Freebies?

Just spotted this when searching for some sweet william seeds:

http://www.gardenfreebies.co.uk/

Not browsed it properly yet but thought I'd bookmark it here.

Does anyone know of a good place to get sweet william seeds? I'd like to grow lots next year and also get some for my sister-in-law. Ideally the mixed variety.

Close-up catch up

Here's a little catch up of some close-up photos. I like these. Lots of things are looking good :)

sweetcorn & kohl rabi

gold rush courgettes, marrow, patty pans

patio apples

dwarf dahlias, LOTS of cornflowers with buds, gladioli

purple podded peas

Post-holiday catch up

So, what is happening at lottie? Well...

The view from the road is looking good. Nick's been doing a great job looking after things whilst I was away & now things are really coming along. He even edged this big bed. Bless.

The californian poppies look great with the gladioli. They make me smile :)

And this bed of flowers is coming into bloom.

The sweetcorn block is really growing and the oriental salad I put around the bottom is nearly ready for picking.

I planted out some leeks I grew from seed before I went away. They all seem to be doing well. I could, perhaps, have planted too many! Hey ho. I do like leeks ;)

The shed end is also going great guns. The cornflowers are working well with the sugarsnaps, giving them something to hold on to whilst looking pretty!

Back at home the seeds I planted out on my balcony are also growing well. The borage is on the verge of flowering (I nearly lost it when I was away but luckily a good soak revived it), the rocket and coriander will be harvested soon & the bellboy pepper is starting to produce.

My replacement tumbling tom tomatoes, grown from seed, are also doing well. Thank goodness for that!

Wigwammery, strange finds & a radish recipe (Sunday's work)

Remember my nursery snaps from earlier? Well, I went ahead and made a wigwam like the ones I'd seen. My join was a bit higher up than the ones I saw but I am pretty happy with the sturdiness of it. Last year the plants pretty much toppled the A-frame shape I made - *pic here*!
I used 8 canes, tying it together with string. I also added some string around the base to stop the canes from moving outwards with the weight of the plants when they get bigger. To support them as they grow, I made this star-shape. It will also guide the 2 black-eyed susan vines out to the canes. I got them to grow with the beans as they're so pretty. Nick thinks it looks a little cult-ish but was impressed with the wigwam itself :) So, there are 8 runner bean plants. Will see how they do.

In front of the wigwam, I planted two rows of self-blanching celery. I gave up trying to get the seeds I had to germinate.

I also planted some 'diablo' dahlias surrounded by celariac. There are 2 identical beds like this.

Whilst I was weeding the 2nd bed to prep for planting, I had a very random find. This rotten egg was in the soil! I wonder how it got there.

So, now the 'road end' bed is looking quite good. I also did lots of raking. It will look great once everything is established. I have some purple sprouting broccoli to go in, spring onions and some leeks. I've read up on how to plant the leeks out as my lot last year just died. I know my error now - not planted deep enough. Gonna get the dibber out :)

I also needed to do something with the 1st batch of radishes I harvested. I thought perhaps pickling would be something to try. I found a recipe and made up a batch.

I have to say, the end result looks disgusting in this photo! I am yet to try any yet. The recipe sounds tasty though :) It's all foamy as instead of getting a bowl to mix the vinegar, sugar and soy, I shook it together in the jar. The proof is in the eating I guess!

• 20 radishes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tblsp soy sauce
• 3 tblsp rice vinegar
• 2 tblsp light brown sugar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
  
  1. Clean the radishes and cut off both ends - make 2 or 3 small slashes on each one to allow the pickle to infuse, but keep whole.
  
  2. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Leave for 5 mins.
  
  3. Mix the soy sauce and vinegar in a separate bowl, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. (This is where I shook the ingredients together in the jar.)
  
  4. Pour the pickle mix over the radishes and finally dribble in the sesame oil.
  
  Store in the fridge.

Local nursery trip - the purchases

So, I went to Dundry Nursery yesterday. Seems like a good find. Lots of healthy plants at good prices and a vast range of seeds. Of course, I didn't leave empty-handed! I found these pretty marigolds in amongst the more ugly (in my opinion) usual marigold varieties. These are 'disco mix'. I also got some dahlias, salvia and a vegetable spaghetti plant - I have given up trying to grow one from seed! The veg-spag plant is quite upright so I may train this up some canes. It seems Dundry are not only potato specialists, but also cultivate a vast number of chillis too. I didn't get any this time but will remember them for next year.

I also snapped a couple of ideas I may use down the allotment. This low, sturdy trellis could be recreated with scrap wood...

...and these wigwams are a bit different from how I'd normally do it but they look pretty funky like this tied lower down. I think I might try this with my runner bean/black-eyed susan vine plants.

I thought I'd take a couple of pics of the 'shed end' as it is starting to come together. In fact the whole plot is really shaping up.

Thinning out, planting & harvesting

Last night I popped to the allotment. Just for a little while after work... but then stayed 'til it was dark! That's a habit I am getting into. Too many jobs, not enough time.

My seedlings did pretty well sown directly into the soil in rows, under the cling film cold frame. I took the frame itself off a while back when the frost had gone and almost everything I planted has gone great guns. So much so, I think I have too much! The kohl rabi was my task last night. I thinned out all the seedlings and planted them in-front of the sugar snaps/cornflowers. There was a reasonable amount of weeding to do but the soil is lovely up this (shed) end of the plot and the weeds came out easily. I am very pleased with the kohl rabi seedlings and I am hoping they will now start to swell. I had some seedlings left over so I gave some to a plot neighbour and some to a friend at work. She also got a chinese lantern - seedlings are popping up from one I bought last year which I thought had died a death, and some cosmos - also self-sown from last year's plant.

I also harvested some radishes which look mighty fine :) I thinned the seedlings a couple of weeks ago to give them room to swell. I like this photo :) Anyone know any good radish recipes?

These are leeks I grew from seed. I am going to thin these out too and sow them in place. I ran out of time last night.

I read somewhere you can germinate shop-bought seeds. This is my 'bean experiment' so I will see if anything grows. Just a bit of fun really. Not the end of the world if it doesn't work!

I picked my first ranunculus too. It is a bright poppy-red but looks orange on this pic. Pesky camera!

I also planted out the aubergines, patty pans, butternut squash and marrow plants I bought from Potten Farm in Kent. I did this is the dark though so no photos yet!

I've just been to the nursery near work to get a few more things. As the seeds I planted did nothing and I want to grow them, I bought a tray of self-blanching celery and two trays of celariac. I also got more seeds and some flowers. Photos to follow :)

After saying I wouldn't grow them again, like I did with the tomatoes, I bought a pot of runner beans! Aww, but... there were 8 healthy plants in one pot... it wasn't much money... last year's were super-tasty (but SO prolific!)... ah, I am sure I will enjoy them this year. Note to self - create a STURDY frame this time! No idea what sort they are. It just said 'runner bean'. Hmm!

Planting out 'the survivors'

The survivors from my grown-from-seed selection got planted out last week. Disappointingly there weren't as many as I'd like, but then that's the way it goes. I guess it is all part of learning. Most things got planted in the big bed at the 'road end', the one I'd divided into 9 sections. I put the squashes/courgettes etc here as it is closest to the water source. Should be easier on my poor back!

This is how it looked post-planting. Flowers nearest to us: nicotiana, cosmos, dwarf rudbeckia; above them to the left of the photo is the 'med bed': aubergine, tomatoes, yellow pepper (more to add here). The rest of the squares contain various courgettes and squashes. Some squares are still empty but they'll soon fill up :) As you can see, the squashes etc are pretty weeny. Hopefully they'll sort themselves out asap.

If you're wondering what those are by each plant, they're cut-off bottles, to focus the watering. Last year I didn't do this and I expect water was wasted. I know some of the leaves got scorched, so hopefully this way will be better. While the roots get established I am watering normally, then I'll move onto just watering in the bottles.

I also planted out into the mini-beds. My chitted rooster spuds went in one, and the surviving early extra sweetcorns went next to them.

The flowers planted a while back in the first row of mini-beds are taking their time. The only one looking promising is this bed of gladiolus, poppies and mixed annuals, even if it does look messy. I am sure half are weeds!

I also netted the blueberry with the clothes-peg & cane system.

Sunday: Sowing seed, propagator protection & netting

Well, I am a bit disappointed with my seedlings to date so I decided to re-pot things & plant seeds on Sunday. I wont do these as individual pics as I planted A LOT of new seeds! (The hollyhock was a little plant). Here they are:

L-R: chilli - habanero chocolate (a christmas gift from my big bro),
dwarf beans - purple queen & stanley, hollyhock - salmon pink,
auberine - early long purple 2, alium (unknown variety from my mum),
forget-me-not - royal blue, patisson - sunburst
& sweetcorn - early extra sweet, mixed annuals,
pak choi - choko, red basil - dark opal, chilli - cayenne

Looking forward to all these coming up.
(click the photo to see them bigger)

These are some other seeds I planted - more of what I tried before, along with some new seeds.

Closest to us: peas - kelvedon wonder, sunflower - black magic.
The rest I've already mentioned in the seed list.

The plants in the photo are from my aunt. She's good to me :)

I also potted on some sweetcorn (early extra sweet) as they were doing ok. 6 survivors though - pathetic!

So much has been nibbled / not come up / perished in the mini-greenhouse that I decided to try the survivors in some propagators. I knew those leftover bits of palette would come in useful! Fingers crossed this plan works! Oh for a REAL greenhouse...

The purple podded peas (such a great name - I love saying it!) Nick's mum gave me grew so fast I've already put them into the soil. I have tried to protect them with some plastic bottles to keep them warm and, using some netting and clothes pegs, I made this protection from pecking pigeons :) I did the same netting around the mangetout but didn't take a snap. Looks the same anyway! Around the PPpeas, I planted the mixed annuals and around the mangetout, the forget-me-nots.

On Monday I picked up the new mower & spent a while trying to make it. Useless instructions & not enough hands hindering me! I tried it out last night and it works a treat. Huzzah

Now we are all up-to-date on the allotment antics & I am off to watch Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen... :)

Tuesday evening lottie time - planting some climbers & some balcony seeds

Amongst my many tasks once I get home from work this week is going to lottie and watering. Of course, it is never just the one task I do when I go there! I also did some weeding in the seed cling-film nursery and am pleased to see everything has come through. Even the celeriac did, which is teeny tiny currently, but I'm glad it germinated. It is the green specs to the far right. The radish is getting huge and I think I will need to thin these soon.

I also planted the 2 climbers I bought to grow next to my bench, under the blackthorn tree. The blossom is devine while it lasts, but it is a bit dull as a tree most of the year. The sloes are a no-go too. All wrinkly and inedible. There are so many locally it doesn't really matter. Anyway, I planted a clematis and a pink jasmine. The jasmine will smell lovely and I picked it for the name - stephanense. How could I not buy it! I even lined the little area with wood edges. Aren't I good?! Ha!

Above & below: the seedlings in the mini-greenhouse are coming on in leaps and bounds. Some of the squash varieties, the sweetcorn and the courgettes doing best. In the big tray, the marigolds are starting to show. In the little tray are some earlier-planted courgettes which need re-potting soon. I also planted some more seeds - asparagus peas (a new one on me!), purple podded peas and red flowered broad beans. The PPpeas and the RFbroad beans are gifts from Nick's mum. Bless her cottons. She has an allotment and I think they're her own seeds, as it were :)

Above & below: I have finally got round to planting some seeds in the troughs on my balcony. I accidentally dug out a bit of mint so that found a new home here, as well as planting a few mint seeds and borage in that trough. In the 2nd one is rocket and coriander; all herbs I like to have on hand at home. In the kitchen I always have a pot of basil, supermaket-bought as growing from seed last year took forever! I do pretty well at keeping basil alive and happy, so much so some of the plants I've had have even had woody stems I've had them so long :) Look at my amazing use of clingfilm again!