Busy in June!

Well it's all systems go in garden this month with everything seeming to ripen all at once!



The strawberries have been out for a few weeks now and have needed constant picking...we can't keep up with them this year and have given as much as we have potted and frozen!

The onions and garlic have been lifted and are drying nicely in the outhouse....the peas are ready to be pulled and in the next few days the morello cherries will be demanding attention...

The soya beans have finally started to come through, but its early days to report on any success.

The weeding too has taken up lots of time.We have had some great thunderstorms over the last few weeks, great for the veggies and the weeds too!


My garden slumbers in the winter, peaceful, quiet, weedfree.
It's tranquil in this setting, no weeds to be seen.
But comes the spring with its warmth and flowers delight
then the weeds poke out their ugly head, what a nightmarish site.
I pull, I scream, they reappear.
My husband says "Didn't we just do this last year, dear? "
My endless battle, it seems, I'm doomed not to win.
Is shooting your weeds considered a sin?

My Garden Slumbers
by Christine Blanksvard

I find at this time of year no sooner am I pulling them up than they are back and with a vengeance! Though remember not all weeds are bad, some are indeed a valuable natural asset to the garden. Again we are faced with the dilemma of whether to treat them naturally or attack them with chemicals.
But maybe it’s time we started looking at them in a different light.......How about eating them instead?

Dandelions for instance which are still grown commercially in France as a salad vegetable, are rich in minerals and young fresh leaves blend wonderfully into any salad. Apparently the roots when boiled make a caffeine free ‘coffee’, though I must admit I have not tried this one yet.

Fat Hen is high in iron protein, calcium and vitamin B, great for the vegetarians amongst us. It makes an excellent spinach substitute.

Nettles, everyone’s nightmare in the garden but this one is truly amazing. This plant has properties too numerous to mention them all but here’s a few; good for bladder infections, cleanses the kidneys, relieves mucous, helps in arthritis and rheumatic pain and a great antioxidant. You can use the tender tops as you would spinach, our neighbours make a very tasty soup out of them. My favourite is nettle tea with a spot of honey served hot or cold over ice. It’s a taste that takes a while to get accustomed to but the benefits are huge!


So next time I am out there losing my temper with the weeds, I shall stop and think 'If you can’t Beat ’em…Eat ’em!',some of these are useful and more importantly they are completely free!

As A. A. Milne said in Winnie the Pooh -

‘Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them’!
...though not all as beautiful as the Roses and Jasmin this year......

May...waging war!

By now your garden should be budding, blooming and generally bursting out all over!
You should be able to take some of the produce straight from the garden to the table..


I love this time of year!!

BUT....just when you think it’s time to sit back, relax and admire all your hard work… . War breaks out, not between you and the neighbours, between you and the garden pests.

If it's drama that you sigh for,
plant a garden and you'll get it
You will know the thrill of battle
fighting foes that will beset it
If you long for entertainment and
for pageantry most glowing,
Plant a garden and this summer spend
your time with green things growing.

Plant a Garden by Edward A. Guest.

It’s a tricky time and you have to decide which path to take, whether to use natural or chemical methods of defence. We prefer the natural way and never use any chemicals on any part of the garden. We like to give our guests here at ‘Pelican Lake Guesthouse’ freshly picked fruit and veg the way nature intended it. Not only bad for us and the soil, chemicals often kill off more than their intended victims and take some of our garden friends too. One of the best forms of defence is to encourage some of life’s natural predators into the garden. This small army will make your life a lot easier.

Birds often get bad press in the garden but they certainly do more good than harm keeping numerous insects in check and regular hoeing will bring soil pests to the surface for them. Some may take up residence if you incorporate interesting features like bird tables, baths or nest-boxes around your garden.




Frogs and Toads. You can never have enough of these chaps, excellent slug controllers! A modest garden pond or small submerged container will help retain them in your garden, although they will really only make full use of it for breeding.



We have got lots here and also try to encourage Lizards who also like to cool off and take a dip and these will eat all kinds of little unwanted critters and if you are really lucky a Hedgehog or Tortoise may join you to eat the odd slug or two.


I spotted my first BG Hedgehog last night as it goes.I was out late walking the dogs, on leads thankfully, and one of the dogs spotted it.He was close up to our fence so hopefully he will have made it into the garden,fantastic!

There are also lots of things we can do to help our friendly pests help us against the nasty ones.
My Tip of the week is to look at ‘companion planting’ to try and attract the insects you want. For example by planting Marigolds & Nasturtiums close to you tomatoes Hover flies and Ladybirds will come and help keep down the aphid population.

The red haricot beans my brother posted me from the UK are coming along nicely after the rain we have had over the last few weeks.


















So just remember some of these ‘soldiers’ before reaching for the insecticide, you might win a battle or two but can’t fight a war singled handed!

April...showers?

You can always tell it's April
By the sound of falling rain
That mystic, mournful music
As it trickles down the drain.
We're told we should be thankful
For the kiss of April showers
As it washes all the grass clean
And prepares the soil for flowers.
There's another side to April
Which doesn't bode us good,
When that mini, manic maelstrom
Turns the lawn to liquid mud.
- Thomas Vaughan Jones, O' To Be in April




Things can start to get a little hectic now, if you let them, and also a little wet…
Organisation is the key to a success in April and you have to be ready to dodge the showers and make the most of your time when you do get outside. Remember also to take time to look around at the beautiful blossom all around on the trees, its lovely!




















I have started to think of the garden as 3 separate areas.
The Ornamental Garden, The Veggie Plot and the Greenhouse, that is if you are lucky enough to have the latter, in my case it’s a window sill and a homemade cloches which work just as well! It seems to make it more manageable and less daunting.

In the Ornamental or Flower Garden it’s time to rake those lawns and start mowing as soon as the grass starts to grow again. A great time to think about sowing new seed or laying turf.
Lift and divide any perennials and plant any hardy annuals.
W have been busy pruning rose bushes, cutting back any frost damaged areas.
I have been tempted to plant out the Bougainvillea, but the weather report is erratic still predicting slight early am frosts. I am placing it outside very day to acclimatise and thinking of the beginning of April for the full move outside.


The Veggie Plot. The ground has been warming up nicely over the last few weeks so I have already made a start on seeding out. I have found in the past salads, radish and leeks all need a little cover of plastic for the first few days to help with germination but beetroots, beans, carrots, spinach, artichokes can all be seeded without if the temperatures remain stable…if not use some plastic until the seedlings start to push through.

It’s also a good time to plant any new fruit trees, bare rooted especially. Mike has bought me a new cherry tree. One of ours just keeled over and died last month which was a real shame. It hadn’t been doing well since we moved here. I think all the building work must have disturbed it.

The peas are already showing through from last month and the light rain we have been having has been excellent for them.

Mike has been busy pruning the grape vines..it’s a long hard slog that job and I am glad he does it. We are pruning them right back this year, following what the neighbours are also doing.

Greenhouse
I don’t have a greenhouse I use my windowsills for some early varieties and now I start sowing under the cloches.
My tomatoes and peppers I started off on the window sill are coming along nicely. When the weather has been good I have started their acclimatisation by putting them out into the sun for a few hours every day but remembering to bring them back in at night.


On the window sill this month I am starting off little pots of herbs with a view to transplanting out next month. I have never done this before…so we will see how successful it is.

This sounds like a lot of work but an hour or so each day will allow you to keep on top of things and hopefully the planning done over the last few months will help you sail through it!

Marching On......

They have been steadily pushing their way through the soil over the past few weeks now, giving us a glimpse of what is to come.
It’s always great to see this first burst of colour in the garden, the Snowdrops.


Once I see these I know that others will soon follow the daffodils, hyacinths and tulips to name but a few and I see pansies and primroses are now out in the shops.
At last spring is here!

I have also been watching for other signs of life in the garden. The garlic and onions I planted in late October are sending up little green shoots.










It amazes me how these and the lettuce survive the severe minus temperatures, frosts and snow that our winter here can bring. They seem to shut down for a while and as soon as the sun shines again they get a new burst of energy and away they go.
A bit like us really.....

So with that in mind it’s time to dust of the wellies and weather permitting get cracking with the Veggie plot.
Start looking now in the market for the small seed potatoes and onion sets. Both of these can be sowed out, onions now and potatoes at the end of the month.
With seed potatoes you can buy them early and store them in trays or old egg cartons in a light, warm, 10C / 50F, place. They should start to form lovely bushy green sprouts and be perfect for planting out in the last week of March. Don’t be tempted to hide them away in a cupboard in the dark as they will form pale and weak shoots.
It’s hard to go wrong with potatoes. My neighbours plant them out really close together in long rows but I find if you have the space, especially at this time of year, spreading them out gives a better yield. I usually place them in rows 60cm (2ft) apart, with the tubers 30cm (12in) apart and around 15cm (6in) deep.
By the end of June these should be ready for harvesting and at the same time the later varieties can be planted out.

Peas can also be planted now, in fact the earlier the better as soon as you can get onto the soil without sinking!
Last year I sowed out a 200g packet at the beginning of March and at the end of May I had over 12lbs of peas shelled and in the freezer, so easy!


I have started off a variety of annual plant seeds just in pots on the windowsill and I am experimenting with some seeds that came from a neighbour that I must confess to having no idea what they are. If the weather stays mild these can all be hardened off late March and be instant greenery for April.
I have taken a carnation that was given to me and planted it..the result has been quite surprising!


The Bougainvillea too has come active all of a sudden.Too cold for it at the moment to stay outside all the time so just through the day to acclimatise it again.


However March can be an unsettled month so do what you can when you can.
But be prepared the next few months will be hectic!

February 1st lets make a start!

It’s February the 1st and we are now, for the gardeners amongst us, on the ‘right’ side of Winter.
Although there is very little that can be done outside in the garden at this time of year, the ground is still frozen and the weather unpredictable, very important work can be carried out indoors from the warmth of your arm chair with a nice cup of tea.

Now is a good time to put together a plan for the year ahead, what you are going to plant, when and importantly where.
It’s best to start the year even if only with a rough plan. These plans will be of real benefit later on when we enter the hectic month of April. Look seriously at what you want out of your garden. Consider also your commitment level and time restraints you may have as this will dictate how much of a garden workload you want and how much you will plant. Think carefully of the quantities you will need , there’s no point in growing rows and rows of something that you simply won’t eat and don’t think you will be able to give it away…your neighbours will be doing exactly the same thing!

Don’t stress yourself about it though. This is an exciting time that inspires me to get out my gardening books and look on the internet for ideas. Having been here for a few years now I realise that one of my greatest resources are on my doorstep, my neighbours. It’s good to talk with them about what they are planning and when. It is so easy to lose contact with your friends and neighbours during the Winter months so sharing your ideas is very important and when done over a glass of wine or rakia, even more so.


For the keen gardeners amongst you it is time, believe it or not, to be thinking about your tomatoes and hot chilly peppers. (and at the end of the month regular peppers, aubergines and spring cabbages).
Indoor planting of all of these can be done easily. I use my old window boxes but you could use any tall plant pot or container, recycling your old yogurt pots is a good idea.
Fill your container leaving around 1 ½ inches at the top, water this lightly and then place your seeds at about 1inch distance taking care not to push the seeds or force them into the compost. Then top up with about another inch of compost. Cover the container with plastic, a thin carrier bag is ideal, and tie string around to keep it in place. This method is great it keeps the moisture in and helps the seed germinate quicker just like in the greenhouse.
Place somewhere light and warm and once the seedlings have started to come through you can remove the plastic and water lightly when required. These seedlings should be ready to plant out at the end of March, weather permitting of course.
I suggest trying a variety of seed types as this will give you a better chance of success. Some varieties do better than others and who knows what this Summer will bring weather wise.
This activity obviously means doing a little work now, moving off the sofa and putting your cuppa down, but it’s a great way to gently ease yourself into the year ahead.

In less than a week the seedlings will start to come through.....

A White New Year!

Well the New year has brought us over 75cm's of lovely white ,crisp snow.
It took us over two days to dig ourselves, and the car out, completely.

Believe it or not below here somewhere are the lettuce..onions and garlic though we won't be seeing them for a few months yet.




















Its great to know that this weather means that we should be in for a really good year of crops this year....great consolation seeing as most of the time it is now below zero and this brings me hope and aspirations for this year....
Can't wait!!!!




















In fact soon it will be time to get the pots on the windowsills and get the tomatoes and peppers going!!
Fantastic!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hoping that you all have a great Christmas and wishing you all Health, Wealth, Success and most importantly Happiness for 2008 and beyond xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx