My Garden

Because we’ve been away the last couple of weekends and haven’t managed to spend much time on the garden or on the allotment, jobs were beginning to pile up – and both my girlfriend Clare and I were beginning to get just a tad twitchy about the situation. So this weekend we were going to get on with... Read more..

Yet another forecast for a mixed bag of weather meant that this weekend I needed to get cracking early – just in case, just in case things turned really nasty and put the kybosh on my plans. As a result I was out in the garden by 8o’clock on both days. The weather wasn’t as bad as I’d expected – Saturday... Read more..

As predicted last week, this weekend involved plenty of pricking out and potting on. And, as far as the veg garden was involved, that was about the size of it. That’s the problem with any form of seed sowing – the seeds only take up a pot or tray when you sow them, but each plant needs its own cell in... Read more..

I'm really sorry about all the rain we've had over the last couple of days - I think it's my fault. You see, I planted out some broad beans and some other bits and bobs on the allotment on Monday, but forgot to take the watering can. I went back on Tuesday and gave everything a thorough watering... Read more..

There’s only one thing that I like more than the weekends – that’s a three-day weekend, commonly called a Bank Holiday! And what a wonderful one it was too. Saturday was spent doing general ‘life’ things to get them out of the way, so it freed up the other two days. I did get time to go down to the allotment... Read more..

Another atypical early May weekend got me out of bed early Saturday morning to start the rounds of watering. By seven o’clock the hose was busy giving relief to gasping plants. All the young plants in the lean-to frame needed looking at, so I got out my faithful flat Tubtrug, filled it with water and... Read more..

My itchy fingers from last Friday were well and truly scratched over the weekend - I had a good catch up at home and at the allotment. My main bug bear was the number of tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, cucumbers and squashes that needed to be potted up into their final growing pots. So, armed with a trusty... Read more..

Despite some other commitments this weekend, I've managed to catch up with my backlog of veg jobs. I picked the last crop from the broad beans that had been inhabiting the growing frame at home (that's where they were overwintered) and then cut down and pulled up the plants - stripping off all... Read more..

Right! This is getting silly! I know each year in the garden is different – but I just wish they were different in a good way. Two years ago we were over-run with tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and aubergines and the freezer was swollen with ratatouille. Last year was the ‘blight year’ and tomatoes and... Read more..

Having had a prolonged veg-free start to the year - I blame the weather and too many other things to do - I've finally managed to getthings started in the veg garden. I know it sounds like an excuse, but last year we started too early, everything grew too much before the weather was right for planting... Read more..