Jan 22 2012 Garden no1

Garden 2012 no 1

Only January 22 and I’ve just spend most of the day in the garden. I can’t think of another year when I started so early. My biggest fear is that we will have severe march weather and lose every thing that is budding so early.
There’s not that much I could do, even though it was dry sunny and not too cold, it’s too early in the year to do very much. I set up the 3 potato barrels and the strawberry planter in a new position where I hope they will get more sun.
I’m not replacing my strawberries this your so it was just a case of moving the tub and then next time I’m out there I can tidy them up and make sure they look OK for this year. The potato barrels are full of compost that is fed, watered and waiting to accept the seed potatoes. The seed potatoes themselves are chitting away on a shelf. I’ll get those planted as early as I can.
I've filled fed and watered two big green tubs and three grey tubs ready to plant more veg next month. I've not quite decided what i'll be growing in these tubs but when I do decide.......they are ready.
All the good allotment books seem to think you can start to force the rhubarb in January by covering the crowns with pots. I’m not sure this will work, some of the crowns barely show above the earth, and the stones on top of the pots are my idea, an attempt to keep them in my garden next time the high winds come. It will be nice if it does work, if not I’ll just lat nature do its own thing next year.
It’s a bit too early to do very much with the herbs. They should all come up again this year and they do need a little weeding, tidying and feeding, but for now I’ve just collected them all together and positioned them in the garden in the position I think is best for them.
I obviously did the right thing  in November last year when I planted my runner beans and garlic. They are both shooting now and if I get to harvest them early enough I may even get two crops this year.
I planted bulbs in between the lavender and heather late last year and they are all shooting as well, I should get a good show of colour later in the year.
And lastly, I salvaged three little decorative bird feeders that were being thrown away, they are looking good around my pond and last time I looked out of the window, there was a little robin sitting on one of them.

Tags: garden 2012, garden

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delete reply bernardv wrote on Jan 23 I'm an absolutely dreadful gardener, watching the ivy grow up my walls is about my limit I'm afraid. My bluebells are popping up remarkably early this year though I must admit.

delete reply catherinearmant wrote on Jan 23 Nice, dear Loretta, nice Gardening in the making, hmmm ... doesn't it feel so good that Spring is around the corner again ?

delete reply reneenay wrote on Jan 22 all looks wonderful-hope all continue to grow well for you

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jan 22 looking good :)

delete reply aaranaardvark wrote on Jan 22 It appears you have got everything admirably under control loretta, I share your concerns about potential frost damage and hope that the remainder of the winter will be kind to us and send us some more rain.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Jan 22 thanks again for the inspiration. ♥

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jan 22 greenwytch said just wanted to let you know, i just posted some garden pics. ; ) I knoooooow...........soooooooooooooo excited I rushed right over there, Thanks Deb

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Jan 22 just wanted to let you know, i just posted some garden pics. ; )

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jan 22 I can't remember EVER being out in the garden at this time of year before, either in England or in Scotland.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jan 22 bennett1 said Just never ceases to amaze me how mild your winters are for how far north you are. The Gulf Stream is a true gift to you. I think the only thing that is green in my garden is the winter thyme. How wonderful for you to be able to garden this early. This is the mildest winter we have had in years..............last year was terrible if you remember, we had 6 or more weeks of snow, ice and minus 10 temperatures. The year before was quite bad but nothing like as bad as last year. The climate seems so mixed up now you never know what to expect. But yes..................so far this year it has been very mild. I was really dreading having to live through another winter like last year seems I had nothing to worry about for which I am very thankful.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Jan 22 Just never ceases to amaze me how mild your winters are for how far north you are. The Gulf Stream is a true gift to you. I think the only thing that is green in my garden is the winter thyme. How wonderful for you to be able to garden this early.

delete reply rabbitfriendhere wrote on Jan 22 I love the birdfeeders you rescued from the garden. How adorable that you've seen the first bird on one of them. We here in Canada look longingly at your garden preparation. :-)

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jan 22 Those bird feeders are cute.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Jan 22 ok, you've talked me into it. ; )

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jan 22 greenwytch said i get so much inspiration from your garden blogs, Loretta. i really should start posting some of these, too. thank you. ; ) oh I wish you would, I love seeing your garden.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Jan 22 i get so much inspiration from your garden blogs, Loretta. i really should start posting some of these, too. thank you. ; )

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jan 22 artprevails said Such a happy place, your garden. Can I bring a chair, some tea and sit a spell? you can but I suggest you leave it a couple of months.............the pictures are deceiving, the temperature was only about 3 degrees.

delete reply artprevails wrote on Jan 22 Such a happy place, your garden. Can I bring a chair, some tea and sit a spell?

March 6, 2011, garden no 3

Garden 2011 no3

Sunday 6th March 2011.

Today I did manage a good few hours outside, the only interruption was my daughter who came by to see if she could fix my bike, apparently there’s not a lot wrong with it that a couple of new inner tubes can’t fix. She has this notion that if she fixes my bike I can start using it again hmmmmm……..

The strawberry planter is now assembled, filled with compost, planted with about 25 young strawberry plants and covered in netting to protect the fruit from the birds.
The spring bulbs seem to be popping up every where, more of the snowdrops are out and even the daffs are all in bud. My pile of broken pots has grown over the winter.
This is my own fault, I left the empty pots stacked up in the garden, they filled with water, the water froze and as it expanded the pots all shattered. I’ll remember to put them away at the end of this year.

This may look like a very ordinary and unexciting pile of dirt……….but to me it is success. This is my very first full batch of home grown, ready to use,  compost. It still has quite a lot of twigs in it but that’s because I wasn’t sure if I could compost hedge cuttings.
I know now that any ‘woody’ material needs to be chopped up very small before it goes into the compost.
I did manage to plant most of my small fruit canes but by the time I finished the light had almost gone and it wasn’t bright enough to take any more photos. I took one photo,  my new  blueberry bush.
The sky looked like a pink sea and I realised my time was up. Isn’t it strange how you go out there thinking about the couple of little jobs that need doing and as soon as you get outside and look around, the list of urgent garden jobs suddenly becomes endless?
A quick look around before I came indoors confirmed that this is indeed a job in progress. I’ve left several piles of rubbish scattered around the garden, the grass needs its first cut as soon as it dries out and my wormery needs cleaning out and starting all over again, none of the little worms survived the winter. The pond needs cleaning and this year I really do want to find some frogspawn. But that’s it for this week…………..hope the weathers good next weekend.

Tags: garden, garden2011

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delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Mar 9, '11 forgetmenot525 said Isn’t it strange how you go out there thinking about the couple of little jobs that need doing and as soon as you get outside and look around, the list of urgent garden jobs suddenly becomes endless? That is so true. I have big yards where I live now and there's always something I could be doing out there. The last job was to begin to root up some of the summer's vege plants. I put in a lot of capsicums, and they are very slow to produce fruit. Not much fruit came up either and insects were really devouring the small fruit.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Mar 7, '11 good going everybody got daffydils but me!!! if i get a blueberry bush then we can compare notes :)

delete reply veroniquemariquita wrote on Mar 7, '11 What variety of strawberries did you get? Last year I planted several different "everbearing" ones. Weeds got bad (and I got lazy) so I'm hoping some of each type survived.

delete reply veroniquemariquita wrote on Mar 7, '11 forgetmenot525 said next to the pond Hmmmmmm... now that I know EXACTLY where I am going to place it, I will definitely get one. lol

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Mar 7, '11 Can't wait to see the fruit of your labours!

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Mar 6, '11 neat strawberry pot

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Mar 6, '11 Everything seems to be coming up nicely. Of course you're a little ways behind me down here, not too far by the looks. Hope all the fruit growing goes to plan. That strawberry planter looks good. That's the problem with gardens. The jobs that need doing multiply while your back is turned!!

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Mar 6, '11 everything looks wonderful and congrats on the compost!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Mar 6, '11 veroniquemariquita said I do hate to water but that almost inspires me to make one. this one is quite clever, it has a hose with tiny holes in that goes right down the middle of the tub. you just pour the water into the top of the hose ( it sticks out above the compost) and the water spreads evenly around the whole thing. Also................I positioned it next to the pond just in case i feel particularly lazy, I can just scoop a jug full of water from there. :-)

delete reply veroniquemariquita wrote on Mar 6, '11 Hears your sighs of impatience but also your sighs of satisfaction. I like your strawberry jar. I do hate to water but that almost inspires me to make one.