Category: garden

a few more rows

In the bed that Nonna dug, counting from the potato end:

  1. beetroot
  2. beetleaf (both some weeks ago)
  3. spring onion
  4. red cabbage (both a few days ago)
  5. carrot
  6. purple sprouting (a bit late, but worth a shot)
  7. webbs lettuce
  8. spring onion (yes, more)

A roundup of the rest of the news: cucumbers are coming on but none yet tennis-ball size; courgettes still a-cropping (both these and the cucumber have a lot of very white leaves; Cesarina cut most of them off); toms in allotment are fruiting, still green; curly kale down the back seems to be taking; all the earlies now eaten (finished with last night’s sag aloo). Planted rosemary and ornamental sage in the front garden (side bed, with the thyme).

Orto

Courgettes have been cropping for two weeks now; there were about six ready this morning. The six cucumber plants are vigorous and robust; only one really has any friut atm — they have just past golf-ball size; I’m waiting for tennis. Tomatoes in the left of greenhouse are wilting; seems to be spreading. The F1s that are outside seem healthier. The toms on right of ghouse seem ok but they are not San Marzano, which is v disappointing. They are some random round variety.
The french beans are starting to crop now.. Dwarf kale looking good, and the fennel is coming on. Beet and beet leaf seedlings pushing up. Loads of marigold in with cucs. Cornflower just coming in to flower. Still have one row of earliea left. Need to plant something in the bed that Nonna and Assunta have prepared. They have also done a fab job of clearing much of the rest of the plot.

Good growing weather

Nonna and Assunta have been doing excellent work in the garden and allotment. They’ve weeded and cut back everywhere front and back: the front looks great with all the inter-slab weed gone. They tied up the cucumbers and further secured the greenhouse tomatoes which, incidently, are starting to fruit; there are about five little green ones presently. And the courgettes are coming now; we’ve eaten two over so far: more on the way.

Meanwhile, I transplanted half of the kale that started life by the greenhouse to the allotment, at the back where the earlies were. I also planted some oriental onion (bit like spring onion) in one of the failed rows of cumin; and planted out some of the italian parsley; and sowed more corriander.

And then it rained. A lot.

planting with Neve

Neve and I popped over to the allotment to plant some more seeds. She was very eager. We quicly dug over some of the unprepared land; enough to sow a row of (Boltardy) beetroot (next to potatoes) and a row of beet spinach. Then we sowed a couple of clumps of basil in the centres of the two fours of tomatoes. Then we went to get some water and Neve stuck her hand in some nettles – an incident which plauged her for the rest of the day. I showed her how to use dock to salve the sting.

Later we ate more of the earlies in a spanish omlette.

very dull entry

I wish I could remember which variety of tomato I have planted out in the washing-line bed. Is it one row of each? Or just Incas?

There’s a little rain this morning and I concentrated on de-weeding the potatoes in the allotment. Much bindweed in some of the less well-tended rows; got most of it up, unwrapping from around the potatoes at times. It really is a phenomenal plant.

Had some more of the first earlies yesterday — a couple of plants provided enough for our Niçoise salad. Very nice.

Should plant more radishes. And basil. And salad. Had some of the pak choi the other day: that was good. Also the beet spinach is good.

I planted the peppers: two into containers in the greenhouse, the rest into the ground in one of the failed cumin rows.

matress, blind panic etc

Drove to work and parked in the BMA car park yesterday: very exciting. Well, it was kind of fun driving in to BMA House but the other 76 miles were pretty nasty: traffic, tired, bladder-challenged. Still, I did get the mattress which looks good. I finished off the picture-rail bodge when I got back, gave it a quick coat of paint then screwed down the slats to the bed frame. It’s looking OK.

The sand arrived — a ton of it now sitting on the pavement outside the house.

And Isa is not well: flu-like, feverish thing. Not nice and not very well timed — the girls arrive tomorrow! The girls and Alvise, that is: Selana is in hospital being tested for this enervating, painful thing she’s had for three weeks now. The liver is suspected; blood tests are coming back with the wrong levels of [stuff] but I have no good info on what [stuff] is. Alvise may have more news on Friday.

Allotment this morning, pulling bindweed out. Discovered that the Incas tomato is a determinate (ie, bush) type. And it’s a plum, which I’d forgotten.

Got turf for the bit around the sandpit on Tuesday and laid that. The garden is starting to take shape…

fennel and kale

Planted 1 row (left) of fennel and two (centre, right) of dwarf curly-leafed kale in the little bed by the gate in the allotment.

Lola and Neve”s flowers are coming up nicely around the squashes. Bindweed continues to enjoy life to the full. Four of the beans have found their poles. Will the first earlies be ready soon?

In other news, the mattress for the new bed is ready; will need to go to Londinium by car on Weds to fetch it. Can’t think of a better way than parking in Crouch End; going to be much time wasted, though.

Our ton of playsand might arrive today; it’s going to be fun barrowing that around from front to back. Need to line the sandpit and make a frame for the lid. And need to go and get turf for the adjacent dirt.

And don’t forget it’s Lola’s party on Saturday — for which rain is currently forecast. Grrr.

courgette flowers

2011-06-20 05.53.22.jpg

Three of the courgette plants were flowering this morning. Maybe they appreciated the compost that Lola and I took out there on Saturday. We also put some on the tomatoes and cucumbers. This was our own compost, which I also put around the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

Stuff in the allotment is coming on; beans growing, though they still look a bit pale, tomatoes look settled. Potatoes coming on well though no flowers yet and really need weeding every day. Found bindweed wrapped around one this morning.

In other news, this weekend saw me angle-grinding the three steel washing-line poles down and putting up the new rotary line. The view down the garden being dramatically improved in the process. Then finished off the decorating of the corner of the spare room, erected the bed and cut the slats to length. And made some mint syrup.

Stefi and Sofia arrive Friday – still loads to do.

And Danny of next-door-but-one fell off his bike outside our house and broke his arm. Very painful but a simple fracture and he was his usual cheery, albeit somewhat monodextrous, self the next day.

planting out

Poppies, beans

Planted tomatoes in greenhouse borders: 5 San Marzano on the right (Ali’s side), 4 F1 Incas down the left. Should bung a bit of my compost around them; nice foody mulch.

This morning, planted 6 of the Incas in the allotment. The beans, courgettes and cucumber are looking healthier, greener. I put a general food in their water; also sprinkled some blood, fish and bone on them yesterday. Beans are starting to throw out climbers, though they have yet to find the canes.

What is that weed that I am pulling out every day only to find it reappearing by the next morning? Oh, it appears to be Field Bindweed. So I’ve got Hedge Bindweed down with the potatoes, and Field Bindweed up the top with the squashes. Super.