Karen's 2015 garden diary

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KarenE
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Joined: 06 Apr 2013, 13:43
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Location: Northamptonshire

Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by KarenE »

Here we are coming into mid to late summer and it feels like autumn already. The blackberries have already ripened and I have apples starting to come down far too early. Most alarming is the pumpkins - I have a lot this year, all medium sized but most worryingly, all ripening and a couple ripe. It's far too early, don't know what's going on there and everyone else on the lotty is the same. I also have a good number of butternut squashes growing too so all in all, a good year for the squashes even if alarmingly short.
I've been getting cucumbers like nobody's business, I will only sow the non gherkin one next year I think although the gerkhin is very prolific. I usually give the fruits to the chickens - great in hot weather for cooling them down and hydrating them, and I always have some that over ripen so perfect for the girls.
The Bloody Butcher and roma tomatoes are doing well, they have loads of fruit and some are ripe - fingers crossed the rest also ripen otherwise I'll have loads of green ones this year and you can never do anything with them (don't like chutneys and such). They are really nice so far the bloody butcher is a medium sized fruit which is deep red inside. I'd like to try san marzano next year but I'll have to get the seeds online I think, and I'll keep with bloody butcher. The cherry toms are also doing well - not terribly prolific though, they never are with me so I must try something different next year. The tumbling toms seem fine - I got red one snad yellow ones, haven't seen much from the yellow ones yet. I also sowed seeds from a cherry plum from the supermarket and they are doing well - I am hoping they were the delicious ones i got from somewhere, if so I'll keep seeds and grow again next year, they were much nicer than the normal cherry plus you usually get in the shops.
Got a decent crop from the blueberries, and I picked the remaining blackcurrants - I made a lovely blackcurrant cordial so I might try a blackcurrant and blueberry cordial next. The raspberries have sprung back to lie again and now have loads of berries on them, very odd but I won't complain. I'm going to cut all the canes down this year so next year might be a bad year, as they are supposed to be summer fruiting. I still have loads in the freezer from last year. Strawberries are setting runners everywhere so hopefully I'll have plenty of new plants when I redig the patch over (lots of unproductive old plants now)
The onions I'll pull up this weekend, and the potatoes I planted were very poor, hardly anything on them. The brassicas are doing well, we've had some broccoli off them and I'm hoping the cauli's get a move on as there are no signs of any heads yet.
The sweetcorn are looking great,I have 2 or 3 good sized cobs on each plant and I had one this week they are lovely and sweet. I will stick with that type (can't remember what they were - might have been 'incredible' ad I've still got the packet) so now I'm playing a waiting game and hoping the badgers don't beat me to it like last year. I think they may need longer but it's whether I can hold my nerve. I'm keeping an eye on the plots at the far end as that's where the badgers came from, but unsurprisingly a lot less people are growing corn this year!
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
Mo
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Joined: 30 Apr 2007, 09:39
Location: Cheshire (nr Chester)

Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by Mo »

Sounds as if you've done well.
I think it's an early year here too.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
kitla
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by kitla »

I'm glad you said about the pumpkins being early, mine are too & I thought I must have put them in at the wrong time. I wonder if they'll keep growing bigger or go rotten before haloween?
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
KarenE
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Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by KarenE »

My plants are dying off now so mine won't grow any bigger. Normally you 'cure' the rind by leaving it out to dry somewhere warm & sunny for a couple of weeks - this helps to preserve it through winter, but I haven't ever had any success with this really. Mine have always gone rotten but maybe that's because I've kept them in the greenhouse and the frsts have got them. Might store them in the house this year! I think they may carry on ripening once picked, if they've gone that lovely orange colour)t'
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
KarenE
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Posts: 3460
Joined: 06 Apr 2013, 13:43
Gender: Female
Location: Northamptonshire

Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by KarenE »

I'm late with my diary this year, but I am well ahead on the allotment prep - everything is all ready and I am well pleased with it! All dug over, and it wasn't too hard either compared to previous years, not too many weeds really, although the bindweed is loving this wet spell. We put up a new gazebo fruit cage as the last one had it, but now I have loads of poles spare - I've already put up a frame as I'm going to try growing squash and maybe courgette upright. I'm tempted with pumpkin too but I'll see how the butternut works first.
I dug over the strawberry patch & replaced all the old plants with new runners, and with the soil so easy to dig have set another patch up too. I had so many plants, I gave loads away too. Tons of flowers so hopefully a good crop, and the blackcurants look good too. I don't know how the raspberries will do, I pruned them all down so might not get anything this year. The rasps are next years big job I think, I need to get rid of old canes and tame the plot.
Sowing wise, it's proving to be a mixed year so far with the cold & damp. Tomatoes all ok although slow growing - Roma, bloody butcher, st Pierre and yellow & red cherry toms. Not ready to go out yet.
Peas & French beans - yellow, green & purple as well as borlotti beans all good. Beans are quite hard to mess up to be honest! I've just sown some more borlotti. I really want to plant them out but the weathers just been so bad.
Heritage beets already planted, as well as brown & red onions from seed. The red ones worked so well last year, I hope they are as good this year.
All the brassicas are planted - broccoli, spring cabbage, cauliflower and a purple sprout. I have a nice yellow courgette ready to go out, and 3 butternut but only 1 pumpkin - very disappointing germination rate on the pumpkins, cucumbers and sweetcorn, and all fresh seed! No melon up. No sweet peppers - my usual curse continues!
I'm growing more herbs this year and the basil, parsley are up but not chives yet. Salad as well, I've got little gems planted out and lollo rossa just sprouting.
I've sown more cucumbers, sweetcorn and pumpkin in hopes that the warmer weather might kick start germination - I might be lucky, I have sweet corn starting to poke through. Hope the rst gets a move on!
Flowers - good year this year, although again everything is so slow! Nasturtiums are good, sunflowers and dahlias all good. Some new blue flower I can't remember the name of. Petunias and lobelia good although small. Busy Lizzie never came up, and something which is supposed to be penstemon but I really don't think it is - that'll be a mystery!
At home, pleasantly surprised to see my cox apple coming back to life, I thought it was dead. Patio pear has some bugs on it, going to have to treat that. Blueberries in beautiful bloom, might be another decent crop. Managed to save some red gooseberry fruitlets as Dory was eating them all}hairout{ - I've fenced the bushes off.
Brilliant tulip display this year in the garden and the primula were amazing - until the chickens out of lockdown}hairout{ we've had to put palisades all round our borders to protect our plants!
That's about where we're up to. Roll on a bit of sun, otherwise it's going to be a meagre year!
Karen
Alpha chick to: Smudge, Matisse and Bluebell
Chief servant to Marley the cat
Remembering Weeps, Rexie, Sage, Cassie, Toffee, Captain Gabby, Commander Nugget, Ronnie, Juno, Special Poetry and Reading Casper, Tigger, Tophenanall Rembrandt, Chestnut, Tiddly, Willow, Mango, Coco, Dorian Grey and Pokey.
Also my lost furries Charlie and Jasper
Mo
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Posts: 15368
Joined: 30 Apr 2007, 09:39
Location: Cheshire (nr Chester)

Re: Karen's 2015 garden diary

Post by Mo »

KarenE wrote: 26 May 2021, 00:09 Managed to save some red gooseberry fruitlets as Dory was eating them all}hairout{ - I've fenced the bushes off.
I Caught my grandson picking at mine. Daughter said she didn't know her bush ever had fruit till she saw him scrunching them. He's welcome to the baby redcurrants as there are usually more than I want, but I'm waiting for the gooseberries to fatten.
You have been busy - I used to grow lots but too much wildlife now.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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