I thought it about time that I give an update on the garden.
What’s been going on, I hear you ask?
Quite a move about in fact. The plans I laid out in my post back in February are now well underway. Of course, my optimism in getting the plans implemented didn’t take into account the sheer amount of hard work it would actually take. And thanks to the rather challenging weather it’s meant the work being fitted in around work and showers.
The polytunnel is now moved!
It has gone from this angle:
To this angle:
You can just make out where the previous raised beds used to be. They are now more spaced out and at the moment only three of the six have been created. It’s taken a while to create and fill them in between cold temperatures, howling winds and showers that have dominated the last three months.
I’m rather pleased with the site of the new polytunnel. It gets sunlight between 7am and 3pm which is a full hour more than I was expecting. It seems to hold the heat better as well as being in the corner. The real test will be the crops grown in there. It’s already brimming with cucumbers, tomatoes and chilli plants. Some have been potted up but there are more to go. I had to keep bringing them all in every night up until last week because the frosts were too damaging to leave them out. This week I’ve only had to bring the chillies in overnight so it’s getting a bit easier as the springtime moves on.
The moving of the garlic into its new raised bed was a little scary. First of all, I tried digging up each bulb with as much of the soil around it but this just became too difficult as I couldn’t bring enough soil into the new bed with them. So I ended up carefully digging up all the bulbs in one go, laying them on the ground. Then I quickly moved the soil by spade into the new bed, levelled it and quickly but carefully as I could, re-plant the bulbs back in. They flopped almost immediately and I started to get worried. Four weeks on they still look pretty floppy. Some leaves have started to turn yellow but there are new, upright leaves now appearing. I fear two major events in their lives (flooding and being dug up) won’t bode well. So if I get to harvest any at all it will be a miracle.
Digging up and replanting strawberry plants wasn’t as easy as I thought either. I tried to pick a mix of new plants and old ones that were crammed into the old bed, in the hopes I’ll get some fruit this year and let the new plants develop for next year. If nothing else I’ve made space for the strawberries, that’s for sure – they definitely needed thinning out. I hadn’t realised how overcrowded the old strawberry bed had become.
The third bed is currently empty, awaiting the courgettes I grew from seed in March -and then nearly lost because of an overnight frost. They are pretty stubborn plants though. New leaves are appearing all the time on the poorly treated things. I didn’t appreciate the fact that one night could do so much damage to courgette plants – even under cover.
I also intend to start planting salad crops in the third bed.
The other three beds will be made up of leeks, runner beans and anything else I can plant by the time the beds are filled. I’ve missed the boat for peas this year. All the cabbages I planted late last year got decimated by pigeons (I should have kept the cover over them), but I did manage to harvest enough purple sprouting broccoli for a meal which doesn’t sound a lot but it’s 100% more than I usually get!
The raspberry canes are also recovering from their big move. That wasn’t a fun job. The summer fruiting canes had so much root it took all afternoon to dig the six up. Both varieties are starting to send out new shoots and canes from the bottom, and last years growth looks lush enough. There are even signs of flowers forming which is exciting.
I have eight containers of sprouting potatoes now. Don’t ask which is which – typically the ink on the labels has run off!
The peach tree that I spent many a lunchtime tickling with a (clean!) earbud had a total of three peaches forming. slightly disappointing but again, still more than last year so an improvement in real terms.
I haven’t moved any of the other fruit yet. There is no rush. They are okay where they are.
In between all that I’ve also managed to sow some flower seeds as a trial for a cut flower bed. If I’m successful in keeping the plants alive (I never seem to have much luck growing flowering plants), it’ll mean cut flowers for the house from late summer to early autumn.
And so reader, you are now up to date on my weekend gardening endeavours undertaken since February.
This garden certainly keeps me busy. I say I’m a weekend gardener but at this time of year, it’s also first thing every morning, after work and weekends.
It’s so rewarding though and even though everything isn’t quite in place yet, and the beds aren’t brimming with crops, I can see the plans are coming into their own. The inclement weather can’t keep me away for long.
Thank you for reading.
Growing the Green Life - doing something good every day 