Spring is here!

Well, Spring is here, so it is time to get out into the greenhouse and plant some seeds!

The Plums spent the weekend down on the allotment - you can read more about that on Allotment Plot 7A

But what is the point of a weekend of digging and soil prep if you haven't got any plants to plant in it?!

Above is my afternoon's work. We have:

Tomatoes

Peperone, Money Maker, 100 & 1000s, San Marzano, Roma & Ailsa Craig (I do like to try a variety of tomatoes!)

Aubergine

Red Marconi Pepper

Looking forward to waiting for the seedlings to appear!

Spring Flowers

Baby Plum has been poorly for the last week with a nasty bug. She has perked up over the weekend and has spent the afternoon sleeping in her pram in the garden. She is now awake and demanding my attention, so I had best be off!!

Veggies

I have just been out to give my tomatoes a bit of a trim and tie them in ... I have been neglecting them for the past week as it has been too wet to venture out into the garden ....

Here are the peppers and aubergine ... they are doing really well! Looking forward to picking some of the veg in the next couple of weeks!

I am very excited to report that I have a ripe tomato!! Finally ... I was a bit worried that I wasn't going to get anything, and I am still a bit worried as I only have a handful of green tomatoes growing on 8 plants ... hmmm - maybe I am being too impatient! I begrudge having to buy tomatoes from the supermarket when I have so many plants in the greenhouse! Anyway, have a look at this beautiful "Golden Sunrise" tomato ...

Here's my little veggie patch ... courgettes are taking over!

Lovely peas!!

What's occurring in Victoria Plum's Garden?

Lots of lovely things growing in the garden!! Have a look at a previous post here to see how things have come along in the last month!

Mmmmmm .... purple spouting broccoli ....

Peppers and aubergines in the greenhouse (it was 35 degrees Celsius in there this morning - phew!)

Pretty aubergine flowers ....

Broad beans!!!

Tomatoes!!!

Potato barrels!

The plot .... from left to right ... broccoli, red onions, carrots, fennel, leeks, courgettes and squash with broad beans and peas at the back.

Today's harvest! Ha Ha Ha ... two pods of broad beans, eaten raw with our bbq this evening - delicious!!

Courgette is looking a bit sad, but have plenty more healthier ones on the plant!! It's not a lot - but it's homegrown and that's all that matters!

Busy in the Garden

I have spent this lovely bank holiday Monday pottering in the garden and tending to my veg ... my parents-in-law were visiting over the weekend and drove us to a nearby garden centre to get various plants (we don't have a car so are somewhat limited in how much we can carry back from our nearest B&Q!) ... here we go, a little update on what I've got growing in the garden this year .... I'm not sure my father-in-law was ready for me to load the car up with 4 bags of compost, a grow bag, some orchid compost and pretty flowers to attract bees!  Oh well, they did offer to take us out!

From left to right we have got ... fennel, sunflowers, squash, cucumber and some lettuce on the top shelf ... 

and on the bottom we've got some peas, peppers, a tub of rocket and a propagator with some pansy seeds in.

Here we have various tomatoes (due to the gales I am not sure what variety is which ...), aubergines, marigolds and propagators with violas, lupins and stocks ... on the bottom shelf there is a grow bag with 4 strawberry plants in ....

Three potato barrels! 

And finally, the "plot" ... from the left we've got purple sprouting broccoli, red onions, leeks, broad beans, courgettes and some parsnip and beetroot seeds .... when the peas are a little bigger I will transplant them outside.

What have you been up to this bank holiday?

Springtime in London

It's been a while since I last posted ... sorry! 

A big sorry to Sue, the winner of my 100th post giveaway - your prize will be in the post very soon ... and a huge sorry to Tracy .... your heart swap goodies will be on their way to you in the next week, or so!  Hope that's alright - I'm usually much more organised than this, but it has been a rather hectic month or so....

Well, anyway - I'm back and in the garden so will be blogging more regularly (and hope the lovely readers who were leaving me such lovely comments are still reading!).  

Here's a few pictures to bring you up to speed with what's been occurring at Plum House ....

Pretty flowers in the garden ....

Gorgeous blue forget-me-nots

Window boxes ... the herb one is looking a bit sad for itself - hopefully a bit of sunshine will perk it up a bit!

Pink hyrdranga! I love these, my Nana had one in her garden and I always thought it was the most amazing flower - such wonderful colours! I just need to get some of the proper compost for it!

Tomatoes ...

Peppers, aubergine, leeks ...

Marigolds (to put near my tomatoes and keep pests away!) ...

I'm now off to the kitchen to knock up some rock cakes for afternoon tea! Yum!! When we woke up this morning we thought about heading to B&Q and getting paint to decorate the bedroom, but instead have spent the day pottering around listening to Radio 2 ... suddenly it is 3.30pm and having spent an hour or so in the greenhouse attempting to transplant flower seedlings into hanging baskets  ... I can no longer be bothered!

Mr Plum's Nanna sadly passed away at the beginning of March ... here's her wedding picture - doesn't she look glam? She will be sorely missed by all ....

Spring has Sprung!

Wasn't yesterday beautiful? The beginning of spring .... finally, after months of grey skies ....

We went for a lovely walk - well, caught the train to Balham and walked to Tooting to investigate a possible furniture purchase and then walked back along Tooting Common - in glorious sunshine! 

Today we have been slaving away in the garden! It's been hard work, but worth it!  We have cleared all the leaves and rubbish which had accumulated over the winter months ... oh, and picked up the fag ends from the people upstairs (don't get me started on that one!) - Mr Plum unblocked the drain (again, the people upstairs ...) and turned over the soil underneath our tree.  I have put some grass seed down and will be putting some wild flower seeds down, too!

I had a pleasant afternoon with my old friend ... the greenhouse! Oh - poor little greenhouse, you have been neglected over the winter ... not any more! 

I re-potted my sweet peas, and have sown more flowers for bedding and hanging baskets ... and of course ..... my vegetables! Tomatoes, cucumbers, (more) broad beans, aubergine and peppers are all in seed trays in the greenhouse -so exciting!!!

So, after a nice long bath I thought I would take a moment to blog - which I haven't done for a while!  I hope you haven't missed me too much! 

Victoria Plum - wannabe Market Gardener is back!!

Potatoes and Onions

I finally got around to putting my seed potatoes in a tray and have put them in the greenhouse to "chit"

 

 I also got my onion bulbs delivered over the weekend, so those are also in a tray in the greenhouse!

Seeds!

In anticipation of the Spring (!) I have just ordered my seeds for next year - how exciting!  I have spent ages looking through Alan Titchmarsh's "The Kitchen Gardener" (a birthday present from Mr Plum) and "The Greenhouse Expert" and have chosen the following to be planted next year:

February/March: 

Aubergine

Courgette

Leeks

Onions

Peppers

Potatoes

Tomatoes (4 different varieties!)

April:

Cucumber

Fennel

Petty Pan Squash

To heat or not to heat? That is the question....

As it starts to get cooler (definitely time for hat and scarf!) I am having to think about heating my greenhouse.  Having had a look at the Grow Fruit and Veg forum - I'm not sure whether it will be cost effective for me to heat the greenhouse (I'm also worried about it melting or catching fire overnight...) over the winter.  I have got a few seedlings in there at the moment, but am not planning to fill it up with lots of plants until the Spring ... when (hopefully!) that big yellow disc in the sky that the old folk talk about makes a reappearance! 

Fellow greenhouse owners are spending on average £12 a week on paraffin to heat their greenhouse - which (much as I hate to admit it) is more than I would spend each week on fruit and veg from the supermarket .....

I think that my pennies would be better spent on decent staging for the greenhouse, ready for the invasion of the seed propagators next year!

Gardening Jobs Done Today....

This is a little aide memoir to remind me of what I have done today (and when to hopefully expect growth!).

Planted in pots (to be transplanted when larger) - 

Spinach (Perpetual)

Carrot (Nantes Frubound) 

Broad Bean (Aquadulce Claudia)

All were on a special "vegetables to be sown in Autumn" stand at the garden centre yesterday).  I also have lettuce, more beetroot and cabbages to do .... but it's dark now and I can't see what I am doing!!

I have also planted blackcurrant and raspberry bushes in pots - not sure whether these will work, but they were cheapo plants from Poundland ... so we'll just have to wait and see!

I have also cleared out the old tomato plants, pulled up a rather sad courgette plant and pumpkin - I have weeded around the other two pumpkins ... fruits are still tiny and sprout sized .... not sure whether we will have a pumpkin big enough to carve for Hallowe'en!!

Must go and make dinner ... we are having some of my potatoes!!! Yum!

Spuds!

Today was the day that I decided to check what was growing in my potato barrel!  I am very please to report that I have harvested nearly a kilo of lovely little potatoes (I can't remember what variety they are though!) ... looking forward to sampling some tomorrow!

Harvest Time

I have spent the last 4 days resting a sprained foot and haven't had the chance to get out in the garden and check what is occurring. Today I ventured out in the Autumn drizzle and spotted slightly pink tomatoes - finally! I have given the tomato plants a good trim and picked a few fruits which I will put on a sunny window sill to encourage ripening. Hopefully the rest of the fruits will naturally ripen on the plants.

I also picked all my chives which I will chop up and freeze, 3 green peppers (I will leave the rest to go red on the plant), the entire crop from my peas ... (3 pods!), some very small spring onions and a handful of rocket. I'm not sure whether I will use a grow bag again next year as I thought I would have more luck with my salad by using one.

Next year, I will plan what I am going to plant and where I am going to plant it with more care. Rather than shoving as much as possible into my greenhouse, I will utilize the outside space better. I will be reading Alan Titchmarsh this afternoon and planning what to plant this Autumn....

Gardening Tip Number 1 – What shall I do with my vegetables while away for a long weekend? How will I water them while Master Plum is away at a music

When going away for a long weekend you can stop worrying about plants in pots drying out by filling a plastic bottle with water and making a small hole in the top. Insert the bottle into your plant pot and the water will gradually leak out and water the plant.

I haven't actually tried this tip yet, and read it in Mummy Plum's “Country Living” magazine yesterday. I am currently away for a long weekend and wondering what has become of my peppers in the greenhouse......

Not a good year for tomatoes?

According to Mr Plum's uncle - this year has not been a good year for tomatoes ... could this be why my crop is still green?

I have moved all the plants out of the greenhouse and on to the patio to encourage ripening .... I thought that maybe the potato barrel was blocking out all the sunlight.

Waiting for the harvest

Tonight, while out in my greenhouse giving the veg a good water, I thought I would start my very own blog - which I have wanted to do for ages! My interests are all things crafty ... growing veg, making stuff ... and dreaming of chickens running round the garden (for their eggs ...)

Are you sick of modern life?

Do you yearn for the days when life was simpler?

So do I .. although I was only born in the 70's! 

I finally got a garden of my own last summer...and my greenhouse earlier this year!  My crop this year includes tomatoes, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers, beetroot, pumpkins, butternut squash, rocket, spring onions, potatoes, peas and cabbages!  Keep reading to find out how they progress!