First Courgette

first pea

Water

Watered the vegetable patch last evening with the sprinkler which I use very sparingly to conserve water. But it has been so dry recently despite the forecast of rain that I wanted everything to have a good soaking. Low and behold though I wake up to pouring rain this morning!

Everything is coming on well. Already tucking into lettuce from the garden and it wont be long before I try some of the potatoes from the big sack. The greenery of the potatoes is now dying off and I wonder if this means they are ready to dig up?

The sunflower seeds that I sowed about ten days ago are little seedlings now and the herbs that I sowed to use up old seed are also getting going.

The butternut squash at the bottom of the garden don't seem to be thriving as well as the courgettes but I'm sure from previous years they grow at a slower pace and aren't really ready until the autumn anyway.

The grass is recovering now from the weed, feed and moss kill that I spread a couple of weeks ago. I think I spread it uneven and consequently it has developed quite a few dead looking patches. Of course I had to end up watering it too since the forecast rain never arrived. I'm not sure if this allowed it to sort of burn or something. Never mind - it will grow again!

Sowing

You can just about see some of the lettuce growing in the vegetable patch. There is also some carrots growing and I think another variety of lettuce poking through the soil. I have planted the beetroot between the carrots and lettuce as I think there will be space. I wasn't going to try beetroot again after my disappointing crop last year when almost nothing grew larger than a seedling but I am hoping that in this location where they will get more sun and probably a little more attention from me they will thrive. We shall see.

I notice that the courgettes, butternut squash, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts are doing well in the green house. I will plant them out soon. I hope to grow the butternut squash and cauliflower in pots and the Brussels in the vegetable patch. Will attempt to grown the tomatoes and courgettes in a grow bag as I did last year. Anyone any experience of growing cauliflowers and butternut squash in pots? The potatoes seem to be doing well in a pot!

Raised bed

Pictures of the little raised bed so far...

Bricks

Have commenced a brick wall around the vegetable patch at the bottom of the garden. I have simply stood rows of bricks on their ends to form a rectangle which I hope will hold the soil just a couple of inches above ground level. I intend to sieve all the soil in it and fork in some of the compost from the compost bin.

I also purchased some seeds over the weekend to start sowing over the next week. Tomatoes, courgettes, butternut squash, carrots, lettuce, beetroot and Brussels sprouts. I have left it really late this year to start growing the veg but for some reason I just haven't felt like it was time until now. I think now the evenings are lighter and the weather a little warmer I shall make a start!

Jobs in the Garden for May

• Feed and weed lawn.
• Mow lawn weekly.
• Water vegetable patch regularly.
• Sow beetroot, carrots, autumn cauliflower, radish, & lettuce.
• Sow courgettes & squashes.
  
• Plant out leeks.
• Plant tomatoes, sweet peppers, chillies, aubergines & cucumbers in greenhouse.
• Water plants in greenhouse regularly.
• Harden off plants from greenhouse to outside conditions.
  

Brussels

The Brussels Sprouts seedlings with the anti-bird and animal precautions

Brussels Sprout

Brussels Sprouts are my most favourite vegetable and today when in Tal Goed Nursery near Glan Conwy I spotted some little plants so have purchased some and planted out this evening. I can't wait until the Autumn/ Winter time to be able to say that I have eaten Brussels sprouts from the garden. Wouldn't it be nice to have my own home grown Brussels sprouts Christmas Day!

I have also replaced the hanging basket with a fern plant which looks effective and will hopefully be low maintenance, weeded the border, planted out the horse chestnut seedling into a pot (the one that was growing in the "wild" part of the border), and sowed some sunflower seeds onto the border at the bottom of the garden.

Seedlings

Hasn't the weather been gorgeous? And I have got little seedlings growing in the vegetable patch! I hope that more will spring through soon and that where the cat has dug around a bit will not have disturbed the others too much. The cat and slug repellent, black cotton and warm weather have done the trick...

Canes

The seeds I planted at the end of March have done well in all this warm weather we have had recently. I planted up three pots with seeds, two of which are already growing... tomatoes and I think butternut squash but I am not sure! I cannot for the life of me remember what was in the third pot! Will have to wait and see...

Digging

Here you can see the areas I dug over yesterday and in the bottom one the rows in which I have sowed seeds of onions, carrots and lettuce. The beetroot was sowed along the border by the path. The picture above shows where I shall sow some sunflower seeds early next month hopefully.