, is so tender and super-sweet that young spears can be eaten raw in salads, providing unusual colour and flavour. |
||
|
Beetroot |
Woden F1 Hybrid |
Woden F1 hybrid was bred by Thompson and Morgan and introduced in their 2004 catalogue. It is a globe beetroot with bright red flesh that can be harvested as baby or mature beets. Mature beets do not go fibrous and store well. Young leaves can be eaten as spinach. |
Too early to tell, planted October |
|
|
Beetroot |
Detroit 2 |
Perfect for pickling! Dark red, delicious-tasting roots, ideal fresh or pickled. |
Grew well and tasted wonderful. |
√ |
|
Broad Beans |
Red Epicure |
f you are after something special, this is the broad bean to choose. The chestnut crimson beans retain their striking colour if lightly steamed rather than boiled, and have a taste we consider to be unequalled. |
Grew and cropped well. Very tasty. |
√ |
|
Cabbage |
Round 'Stonehead' F1 |
Plant April / August. Good quality, uniform with very solid heads. Use for successional plantings. Can be used as baby vegetables. Harvest June to November. |
Very attractive to slugs and catapillers. |
|
|
Cabbage |
Savoy ‘Mila’ F1 |
Plant April / July. Early maturing. Dark green, good standing ability and resistance to bursting. Suitable for successional plantings. Harvest November to February. |
Very attractive to slugs and catapillers. |
|
|
Cauliflower |
Nautilus' F1 improved |
A high quality variety with extra white deep curds. Also a vigorous hybrid even in cooler climates and useful for extended autumn crops. Sow Feb for cutting July to November. |
Very attractive to slugs and catapillers. |
|
|
Carrot |
Nantes 2 |
A tasty early to mid-season bunching variety which stores well. |
Really good carrots, tasty and big. |
√ |
|
chilli pepper |
Anaheim |
Very mild, medium sized chile to 6-10", often used when green. The basic variety ripens to a dark green/reddish color, but other strains ripen to full red. |
These grew well. Not very hot when green. |
√ |
|
Courgette |
Tondo di piacenza |
A round variety from near Parma. It's shape makes it ideal for stuffing. |
Disappointingly low yield but tasty. Needs a better position. |
√ |
|
Cress |
American Land |
Easy alternative to water cress |
Really good, very tasty. Gill loves them. |
√ |
|
Dwarf French Beans |
Rocquencourt |
very productve, primrose-yellow podded dwarf French bean. One of the most cold tolerant of all French beans. |
Hard to get going but cropped well, beans very tasty |
|
|
Dwarf French Beans |
Sonesta |
Early maturing, waxy yellow beans on compact plants. Pods are slender, straight and stringless reaching up to 13cm (5 inches) long. |
Hard to get going, not a great crop |
|
|
Dwarf French Beans |
Slenderette |
Slender, smooth stringless pods are glossy and dark green. Very high yield and quality |
Hard to get going, cropped well and beans tasty. |
√ |
|
Garlic |
Cristo |
Very white skin, pink cloves and round bulbs. |
Too early to tell, planted October |
|
|
Lettuce |
Pinares |
Improved Parris Island Cos selection. Uniform crops averaging heights of 30cm. Very adaptable and has some resistance to tip burn. Lovely sweet flavour and crisp texture. |
Really nice, wish I’d planted more. |
√ |
|
Parsnip |
Avonresistor |
Quick maturing established favourite. Flat purple top turnips. Sow Mar - Jul, harvest Jun - Oct. |
Good, tended to fork. Good taste and roasted well. |
√ |
|
Pea |
Feltham First |
This first early, round seeded variety gives early crops of large well-filled pods of sweet tasting, fine flavoured peas. It can be autumn or spring sown as the plants are winter hardy. |
Grew well and tasty. Not a great crop, but perhaps I didn't water them enough. |
|
|
Potatoes |
Arran Victory |
Victory was bred in the Isle of Arran by Donald Mackelvie. Victory, the oldest of the "Arrans" still grown, was named in 1918 in celebration of the ending of the war. |
Grew well and tasty. Not a great crop, but perhaps I didn't water them enough. |
|
|
Potatoes |
Edzell Blue |
Edzell Blue was first recorded in 1915 but it is said to have been bred in the Victorian era. Edzell Blue has an attractive bluish/ purple skin with deepish eyes, contrasting with the snowy white flesh. |
This might be a rare potato but it didn't crop well and didn't taste that good. |
|
|
Potatoes |
Rocket |
First early maturity producing an attractive uniform sample, very early bulking, and high yielding. |
Didn't crop that well this year. |
|
|
Raddish |
Neckarruhm (White Dream) |
For greenhouse, cloche and outdoor production. Fast growing,nicely shaped,pure white roots with white flesh. More uniform and longer than Icicle and well suited for slicing. |
Quite hot and grew very large when left to their own devices. |
|
|
Raddish |
Saxa 2 |
Alan Titchmarsh organic |
Lovely |
√ |
|
Rocket |
Wild rocket |
A tasty 'cut and come again' variety producing masses of attractive strong-flavoured leaves. Ideal for salads or cooking, it can be harvested all summer. |
Good, but decimated by white fly. |
√ |
|
Salad |
Oriental mixed leaves |
Cut and come again crop. Mixture of pak choi, mibuna, green mustard, cima di rapa nand red mustard. |
Not bad, attractive to white fly. |
|
|
Shallots |
Red Sun |
Gaining in popularity due to its attractive red tinged skin. Arguably the best of the red shallots. Good yields of crisp, white fleshed bulbs of excellent flavour for cooking, in salads or for pickling. Bulbs have long storage potential. |
Grew really well, nice flavour |
√ |
|
Shallots |
Golden Gourmet |
Dutch. This is a major advance on the traditional Giant yellow and produces larger and better quality bulbs with reduced bolting incidence. |
Grew really well, nice flavour |
√ |
|
Spinach |
These struggled a bit, I think because I didn't water them well enough |
√ |
||
|
Sweet Pepper |
Pepper Quadrato d’Asti Rosso. |
The lovely golden brown skinned bulbs store well throughout the winter. |
Failed |
|
|
Sweet Pepper |
Golden Bell F1 Hybrid |
This pepper matures to a large, 4-lobed, blocky fruit. These shiny, medium-green peppers are very thick walled and turn a golden yellow when fully ripe. |
Greenhouse. Grew well, reasonable crop and tasted good. |
√ |
|
Tomatoes |
Red Pear |
Like 'Yellow Pear', this small, red pear shaped tomato makes a very nice salad garnish. The fruit typically weigh one-half ounce. The plants will tend to sprawl all over the place and will be loaded with large clusters of fruit. Likely predates 1800. |
Didn't crop that well, but tasted good. Succumbed to tomato rot |
|
|
Tomatoes |
Gardener’s Delight |
Cordon (Indeterminate). The true tangy flavour of tomatoes of a century or more ago. |
Once again, really good crop with excellent flavour. |
√ |
|
Turnip |
Purple top milan |
Quick maturing established favourite. Flat purple top turnips. Sow Mar - Jul, harvest Jun - Oct. |
Grew well. Taste a little strong. |
thermo-king
We need more compost room (we run out of space when we mow the grass) and I need to replace the two wooden heaps that we inherited with the house (which are rotting). I emptied out one of the wooden ones into one of the raised beds. It’s enormous and I’m going to buy another one.
Once we’ve eaten the last of the beetroot and parsnips, I intend to leave this one empty over winter. The soil was pretty low, so it needed the compost.
I let the chickens (under gardeners) out and Amber came to help.
holiday
The cabbages and cauliflower are being somewhat eaten by whitefly, but I've been spraying and watering them (and picking off caterpillars). I'm wondering what to plant as we slide into autumn.
Sunday sufficient
We were discussing how easy it would be to be self-sufficent and what being self-sufficient actually means. We're self sufficient in eggs. Given more land, time and ability I could imaging being self sufficient in vegetables. Today, I decided that we're "Sunday sufficient" - we have enough vegetables such that every vegetable in the Sunday meal comes from our garden. Here's a picture of beetroot. The crop is big now and I've been cooking and pickling it.
that's not a plum
failures
Dwarf Green Beans
I struggled with my dwarf green beans, getting 2 or 3 plants out of 8 planted. I persevered and I now have three rows of beans producing crops. However I cheated and bought some to fill out what I'd grown.
Potatoes
My potatoes have been pretty poor. The plants were massively leggy and have not yielded well. I've left the Arran Victory and Edzell Blue to grow for longer in the hope that I get a better yield.
Spinach
I've also had poor results for my spinach. Partially, I think that I under watered them so they've struggled. They're under special needs and I'm watering them carefully. I also planted a row of seeds that came up and were immediately eaten. By slugs, snails or birds.
Swede
I planted these last autumn and kept them over winter. I think that they went to see. Whilst they looked pretty good, they were so hard that I couldn't get a knife into them. I ended up pulling them up to make room for something more productive.
busy weekend
spring?
I've finished the bark chipping path, so now I can walk around the raised beds without getting all muddy (and it looks neater). Outside, after the easter snow, the asparagus is peeping through and the peas have started to sprout. Meanwhile, in the greenhouse, it's all systems go. I'm glad that I bought a propagator.
Paths
still waiting for spring
I've used about 2/3 of the soil that I had delivered on Thursday, I think that I over estimated how much I'd need. I've been filling up the raised beds (I didn't quite buy enough soil last year and my compost heaps are not producing enough (yet)). Maybe I'll get some of the paths done this weekend; I bought some weed membrane yesterday.
spring coming and I'm ready for it
asparagus bed built
cold, very cold
I went to Southill Sawmills on Friday and ordered some wood for the path edging and a couple more raised beds, each a metre square. One for asparagus and the other for herbs. I'll need to order soil and wood chippings from Maddingly Mulch.