Greenhouse Year - April 2012

I've been inspired to make a contribution to a meme on the Patient Gardener's blog monitoring monthly progress in the greenhouse.  I'm a bit late with my submission as it's usually completed on 20th of the month, but here goes...

Due to the time of year and the rainy weather I've been spending a lot of time under glass (or in my case polycarbonate) over the past few weeks. 

Following a good day or two of tidying up the remnants of last year's tomato, chilli and cucumber plants I put together a potting bench that I actually purchased in 2010.  It's taken me all this time to assemble the bench due to the time taken to put togther the greenhouse...the saga starts here.

Anyway, after the great cleanup I set about planting seeds with gusto and now have a number of small plants growing on in the greenhouse including: cauliflower, All the Year Round; runner bean, Butler; kohl rabi; artichoke, Green Globe; tomatoes, Moneymaker, Yellow Stuffer, Principe Borghese; lettuce, Little Gem; aubergine...the list goes on.

baby peas

and broad beans

A few weeks ago I planted pea and broad bean seeds in modules and after a few days hardening off planted these little plantlets in the kitchen garden beds last Sunday.  They have so far had to weather sunshine, light and heavy rain showers and halestorms!  However they seem to be standing up well and I had to get them out of the greenhouse as I was running out of room.

Talking about lack of space, yesterday I transplanted forty-five leek seedings from small modules to root trainers.  These take up much more room than the modules so where to put them?  I don't have a coldframe yet (it's on the Handyman's construction list) but there was a bit of room under a tent cloche where I've been nurturing early carrots in one of the raised beds.  So the containers of leeks in root trainers are nestling between the rows of baby carrots until the weather gets a bit more predictable, then I'll lift them out and stand them between the back of the greenhouse and the oil tank until the time comes to plant them in one of the raised beds.

So not content with all the seedling filling the greenhouse and the plethora of seeds yet to be planted; borlotto beans, winter squash, more runner beans; I purchased eight sweetcorn plants from the local plant nursery yesterday.  They need to stay in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks before planting out in May unless...if space really is a problem I can plant them out covered with bottle cloches for a little protection.  I'm going to interplant the sweetcorn with the Little Gem lettuces - an experiment for me.

Every year at this time I think I should take a couple of weeks holiday from work as there is so much to do and enjoy doing, but then I'm not sure two weeks would be enough!

Pretty as a Picture 18/10

principe borghese

Mellow Fruitfullness (VFTA No 7)

I made a trip to Malvern in Worcestershire last weekend to spend the day with my best friend, C at the Autumn Show.  This is the 4th year that we've met here for three reasons: 1) it's half way between our homes - I'm in Shropshire and C is in Devon; 2) it's a fun day out; 3) we've been so lucky with the weather each year benefitting from September sun.

This year we were dubious about point 3 as the weather has been variable from sunshine to grey and miserable however the show didn't let us down, the sun shone for most of the day and it stayed dry and warm.

Malvern Autumn show really is a family day out with events in the two arenas; this year we spent some time watching the falconry display - fantastic to see these beautiful creatures in full flight.  There is something for everyone including beautiful crafts, giant vegetables, (almost like a village show), plant stands and displays from specialist nurseries, displays of ancient farm equiment and machinery, country clothing stalls, dog breeds, chickens, rabbits etc, etc, etc...

rustic images

fantastic veg



Gold medal winner through the square window



one for the Handyman...

and another!

So there are a few images of our day, not as many as I would have liked but we were so engaged with the show and catching up on news and just being together for a while that the camera was forgotten though the day remains fresh in my memory - a lovely day out with a very dear friend!

September in Bloom

It can't be the middle of September already - can it?  Seems like it is and it's time for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day courtesy of May Dreams Gardens...so here's what's blooming at Holly Grove this September...

Lilium White Heaven opened its buds on 1st September; it's as lovely as I remember when I bought the bulbs at the Malvern Spring show in April this year.  It is a very robust lily and about 90cm tall and the scent is gorgeous.

This is the first of my sunflowers to bloom this year.  A poor show for me with the first batch of seeds failing to produce anything.  It was an old packet so I'll be gathering some new seeds from this flower for next year.  I expect the weather has played a part too - not sunny enough for these chaps.

This little nasturtium has selfseeded itself right next to the little purple-black viola below; what a lovely combination!

I planted several violas earlier this year and they have been flowering non-stop since June. This one is viola Rosecastle Black, I also have viola Rebecca Yellow and a pale blue one that I can't remember the name of at the moment; all little gems.



I've planted two of these pretty blue autumn flowering shrubs in the past year - ceratostigma willmottianum - and they are beginning to settle in and produce their flowers.  With the leaves blushed pink at the edges they promise to be a lovely autumn addition to the garden.



We have several lavatera around Holly Grove, this one is lavatera Bredon Springs; they flower profusely from June to the first frosts.  Although a realatively short lived shrub they are so easy to propogate from cuttings (and they selfseed so easily in our light soil) that we are able to replace any losses.  They also have the advantage of speedy growth filling a space and adding height to a border in a single season. 



This malus Sunset has produced lots of lovely apples this year though it will be a little longer before they are ready to pick.  This variety provides a relatively late harvest around the end of October when the apples are a glorious bright red.

This unusual plant was a last minute purchase for a shallow basket.  I know it as cigar plant, cuphea ignea, it is a native of Mexico and therefore is grown in the UK as an annual.

These hardy fuchsias are growing in a very difficult spot at the back of the swing seat; they receive very little light and the soil is very dry as this corner of the border is very tight to the hedgerow.  Despite all of this they produce these lovely bright flowers and, hopefuly, they will grow into large shrubs providing interest through the autumn.

Well, there's more blooming at Holly Grove in September that I expected; have alook at other gardens in bloom around the world at the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day hosted by  May Dreams Gardens.

The Shropshire Plum

It's the time of year to scour the hedgerows around Holly Grove in search of autumn fruits.  In recent weeks I've spotted crab apples, sloes and damsons and have been waiting for them to ripen a little before foraging. 

Then I took my eye off the ball and was distracted by our courgette glut; finally I refocused and gathered some riper than expected damsons.  I say some but actually there was more than 5kg on the kitchen table when I finally managed to stop myself.

All this from two small and gnarled damson trees in our hedge; damson trees are prolific in this part of Shropshire, all over the hedgerows, no wonder they are known as the Shropshire plum.  Strange and magical little fruits, too bitter to eat au naturel, they are great for making jam, cheese, chutney, liqueurs etc and they look beautiful too!

You can see what use I put them to over at Holly Grove kitchen...

A Lesson Learned

Last night the Handyman appeared at the french doors looking forlorn, in his hands the branch of an apple tree laden with fruit...'just found this lying in the border, too much weight for a young tree'.

It was a branch from our young Cox's Orange Pippin tree, torn off by the weight of the fruit.  This year has been a bonus season for fruit and we have been lazy (and possibly greedy) in not picking off some of the fruit early to help out our young fruit trees.

So a hard lesson learned, we went out into the garden to relieve our other young trees of some apples and pears to ensure that there is no further damage.

Note: we didn't waste the apples as, although they are not quite ripe and consequently a bit tart, I made a large batch of apple puree with honey to sweeten; perfect for adding to the Handyman's breakfast cereal and some for the freezer to be added to apple pies and crumbles when proper apple-picking time arrives.

The Colour Purple

...a great book and film, and this year the theme for some of my kitchen garden produce.

a handful of Purple Queen french beans for our evening meal...oh, and more courgettes!

I was attracted by the seeds of the purple podded french bean, Purple Queen, when I planted them in May of this year.  The plants have rewarded me with foliage that is green with a purple tinge, really pretty purple flowers and then the beans themselves.  Like many french beans they do not grow very tall, about 60cm, so they don't need much in the way of support.  They do seem to be producing a decent crop, though not prolific...perhaps if I watered them more frequently, a constant cry in the garden this summer.

contrasting colours...before cooking

When prepared for the pot they make a lovely contrast to the bright green of our runner beans, however when cooked they revert to green.  Flavour wise, they are tender and tasty.  I will grow these again next year, if for nothing more than the purple flowers and the liquorice stick beans.

Note: The purple pepper in the photo is F1 Mavros, very attractive in the greenhouse alongside Mohawk, an orange pepper and red pepper, Thor.  Both Mohawk and Thor fruits are still green at the moment, photos and post to follow when they change colour.

Potato Harvest

This year I have grown two varieties of potato; Charlotte and Pink Fir Apple.  Charlotte is an old favourite of ours.  It is essentially a salad potato with firm, creamy coloured flesh, however it also chips, roasts and mashes well, though thinking about it, I've never tried it as a baked potato...hmm. 

Anyway, I planted up one of our raised beds with Charlotte seed potatoes and the Pink Fir Apple tubers went into the large ex-water butt (it sprung a leak a few seasons ago and has since been used as a potato planter). 

a few Charlottes for tea

The Charlotte potatoes were dug up last week as all the top growth had died off.  On digging through the bed I was disappointed with the size of the crop; I think this is down to the exceedingly dry weather of the past couple of months and also my lack of watering.  In total the plot delivered about half a sack of potatoes, so I don't think we'll be enjoying any homegrown potatoes this Christmas, as we have done in years past.

The Pink Fir Apple is still growing away and it's been more frequently watered - easier to water a container with my trusty watering can then a whole raised bed.  So hopefully the yield will be better.  I've grown this variety as it is rarely available in the supermarket and, although it looks a bit odd, it takes delicious...I wonder how much longer I'll be able to resist tipping out the barrel?

Little Jewel

Three years ago we planted several fruit trees with the aim of creating a couple of shady woodland type borders; amongst the chosen trees had to be a plum tree.  At the time we had an old Victoria plum in the garden which was cropping heavily although the tree was in very poor condition.  We realised that it would probably only be with us for a couple more years and, as I am a plum addict when they are in season, we needed a replacement.

We decided to plant Opal, copping earlier than Victoria and with slightly smaller fruit, though still the same deep purple colour.  We have had a few dramas with this young tree and thought that we might lose it a couple of times as even though well staked it has been severely rocked by high winds; and in February this year we added a second stake.


weighed down with delicious plums

However despite all of this several weeks ago we noticed that the tree was covered in immature fruits, so much fruit in fact that the branches were beginning to weep.  We thinned the fruit out removing about one third.  However even after this we have so much fruit that we are unable to eat it all - despite standing eating the plums directly from the tree!  The fruits are sweet, but not too sweet, juicy and soft textured and are delicious in all guises including baked in puddings, pureed for the Handyman's breakfast and made into jam.

golden fruit

Yesterday I had a couple of friends over for lunch (to celebrate my birthday) and we had plum clafoutis and they each took home a Holly Grove goodie bag containing HG potatoes (freshly dug), HG courgettes, HG cucumber and, of course, a large punnet of HG plums.

punnet of Opal plums Manchester bound

We're paying a visit to my sister, J, in Manchester shortly and more plums and other HG produce will make their way up the M6.  That's one of the nicest things about a glut of fruit and vegetables, being able to share; and the little jewel that is our Opal is a great contributor.

Hoe, Hoe, Hoe!

I seem to spend most of my time in the kitchen garden on my knees with a handfork weeding, weeding, weeding.  So in the interests of spending time in other parts of the garden I've been trying different approaches and tools for this continual task.

I do use my long handled dutch hoe to slice through the weeds but all to often I manage to slice through the plants especially as they begin to grow and fill the space between the rows.  I've also tried a longhandled fork which allows me to stand up and fork up the weeds but then I have to bend down to collect them up or they simply reroot.

short handled onion hoe

The latest tool on trial is a shorthandled onion hoe; at first I wasn't sure how to use it but after a chat with the Handyman and a bit of trial and error I think I've found the technique; a sort of chopping action as opposed to the pushing motion with a dutch hoe.

Yesterday I tried it out in earnest on the three raised beds and couldn't believe how quickly I managed the weeding and how manouverable the tool proved, getting close to the plants without cutting through them.  Like the dutch hoe the onion hoe slices the tops off of the weeds, I then ran my neat little rake over the soil and voila! lovely weed-free neat beds of young veggies.

neat and tidy

I'll be interested to see how quickly the weeds come back, but I will be using this tool more often and if it's a success through this season then I may try a longhandled version so I can get off my knees for a while and enjoy a different view of the kitchen garden. 

Whilst browsing for hoes I have stumbled across a swoe - has anyone out there experience of using one of these - I'm intrigued!

Cherry Sweet

Yesterday the Handyman and I ate some of the most delicious, sweetest, freshest cherries straight from one of our own cherry trees.  We've been watching them ripen over the past days and wondering if the birds would get to them before we did.  Then yesterday afternoon we noticed a handful - well, 7 cherries - that were a gleaming, deep, cherry red.  They were perfect, so we decided to try them there and then.

Wow! They were so tasty and sweet, 3 each and an extra one for me, thank you Handyman.  I'll be watching carefully now as the rest of the fruits ripen and picking them off to eat as I pass the tree.  I'm sure the birds will have more than their share but at least the Handyman and I can say we've tasted cherries from our own garden.

From April into May

A lot of time has been spent in the garden over the past three weeks and it's beginning to show the benefit.  It's coming into its best and things are developing nicely, though we did lose a few shrubs with the hard winter.  Amongst the more serious casualties were the two pampas grasses that gave a lot of cover and privacy around the edge of the circles garden. On the plus side this has given us an opportunity to try other plants in their place.  We're thinking of putting in a couple of hazels and keeping them shrubby at about 5ft high at the back of the border and putting a couple of specimen evergreen conifers in front to provide some colour through the winter months.

The Handyman has already removed one of the pampas grasses – who needs to go to the gym for a workout! We've planted a self-seeded HG hazel and Cypressus Macrocarpa 'Goldcrest'.  This evergreen cypress should reach a height and spread of 15ft x 8ft in about 10 years but can be clipped, but not into the old wood.  In the interim we've divided a huge clump of yellow rudbekia (aka black-eyed Susan) and planted two groups either side of the cypress.  These will grow in excess of 5ft tall in a season which should provide some privacy on the circles garden through the summer and early autumn as well as masses of flowers the colour of liquid sunshine.

The original rudbekia plant was given to me by my sister's partner, JC, when we were in our previous home. A clump was transplanted with us to Holly Grove and now we have several stands around the garden and along the hedge line – a great value for money plant and one of the latest flowering in our garden – we often have flowers through to the end of October.

The second pampas grass will be tackled when the Handyman feels like another workout…and we're still trying to decide what to grow in the spot; current thoughts are Thuja Occidentalis 'Rheingold' growing to 6ft x 4ft in 10 years or there's a golden yew that I've found in one of my gardening books that looks good – I'll update when we've made our decision.

After a slow start this season, I'm beginning to catch up a bit in the kitchen garden, thank goodness! I was ashamed to show it to my sister, JA, when she visited over the Easter holiday as it was very weedy and looking quite neglected. But after a few days concentrated effort it is now fully weeded and planted.

I've sown broad beans, carrots, onions, lettuce, small white turnips, kohl rabi, sugarsnap peas, radish, spring onions, beetroot and spinach in three of the raised beds and seed potatoes, Charlotte, in the remaining raised bed. I also planted up a potato barrel of Pink Fir Apple, a knobbly, pink, salad potato at the end of March and they are sprouting well, almost time to cover the shoots with some more soil.  If you've never tried potatoes in a tub then you should.  Great fun when you tip out the pot at the end of the growing season and search through for the potatoes and especially lovely to share with children.

I've also planted seeds of runner beans – Butler and Lady Di, French beans – Blue lake, tomatoes – Principe Borghese - and courgette in the greenhouse and also have five varieties of small tomato plants – Gardener's Delight, Shirley, Tomtom - and a couple of cucumber plants that I've just potted.

So all in all, not bad progress for a few days effort.

Flower-wise about three weeks ago I sowed my sweet peas directly into the border where they will grow.  At the same time I sowed a couple of pots in our cool greenhouse as a backup and, surprise, surprise, both sowings have germinated at the same time.  Over the past couple of weeks we have begun to replace the seven or eight shrubs (in addition to the pampas grasses) that succumbed to the winter freeze – more of this in a later post.

The springtime flowers were especially lovely this year and are now being followed by foxgloves, roses, rhododendron and clematis coming into bloom.

The blossom on the fruit trees was glorious and about a whole month earlier than last year, so we're hoping for a bountiful harvest of apples, pears, plums and cherries later in the year.

Continuing on the fruit front we started to pull rhubarb a couple of weeks ago and should continue to harvest this until June. I have two established plants, Timperley Early and Victoria and have just planted a, currently, very small Pink Champagne rhubarb.

The raspberries in the fruit cage are looking good so my pruning and tying in efforts last autumn seems to be bearing fruit (excuse the awful pun). The redcurrants, whitecurrants and blackcurrants are loaded with immature berries, all of which should start to deliver fruit for the table and preserving pan sometime between late June and late July. I also have a small gooseberry bush but as it's only little I don't think it will produce any fruit this year.

So that's the garden round up for late April to mid May – it seems like quite a lot as I read it back! But there's still plenty more to be getting on with including: grass cutting, the Handyman's wild flower garden, weeding, deadheading and planting – always lots to enjoy in Holly Grove's garden, thank goodness!

Tooty Fruity!

Quick update on the soft fruit front...raspberries and blackcurrants in abundance light up the fruit cage. So far we've had 3lbs 2ozs of raspberries and about 4lbs of blackcurrants. Much use has been made of these in the Holly Grove kitchen.

There are more raspberries ripening each day and more blackcurrants. The redcurrants are beginning to colour and there is the prospect of a bumper crop of blackberries later in the summer. Delicious!

Freshest of Veg

Well, harvesting time has arrived as seeds sown in April and May start to produce lovely fresh vegetables for the kitchen. We've been eating sugarsnap peas, lettuce, baby carrots and the odd kohl rabi for ten days or so and yesterday we had the first of our soft fruit in the shape of raspberries and blackcurrants.


Today I've got a basket of vegetables to roast for our tea. In the trug are some of the usual suspects: beetroot, carrots, baby courgettes, with some first time arrivals at Holly Grove: florence fennel and kohl rabi. The kohl rabi is becoming a favourite with us. A more sophisticated version of turnip, it is tender and sweet when any size between golf ball and tennis ball. It peels easily and this variety 'Green Delicacy' has lovely white flesh. I've just sown another row which should be ready around the end of August.

I haven't grown Florence fennel before so I'm looking forward to tasting it. So far it has proven easy to germinate and grow, though I think it could do with a bit more frequent watering to swell the edible stem base and two or three more weeks in the ground should produce better sized bulbs. However I just couldn't wait any longer to have a taste, so have taken one immature bulb to try.

There really is nothing quite like fruit and veg from your own plot!

Gardener Turned Painter?

We have lots of places to sit at Holly Grove - not that we spend much time using them! But they are an important part of the garden; the metal table and chairs outside the sunroom door make a lovely spot to sit for breakfast and the companion seat at the top of the circle lawns is perfect for an afternoon cuppa, then the swingseat in the evening sun...

To these the Handyman is adding a small gazebo in the shade by Valentine's gate. This was a structure he made for our previous garden and it has been sitting dismantled in the 'builder's yard' since we moved here three years ago, so as you may imagine it is in need of a coat of garden paint/preservative...my job.

Not quite the transition between gardener and painter that Monet evoked in his Giverny garden but then he probably had 'staff' to paint the Chinois bridge. The painting of the gazebo will take me several days to complete as I intend to attack it a bit at a time. At the same time I'm repainting the metal table and chairs, a glutton for punishment you may say, but the reward will be in having one new place to linger and another refreshed.

As an antidote to all this painting I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen garden removing the gone-to-seed rocket and radish (I always sow more than we can eat) to the compost bin and sowing two more rows of carrots and one row of Little Gem lettuce in their place. The cut and come again lettuce sown in the half barrel earlier this year has been a great success and is still flourishing and we had the first thinnings of our carrots last night for tea with the first of the sugar snap peas - delicious! I don't have a photo of these as they went straight from plot to plate in minutes.










In the greenhouse the first courgettes are ready and small green tomatoes are appearing on all the varieties. The first two tiny cucumbers have also materialised -- how exciting! Oh, and I glimpsed the first ripe raspberry as I was sowing the carrots; must go out and harvest it for my breakfast...
Yummee! Hoping for more in the coming days.

Time Flies...

I can't believe that it is almost a week since my last post on this blog. The weather has been variable from hot, sunny days to cloudy and cool with heavy showers. The poor plants don't know whether they are coming or going and neither do I; one day in shorts, t-shirt and sunhat and the next back in my fleecy trousers and waterproof jacket.

On one of the sunny days I lifted the autumn planted onions, a fairly good crop they are drying off on the greenhouse staging and then we'll see how they store. In the space freed up I have planted Brassica Petit Posy plug plants - a free offer from one of the gardening magazines. By all accounts these plants should provide greens through autumn and winter. We're looking forward to tasting this brussel sprout/kale cross vegetable. Cauliflower, Pak Choi and Wa Wa Sui cabbage seeds have also been sown.

The red onions are shortly to be lifted freeing up another half bed. More carrots will be sown here with a second sowing of kohl rabi.

In the (nearly completed) greenhouse the tomatoes, courgettes and peppers are in flower and it's time for me to pot on the cucumbers to their final pots and keep my fingers crossed for baby cucumbers later in the summer.

On the construction front: work continues intermittently on the greenhouse, the glazing panels are a nightmare to fit, however one side of the greenhouse and both ends are now fully glazed, leaving only 2 panels on the other side and half the roof to complete. A new slimline water butt and stand await positioning on the end of the greenhouse to catch precious rain water and whilst it was raining yesterday I put together my recently delivered potting bench (below), a posh addition to my very tidy shed.

The pergola linking the steps is progressing much more quickly than the greenhouse (that's because this is the Handyman's project). My contribution has been to paint the structure and select and plant the plants. The side supports are all in place (below), leaving only the overhead struts to position and a bit more painting to complete.

Planting has already commenced with two climbing roses on the trellis by the top steps. The roses are Creme Anglaise and Evening Light (below). I've yet to decide on what to plant by the remaining four panels but no doubt clematis and more roses will feature.

So an enjoyable week in the garden, lots of different jobs completed and more to look forward to over the coming days, including a trip to the local nurseries looking for inspirational climbers for our new pergola.