Golden Newts and Fairy Guardians

Well I suppose it was inevitable that the weeds would come as soon as we had rain but ..... oh my goodness. The new lavender hedge has been all but swamped and our last job yesterday was to clear as much as we could. Not easy with a tunnel of rabbit wire held down by tent pegs.

Before anything can be planted the ground has to be cleared. But I did get the last 12 helichrysum plants in and the last bare dahlia tubers. That was very satisfying.

I was dismayed to find three more lovely aubergine plants still at home, after having thought everything was in the polytunnel. I had to clear yet more space to get them in. Now they are protected by my sister in law`s wedding dress hooped petticoat.
 

The broad beans are now out, creating space for peppers and cucumbers. The harvest was either frozen or eaten.

Amongst the damp growth I found this golden newt. So tiny.
 

The polytunnel is now ready for the summer, looking quite tidy and guarded by fairies.

The foxgloves are taking over and such a range of colours. Amongst the weeds are myriads of tiny seedlings.

 

 

The wind has blown the oriental poppies around. I will try to rescue them next time.

The sweetpeas are going great guns though I am having to keep them clear of weeds. They got a good feed with comfrey mix as well as a good tying up.

 

 

I am very happy with the fruit this year. I am keeping a close eye on the blistering on the currant leaves by picking off affected shoots and spraying with neem oil.

 

Anne has covered some of the cherry branches with net sleeves as the crop looks good.

 

There are many campers at the farm over half term and they all looked to be having a great time despite some rain. The farm looks beautiful at the moment. The walk down to the campsite is lined with grasses and buttercups, with the cuckoo calling almost continously.

I can`t tell you how happy that makes me feel.

 

Everything`s Gonna be Alright

 This is my mantra of the day.

I was getting a little bit into panic mode. After a weekend away, during which my brother watered the greenhouses for us (thank goodness) a lot of our bedding plants are now in stress mode. That is .... desperate to go in the ground and drooping after days of sunshine.

Today we have managed to get in 19 trays.

Sunflowers, cornflowers, cerinthe, calendula, helichrysum, ipomea, borlotti beans, runner beans, leeks.

As I chant my mantra, I can feel pride in all the plants we have raised with loving care. In my panic mode I can look at the 26 trays left and wonder where the heck it going to go ..... and that doesn`t include dahlias!

The back seats were down today for all the plants that went to the garden, And we got them all in. Sometimes all our time there is spent planting in May, but today I had time to weed the sweetpeas and spray the fruit with Neem oil.

Unfortunately I had to pull up a lot of poppies. Their leaves are enormous and will compromise the sweetpea plants, so they had to go. There are plenty elsewhere.

I watered the row and fed it with comfrey mix diluted in water.

 

Outside the polytunnel is a stunning white foxglove. I must remember to save the seeds.

I made a large patch of soil ready for helichrysum plants. Last year I had soooo much trouble getting any plants and ended up with 6. This year I have had 5 trays with 24 in each so no shortage of straw flowers this year. I just have to keep them free from slugs, snails and rabbits. 

Jan and Julie have given us 4 metal bakers trays which are ideal to keep rabbits off new plantings. Later I will use them, lined with net curtains, to dry the flowers.

The sweetpea row fronts the potatoes this year, flanked on either side by aquilegia. So pretty.

Watering has been very important in this hot weather and next time the pond will need a top-up.

Flowers looking good at the moment......

 

Iris sibirica

Bearded iris

 

Californian poppies

Sweet rocket

When I reassessed my greenhouse patio at home earlier this evening, everything was indeed, alright.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhubarb, Fiesta and Cuckoos

There have been lots of campers around today for this long weekend enjoying the tortoises and guinea pigs. The children were having a wonderful time on the toy tractors and the crafts have been selling like hot cakes.  

 Is there anything better than this sight at this time of the year, when the days are measured by how much bedding you can get in the ground.

It has been so hot that watering has been crucial and sometimes its been twice a day.

I am down to 56 trays of bedding. I`m reluctant to pull up spring displays when it still looks so lovely. And having planted two rows of dahlias at home and various pockets at the garden, I am still left with 52 dahlia tubers. I have places in mind.

Two days ago whilst working in the garden, we heard the cuckoo almost all morning. It moved right round the farm and was very close. This is a wonderful sound and the most we have heard for at least 15 years.

We got the second lot of tomatoes in and the rocket is doing well, protected by water bottles. The shading is up and the water system in place. It is too hot to stay in there for long.

The new turf  is growing very well but it has needed a lot of water. It is beginning to blend in.

 

Today we moved the water trough slightly and I filled it with Little Leo sunflowers and dahlias grown from seed.

We planted a row of comfrey roots in the new area. They have been in a rough pile all winter and even so, they are shooting.

My brother and his wife have donated their wedding present to the garden. It is a Fiesta apple tree. Tim collected it in the week with his trailer as it was too awkward and heavy for our car. It has been in the huge pot for too long and will soon be installed in the mini- orchard. Its going to need a big hole.

Our harvest today was broad beans from the polytunnel and rhubarb for a crumble.

 

The very first poppy and cornflower were out this morning. And how very welcome they are.

 

The Easter Tree

In one of my Easter blog entries, I mentioned my Easter tree.

I usually pick a bunch of shooting twigs and then hang my little wooden items on .... bunnies, chicks, eggs etc. It looks very pretty. I am sorry it is against this background but there it is.

The Easter egg hunt in our own garden went very well and it was the only decent day out of three. We had a great walk in the woods nearby to see the anemones, bluebells and primroses.

Since then we have had some rain so the new turf and the new lavender hedge are settling in well. The newly planted cornflowers will perk up no end.

 

I would say the blossom is at its zenith ..... cherry, apple, pear, crabapple.

We have started to prepare the polytunnel for the tomato planting by lifting carpets, watering extensively and setting up the solar panel watering system.

I planted some well protected rocket.

We will soon get the tomatoes in.

My next dilemma is whether to pinch out the tops of my cosmos plants. Don`t know if I can bear to do it.

 

Lavender and Willow Whips

On Thursday we visited one of our favourite nurseries, Rapkyns near Heathfield. Morag who runs the nursery, is such a lovely lady with a wealth of knowledge about the plants. We purchased a dozen Munstead Lavender plants for Freshwinds and a few gems for our own garden. Morag gave us some hints about trimming before planting.

Outside we noticed the car park had been enlarged with a section cordoned off from the field. There we met a very interesting man called Dieter, who was putting in a new gatepost. We got chatting and after a discussion about wood in general, he showed us his phone pictures of the most incredible carvings he has done from wood .... witches, gnomes, toadstools. I now wish I had a contact number. We could have talked to him for much longer.

 The main aim for our garden visit today was to plant up the lavender hedge. And this we did. We had to dig over the area again, removing any traces of couch grass. We used old pea gravel to make the drainage a bit better.

I don`t think rabbits would like lavender but I wasn`t taking any chances. They are covered with a low tunnel of rabbit wire.

As I planted each one I gave it a haircut .... about 2 cm as advised.

I also had half a tray of yet more cornflowers, as well as a few odd statice plants. I just managed to get them in. 

In the big raised bed I have planted up lychnis, grasses, helianthus, golden rod and cornflowers. The latter protected from rabbits with recycled water bottles.

Nearby the new statice plants are also protected.

 

In the polytunnel the bumblebees were going wild with excitement over the broad bean flowers. The beans will soon be ready to eat.

I recently potted up the rooted willow whips. I had just stuck them in buckets of water and they rooted very quickly.

I think they could be used to fill some gaps in the willow circle near the Owl yurt.

I did wonder if we may have gone too far when we cut back the willow at the entrance but lo and behold, the new shoots are springing out. Amazing.

And the willow fairies are back .... they should survive for another year.
 

Just outside the garden are myriads of poppy seedlings. Last year I scattered literally 1000`s of poppy seeds and lots have germinated with the recent rain.

 This is going to create quite a spectacle later on.

 

 

 

 

Easter Greetings

 A very happy Easter to everyone reading this blog.

This chocolate is for our big Easter egg hunt on Friday.

Last night we had some very welcome rain and I am delighted with the difference it makes to the whole garden. This usually means there will be no frost so I have left a few trays of bedding uncovered to take advantage of the showers. |

Cosmos, sweetpeas, calendula, cornflowers, ageratum.

I have begun to plant out my bedding including sweetpeas. The latter are protected with fleece for a while yet.

Cornflowers, calendula, statice, gypsophila are in. All fairly hardy.

Two days ago I watered the tomatoes with a comfrey mix. They changed overnight,

Alongside them are the courgettes which are well away.

 

 

I repotted the aubergines and peppers because they had come to a standstill. At this point in the proceedings you have to ask yourself if all the goodness from the purchased multi-purpose compost has run out and that is why I think a bit of weak comfrey mix will give them all a boost.

Around our own garden the apple blossom has just opened.

 

Honesty flowers have seemingly appeared overnight.

The pansies are having a second coming after a bit of trimming and a feed.

 

On Saturday we looked after my nephews for part of the day and they did jobs for pocket money. One of the jobs was to collect camellia flowers. And there are plenty of those.

 

 

They also swept up magnolia petals, washed the greenhouses and sprayed with white shading. They both worked very hard.

 It gets pretty hot inside the greenhouses already.

This morning as well as catching up with housework, I managed to complete the latest batch of patchwork shoulder bags.

(I might be keeping this one)

I have also been experimenting with string patchwork. I am hoping to make a decent sized bag with four motifs on each side.

I also got the chance to change the coffee table display ready for the Easter weekend.

All I need now are a few budding spring twigs to make an Easter tree.

(More next time)