HSL 2010 seeds

Mine have just arrived; first choices again.

I have:

Black Coco Dwarf French Bean
Gladstone Pea
London Market Carrot
Boothby's Blond Cucumber
Sheepnose Pepper
Lukovidsky Onion
and a lucky dip of
Mountaineer's White Half Runner Climbing French Bean

Woohoo!!!

Update

Wow - can't believe that I haven't updated this for so long. Summer got a bit busy.

Well, we had a great growing year.

Successes were the Chilis and Beans

Onions were good, but as always, we could do with more so I have about 400 overwintering at the moment, with about 100 seeds sown in August that are in the greenhouse for the winter.

Tomatoes, we had good success in the Greenhouse but the Outdoor ones got blight, so I got plenty of green tomato chutney from them before they were all binned.

Raspberries; Joan Js - were still cropping heavily in November so I've left the rest of them to the birds

Courgettes - were still cropping in November but have died back now

Carrots; really minimal carrot fly damage as they were grown under nets

Parsnips - started harvesting in Oct but still plenty in the ground

Peas, the HSL tall peas were a great success - apart from Pea Moth after June [eugh]

Celery - I'm growing in the Greenhouse now, in pots in gravel trays full of water. It's just easier than in the ground and they are sweet and blanched.

Very very quick summary there - but back on track with regular updates now

Holga pics

Nothing related to growing fruit or veg at all....just some pics from my Holga 

Chelsea 2009

Just realised I didn't post any photos of Chelsea. How silly of me

Moon Trial GZ Harvest

Today I dug up and weighed GZ

Sown on Jan 3rd

Harvested on July 3rd

6 months in the soil

Weights prior to sowing:

9, 13, 6, 8, 9

Weights at harvest 

89, 129, 29, 192, 186

Overall increase in weight 1386%

Clove number 2 had split and created 2 completely new and separate bulbs of garlic. Alternatively, a fluke clove found its way in and grew in the exact correct place; as no cloves had disappeared from the rest of the trial. This was the heaviest clove of the original selection of cloves [there were 3 that weighed 13g]. Clove 3 was the smallest of the final bulbs from the last 2 batches of sowings. 

Onions

Need I say more. Very happy. 

HSL Peas

These are close ups of the 4 peas for the HSL trial, all taken on 15th June 

Firstly, Clarke's Beltony Blue

Hugh's Huge
Simpson's Special
Alderman

Moon Trail GE Harvest

On the 20th of June I dug up and weighed GE

Sown on Dec 21st

Harvested on June 20th

6 months in the soil

Weights prior to sowing:

9, 4, 7, 10, 6

weights at harvest

166, 256, 151, 197, 144

Overall increase in weight 2954%

Alot of bulking up compared to last month's harvest; interesting that the smallest clove in the whole trial [randomly picked from the 50 cloves in a bag], gave the highest final weight and fattest bulb thus far. 

15th June 2009 - lottie pics

Peas and beetroot, with an allgreen courgette on the corner
Peas with dwarf beans 
My onion bed
Sweetcorn with 2 winter squashes and a bit of piping that will be filled with sand and carrot seed very soon
Onions - autumn sown from sed

stuff flowering in and around the seed bed

B&Q alliums were going for a song, so I popped them in the corner - look nice against the self sown poppies

Poppies from a different angle, with some chives

Gooseberry Pax, looking good - should turn red hopefully

Potatoes - Kestrel - just enough to go in last night's curry

Gonna be needing this.

http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/2008/07/zucchini-falafel.html

HSL Pea Trial

Progress on the pea trial

These are the Clarke's Beltony Blue. [A]

These are Hugh's Huge [B]

These are Simpson's Special [C]

And these are Alderman [D]

All sown on 11 March

All emerged on 21 March apart from alderman which appeared 2 days later

All planted out on 7th March

These were taken on 29th May. 

Flowers developed on these dates:

A 21 May

B 28 May

C 2 June

D 28 May

First pods so far

A 2 June

B 3 June

Moon Trial GD and GY

I sowed GD on the correct day [Dec 2nd] and it should have ben harvested on June 2nd. 

However, because GY couldn't go in the ground on the correct day [Dec 5th], I could not compare the two, so I am leaving it in situ until the leaves die back, so as not to waste it and get a decent harvest from it. 

Moon Trial GX Harvest

On the 18th May I dug up and weighed GX

Sown on Nov 18th 

Harvested on May 18th 

6 months in the soil

Weights prior to sowing:

6, 7, 8, 6, 11

weights at harvest:

133, 90, 56, 71, 103

Overall increase in weight 1264%

Moon Trial GC Harvest

I have today dug up and weighed GC

Sown on Nov 15th

Harvested on May 15th

6 months in the soil

Weights prior to sowing:

6, 8, 11, 8, 8

weights at harvest:

103, 121, 128, 102, 138

Overall increase in clove weight 1479%

Ends of garlics starting to yellow; and the cloves getting bigger. 

Holiday time

Well, we are off to New York on Thursday, and staying in London village tomorrow night so just tidied up a few little jobs before we go.  

These are potatoes that have grown from shop bought ones that sprouted in the fridge. I cut the eyes out with a sliver of potato and popped them into roottrainers. They are growing nicely. 

They will go into pots once our greenhouse us up and running [2nd May]

This is a potato grown from seed; not a seed potato - I am talking about the seeds inside the fruit that formed on last year's potatoes after the flower fell off. It was germinated on kitchen roll, and transferred  to this 3 inch pot. After I took this, I repotted it into a deeper pot and it will go into the greenhouse until it in turn flowers and fruits. 

Moon Trial GW Harvest

I have today dug up and weighed GW

Sown on Oct 13th

Harvested on April 14th

6 months in the soil

Weights prior to sowing:

10, 9, 8, 11, 6

weights at harvest:

41, 29, 36, 36, 24

Overall increase in clove weight 382%

Moon Trial GB Harvest

I have today dug up and weighed GB

Sown on Oct 9th

Harvested on April 9th

6 months in the soil

Weights prior to sowing:

9, 12, 9, 7, 10

weights at harvest:

38, 44, 42, 34, 46

Overall increase in clove weight 440%

Cloves significantly bigger than the last harvest; foliage healthy with a slight browning. No splitting visible but the loves have almost all lost the original clove covering [no gooeyness on the outside]. 

Using loo roll insides

Alot of gardeners will use the insides of loo rolls to sow long rooted plants such as peas and beans. I have a huge number to plant this year, and once I knew this, I started collecting them [last summer]. 

I started to get quite a collection, so I had to work out how to store them otherwise Mark would be chucking the whole lot out when we ran out of space. 

So, I have been folding them and storing them as shown:

This means, once they come out, they can be used as squares, rather than as rolls:

They can then be used to split square pots as such:

This gives you 4 separate areas within one pot.

Or, as below, where you can have 9 different areas within one pot

Moon Trial GV Harvest

I dug up and weighed GV 

Sown on 16th Sept

Harvested on 17th March

6 months in the soil

weights prior to sowing:

13, 13, 9, 6, 10

weights at harvest"

34, 17, 24, 19, 16

Overall increase in clove weight: 169%

2 have split cloves, with all foliage healthy with slight browning at the edges

Moon Trial GA Harvest

I have today dug up and weighed GA

Sown on 11th Sept

Harvested 13th March

6 months in the soil. 

Weights prior to sowing:

11, 9, 12, 8, 9

weights at harvest

34, 17, 24, 19, 16

Overall increase in clove weight 223%

No split cloves visible. All foliage is healthy with a slight browning at the edges. 

Visiting Piglet Willie and pricking out

On Saturday 28th I visited Piglet Willie and was also taken to see the lotties. Very interesting, and great soil after years of hard work. 

I was given plenty of goodies, seedlings, seeds, a redcurrant, salsa, chilli sauce, and a winter squash. Yum yum. Plus a fabulous lunch and home made cookies.

Piglet Willie's Blog

On the Sunday, I pricked out the Pointy Sweet Peppers that he gave me, and there are 42 of them. All have moved well and are looking perky. I'll spread them around the village and amongst friends once they are big enough to go into their own pots. 

I have also sowed some Rose de Roscoff onion seeds. 

Flowers, peppers and peas

I have just sowed:

Amaranthus, Marvel Bronze [T&M]

Amberboa Muricata [T&M]

Two_Sheds' Borage

Two_Sheds' Teasel

Own saved Cerinthe

Own saved Flax Red

Cornflower Dairy Maid [Chocolate fragrance] [T&M]

Dianthus Siberian Blues [Y&M]

i have also pricked out all the peppers and chillis, and into the spare modules I've sown more...and popped the tray into the propagator for a few days to make or break the seeds that haven't germinated yet. Then, I'll prick those out that have germinated and call the others as dead. 

Plus 15 modules of 5 Early Onward pea. That's 75 peas. Must get my pea and bean area at the lottie sorted out. 

Seed pile is not going down...each time I sow some seeds I get another load through the door. This week it was a free magazine for being a Mod on the Vine...with another 10 packs of seeds. I've got to swap some though as I don't even like Aubergine.

Repotting toms and onions/shallots

I've now put all the shallots out; some have gone into modules to start the roots off. I've also moved some Bedfordshire Champion onion seedlings into the modules. 

I've moved all the tomato seedlings into modules so that each one is in a module of its own. 

I'm visiting Piglet Willie tomorrow as he has some spare seedlings, tomato and pepper/chilli. 

Transplanting onions and garlic

I sowed some onion seeds last autumn, and they have been in the garden all winter. They are now nice and sturdy, so today I dug them all up, and transplanted them at the lottie. 

There were also a few random garlics that didn't do much last year, so I have left them in the ground all winter and they were also transplanted. A couple of random shallots also went in. 

Quite a few of the beans that were sown last week are now up and running. 

I build another raised bed at the lottie for all this and we have half filled it with soil, home made compost, coffee ground and a sprinkle of epsom salts. 

Sowing flowers and leeks and onions and carrots

Yesterday I sowed:

A half seed tray of Franchi little white onions [for pickling]

A deep polystyrene container of Long de Mezieres Leek and James Scarlet Carrots

These will all be left outdoors to germinate

Today I sowed in modules: 

Quaking Grass

Nasturtium: Cobra/Empress of India and Mahogany Gleam

Rudbeckia: Cherry Brandy/Rustic Dwarfs

These are on top of the fridge until germination. 

Sowing and repotting and Seed Guardian

On Feb 11th, I sowed some dwarf french beans for an early indoor harvest:

6 x Kinghorn Wax [2-sheds]

6 x Firetongue Borlotti

4 x Yin yang

6 x Yellow dwarf [2-sheds]

2 x Canadian wonder [2-sheds]

They were soaked in water overnight and I checked to them today and most have sprouted. 

Also this week, I got my Seed Guardian list through - so I have opted for:

Wild Pigeon Bean

Stoke Lettuce and 

Longkeeping Tomato

In that order. 

Here's hoping they come through!

Today I also:

sowed 22 Jiffy 7s with a pinch of onions that I will use for spring onions

repotted tomatoes, peppers, coriander, cress and orach

sowed 14 white potato slivers [from shop bought potatoes that had shooted] into Root trainers. 

Heritage Seed Library - Members' Experiments 2009

I received my seeds today for the 'comparing old and new varieties' experiment. 

4 types of tall peas: 

Clarke's Beltony Blue [old - heritage]

Hugh's Huge [heritage]

Simpson's Special [heritage]

Alderman [new - but they mean commercially available]

Sowing and potting on activity [Root day]

Today I sowed more Alliums:

Leek - Long de Mezieres [Real Seeds]

Leek - Early Market [HSL]

Leek - Bleu De Solaise [Real Seeds] - need to save seeds from some of these [SS]

Onion - Mr Allen's Resliance [Heligan] - [SS]

Onion - Up to Date [HSL] - [SS]

Onion - Bedfordshire Champion [ From Finedon Dandy from the Vine]

Onion - North Holland Bloodred Redmate [Suttons]

Onion - The Kelsae [Johnsons] - [SS]

Shallot - Banana [T&M, from Seahorse from the Vine]

Onion - Golden Bear F1 [Robinsons] 

Onion - Mammoth Red Onion [Robinsons] - [SS]

Spring Onion - Elody - [SS]

I also potted on:

3 x Grushovak Toms from the Dec sowings

2 x Gelbe Chilli Peppers

2 x Cobra Nasturtiums

2 x Cerinthe

Sowing [Fruit day]

Yesterday I sowed a range of tomatoes and peppers:

Yellow cherry tomato [self saved, originally grown by Ray Monk and given to me by his lovely wife]

Beef tomato [self saved, from Tesco]

Black Plum [HSL]

Smadar [Chase organics]

Cuore Di Bue [Franchi]

Thai Seeds [Small Blue Planet from the Vine]

French Tomato Flat [self saved from a tom bought in Collioure, S of F]

Broad Ripple Yellow Currant [from Hazel at the Hill from the Vine]

Tigerella [from Two_Sheds from the Vine]

Black Krim [self saved from a plant bought in Draycott Open Gardens 2008]

Costoluto Fiorentino [Real Seeds]

Dragotsennost [Real Seeds]

Millefleur Yellow [Real Seeds]

De Colgar [Real Seeds]

Rio Grande [Franchi]

Grushovka [Real Seeds]

Aurora [Real Seeds]

Reisetomate Pocketbook [Real Seeds]

Amish Paste [Real Seeds]

Purple Ukraine [Real Seeds]

Peppers: 

Jalapeno 

Purple Jalapeno [Small Blue Planet from the Vine]

Trifetti [HSL]

Nardello [HSL]

Hot Cayenne [Fothergills]

Long Red Chilli [self saved but labels got lost last year]

Random chilli [from a Grape]

Albertos Rocoto [Real Seeds]

N Napia Sweet Pointy [Real Seeds]

Sweet Chocolate [Real Seeds]

Westlandse Lange Rode [Real Seeds

Purple Tiger [from a grape]

Gelbe Kirshen Chilli [Real Seeds]

Dedo De Mocha Sweet Aji [Real Seeds]

Pretty in purple [Real Seeds]

Purple Venezuelian [Real Seeds]

Bolivian Rainbow [Real Seeds]

Large Sweet Spanish Chilli [from a Grape]

Peppadew [from Tricia]

Ramiro [self saved from Tesco]

3 of each in each module

Snow

Just popped out to take some photos of the garden in the snow - we don't often get snow here so it's a novelty. Took some dull photos, but this one of Gollum and some garlics...

Seed Saving

I saw this idea a while back, and as I'm going to be saving seeds all over the garden and allotment, I wanted something to show my over-enthusiastic puller upper of plants [AKA Mark] that I was letting seed heads die on plants for a reason. So, I've collected stones when I've been out and about [these came from Cornwall last October], and the odd bit of driftwood, and I painted them up last weekend to assist the seed saving cause. 

Garden and Allotment Layout 2009

Garden layout for 2009 [canal at bottom of image]

Lottie layout for 2009

Seed Sowing 30th Jan

Sowed: 

Australian Yellowleaf lettuce

Par-cel

Basil 

Purple Loosestrife

Red Iceberg Lettuce

Spinach

Mixed Red Leaves [lettuces]

Rouge Tete Cabbage

Potato Day 24th Jan and sowing seeds 25th

Went to potato day at Ryton 

Bought:

8 Amorosa

4 Mayan Gold

8 Remarka

8 Desiree

10 Picasso

Along with the 19 Sarpo Miras and a big bag of Kestrel, which I was glad i'd bought beforehand as the Kestrel had long gone by the time we got there. 

I sowed the following on the 25th 

Coriander

Cress

Chicory

Orach

and pricked out and repotted the rest of the onions - I chopped the leaves back and they are now outdoors in a propagator [unheated]

New Room

This is the new desk that we've bought - I say new - it's from the 50s and an original piece - we've also bought the chair and are picking it up next weekend. The first picture is it in drawing board mode
This is it in desk mode

and it's going into our new garden room/office which was finished last night. Finished photo to follow - once i get myself sorted and a photo uploaded.