Preparing the Polytunnel for the 2023 Growing Season

This was the state of the polytunnel on the 14th of March (Photo 1): Photo 1: Polytunnel (14/3/23)Essentially a storage/work space! The Quadgrows and Veg/Salad Planters had been emptied, washed, and left to dry. I had some bare-root raspberry plants soaking in one of the Quadgrow reservoirs (left-hand...

Giving the Pond a Spring Clean

 This year we did not have any frogspawn in our small garden pond. Mary did find a dead frog in late winter and we weren't sure whether there were any frogs left. Using the water sampler I bought for river testing ...Photo 1: Water Sampler/Pond Emptier... Mary carefully emptied the pond one...

Slow Start to This Year's Growing Season

The growing season is off to a slow start this year. It is May 20th and, already, we seem to be several weeks behind where I would expect to be. This is a picture (Photo 1) of our comfrey plant taken today (20th) ...Photo 1: Comfrey (20th May 2023)... and this is a photo (Photo 2) of the same plant...

Tulip Antoinette

 At last year's Malvern Autumn Show (2022), I bought 10 Antoinette™ tulip bulbs for Mary who was, unfortunately, stuck at home with a bad cold/laryngitis/pneumonia/Covid-19*. They were advertised as a late-flowering multi-headed chameleon tulip changing colour from green-yellow to salmon pink.The...

Earthing-up Potatoes and Compost Sieving

"It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes" - Douglas Adams "What I say is that, if a person really likes potatoes, they must be a pretty decent sort of person" - A. A. Milne (amended)This year's seed potatoes were planted outside on 31st March after a six-week...

IOW Trip - Cowslips, Orchids and Bluebells

 We've been away for a few days on the Isle of Wight (IOW) visiting relations and doing a bit of sightseeing. It takes 3-4 hours to drive down to the ferry at Lymington for the short sea trip (40 minutes) across to Yarmouth on the IOW. We were always told the Solent ferry crossings were the...