Flighty's plot

The original rhubarb patch, which I’ve had almost as long as I’ve had the plot, is looking good but under the leaves most of the stems are only as thick as a pencil.

 

 

I don’t know why they’re like that and I’m really not sure what to do, if anything.   I could remove the thinnest ones and hope that the others will grow thicker.

Thankfully I’m not that fussed about rhubarb, and a couple of plot neighbours have said to help myself to some of theirs  as they both have more than enough.

The rose Pretty Lady now has numerous flower buds showing which should start flowering from mid-May onwards, and the perennial cornflower (Centaurea montana) is showing twenty or so flower buds.

It’s been ideal plotting weather this weekend, which looks set to continue through next week.

Incidently I have a copy of the book titled Of Rhubarb and Roses which I won in 2013 which I must find, dust and reread.

Have a good week, and take care!

there was a frost on Tuesday morning and it was noticeably cold all day yesterday so it’s not surprising that plants have been slow to grow and seeds to germinate.

I hand weeded then hoed through the onion and raspberry patches this morning. As I mentioned in the last post I’m well pleased with the onions Sturon as they’ve all appeared and are growing well.

I planted out the first of the potatoes, first earlies Pentland Javelin, at the beginning of the month and the first of these was just visible this morning.

With warmer temperatures, well into double figures C/high 50’s F, forecast through the weekend and  next week I  expect to see more appearing.

I had a dental appointment, for a routine check-up and clean, yesterday morning and walking past the nearby church on the way there I noticed these red and yellow tulips in the gardens.

I like the traditional cup shape ones like these in bright colours.  Many of the pictures I’ve been seeing on Twitter, and elsewhere, recently have been of double varieties in various pastel shades which I haven’t liked much.

Have a good weekend, and take care!

The past few days it’s either been damp and dull or the plot has been too soggy to do anything except potter.

It’s good to see that almost all the onion Sturon sets have now now appeared and started growing.  Thankfully the birds seem to have left them alone this year and haven’t pulled any out of the ground.  The area will need hoeing and weeding once it gets a bit drier.

I tidied up the strawberry patch earlier in the week, mostly removing dead leaves, and was pleased to see new growth and a few flowers.

 

The perennial cornflower (centaurea montana), at the top of the plot by the roadway, is doing well and has at least ten of the distinctive flower buds visible.

In the corner of the comfrey and raspberry patch is the white meadowsweet which is now covered with fresh green leaves.

 

Have a good week, and take care!

This week I’ve mostly been seed sowing direct on the plot despite it being rather windy at times.

I sowed a short double row of carrot Short n Sweet seeds between the onions and where the tomatoes will be planted to give them some protection against carrot fly. I’ll be doing the same again next month and in June.

Most of the flower seeds I sowed were ones I’d saved and sorted from last year.  They included cornflowers Polka Dot in the area in front of the shed, cosmos Royal Dwarf Mix in the area I call cosmos corner (picture was taken in August 2021)  and candytuft Fairy Dwarf Mix  at the top end of the plot.

Yesterday I sowed a lot of sunflowers Music Box  which only grows to around 30 in/75 cm.  It’s a multi-headed flowering variety in a various colours such as cream, mahogany and yellow, including some lovely bicolours.

I’ll be sowing the pot marigolds Flighty’s Favourites only where needed as they’re prolific self-seeders and there are lots seedlings appearing across the main flower patch and elsewhere. These shown above are by the blackberry bush before I thinned and weeded through them.

Have a good weekend. and take care!

I’ve now planted out all the onion sets and seed potatoes, which I’m pleased to have finished doing as the weather forecast is for a rainy day tomorrow then remaining unsettled for the rest of the week.

This morning I extended the raspberry patch by digging up six inches or so of the wood chip path which is alongside it. That gave me room for a third row of plants which I had leftover from the revamp I did back in February and were in a large pot.  I’ve now got twenty four plants all of which have either new leaves appearing or signs of new growth.  As well as digging in plenty of compost I also scattered Growmore general fertilizer over the area.

The white primrose at one side of the pond is doing really well at present and is covered in flowers.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be mostly direct sowing the hardy annual flower seeds I’m growing this year.  These include candytuft, cornflowers, cosmos, nasturtiums, pot marigolds and sunflowers.

Have a good week, and take care!

I’ve spent most of my time on the plot this week planting out onion sets and seed potatoes, and have done about half of each.  The weather was ideal and the ground okay, however there was rain last night and it’s damp and dull this morning so I’ve come to a temporary stop but I hope to get the rest done over the weekend.

The onions Sturon I plant out about 5 in/12.5 cm apart in rows 18in/45 cm apart which gives me plenty of room to walk between them and to hoe off any weeds.  I gently push each one into the ground, making sure they’re the right way up, and just cover them with earth.  I rarely water them unless it’s very dry and start lifting them in the summer once the foliage has toppled.

The picture shows an onion set and one of the larger ones I grew last year which I’ll use this weekend.

The potatoes I space about 12 in/30 cm apart in rows about 24 in/ 60 cm apart.  Using a hand trowel I dig individual holes 5 in/12.5 cm deep put in the potatoes, chit upwards, then add a handful of compost before covering with the earth from the hole.  I don’t earth them up until the foliage has appeared and is a few inches tall.   Apart from watering and weeding when necessary that’s all I do until they’re ready to start lifting once the foliage starts dieing back in the summer.

The photo above shows seed potatoes Charlotte ready to be planted, and below are four of the same variety I grow back in 2014.

I eat plenty of both these vegetables so grow lots of them, and thankfully generally do well with them.

Have  a good Easter, and take care!

According to the Met Office March was the wettest in over 40 years in England. It was the seemingly continually dismal weather even when it wasn’t raining I found so wearing.

Last Monday was a rare sunny day when I spent a couple of hours on the plot mostly hoeing and weeding.  My only visit since then was briefly on Thursday, inbetween the showers, to see how soggy the ground was.

It was good to see some of the daffodils flowering, especially the variety Sweetness. Sadly it looks like I’ve lost the white Thalia as they’ve not appeared at all this year.

April started with another dull, but thankfully dry, day yesterday and today it’s the same but hopefully it will brighten up later on.  Apart from tomorrow and Tuesday starting off with the temperature close to 0 C/32 F it looks like being a brighter, drier and warmer week.

If it is I’m hoping to start planting out onions and potatoes, and maybe direct sow some annual flower seeds.  At home I’ve sown some tomato seeds, the red Gardener’s Delight and yellow Golden Sunrise, in pots on the windowsill.

Have a good week, and take care!