April 2010

Now that i find myself addicted to planting seeds i have decided to add yet more variety of vegetables to the collection:

• Cucumber Telepathy
• Yellow Scallop courgette
• Pattypan courgette
• Fruit courgette
• Golden Zucchini

Herbs:

• Dill
• found some wild Chervil already growing in garden
• shop brought Rosemary
• found some garlic and spring onions which i had planted last year and forgotten about

Bought a Mushroom kit, thinking this should be fairly straight forward?   Put compost into tray, spray mist for 10 days in warm place. Mix in mushroom vercilium, place in a cool room.  Once mushrooms appear start to spray again, harvest when ready....... after all this effort am i really only going to get a hand full of mushrooms.......unbelievable?

• I added a couple of purple asparagus crowns to my 2 year old green asparagus crowns in large pot
• Cyprus potatoes
• the Okra i seeded last month didn't take, so this time i have sowed directly into a grow bag, cross fingers this time.
• Topped my potatoes with more compost to bury about half deep of the green shoots, they are all dong nicely.
• seeded some Sweet corn Ambrosia
• Leeks Musselburgh.
• Beetroot Boltardy
• Parsnips Hollow Crown

Now your really going to think I'm mad, but i read somewhere that Dandelions are healing by purifying the blood,  balancing out the bodies natural fighting capabilities and boosting the immune system, they are used in native remedies to cure Cancer etc. 

With this knowledge in mind i have decided to make some Dandelion and Orange Marmalade recipe below:

• Bowl of Dandelion
• x2 oranges and zest
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pint water

Add dandelions to boiling water and boil for 10 mins, strain, add all ingredients.  Whilst stirring bring to the boil, simmer for 20 mins or until thick.  Let cool, transfer to jars.

delicious added to yogurt or on toast.  Enjoy!

Hanging Baskets

Mixed some jelly stuff to my compost and planted cascading begonia bulbs, surely its warm enough? have kept them in the greenhouse until the frosts are over and hopefully they will emerge quicker? well have to wait and see.

Veggie Beds

Today i have been promised faithfully by husband that he will dig my veg plot over, when i arrived home from work i have been told that it was impossible as our clay soil was completely compacted, even if he had managed i think the quality of the soil is so poor what could possibly live in a house like this?

Solution to this problem is creating some raised beds, bought some timber kits and put them together. Places weed liner underneath and started to fill with manure at the bottom (which absolutely stunk the car out coming back from B&Q) pooooooy!

Then topped with loads of topsoil and compost, sprinkled with some blood fish and bone, wow this is working out expensive, ho hum.

Bed No 1

Drew up plans for no.1 bed, measured out grid and tied up.  Planted out beetroot, carrots, corn, courgette, french beans, fruit courgette, lettuce, pakchoi, pattypan courgette, peas, runner beans, spaghetti squash, spinach, spring onions, red onions.  Covered it all with fleece, cross fingers and hope for the best.

Have now added by planted direct, tatsoi, chives, and sorrel. Transplanted into bed coriander, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme.