Polytunnel produce

Still not much doing here in my Caithness garden. The weather has finally decided to give us a glimpse of a possible summer on its way but everything outside is stunted almost in limbo as though it's all deciding "do we, don't we". As it is right now I'm happy for everything to stay a little shy for 2 reasons 1) I wouldn't be surprised if we have snow next week and 2) I go on holiday next week and I don't want to miss all the first blooms.

The polytunnel is a different story completely, I am getting heaps of Strawberries - at least the ones the birds haven't gotten to first - the apple tree is plastered with fruit so I'm waiting for the June drop to see what needs culling after that and the flowers (especially the Roses) are about 6 weeks ahead of those outside.
Tomorrow I will have to begin moving all the plants in pots to an outside sheltered place, I just hope the weather stays kind.

Rose 'Nostalgia' my first one to flower this year, has a lovely sherberty scent.

This tree has heaps of apples this year but it's destined for the garden later on so probably won't produce this well again.

 

 

 

 

 

I almost gave up on Strawberries this year as I never get a decent crop. I put these into some hanging baskets and the crop has been mammoth so far.

No slug damage here! Hens have made a meal of my Hostas, it's prettier than slug damage though and a small price to pay for the fact that they also control marestail.

Even on the sunny days there's always a storm threat over the sea.

The perfect Fuchsia cutting

I love Fuchsias and I'm determined to master the art of taking successful cuttings, I even want to have a go at training a standard.
After my recent problems with cuttings I took (I say recent but I've had the same problems every year I've tried doing them) I decided to dig out a book on Fuchsia that I knew I had somewhere. I then sat with a coffee and read the whole thing - well the bits that had pictures anyway, and then this morning I took it out to the polytunnel with me and followed the instructions to the letter.
It seems I have been making a few mistakes each time I've tried this

1. I always use regular potting compost - too nutrient rich apparently.
2. I've always put them in full sun - I've literally cooked them.
3. I've always firmed the soil - no need apparently.

So with this new info in hand

I filled my pots with potting compost mixed with perlite, I took my cuttings of 'Paula Jane' (the only one I have left that has enough growth due to my previous attempts) according to the book - it seems that they don't need to be cut below a leaf node this time of year, who knew! - removed lower leaves and dipped each one in rooting hormone.

In one of the pots I did cuttings below a node (old habits die hard) and the other one as the book suggested.
The cuttings were then well watered in and I resisted the urge to firm them down. Finally I put them in the heated propagator and moved the propagator out of full sun - no cooking this time round.

If these don't survive (look too leafy and big for my liking) I'm giving up and I'll buy the ruddy things!

I haven't just been playing with Fuchsia though, I finally managed to get those Parsnip seeds sown and the Leeks out.
The first year I sowed Parsnips I simply sowed the seed on the soil and I had a fantastic crop that year but then I read it's a good idea to create a cone in the soil, fill it with compost and sow the seeds into that - it helps to prevent forked roots apparently. Ever since reading that it's the method I've used even though I didn't have a problem with forked roots, so this year I tried both methods and will compare the crops.
With the Leeks I've always used a piece of bamboo to create a deep hole and simply dropped the Leeks into the hole and watered them in, the soil settles itself eventually and I always get a decent crop.

Fleece covers everything right now to stop both critters and cats.

Leeks are uncovered but I'll be checking them tomorrow in case the feral cats (of which most have decided they like us because we offer free food 24/7) have left messages everywhere.

Oh the weather is glorious right now!

Glorious weather and veg planting

Finally! Today the weather has been glorious and apparently it's set to stay fine for a few days - yay! It was even hot enough today to warrant sunscreen, but then there was that sad moment when I was applying it and the smell took me back to our recent holiday to Jamaica - has that ever happened to you?

Anyway with good weather afoot I figured I'd finally make a start on getting these veggies planted out - my veg beds finally have veggies in them yay!

Half of the main raised bed has Swede 'Invitation', Cabbage 'Greyhound', another Cabbage I forget the name of, Cauli 'All the year round' and Broccoli. I covered them over with fleece to stop the cabbage Butterfly laying eggs and to stop every feral cat in the area using it as a loo (yep it took alot of clearing before I could plant - Ew!)

The smaller raised bed now has Carrot 'Chantenay Red cored 2' and carrot 'Early Nantes' seed sown. I only planted the stumpy Chanteney one because I had the seeds, ordinarily I find them a waste of space but thanks to these 2 new beds I have plenty of spare room now. These were covered in fleece too because of the cats though I dare say this fleece will not last 5 minutes if the wind whips up no matter how secure they are

Last year I grew Climbing French bean in the polytunnel but they grew like triffids and took over so this year I'm planting them out on the lower allotment area (I call it an allotment but it's just my greenhouse area). I've also cut down on the amount of plants this year too because we just got inundated with them last year - though maybe I shouldn't have done that as crops may be less outside anyways. These were protected with fleece just in case we have a frost, I'll remove the fleece once that risk is gone.

On another note, the runs for the dog kennels are finally getting dug out. Once the runs are up it will mean that I don't have to have the dogs on the garden quite so much and I'll be able to relax knowing they're safe and secure and can't escape, least I hope they won't be able to. I won't bore you with details of the enclosures that Atlas has managed to escape from so this enclosure has got to be completely escape proof

See the green panel to the right? Those are what we'll be using. The enclosure will end up being about 40ft by 20ft and those bars on the panel are perfect for stopping Atlas climbing. It's gonna be a while in the making though.

Remember that garden bed I showed you the other day, the one where I had been a very lazy girl and put turfs directly on it to rot down? Well I finally got it cleared, manured and some lovely soil in it today

BEFORE

AFTER

Sharing this post at:
The Dedicated House

Veggie season is finally here!

Veggies are finally growing on the plot, albeit in the polytunnel because the weather is still too unpredictable to put anything out.
The second sowing of Sweetcorn 'Incredible' (to replace the first sowing that all died) were well rooted in their root trainers and ready to go into their bottomless pots

Sweetcorn usually do very well growing this way in the polytunnel. The centre bed I grow them in is closest to the door so the breeze that comes through does a great job of pollinating them - plus I always give them a gentle shake at the correct time. We usually get 2 cobs per plant growing them this way and the difference from supermarket bought ones is unbelievable.

The Onions 'Stuttgart' are romping away too - this is the first time I've had even this amount of success growing Onions so needless to say I'm quite excited about this.

The Cauli's, Broccolli, Cabbage and Swede are all going through the hardening off stage so hopefully they'll be able to go out very soon - fingers crossed.
The Leeks won't be able to go out for a while and I can't sow the Parsnips yet because the ground is still too cold. I think I'll get some plastic tunnels erected this week to warm the soil up and then I should be able to sow the Parsnip sooner than if I don't use the tunnels.
The Climbing French Beans are really ready to get planted out but I just can't risk it yet, I just hope they don't suffer a check in growth or sulk because they're ready already.
The Courgettes are planted in the tunnel but the outdoor ones will have to wait a little longer and the Cucumbers will remain in their current pots until their roots a little stronger.
Veggie season is finally upon us!


I also got round to building the bird feeding station on the back garden. So far I've only seen Sparrows on it and although I built the feeder in a corner to prevent the Rooks wanting to eat all the food, as I type this I can see huge shadows flying around the feeder - I daren't go and look!

A while ago Mr TG came home with a surprise for me - we all love surprises right? I loved, loved loved this surprise.
2 of these

They are huuuuuge and I can't really decide what to grow in them because they're going to need something big or they'll just look silly.
I thought maybe a Gunnera in one of them as I have one in a pot that really needs to be re-potted this year and this container would certainly be adequate.
Maybe a Rhododendron for the second one? I have some that will grow to 3 metres or so and would provide an evergreen structure for the patio.

Brrrrrrr!

The weather here yesterday was nothing short of chuffing freezing! A cold wind was blowing in along with sporadic bursts of rain. When is this weather going to finally become a little more predictable? Luckily I hadn't put some of my plants in the polytunnel outside to begin hardening off because that wind would have ripped right through them, I think I'm looking at at least another month before we can trust the daytime weather here not to kill our young veg plants.

I sowed Leeks (Mussleburgh) a while ago and they've been really slow to get going this year, I know they'll grow rapidly from now on though so I guess I better decide where I'm going to plant them. For some reason this year I have not even made a planting plan for the veg, I have loads of seedlings waiting to go out and haven't even allocated them their space yet - I'm a naff veggie grower aren't I.

Not ready to go out yet but at least they're growing now.

Due to the weather I haven't managed to get stuck into more of that clay soil but I did take a picture of what I next have to 'makeover' for this landscaping plan.
I'm beginning to wonder whether this landscaping idea was one of my finer moments ...... or not!
The problem I have with that clay soil is that I have to get it dug over before summer because I will have no hope of even getting a fork 2" in if I don't. Luckily the clay soil appears to be contained to the foundation areas of the house, the rest looks like it will be pretty good.

Look at all the stones and rocks I have to move before I even begin to turn it over. Eek!

During the clear up I did find this rather neglected Black bamboo. Now some would say it looks dead - me included - but I'll hang on to it and see if resprouts.

Not looking too hopeful I admit.

I hope the spring weather is warming up wherever you are.

Plans are afoot!

I've spent a fair bit of my free time over the last few days absorbing as much information as I can from Rachel Mathews free workshops and her blog and I finally have a finished plan of what the garden will look like once we've finished the major landscaping. It's a basic plan but it's a plan all the same - I'll share it some time soon.
My main focus with this garden makeover is that it costs as little as possible and where possible I want to use existing materials. I do not want to buy materials in!
I'm quite lucky because I've hoarded plenty of stuff, we recently aquired 50 or so wooden railway sleepers in varying sizes, we have a huge heap of old stone from the demolished part of the house and we have heaps of old slate, ideal for shovelling into Mr TGs mixer after smashing them to pieces to get the rounder, softer edges.
I have to admit that once I went out there with spade and shovel in hand I became quite overwhelmed with the challenge I had set myself - my plan includes alot of those heavy sleepers and stone!
Once again Mr TG came to the rescue and got me started, in fact what he did in just a couple of hours would have taken me all week but it means I can see where it's going and I suddenly don't feel so overwhelmed by it all.

Here's the first area he started at. The right hand side of the photo needed sleepers bedded down and all those stones & gravel removed to create flower beds.

Crikey I wouldn't even have bothered with a string line, I'd have gone by eye. I am such a lazy gardener!

 

It really didn't take him long at all to get those first few sleepers in for me and now I can begin to clear the stones etc on the right. There is quite a large area you can't see to the right of the image and it's going to house a large pond which will sit one sleeper higher than the edging sleepers and there will also be a patio area (as it's a sun trap) which will be slighter higher than the pond so that the garden, pond and patio will essentially be 3 levels. Make sense?
Initially I hadn't intended to have a pond here as we have a mini lake round near the polytunnel but we want to get some more Koi and although they thrived for many years in the mini lake an Otter family moved in to the coast just down the road and every other year when the youngsters move away to find their own territory they eat all our fish en route. It took us several years, several stock replenishments and one encounter with an Otter outside this year to realise what was happening.
I also laughed at Mr TG's idea of a patio in that sunny area too because I've always moaned that I needed to plant some of my more tender plants in that area but never could because the house render isn't finished. But the area IS a suntrap as it faces south (Yup I have a lovely South facing garden) and I do find myself sitting there in the summer so in my cunning new plan I have included a patio there but still have loads of planting space for my sun loving plants.

The walkway between the sleepers will eventually have a pergola and climbing Roses.


A view from our bedroom upstairs. The lines to the sleepers that create beds going into the garden are not quite perfect but surprisingly it doesn't bother me. It will be invisible anyway by the time I've crammed plants in. I deliberately chose to have the beds at different lengths too because I didn't want a central walkway going into the next area of the garden.
The area to the bottom of the photo goes back much further than you can see and is where the pond and patio will go

I have ALOT of stone clearing to do before the ground is anywhere near suitable for plants plus Mr TG has to protect those drains first.

But first I have to continue with setting in sleepers for beds (or re-setting as the case is in some places) and if you imagine you're standing in the new area where I said I was building a pergola THIS is what you're faced with

Not pretty is it! And my plan had to incorporate both of the aviaries even though they're due for rebuilding.
All the sleepers have to come out and be re-set and most of the plants on the right hand side will be coming out so that the ground there can be improved (it's simply full of Aquilegia) and those washing posts have to be set elsewhere.
Plus all  the exposed fencing (this view shows the North/East direction) has to be sheltered in some way because those winds rip through my plants.

A few years ago I would have said that I could get this pretty much finished in 6 months but I'm not quite so nimble as I once was and am packing a few extra pounds too so realistically I haven't set myself a time scale - it takes as long as it takes. I can't devote all of my time to it because I have other areas of the land that need attention too such as the greenhouse and veg beds.
It's certainly a project though!

DIY Plant supports

It's been a strange day today weather wise. Yesterday was probably the warmest day so far this year and then today we were working away amid snow flurries - yet it didn't actually feel that cold.
Much has been done outside though and despite me promising myself not to I'm still milling about from garden to greenhouse to polytunnel, but at least jobs are getting done.
Have to say though when we get gorgeous days it is kinda difficult to not stop and stare every few minutes at the scenery around us. This field will be full of Spring lambs soon but we are very close to the sea and unfortunately I have always found the Ocean to be mesmerising

I had an idea the other day, one of those ideas that blindsides you at 4am. I'd been thinking about making some plant supports for some of my garden flowers (thinking waaaaaay ahead here) and I've always found bamboo canes to be the best and most resilient supports but let's face it - dey ugly man! Plus I always have this vision of me falling on the end and skewering an eyeball or one of the dogs getting impaled on them so I needed some end caps that wouldn't cost anything (totally hate buying what can be made). I have hundreds of wine corks (I'm not a drinker they were donated, I honestly haven't gotten through hundreds of bottles of wine - honest) but lets face it they're about as appealing as the bamboo canes - stick a boring wine cork on top of a boring cane and what do you have ...... boring plant supports.
So that 4am idea that woke me up (It honestly did happen like that too ) was to spray the canes with whatever spray I already have and then paint the wine corks with nail varnish.
For ages I'd been contemplating what to paint the corks with because it had to be durable and weather resistant so Nail varnish made complete sense ......... at 4am.
Armed with canes, silver sparkle spray and various colours of nail varnish I headed to the greenhouse / workshop and put my funky plan into action. Here are various colours waiting for approval (or not as the case turned out to be)

The best colour by far was the bottom greeny one, it looked quite fabulous against the silver of the cane. The Pink one just looked too washed out and was discarded. At this point I've only used the greeny one, the navy blue and the deep red (top left that looks black) plus some gold ones as I found an old can of Xmas gold spray.

I've made quite a few now and at the moment they're keeping the dogs off areas of my garden borders that have been planted up. I had to resort to all kinds of deterrant measures because Huntly the little ........ erm... fecking horror sweetie is determined to dig up every plant I plant and thinks that all the new soil I barrowed over from what seems like 3 miles away is there for him to dig straight back out again. I seriously cannot wait until we have another area for the dogs to play in.

I also decided to finally get round to moving Mahonia 'Winter Sun' to another location. It's been situated under a tree for about 9 years now and has never flourished or flowered. I've been meaning to move it for ages and as the whole area is going to get an overhaul this year (hopefully)  I figured now was a pretty good time to do it

See how cruddy the ground is. I had a fab idea years ago to polythene the ground and gravel it on top cos that would stop weeds right? Nope, not so much. Seems weeds grow in gravel and can puncture thick polythene in the bid to wage war on my garden.
When it's been completely renovated all the gravel will be gone and there'll be fresh soil with bark chippings on top in its place.
Anyway that's where the sickly Mahonia lived and now it lives here

Mahonia 'Winter sun'.

That's its new home with lots more sunshine (I previously believed they needed heavy shade) plus a good prune to encourage it to bush out a little. Now we just wait and see if it responds the way I hope it will.

I'm sharing this at

Tillys Nest 
Savvy Southern Style 
504 Main 
The Thrifty Grove
Common Ground 

Land clearing

Well, we've had another day of warmish spring weather and no wind to speak of, finally it feels as though spring might have sprung - or is just a false sense of security!
This photo shows just what the difference is between March 2013 and March 2012

Looks like we had it in the 20's last year and have only reached 3 degrees this year, however I'm looking on the optimistic side and hope that seeing as we had a pathetic summer last year despite higher spring temperatures, maybe ... just maybe we'll get a better summer this year due to the rubbish spring temperatures. Does it even work like that!

Anyway, we may have woken up to a hard frost/snow this morning but that sun soon shone through and Mr TG was back out there rotavating the land.
The 4 acres we have here is terrible ground. It's smothered with thick marsh grass that forms huge ground lumps, is full of digger ruts and covered with Gorse bushes so every area Mr TG works on has to first be strimmed to the ground, all the grass and weeds raked, then the area rotovated, levelled and finally flattened with a makeshift roller.
Hard, hard work and I'm just hoping that Mr TG doesn't have it in his head that he can do the whole 4 acres this way

See the makeshift roller on the right? It should attach to the back of a ride on lawnmower but it doesn't work so Mr TG has adapted it so that he can pull it by hand.

Naff crumbling wall huh.

You may wonder why we haven't just got a big machine in to do the work in a fraction of the time but to cut a long story short - we can't.
We had a couple of locals out to give prices for the work but all insisted that the marsh grass and gorse would knacker their machines, there is but one place that has the equipment needed apparently but that place refuses to do it because a few years ago we helped our neighbour with a dispute they had with this company. The worse bit to that is that we no longer speak to the neighbours!
Anyway Mr TG is just about stubborn enough to do it all himself and all it costs us is the diesel for the tiller, though tonight Mr TG has mentioned taking his Uber blow torch to the grass first for the rest of it.
Worried?  Who me?? About an Uber blow torch in the hands of someone who has no sense of danger?? You freaking betcha I am!