Last Post 1094 days 7 hours ago
25 May 2010 16:26:13
Echium seedlings
Here is a photo of the Echium seedlings that we have growing at the moment! seeds were sown on the 28/4/10 and so far we have 11 seedlings of the 3 varieties sown, we lost all our Echiums during the last winter so these little beauties will be used to replenish and increase our Echium collection! sent out seed to some other friends on here! so has anybody germinated any seed!!
25 May 2010 12:01:12
Increase your tomato stock!
We made a start yesterday on potting up the new beds in the new garden! Maggie planted up the 2 beds either side of the greenhouses and also the cut flower bed, i made a start on raised veg beds planting Lima beans, French beans, peas and Rat tailed radish! also tied up the toms and removed a few more side-shoots on the indeterminate types! really pleased with the toms, with the heat we have had the last couple of weeks has seen them take off! Removing side-shoots yesterday reminded me of a journal i posted around this time last year, if you want to increase your tomato stock you can place the side-shoots you remove in a glass of water and in a few days they will produce roots! after a week or so they can be potted up and you will have a healthy new plant! remember that the side-shoots should be about 3" to 4" long like the one in the photo, i must have put a bucket full on the compost heap yesterday as i have no need for anymore toms but if you want to increase your stock this is a quick and cost free way to go about it!
23 May 2010 20:59:15
Fruit cage
Have been working the last 3 days, off the next 2, so have plans to tie up the toms and plant upthe new raised beds! have been hardening off plants for the last 10 days so all are now ready to go in, we have also put aside a bed to be planted up with flowers (take note Rachel!) this bed will be used to provide cut flowers for the house, Maggie has a list of varieties she wants to plant which are long lasting when used as cut flowers, most have been grown from seed planted last Autumn and early this Spring, will post an album up tomorrow of the work done, have also put up an album taken today of the greenhouse and fruit cage.......
22 May 2010 13:42:37
The first Tomato to fruit!
Of the 40 variety of tomato we are growing this year the first type has set fruit! the small toms are about the size of a small marble at the moment! but they are there!!! noticed them on the20th of May that that is another first for us regarding earlist fruiting tomato! so we are well pleased! the tomato variety is called Dulcia, it is a determinate type, we got the seed from Estonia, its a yellow fruiting type and the seeds were sown on the 22/2/10 first seed germinated on the 2/3/10, 7 seeds were sown and 6 germinated! seedlings were potted on on the 25/3/10 and went into there final pots on the 26/4/10! thats all the info so far will keep you posted!!!!
21 May 2010 00:48:57
Fruit Cage Planted Up
I ment to stick this photo up last week! Maggie dug, manured and planted up the fruit cage with 1 black current, 2 red current, 2 booseberries and 3 raspberries! she done a fantastic job and as you see in the photo is rightly proud!
20 May 2010 22:58:50
For Jacinta
This is what i needed the large canes for!
20 May 2010 22:14:43
Allotment Today
We spent most of the afternoon and evening on the allotment today, beautiful day and we got a lot done! Maggie finished weeding all the potato drills and i got the supports up for the French beans and Runner beans, also planted more French beans (bush type) Broad beans and peas, really happy how it has taken shape, delighted also with the spuds, all tubers that we planted are up! 146 from 146! great result!!!
19 May 2010 02:52:06
Echium Pink Fountain
This evening while checking the seedlings in the Bay window i was greeted by 3 little seedlings of E. Pink fountain! delight to see these germinate, planted seed of 3 different varieties at the end of April and the first to germinate was E. Candicans on the 12th of May, planted 7 seeds of each variety and so far we have 4 each of Pink fountain and Candicans, just need the the third variety to show and we will be well pleased! any news girls?
18 May 2010 22:17:48
Cherokee Purple
With all the different types of tomato plants we are growing this year i have found a huge difference not just in the shape and size of leaves but also the difference in the shape and size of flowers! have posted up an album of a few different types.....
18 May 2010 18:09:18
Raised beds
We got the manure and the soil into the raised beds in the new garden today, hope to start planting them up next week, hope to sow carrots, radish and beetroot seeds, also have some plants hardening off at the moment that will go in there, lima beans, squash, courgetts and sweet peppers, will maybe wait till next month to put the latter two in............
17 May 2010 18:30:56
Allotment 17th May 2010
We got a couple of hours weeding done on the allotment today, it was badly needed as we hadn't been out there in over a week and a half! still need to weed 2 more of the potato drills but we got the majority of it done today, big plans for Thursday, will bring a packed lunch finish the weeding and plant up the remaining beds! all the space will then be planted up so it will be a case of weeding and watering and waiting!! will post a journal later on what we plan to put in and the final make-up of the allotment beds..........
17 May 2010 02:14:38
Fruit Cage
Maggie got the rhubarb planted up in its new bed, 4 plants in total, looking forword to seeing them mature! Maggie also got the fruit cage planted up today, she weeded the cage and double dug the lot incorporating 2 full bags of manure!! so the fruit bushes should get off to a great start, we have a red and a black current, 2 gooseberries and 3 rasberries, it will take a couple of years for them to produce decent crops but we have high hopes for the currents which are mature and had already been producing decent crops for the last 2 years! while Maggie was busy in the cage i managed to remove the side shoots from the indeterminate toms and also some of the lower leaves, will get a few photos up tomorrow...............
15 May 2010 03:24:57
E.candicans
Planted 3 varities of Echium seed towards the end of April, after we lost all our Echiums last winter! the first of them germinated last week E.candicans, also passed some of these seeds onto some friends on this site! so ladies any news!!!!!!!!!
14 May 2010 02:37:50
Back At Last!!!!!!!
Its been almost a week since i posted a journal! due to huge problems with our broadband and also the fact that i have been nackered for the past week!!! the last couple of months finally caught up on me!!! the new garden (bottom end) is now finished and we are really pleased with how its turned out, will post photos tomorrow, also lots done with the toms and various seeds! allotment & orchard etc! will put up posts and photos over the next few days! need to get some sleep now! but its good to be back........................
07 May 2010 03:07:22
Part 3 almost finished!
The new greenhouse structure is now in place and fixed to the base! it just needs to be glazed and hopefully we can get that done over the weekend or else Monday! don't mind either way! feeling really tired lately! wouldn't mind a few days of doing nothing!!!!
04 May 2010 18:24:08
New Greenhouse
Got the rest of the slabs and sand delivered this morning, and around mid-day Denis got a start on the new greenhouse! will have the frame finished today and make a start on the doors and the louvers in the morning and a start on the glass tomorrow afternoon!
03 May 2010 17:38:46
Allotment 3rd May 2010
Was late getting out to the allotment today, we delivered a few chili plants up to friends of ours and we had a great chat about toms and veg growing in general! he brought me in to see his vast collection of cacti, which i guess consists of about three to four hundred different specimens, fantastic collection! all shapes and sizes! told him to check out this site! so if you read this Joe get your finger out and sign up!!!! Anyway back to Howth! got the net up for the Indian peas, got them planted and got the onion, shallots and broccoli beds weeded! now with the bit of heat we had the spuds and onions are really starting to show good growth! left Denis to wrestle with the greenhouse for the day so will go now and see how he got on! will also make a start on the toms after tea..................
03 May 2010 03:19:50
Plans for Monday!
Just in from work! long day!! hope the weather today is OK, lots of plans for work to be done! Hope to get out to Howth early in this morning (in about 8 hrs) get the net up for the Indian peas and get them planted, also hope to weed the onion beds and also the potato drills! hope to get back about 3pm to give Denis a hand with the new Greenhouse! myself and Maggie also hope to get at least 30/40 more of the toms planted into their final pots, they are doing really well with most of them now well over a foot tall and the determinate types are getting really bushy! we also need the pots so we can pot on the chili plants which are flying!! Maggie planted up the second Strawberry pot today, that makes 14 plants between the 2 pots! we have 2 plants left over which we will pot up in a hanging basket and put into the fruit cage! which reminds me needs manure added to the soil and planted up! also need to get some coats on the timber for the raised beds!! think I'll finish this mug of tea and get some sleep! tomorrow will be a long day!!!!
01 May 2010 13:37:30
Acer
With the weather the way it is today, we wont get any work done on the new greenhouse! yesterday was spent looking through the instructions and getting the various parts, nuts and bolts etc in order! Maggie bought 2 new pots for the smaller Acer trees and potted them up and they look great! the right pots and the right stone really sets the off!