Gardening anyone?

[AimlessWanderer]

Still waiting for the "drunken" order to arrive:

5x bush peas
3 x samphire
1 x Horseradish
1 x Pineapple mint
1 x trough of feverfew

I did however get some stuff done this weekend:

• Planted out cardoon, yarrow, evening primrose, lovage
  (holding off on planting out the Bergamot and Echinacea for a bit more growth first)
  
• Sowed cosmic purple carrot, solar yellow carrot, ramsons and red veined sorrel
  
• Got sunburnt knees 
  
• Thinned out beetroot, chamomile and tidied up the raspberries of all the suckers and unproductive shoots.
  
• Swore at my onions for being pathetic 
  
• Spotted a stinging nettle lurking among my parsnips, and I'm going to transfer this to another pot so I can try nettle tea 
  
• Reorganising pots and planters to make room for new stuff
  
• Built a cage for netting the peas - hated it, dismantled it again 
  
• General feeding, weeding, and faffing about
  
• Evicted a nasturtium, which the neighbour then claimed for an empty flower bed. I took the opportunity of convincing him to let me sow some "bright lights" chard too to brighten the area up a bit more By the time he decides they're not colourful enough, they'll be ready for harvesting as baby crops 

First strawberries are almost ready, blueberries are coming on nicely, baby turnips nearly ready (another 4-5 days I reckon), and my sunflower looks like it's forming a flower bud 

[AimlessWanderer]

Had to run a few errands earlier, and one of them was near a garden centre .....

Somehow an olive tree appeared in the car ...

Now I know how Sparky feels about car boots and axes 

[AimlessWanderer]

When you're faced with the same(ish) view day in, day out, you don't always notice the progress which is why I've been trying to keep piccies of how things are going. I decided to have a quick look earlier at what is used to be like and when to try and see how quickly (or slowly) things were happening.

7 weeks ago (11th May) ....



Today ....



7 weeks ago this clueless numpty put a brocolli, a kale, a brussels sprouts and two geraniums in the trough on the left



.... and now they are in their own pots and still fighting for space. I've learnt a lot in two months!



Here's a few other pics from today 

[enki_ck]

And it gives you a chance to practice your photo shooting skills.   You've gotten very good at it. And the nice scenery helps too.

[AimlessWanderer]

Thanks Nikola 

I was highly amused this evening, and need to share this 

When I grabbed the olive tree earlier today I also grabbed a cucumber plant as a gift for my neighbour. She had bought 20 little cucumber seedlings and had gradually lost the lot. The last I had heard was about 4 or 5 days ago when she had said there was only two left and they didn't look happy. Previously both her and I had been successful in killing off  a butternut squash and a pumpkin (recurring theme of squash slaughtering), and I am having issues with onions too. I reckoned water retention in the soil/compost was a huge factor on all these.

When I took the cucumber plant round, I tried to explain to her (English is not her first language) that she ought to try what I have started doing with some of the later additions, and using a blend of topsoil and compost in the pots instead of neat compost so it drains better. She understood and agreed, and showed me the planter .... which was totally sodden! Not just water retention, but over watering too ... hmmm 

I went back to my paraphenalia and dug out a tall and well draining pot, and told her to line the bottom with stones ... and she looked at me as if my head buttoned up the back. I explained that it helps the drainage and stops the soil/compost washing through the drainage holes. The dim flicker of light behind her eyes suggested that drainage holes weren't necessarily something she had considered before. I fetched a bag of top soil and a large bucket for mixing and she tipped the compost out of one of her planters with a large squelch. No drainage holes whatsoever, just a definate look of realisation in her face that the compost probably wasn't meant to make that noise 

I pointed and the little spigots at the bottom of the pot and said "that's where the drainage should be, have you got anything to put a hole in it". "Yes, Yes" she said, then shot indoors and came back with a claw hammer 

Once I'd stopped laughing, I wiped my eyes and used my Vic Spirit to drill the bottom of the pot and explained that the stones lining the bottom need to cover the drainage holes before she fills it with anything else, and helped her pot up and stake out the cucumber. I then pointed at the other planter she had the seedlings in and said "Shall I do that one too?". "No, No, I've put beetroot. It grow" she says. So I lifted up the (heavy waterlogged) planter and balanced one side on the wall to drill it from underneath with the Spirit and as the awl broke through I got a torrent of muddy water gushing up my shirt sleeve as a reward, whilst she slowly realised that watering a pot with no drainage everyday might not have been the best plan.

I still consider myself to be a major noob in this gardening lark, but people like that make me feel so much better 

[J-sews]

Good on you for helping her out Al By the way, I've enjoyed reading this whole thread from start to finish this evening. Your little plantation certainly looks different than it did a month ago. Keep up the good work!

[AimlessWanderer]

Cheers Bob  It's a humble venture with a modest yield, but its been very educational and quite a rewarding little side project 

[AimlessWanderer]

I got an email last night telling me my 5 x Douce Provence peas, 3 x Samphire, Pineapple Mint, Horseradish, and Feverfew trough are on the way .... and I also picked up a blackcurrant bush last night too That's yet another plant that'll end up 2m high and wide 

... and I thought Multitool Acquisition Disorder was bad 

I'm keeping my Chris Caine Survival Tool and 22" machete sharpened and ready .... I think I'm going to be needing them soon 

[AimlessWanderer]

Busy evening yesterday. Deadheading flowers, and tidying up tomato plants, raspberries and strawberries. The planter with the Amaranthus in had compacted a fair bit, so I lifted the plants out, topped off the planter and replanted them, thinning them down to just four in the process.

Cardoon and artichoke were moved to make room for the blackcurrant, which could actually work out quite nicely. The cardoon and artichoke need protection from the midday sun, which they weren't getting before but might now be provided  by the blackcurrant (prob more so next year than this I reckon) which I potted up in one of my largest planters to give it full potential. It also visually blocks off the crappy area at the side of the shed that I'm trying to avoid doing any groundworks on 

All the left hand side (vegetable area) has been reorganised to give the broccoli more airspace and stop them shading out the purslane and landcress. It's still a little congested, but much better than before, and will get better still when some crops get harvested in the next few weeks. Ramsons (in their own trough) have been moved into a more shaded area to try and get them to start

More plants went in too. Horseradish, pineapple mint, and the 5 pea plants peas are all in their designated areas, and even though the peas should be self supporting I have put in a cane per plant just to be safe. The three Samphire have also been allocated a trough and I'll pick a final position for those once they're established. I need to remember to pick up some sea salt too as they are coastal plants which need watering with a saline solution. I don't tend to cook with salt so I had to scrounge a bit off a neighbour to give them their initial watering.

The feverfew trough actually has three plants in, but I'll need to do some work with them. The trough is only about 8"W x 4"D x 4"H, and each plant should get to be about 2ft tall and wide ..... which isn't going to work in that pot  That's a job for later though, they seem happy enough at the minute, and it would be another 10 square foot of space I'd need to find/create. The good thing about these is that even though the consumption of anything from this plant is small (health risks from consuming too much) they are great companion plants and will reduce the need for geraniums and petunias next year.

Next year the main flowers should be evening primrose, Echinacea, yarrow, bergamot, feverfew and any artichokes which don't get harvested which will look more interesting than geraniums and petunias. I'm also really happy with the amount of perennials I've got in, which is kind of making it more of an edible landscape rather than just a veg plot. July is forecast for some hot (for us) weather which will be great for some plants, but more challenging for others (brassicas), and will give me personally some fresh challenges to look forward to.

[dks]

Good thing you are not living on a boat then...


tapa beta

[firiki]

Nice job 50ft!
I should post some pics of my garden too. Not much to see there. Those strawberries of mine are nice and healthy but they didn't bloom at all. I'm re-organising things for September though.

[AimlessWanderer]

Good thing you are not living on a boat then...


tapa beta

You're not wrong! Our boatyard is about 650ft x 75ft, I'd go insane trying to plant that lot up 

Nice job 50ft!
I should post some pics of my garden too. Not much to see there. Those strawberries of mine are nice and healthy but they didn't bloom at all. I'm re-organising things for September though.

Thanks firiki 

Yeah, get some pics up  It feels a bit lonely in this thread some times 

[AimlessWanderer]

Strawberries for breakfast this morning 

Summer is finally here and the temperatures are rising, so the main challenge over the next couple of weeks will be keeping everything hydrated. With everything being in containers it is more critical I keep on top of it.I had watered everything yesterday morning before I went out for the day, and by 9:30 this morning, some plants were already starting to wilt. I actually watered three times today to try and ensure they got the week off to a good start

I seem to be overridden with black ants too, which appear to have taken up residence (or stowed away in) the pot for my olive tree. They don't seem to be doing any damage at the moment, and I know they can help control some of the other critters, so I'll just keep an eye on them for now. I don't want to start putting ant powder down, as I don't want them distributing it all over my food 

[AimlessWanderer]

Oh ... and I found a tomato plant growing in my strawberries  Not sure how that got in there, but I took the secateurs to it. There wasn't enough room for it and I didn't want it stealing resources from the strawberries at this vital ripening stage

The flower bud on the sun flower is forming nicely and starting to break away from the leaves, so I expect that to be reaching skyward and starting to open by next weekend. I also spotted more flower buds - the edible kind - on one of my brocolli plants. I really didn't expect to see a head forming so soon on those, and will be interested to see how quickly it develops

One of my nasturtium plants is running riot at the moment and starting to get in all sorts of places it shouldn't be. It's a lot bigger than I expected as I knew nothing about the plant before. My plan is to let it flower, and eat one. The leaves are extremely strong in flavour, but I understand the flowers are meant to be more subtle. After that the secateurs will be coming back out again before it starts hatching plans for global domination  I'll need to consider the inclusion of nasturtiium very carefully in future. It's a good companion plant which can be eaten, but it's a big sprawing mess which gets tangled into other plants and can block sunlight. Probably a good plant for a larger garden, but not a diminutive enterprise such as mine

[AimlessWanderer]

Plunged my hand into the trough of carrots earlier to check soil moisture and see if any taproots forming .... and discovered (by feel) that a stinging nettle had taken up residence in there  and despite all the plants and herbs in the garden, I don't think any of them are any good for nettle stings 

[enki_ck]

Young stinging nettles can be eaten too. Also good as tee.

http://www.thekitchn.com/stinging-nettles-8-recipes-for-145582

[AimlessWanderer]

Yup! I actually found one in my parsnips and replanted it in it's own pot  I found that one with my eyes though instead of my fingers like the one in my carrots 

[enki_ck]

The onions and green beans are picked and cleared off.



That still leaves the carrots and the cucumbers, beetroot, tomatoes, ...




The "foundations" for the tiny greenhouse are ready too.



They will be buried in the ground and these will be the supports for the see through tarp that will come on top of it.




And it looks as though we'll finally have some hazelnuts this year. First ones.

[AimlessWanderer]

Apologies in advance for the wordy post 

Been a while since I posted, but the garden has been providing much in the way of food ... for backfly, slugs and cabbage white butterflies  Though I have managed to have a have a few bits myself, most of the eating has been done by pests. That said, I havenn't been able to dedicate the time needed to keep everything in check, and intentionally didn't net up the brassicas, mainly for the learning experience. Here's a summary of the plants and how I've done so far - and more importantly, the lessons learned:

Strawberries:
Did ok, and the first 2/3 that were picked were very nice, though the later ones seemed a bit "woody". The plants have now been removed from the planter, and the lower tier now has some orange scented thyme seedlings. If I did these again, I would do them in something other than coir lined planters which dry out too quick.

Raspberries:
Cocked up big time on this one! In order to get the best crop I kept trimming off the new shoots that were starting to focus the energies on growing and fruiting the existing plants .... only to realise later you are supposed to grow the new shoots tall for next years fruit, and crop the old fruited stems back to ground level ... oops! Diddled myself out of a bumper crop of raspberries next year.

Kiwi fruit:
No fruit this year, and none were expected. This year was growing and training the vines for nex years fruit. Due to the stupidity with the raspberries, there has been a large open area of trellis that should now be full  so I have started training the kiwi vines over it instead.

Tomatoes, peppers:
Done OK so far, and lots of tomatoes on the plants - just waiting for it to ripen now. Maintenance with pruning and removing suckers has caught me out once or twice, which meant I have had to have more than one "brutal" weekend to get things back in check, but so far so good, and the few I have had ripen so far have been lovely. Peppers are far less "needy", though two of the three plants have only just flowered, so they may be too late to bear fruit. Need to start earlier on these.

Sweetcorn:
Not enough soil depth, and only two of the 12 or so plants actually seem to be trying to develop ears of corn so far. Nice architectural look though, and has dwarfed out the sunflower

Sunflower:
They don't last long do they  It's in the wilting / drying stage now. Reached about head height before producing a head about 10"-12" diameter ... which due to the location in the garden points over the fence towards the neighbours garden instead of mine 

Brussels Sprouts, Brocolli, Kale:
Swarms of butterflies, lost of nibbled leaves, clusters yellow eggs appearing everyday. One of the three brocolli plants did form a head, but looked like it was threatening to flower despite still being quite diminutive. I harvested what was there, but left some behind for observation purpopes ... and they still haven't flowered yet so I probably harvested way to early and did myself out of a lot more brocolli. The shoots I have left behind will guide me so as to harvest the other two plants more wisely. Brussells sprouts just starting to form in the crooks of the leaf stems, and I am intentionally not harvesting any kale till later in the year as I expect more growth as the temperatures fall. I'll maybe not bother with brassicas next year - they's not really suited to this type of growing - and quite frankly, they're a bit boring!

Fig, Cherry, Apple:
No fruit, but the trees have had their summer prune and are looking healthy. Hopefully there's chance of a harvest next year

Blueberry, Olive:
Same lesson - two different plants. The tiny little olive tree came covered in little flowers and embryonic olives, and as I expected haven't really filled out. I didn't expect a "crop" this year though, and was just wanting to get the thing established a little. The blueberries however have given fruit - but not as full and luscious as I had hoped. In fairness the bush is still very young, but it appears that I should have removed a good percentage of the fruit/blossom in order to get better quality fruit. Research shows this is same with the olive - but more so

Artichoke, Cardoon, Echinacea, Evening Primrose, Bergamot, Red Veined Sorrel, Lettuce:
Slug battered, heavily perforated and very sorry looking. The artichoke is doing a little better than it's sibling the cardoon, and hopefully colder damper weather will promote a bit more growth on these. As for the others I've listed, lettuce is so pathetically boring it is henceforth banned from my future sowing sessions, as is sorrel which is to be eaten in careful moderation due to some oxylates or some such which don't do you any favours ... and I can't be bothered with anything too difficult. Either the echinacea, bergamot and evening primrose will survive till next year - or it won't. It's been rather uneventful really, so not overly fussed either way.

Nasturtium:
Worth an entry on it's own this one. It takes over the garden (or tries to), gets riddled with blackfly (supposedly drawing them away from other plants), then gets killed my them and the hoardes then descend on something else. It seems allowing them to take their course, or spraying the blackfly seems to have pretty much the same effect. Taste wise the flowers are interestying, and the leaves are overwhelming - however, not worth growing as a crop.

Geraniums, Petunias:
Petunias are a pain in the arse for having to keep up with dead heading so they don't produce seed pods and stop blooming. Geraniums don't seem as bad. They have however brought pollinators into the garden, so good move there.

Herbs:
Lavender, oregano and rosemary seem very happy, and are very easy if potted in the right mix, as are lemon balm and pineapple mint (both of which make a very pleasant tea). Samphire is interesting but a PITA to water with a saline solution. Basil and sage got ravaged by slugs, but have survived. Chamomile hasn't flowered yet, yarrow barely got started, and lovage is looking promising for next year. Feverfew really needs repotting when I get one spare, but aside from the healing properties (so long as you don't cipple yourself with mouth ulcers), is a bit on the boring side.

Roots:
Parsnips are unknown until first frosts, but seem to be doing well. First batch of carrots was quite good but would do better with more infrequent watering. Baby turnips are easy and worked well, but am steadily losing the beetroot to slugs. Burdock seems OK other than blackfly infestations that I keep battling, and horseradish is utterly boring - who knows what's happening beneath the surface

Onions:
Working a lot better since I moved to a topsoil based mix, though too early for any real results/reports

Others:
Amaranthus is just starting to form flowers, so hopefully I should be able to get a bowl or two of "porridge" from the seeds later in the year despite the leaves being peppered with holes by pests unknown. Blackcurrant is yet to take off, but I should have enough of a bush by next year for a small amount of fruit. Christmas tree is still alive, but will need re-potting again next spring, and the date palm looks pretty much identical to the day I bought it  Peas need another year of playing around with to get the most from them. I did OK, but could have done a lot better I reckon. Physalis is a lot thirstier and prolific than expected, and have suffered due to less frequent watering than is ideal. I should still get some fruit though

Conclusions:
Net result is that this year has been a roaring success in as much as I have fed the brain very very well indeed. Feeding the belly was only ever going to be a bonus. Much was learned through observation and errors, and that will put me in good stead next year. "Less is more" will be the key next time. I'll get a lot less plants growing, but will try to harness more from the plants. Roots and fruits seem to be the best choices with time available, and seem to give the least battles with pests

[J-sews]

Sounds like you learned a lot about what works for you and what doesn't, and got to nibble on a few tasty tidbits along the way. Very good Al. Myself, I don't think I could ever muster the patience and dedication that good gardening requires. Dealing with all those pests sounds like it would be particularly maddening.

[AimlessWanderer]

Cheers Bob 

You're right on the patience and dedication thing. The garden has been a bit of an "escape" for the first part of this year and was actually quite therapeutic, but next year I'll be wanting it to be less demanding and more productive.

The items from the cabbage family and some others would easily be protected by some netting/fleeces, but I'm not sure I want to be staring at netting everywhere whilst sat in the garden enjoying a beer or BBQ  The back fly and other aphids are a pain too, but I'll prob just stick to food safe spraying (organic where possible). At first the pests were a major downer, but I quickly figured it's just part of the equation. 

The biggest ballache is probably just deadheading the petunias so often, so I'll try out other attractors for pollinators. I'm very glad my pumpkin and squashes crapped out on me at the beginning of the year. It would have all been far less interesting/educational if they had taken up half the garden 

[AimlessWanderer]

Systematically wrapping it all up for the year now 

The fig tree has no leaves, and the cherry is starting to follow suit. Lots of stuff has been ripped up and cast into the garden waste bin, and the olive tree and date palm have been brought indoors. Pretty much just the fruit trees/bushes, perennials, herbs, and a few root veg remaining now.

I lost too much food through not having time to keep on top of everything, so I'll be going for something much simpler next year - and I'll be trying to start things earlier too. I still have to bundle up the fig tree into winter clothes and do a bit of selective pruning on a few items, then it's time to sit back and see what survives/remerges in spring. I'm very interested to see what happens with the broccoli, artichoke and cardoon over the winter months

Still learning 

[firiki]

I still owe some pics for this thread, will post along with details. Been re-arranging some things whenever I get the time.

[enki_ck]

So with the gardening season coming to an end it's time to prepare for next year. The ground needs to eat too so it's going to get a portion of what the rabbits have been pooping for the last year mixed with grass from all the years mowing and other stuff. Also it's time to re-dig the garden, not my favourite part.

In other news, the garden will also feature a greenhouse soon.



Foundations are home made and have cured since the summer. Time to putt them in the ground.







Still need to hook all those rebars together and buy some thick nylon to pull over it. Also I need to figure a way to make a good door for it.

[enki_ck]

Oh, yea, the ducks have new housing too, but that's not exactly gardening, is it.

[AimlessWanderer]

While I've been absent from here, my escape from all the chaos has been the garden. True, I've not been able to get out there and do much, but I have harvested my parsnips and burdock, and been clearing out some of the planters. I have also been replanning the layout and doing some shopping. I decided I needed something lower maintenance this year - trees, bushes and perennials. Try to not let the garden become a second job like it did last year. I've also been writing up a blog on my garden so I can keep better check on the progress and stop using up Def's valuable storage space 

Remember how small my garden is? Remember it's all in pots? Get ready! Here's the list of plants that are going in this year. Some of them I already had, some of them I've just bought, and the rest are still in seed form and I'll be starting some of them off very soon. Ignore the additional detail and latin names, I've just copied and pasted it straight from my blog .....

Fruit Trees: Medlar (Nottingham), Persimmon Kaki, Dead Man’s Fingers (Decaisnea Fargesii), Apple (Jonagold), Cherry (Sunburst), Fig (Brown Turkey)

Fruit Bushes: Elder (Black Beauty), Jostaberry, Wonderberry, Golden Pearls, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Barberry, Checkerberry (Gaultheria Procumbens), Inca Berry (Physallis Peruviana), Dwarf Pomegranate

Fruiting Vines: Kiwi (Jenny), Passionfruit (Passiflora Edulis)

Other Fruits: Giant Red Strawberry, Yellow Strawberry, Black Strawberry, Blue Strawberry, Wild White Alpine Strawberry, Raspberry

Nuts: Purple Filbert

Roots / Tubers Etc: Queensland Arrowroot, Dahlia Yams, Chinese Artichokes

Peas/Beans: Hyacinth Beans, Asparagus Peas

Edible Leaves/Stems: Calalloo, Cardoon

Edible Flowers/Buds: Globe Artichoke, Daylillies. Nasturtiums

Culinary Herbs: Japanese Beefsteak, English Lavender, Rosemary, Oregano, Samphire, Sage, Lovage, Horseradish, Ramsons

Tea Herbs: Pineapple Mint, Lemon Balm, Chamomile

Other Herbs: Feverfew, Electric Daisies (Toothache Plant)

Ornamentals: Small conifer (my Christmas Tree), winter flowering heathers x 12, Leucothoe Zeblid (red evergreen bush) x 3

[enki_ck]

So the Paul Chen/Gerber will get to play when it's tree pruning time. Looking forward to updates.

[AimlessWanderer]

Yeah, it's usually the Wenger Ranger 14 that gets gardening duties (excellent saw), but some beefier shears could be useful this year for sure. I'll pop a few updates up on here when things get moving  The blog is at allincontainers.wordpress.com with more details if anyone is interested. It needs a bit of tweaking and refining as I typed most of it this weekend while fueled by whisky and cider  but the foundations are there ...

[enki_ck]

I read it as Al in containers.

[AimlessWanderer]

  Yup, that's me - Al Lincon Tainers at your service