Growing Season 2015

So, who is planning already?

Bought some peppers, tomatoes, blue lake runner beans (thanks Mache ), couple of varieties of cabbage, sweetcorn, and cauli. Bought some onion sets and potatoes from Home Bargains.

Will be checking whether my rotavator is running next week, when I can be bothered to venture out and buy some fuel to premix.

Need to buy some wood to make raised beds. Or I may buy some of those 'sides' that you use on pallets, to build them up a bit.

Winter prune the apple trees to do yet.

Oh, and go and check on the allotment. Not been up since about October.

Is it too late to prune Blackcurrant bushes. I have a couple that need to be done as this will be the fourth year.  I think you need to prune them after 3 years.

Prune blackcurrants when dormant – from late autumn to late winter. Fruit forms on young wood, so when pruning aim to remove older wood, leaving the young shoots.

Up to and including the fourth year after planting, remove weak, wispy shoots, retaining a basic structure of six to 10 healthy shoots. After year four, cut out about one-third of the older wood at the base, using a pair of loppers or a pruning saw. This will encourage and make room for younger, healthy wood. Also remove weak shoots and low ones leaning towards the ground.

From -> https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/fruit/blackcurrants

I haven't grown blackcurrants yet, though they're on my to-do list. I have a redcurrant bush though.

Yes I'm planning,got a new propagator last week..getting runner bean this week and cucumber seeds..have only got a small greenhouse and get my tomatoes from Bickershaw later on,fed up of starting them off with seeds..have been tidying the tubs as well ready for flowers and pruned the clematis...all in all I can't wait.

strawberry plant still flowering and putting out fruit...pansies in full flower, blackcurrant, gooseberry and redcurrant full of buds, acers the same...

Think I've lost my little orange tree though and my Olive has some kind of brown doings on her leaves, peacock spot I think...had her 6 years and looks like it's going to be the green bin for her...

I have very little space in my Mums yard - I am going to be doing some mixed planting and whatever I can get in my plastic greenhouse which is still standing and is a good size. I have been offered a patch on an allotment, but I will ask what was grown previously before I plan anything there.

Been up to the allotment, broke up all the clods with my Rotavator

So jealous! Does the rotavator not take a little of the enjoyment out of it - you know not having to put as much back into it?

Been looking at my plastic greenhose and it is still in one piece wedged between shed and side wall so quite protected - amazing how much stuff you can grow in there. I may clean it out today....

I dug it over by hand originally. I think it's about 31' x 18', and quite clay. Tell you what, you can do it for me next time. By hand.

When it's a little drier, I will go up again and dig a little deeper, it was mainly the clods on top which I broke up, after leaving over winter.

Ha ha, there is something quite bracing about turning over a plot of soil heavy with clay - and so rewarding after several years of growing and turning.

Are you double digging the whole thing?  I've never double-dug anything in my life - no time for 'Bastard Trenching'.

You should take pics and show us - or better still film it and then we can laugh at you when you're finished and knackered.

I will put the 'after' photo up. I don't think I have any 'before' that are recent.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b4t3t516j837rpt/IMG_20150125_133414829.jpg?dl=0

Is that the after one, after the rotavator? Is it a new dig, ie dug over from grass? Either way it looks alright that, grow plenty on that.

This was what it was like, only more grassy as I hadn't been up there for a while:

I found growing potatoes in heavy ground helped to break it up first season - may save a bit of work - I guess it depends how heavy it is. There is lime - and brassicas love that. Nice shot of the sun shing down there!

'Charlotte' seed potatoes have arrived from T&M, along with 5 bags to grow them in, and 5 'free' packs of seeds.

VG Old gardeners that I knew when I whur young always swore by growing spuds as first crop on land that had not recently been under cultivation.

Unfortunately, the allotment last year had a case of blight (probably not helped this year by them going and dumping the affected plants in the compost heap ), so I may grow a few, but not lots up there, and stick to growing in bags.

Very wise, it's very disheartening to lose your entire crop to blight: I did two years back, both spuds and tomato.

Ragbru - I once saw a chap on TV cutting/taking up turf and using it to plant spuds in, never tried it myself and eelworm could be a problem there - but it really was a great start to his plot.

Luckily I know where my brother was growing his spuds - just the one raised bed. I am going to do some in a new bed and some in sacks. Battling with nettles yesterday - pulling up what I thought were root of something else......

Aldi doing seed potatoes from this Thursday 1.49 kg - not a lot of choice it seems though - from here.....

https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/thur-19-feb/

I think they offered a handful of varieties last year.

got some tomatoe seeds, 100 seeds 0.99p delivered off ebay also 100 pea seeds also 0.99p delivered, got some compost from B+Q 3 x 50 ltr bags for £9, just waiting now till March,

Bought two packs of rhubarb, and a bag of Maris Peer seed potatoes, £2 each (£6 total) from Asda

Productive day in the garden, despite the early showers.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s2z2ioo1ed3rp7g/IMG_20150308_155928091.jpg?dl=0

Ten trays in all, from memory (so probably forgotten a few):

24 x sweetcorn early
24 x green bean blue lake
8 x golden sunrise tomato
8 x california wonder peppers
8 x cayenne chillis
1 seed tray of marigolds (companion planting with tomatoes)
8 x banana peppers
1 tray x early nantes carrots
8 x cauli all year round
8 x marmande tomato
8 x red robin tomato
8 x gardeners delight tomato
8 x moneymaker
1 tray x salad onion

Almost certain I'm missing some though; will get them the next time I look out.

Will be doing some leek trays, and purple sprouting broccoli too. And I'm sure I have some batavia lettuce, but can't remember if I planted them out.

Bought 10 lengths of 8' decking. Today knocked the first of these together:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nx0kgsj0q62tzs5/IMG_20150308_161827452.jpg?dl=0

Filled with home made compost from the previous two seasons

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vagj3dff8dqf1lo/IMG_20150308_163523118.jpg?dl=0

Planted a lot of onion sets - Stuttgart, Centurion, red baron, and some shallots. Hopefully, I've cat-proofed:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sunslaugd4jnz0g/IMG_20150308_170838554.jpg?dl=0