Getting on with the Job

My first apples, looking nearly ready

So far, this year, it has felt like I haven’t actually done much gardening. I must have done something, to be picking flowers and harvesting produce but most work has been snatched in between the torrential rain or with me huddled in my shed sowing seeds. There have been very few completely dry days and two rain-free days in a row have only existed in my imagination. But what’s this, the clouds have parted and a golden glowing orb that I believe is the sun is actually there, in the sky.

It appears, for now at least, that the jet stream, responsible for the worst summer in the UK since anyone bothered started to record these things, is on the move. With the first predictably dry weekend coming up it will no doubt mean a flurry of barbecue activity and the baring of inappropriate amounts of flesh, despite temperatures struggling into the low twenties. For me, it finally means the opportunity to get out and tackle all those jobs that have been building up. I’ve already managed to clip my yew cones in the front garden, that had started to look a bit too shaggy, with fresh, new growth, resembling octopus arms, reaching out into the garden. The box balls in the back garden need a similar trim.

The list of jobs feels a little overwhelming but at least I know I can spread them out over several days rather than frantically trying to get lots done in the short dry spells between the longer periods of rain that has been gardening so far this year.

Leeks and dibber

Yesterday, I finally got round to moving my leeks to their final growing positions. Fortunately, harvesting my Charlotte spuds has freed up some ground, so they’ve gone in there. It was my first opportunity to use the wooden dibber that was in my stocking last Christmas. Thank you Wellyman, it worked a treat!

There is some debate as to how to plant up leeks. The traditional way is to trim the roots and then trim the green shoots before placing in a deep hole. Some believe this method is used to make it easier to get the leeks and their roots into the hole and if you’ve cut the roots you need to reduce the stress on the leek by reducing the green growth, too. Others think that root pruning like this encourages the formation of more roots allowing the plants to search for more nutrients and become healthier plants. Last year was my first year growing leeks and I just plonked them in the holes with no trimming at all and I produced perfectly good leeks. The RHS doesn’t recommend any trimming and suggests that if you have problems getting the leeks’ roots into the hole then dipping them in water first can help. It does. Once the leeks are in the holes it’s important not to back-fill but to water in around them instead. The water will pull down some soil into the hole to hold the leek upright. This is how the long blanched stems are achieved without getting soil into the core of the leek.

A mixture of seedlings for autumn crops

There’s more seed sowing to do for crops to take us into the autumn and I need to pot up all the seedlings on my window sill. If your harvest has been disappointing so far this year due to the weather it’s not too late to give some crops a try. If we do get some good weather between now and November it’s still possible to resurrect something from the growing year. Dwarf French beans, cavolo nero, endive, carrots and lettuce will all produce well into September and beyond.

In August, I’m sowing some spring greens and various packets of salad leaves, such as orientals, that would bolt if sowed earlier in the year. Thanks to a great tip from Charles Dowding, that I picked up on his salad growing course, I’ll be sowing chervil and coriander in August. I always thought coriander needed warmth but then never managed to grow it as it always ran so quickly to seed. Apparently it, and chervil, much prefer this later sowing time. And, if you sow an early pea variety that can cope with cooler temperatures, you can have a ready supply of peashoots up to Christmas.

Drying shallots

I harvested the shallots on Wednesday and they’re in my cold frame so their skins can dry, ready for storing. In their place went my pathetic florence fennel plants. This is my second year of trying. Last year, they were all got by slugs. This year I’m left with 5 plants, which isn’t a great haul and at the moment they’re looking decidedly weedy. I love fennel but it’s notoriously temperamental, bolting at the slightest opportunity which doesn’t fill me with confidence, especially with such topsy-turvy weather but I’m determined not to be defeated by them, well not yet anyway.

My weedy Florence fennel

All this and I haven’t even got round to thinking about tackling the back garden which has taken on a dishevelled billowy appearance and I really need to look into how to prune my new espalier apple tree, since July is the best time to do this job. I’m feeling a little exhausted thinking about it all. Tea and a biscuit I think, first, before the wellies go back on and I embark on some topiary.

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The Final Push

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cold frames, cut flower patch, Dahlias, scented flowers, stocks, zinnias

The sun shone on Saturday, after another week of heavy rain, giving me the opportunity to get up to the plot for the final push. This is the latest I have left the planting out of half hardies and tender plants. Often dictated by an upcoming holiday, I would normally expect to have empty cold frames by the start of June but not this year. Difficult weather conditions have meant a slow start to the growing season. Plants such as rudbeckias and zinnias are a quarter of the size they were this time last year.

Whilst some plants have struggled, it has been great weather for grass and weeds, unfortunately. Wellyman was on hand to tidy up the paths at the plot. With no strimmer and only hand shears to keep everything in check its a job neither of us enjoy but a trim every 3 weeks or so is better than leaving it and letting it get out of control.

Nigella damascena ‘Double White’ on the cut flower patch

I weeded the whole plot, which took an hour and a half. The ground was nice and soft after the rain making the weed removal easy. My problem weeds are speedwell, hairy bittercress and, in one bed, bindweed but none of them are too bad, mainly because I do as little digging as possible.

The last patch of stocks was removed. They had been such great plants, straggly looking things I’ll grant you, but they had been flowering since last October and had provided so many bunches of gloriously scented flowers, I’m slightly sad to see them go. They were finally giving up the ghost, though and I needed the space, so in their place are now some larkspurs and zinnias.

The plot in June

I managed to squeeze in two dahlias which I’d stored in the downstairs loo over winter. Potted up in April they have spent the last couple of months in the cold frame and have made good-sized plants, one is even about to flower. I have no idea which varieties they are, somewhere along the line their labels have disappeared. Still, it’ll be a nice surprise when they do flower.

The last plants went into the cut flower patch; cornflowers, gypsophila, rudbeckias and godetia. The plants were a little smaller than I would have liked them to be but I’m going to be away for a while, so they need to fend for themselves. I’m hoping I’m going to have enough flowers to take me through to October and for my first foray into the world of the horticulture show. If I can get myself organised I’ve decided to enter some flowers into one of my local shows. I haven’t decided which show yet or had a look at the schedules to see which class I’ll enter. See what I mean about needing to get organised.

Sweet Williams – I possibly didn’t need quite so many plants

Fortunately, the heavy rain and gale force winds didn’t do too much damage but some extra staking and tying in was necessary. The broad beans were now tall enough to pinch out the growing tips, this encourages the plants to divert their energy into producing pods and also helps to discourage black fly. Don’t put them on the compost heap though, they are really nice steamed – a bit like spinach but with a mild broad bean flavour.

So that’s it for another year, the seed sowing and plant nurturing frenzy of spring is over. I always feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief when the cold frames and window sills are emptied and the plot fills up with plants. But there’s little time to rest on my laurels as June is the perfect time to sow biennials. Better go and dig out my seed tins.

I wouldn’t be without ….

Tags

cold frames, half hardy plants, hardy plants, sowing biennials, sowing seeds

I wouldn't be without my cold frames

The seed sowing season is about to start in earnest and over the next couple of months my window sills will be stuffed with seed trays and pots as I grow vegetables and flower plants for my allotment and garden. I prefer to start seeds off at home rather than directly into the ground for several reasons. Last year, the seeds I sowed directly germinated very patchily because of the very dry spring, whereas the seeds started off at home germinated well as it was easier to control their growing conditions. I also find that if I can nurture a plant to a reasonable size before planting out they are less prone to pest attacks, slugs in particular love young seedlings, but I wouldn’t be able to grow the volume of plants I do without my cold frames.

When we first moved here we realised, sadly that there wasn’t the space for a greenhouse, which was even more annoying because we were offered one for free. The compromise came in the form of a sturdy, 5ft by 3ft cold frame from the Greenhouse People. It cost £250, which felt like quite a lot to spend on a cold frame, especially since money was tight as we were doing quite a bit of work to the house and garden but I wanted something that looked like it would last. Two years later and with a newly acquired allotment I knew one cold frame wouldn’t be enough so I bought another but this time I went for the cheaper option. Well I certainly have proof you get what you pay for. The second cold frame took twice as long to erect and wasn’t very well designed. It has perspex lights rather than glass and annoyingly the perspex has a habit of working it’s way out of it’s fittings and slipping down exposing plants to the elements. Despite the second cold frame’s shortcomings it has still provided me with the extra space I need.

Seedling packed cold frame

In February and March you will find hardy plants such as broad beans, sweet peas and early peas in my cold frames and then towards the end of March and into April, as these hardy plants are moved to open ground, they are replaced by hardy flowering plants such as antirrhinums, sunflowers, scabious and cornflowers that will form my cut flower patch. Half hardy and tender plants sown indoors in April will gradually move to the cold frames in May. By the end of May, with the danger of frost having receded and all the plants now in their final growing place, the cold frames fall quiet for a while. But it isn’t long before they have filled again with sowings of biennials such as sweet williams, honesty, sweet rocket and wallflowers, sown in July to flower the following spring. Then in September I start off hardy annuals such as orlaya and scabious that will overwinter in the coldframes and can then be planted out in early spring to provide an early show of flowers.

This all sounds very organised but invariably some plants are slow to germinate, or the weather makes life difficult. Last spring was so warm and my plants grew so quickly that my cold frames were bursting at the seams but it was still only the start of May and too early to plant out, in case the weather changed and there was a late frost.

It’s not just for providing protection for young seedlings that I wouldn’t be without my cold frames, they have been useful places to overwinter plants that can cope with cold but just don’t like sitting in wet compost. Winters here in Wales tend to be wet so I move herbs, succulents and alpines into the cold frames so they stay dry, protected from the winter rains.

Of course, like anything cold frames have their problems. It is really important to keep on top of ventilation. Even in early spring the warmth of the sun on the glass can make temperatures underneath rise, causing young plants to wilt. On mild days in autumn and winter ventilation is important to stop damp air lingering and fungal diseases such as botrytis flourishing. It’s also essential to keep an eye out for pests, in particular aphids and slugs. Aphids multiply rapidly and in a confined space will spread quickly from plant to plant and if slugs find their way into your cold frame full of young, juicy seedlings. Well, lets just say it will be like a banquet for those loathsome creatures. I speak from experience, the damage caused by slugs unleashed in a cold frame can be heartbreaking. I don’t like using slug pellets, even though I buy the ones that aren’t supposed to be dangerous to wildlife but I now find a scattering in the cold frame is the best way to keep on top of them. Birds and hedgehogs don’t go into the cold frame so there is no danger of them coming into contact with them.

What wouldn’t you be without in your garden or on your plot? What piece of gardening kit has really made a difference for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.