Bog planter

Couldn't resist this. Another Freecycle masterpiece. Maybe next year I'll use it for the 'loo-barb'. :P

Starting a 'Can o Worms' wormery

I won a 'Can o Worms' wormery on eBay a few weeks ago, a bargain at £20 (£89 new!) Only got round to collecting it this weekend. Have been wanting one for a while because the family produces a lot of waste food, which doesn't compost very well in my slow compost bin. Found some very useful videos on YouTube about how to start it off. The bin itself is in four levels. The base collects the 'juices' which make a rich liquid feed.

The first tray is where the worms start off. If you have a new one of these they come with a block of Coir (coconut husk) that is rehydrated to make the worm bedding. Tried to find some in the local garden centres, but no joy. Had to settle for peat-free compost, which actually has a lot of coir and wood-chip in it already. Bought 500g of Dendra worms from the local fishing tackle shop for £11.00 and chucked them in.

As it was Sunday Roast day there were plenty of food scraps available for the second tray. Added 25% shredded cardboard too, as apparently the worms like a high-fibre diet.

Covered them with a wet cloth and put the lid on. After a day or so only a few of the worms have found their way into the top tray. Maybe they're not hungry yet, and it has been a bit cooler lately. Hopefully they should develop a good appetite soon!

When they've munched their way through the second tray there is a third one that can go on top and used for feeding. The bottom tray should then be mostly free from worms and the trays get rotated round. Can't wait to benefit from the legendary qualities of worm compost...

Phew! What a scorcher!

Well, the clocks went back yesterday and at last I can get some time in the garden after work. The weather is more like June at the moment. 22C in Scotland yesterday, and not that far off down here south of the border. Wall-to-wall sun, but still the slightest bit of frost at night. Roll on Easter! A quick update on what I got done this weekend...

Got the first Super Marmande tomato seedling into a home-made 'grow pot' fashioned out of a cheap kitchen bowl and plastic pot with the bottom cut off. The bowl has the bottom cut out too, and small holes drilled around the base. The aim is to focus water on the roots. Let's see if it has been worth the hassle...

Removed the greenhouse staging and lashed it safely to the side of the house. Potted on the brocolli, sprouts, cauliflowers, celery and cosmos. The cheap Aldi strawberries haven't done too well. Have lost two of them already. Hopefully the warm sunny position will keep the remaining fellas alive.

Sowed a fair few other things too: Runner beans, Borlotti beans, Dwarf beans. Will keep these inside for a month or so. Lettuce, cucumber, second crop of Super Marmande tomatoes. As for flowers: more Limnanthes, Marigolds, sunflowers, Love-in-a-mist, Phlox, Foxgloves.

Cleared the 'vertical garden' space and filled up some planters ready for the beans to go in. B&Q were flogging off 60 litre bags of Arthur Bowers' for £2.50 each, so had four of them. 4 pence per litre for compost isn't to be missed!

Put some netting up for the peas, and netting over the rest of the bed to stop the cats using it as a toilet.

Have been doing a few other things too, but haven't had time to take piccies. So much to do, so little time to do it!

Marching on...

Haven't had time to post this month, but had time this morning to make a quick tour of the garden. Here's what I've been up to...

Last week I came home to find the staging in the greenhouse had collapsed. Looked a lot worse than it was. Managed to rescue most of the seedlings. Made sure the staging is well lashed onto the greenhouse frame now.

The Maris Pipers have gone into the bulk bag. They should enjoy the compost from last year.

Also planted some spuds in these bags. Tried it last year, but they dry out very quickly. Hopefully the tray underneath should retain some moisture.

Planted a row of spuds in the raised bed, along with the peas and a row of carrots (Autumn King and Sweet Candle).

In the greenhouse the shallots are starting to show some green shoots.

Chinese cabbage is coming along nicely.

Broccoli and Cauli seedlings are safe from the slugs for the time being.

First shoots are appearing on the Chardonnay grape vine.

Shoots on the raspberries too.

Blueberry is coming into leaf.

Forsythia is well in flower.

Rose 'Lady Veilchenblau' is well in leaf.

Sweet peas and Echiums have gone into the Victorian garden.

Foxgloves are coming on nicely.

Pond still needs a good clear out, but leaving that until Easter.

Frost did for the Jasmine. Hopefully it will grow back.

One of the fence posts snapped in the winter. Another job for Easter.

First shoots on the Bramley.

Not many signs of life on the Elstar, but it was quite heavily pruned into an espalier.

The fig seems to have survived the winter. Have given it a good dollop of horse manure, which should kick in soon.

And that's 'yer lot for this weekend! :)

More soft fruit trees

Aldi still have soft fruit trees on sale fo £3.99. Fantastic. Picked up a Morello Cherry, well in bud already...

Also picked up an Elstar eating apple, which I've made into an espalier against the fence...

So, I've now got raspberries, strawberries, figs, apples, blueberries and cherries. Yum Yum! I think that's it for this year...

Seedlings coming on well

The weather was beautiful this weekend, sunny and unseasonally warm. Forecast is mild but wet for the next week or so too. Seedlings are doing well in the greenhouse, which was a lovely 23 degrees. Balmy!

Snowdrops

During the cold snap in late January my other half drove onto the drive rather too fast and slid on  the ice, ending up in the hedge. LOL :) Left a bit of a gap which I planted up with a few snowdrops to commemorate the occasion...

Luckily this also revealed a little dog rose that I've noticed sometimes when trimming the hedge. I've whipped that out, pruned it and took some cuttings. Should come in handy elsewhere in the garden.