On the subject of weeds

I got attacked by a beetle when I lost it (a tiny bit) in despair at what to do about our weed problem. I was going a bit gung ho at a crop of something in my soon to be filled herb bed without gloves. My poor middle finger came up in a big lump.

I struggle with the whole dirt and insects thing as it is without that.

I'm also having to train myself to see some other things as weeds. In the space of one week last month I heard the same thing said a few times. A weed is any plant/flower that is in the wrong place. There are a number of perfectly good plants in the wrong place.

Will I be able to get around the fact that I will be killing plants and flowers just because they are in the wrong place for my garden needs?

Even longer time no see.

Again, was severely embarrassed to be writing a blog that only one of my friends had set to following (thanks Bert) but I feel the need to update as I now have another friend and a very cool lady who I've been following for about a year now The Frugal Queen http://frugalincornwall.blogspot.com/ has very kindly become a follower too. Now this very smart lady has inspired me to turn my back on my spend spend spend habit.

What happened last year:

Tomatoes grew and grew and tiny little fruit appeared but right near the end of the season. It was recommended that I bring them in a ripen them indoors. Much strategic banana placing ensued and tomatoes stayed resolutely green. Then I read about wrapping in newspaper and putting tomatoes in a dark cupboard. Eventually I remembered they were there a few weeks later, and by now were underneath some cans for some reason (of plum tomatoes no less) and they were indeed almost red. Huzzah! Tasted of watery grey though... boo!

The peppers which were growing quite happily in the other grow bags bore teeny tiny fruit but again right at the end of season so they did not prosper but made wonderful food for the insects that decided to snack on them and the bags fantastic digging plots for one of the many creatures that frequent our garden.

The pumpkin made a wonderful soup. Yes I actually GREW SOMETHING! Almost didn't get to eat this if I hadn't had a brainwave and checked to see if you could get small white pumpkins. Found a wonderful white pumpkin and coconut soup recipe and there we go - success!

We did get potatoes too but they weren't anyway near as nice as the ones we've had elsewhere. However in this process I have learnt two things. We can grow potatoes and we prefer a waxy variety. I am thus chitting some waxy seed potatoes for this year.

Herbs have been fine and we have liked the fact that we can just pop outside for fresh herbs.

This post has been a long time coming so where are we now?

It's pretty clear that out garden is now a shady garden due to the large tree that is creating a canopy along with our actual home over the garden. I know that herbs have grown with no problem in our shady bit of land. Potatoes will be fine and it's a surprise that any tomatoes grew considering what I now know about growing them in shade and just how badly I grew them.

My future sister in law and her husband visited and helped us clear up the mess that had occurred over winter and gave us some solid advice. I took this away with me and after my usual amount of head-hurty research (that makes me panic more I fear) I rushed out a quick plan for our garden. I was really struggling with this but next thing I knew not only did I have a fairly solid plan but I had noted sun times, shade times and heat times. I have noticed that I am more likely to get things done when I stop thinking. I think what made me switch my brain off for a second was strangely enough a wonderful bit of planting advice that popped up in a gardening programme that I was watching. It was such an amazing, Mother-Nature-in-action bit of information that I couldn't help but stop 'thinking' - probably the sudden realisation that Mother Nature is the one in control and not me so why worry and just see what Mother Nature does why don't ya. The section of the programme that peeked my interest was about Three Sisters planting which was developed by the Mayans - check this out.

Friday night I coerced a very grumpy boyfriend to help me sow seeds and chuck Growmore everywhere in preparation for seedlings and starting the lawn again with a shady lawns seed mixture. Then Saturday I popped to the pound stores and got the rest of the seeds I wanted including what we needed for Three Sisters planting plus lettuces etc.

I've been watching re-runs of Groundforce and all the other new gardening programmes that have been cropping up on the TV and I have bought the odd book to help me. Not very frugal I know but unfortunately I need something solid to follow.

I really want a better stab at this, this year. In particular with lettuces as that's where we spend a huge amount of money for the leaf and herb salads we prefer over the cheaper more economical iceberg etc. Obviously fresh herbs will save us money even though i've got quite good at buying fresh bunches from the Mediterranean shop and freezing. They rarely have coriander when I pop in so I really want to get that growing this year. We have two pots sown waiting to sprout so fingers crossed.

I would also like an attractive garden this year. Luckily in my research I have found out just how beautiful vegetables and fruits are when growing. The broad bean my friend gave me before Xmas, not only survived the snow but is growing quite happily in the ground and has produced the most beautiful black and white flowers. I truly thought I would need to grow actual flowers to get beauty but now I will be picking flowers for permaculture reasons, yes I am getting professional and will be planting flowers to attract wildlife to keep my produce pest free - I'm actually starting to understand what I read this year.

The garden is in a bit of a state so when I look at it I do lose heart and I truly hope I don't have to do this alone with my shakey enthusiasm. I hope that boyfriend will get lively for it too.

We're having a lot of work done on our flat this year and my hopes are that we will have everything tied up by October. I would really love to actually sit out in my garden at least once this year as so far all we have done is enter it for hanging up washing, or grabbing the odd herb or something. I dream of having my breakfast out there on my lovely bistro set and having a bbq one warm evening. No it won't be sunny, but it will hopefully be leafy and flowery and scented and all mine.

Long time no see

Well... I haven't posted in a while. I guess I lost interest a bit and was feeling a little silly writing a blog that no-one was reading. Very silly in fact and very vain and very self-obsessed. I don't believe I am the latter two (well not more than the average person), the former - well I've been a silly for 31 years - why stop now!

Anywho, as I've said previously. This keeps a log for me first and foremost.

Potatoes are growing at a silly rate. I've been topping up the soil as recommended but there are so many leaves at the bottom of the stalk - am I supposed to pinch them off and keep building up a little soil hill or build a soil hill regardless? Who knows, that bit of info seems to be missing in every guide I've poured over. Jolly good!

The tomatoes are looking very healthy and are about 20cms tall. Again I don't really know when I should transfer this. Nathan's sister gave us a tiger tomato plant which looks like a baby bush in a very small pot. I am assuming that I keep mine growing in their pots a little longer until they're stems are a bit stronger.

The peppers have only been separated about a week or two but are growing at a rate of knots. Amazing to watch.

The chili peppers in comparison are healthy but not much grown from when I first pricked them out.

The garlic clove shot up suddenly and then split into two leaves and most recently has split into three leaves. It went from lying dormant for ages and then whoosh!

The lemon pip has not done anything - I think I will plant more than one next time. I've collected some watermelon pips and I'm drying them out on the window sill.

I'm still determined to grow a few other fruits and I especially want to give ginger a go... now that looks like an unusual house plant. I found this great page where a guy shows photos and provides tips on how to grow any fruit or veg bought from the supermarket.

Unfortunately amongst all this excitement my Japanese maple is looking decidedly singed. Not happy at all. All its needs are being met but you'd think I'd put it in the hottest part of the garden without water.

My baskets are not doing well either. I believe that I unwittingly used peat based soil and no matter how much I water them, they dry out almost instantly. I did read that once peat soil has dried out it won't maintain a moisture level. The water crystals have no worked. I have tried a trick that I read about adding dish washing liquid to the water but I couldn't remember how best to do this. It helps break down the water or something so the peat can absorb it? I don't know.

That's my update for now.

My babies!

We're away from after work today till late Sunday. Nathan has a day off so I've asked him kindly to set all the pots on damp kitchen towel and water them lightly accordingly.

I feel like I'm abandoning my babies! How sad is that?

Hopefully, fingers crossed, all soils will stay moist and I will see some growth when we get back.

The small crate of salads is growing well so far. The garlic has produced a shoot. I cut a hole in the lemon seed so I hope to see a shoot when we get home.

The tomato seedlings are looking very interesting and determined to grow despite my poor attempts at pricking out.

I dragged poor Nathan around B&Q again last night. Bought some cane, more compost, rose food, Ericaceous feed for my Japanese maple and larger pots for the sunflowers in case we can't get in gear in time to put them in the ground.

Got home and fed and caned-up the roses. fed my maple and added more compost to my potato bags to cover the stalk - as apparently thats the maintenance procedure - keep the stalk covered so that you end up with a mound around the potato plant.

Why didn't I think of that?

I was just looking through some of my favourite gardening blogs then happened upon Diane's Garden. It never occurred to me, and I don't know why as I'm a designer by trade and by ultimate passion, to draw a plan of my garden as is then work on that plan to create it into a project more suitable and which covers my need's and want.

Oh yes I have a vision in my head of how I want it to look. As I'm learning, I am realising very quickly that rules have to be followed. That one can work against nature temporarily but not in a long term fashion. At some point mother-nature will scold and send me to my bedroom with no supper.

Everything's coming up roses.

I've been looking at the rose bushes wondering what it is that is bothering me about them. They're bearing blooms, they're being supported by sticks but they're looking very sparse and un-bush like. What to do. In my child-hood home the roses were very bush-like and I guess that's why I've been viewing my acquired bushes with confusion.

I've just spent the last 10 minutes trying to to find an answer to this and so far I've only find details on how to plant. That job has already been done for me... now what.
I know that my pink roses bloomed earlier than usual so I might be able to work out what type of rose they are based on that. This is what I've gleaned so far. The red roses are smaller and definitely a different type and bloomed at the start of June.

It's probably very obvious to everyone but me how to grow these bigger but you've got to remember that although I vaguely know that I probably need to fertilise it more etc - I need to know exactly how and what and even where. I've found this and here which gives tips on how to prune to make the bush grow more shoots that will flower.

My "exotic" seed sowing, however need a boost that this lack of weather isn't providing.

I've found some fascinating things, really get into the mind-set and personality of Mother-nature here.

www.rareexoticseeds.com says this:

Passion fruit germination:

"Soak seed in warm water for 24 hours before sowing, in a good seed compost at 1/4" deep. Keep damp soil, not soaking wet. Keep pot in warm situation 20°C/68°F, 24°C/75°F. Cover the top of the pot with clear plastic so the humidity will remain high. When you see some tiny plants starting to sprout, slowly open the top of the pot, a little each day, so that the new seedlings don't go into shock from the humidity being lowered too quickly. "


On other websites I found the same info again and again:


Seeds like to be heated from the bottom - 70-80F for faster germination. Some people soak seeds in warm to hot water overnight before planting.

Papaya seeds:

"Papayas are normally propagated by seed. To start a plant, extract the seeds from ripe papayas and wash them to remove the gelatinous covering. They are then dried, dusted with a fungicide and planted as soon as possible (the seeds loose their viability rapidly in storage). Plant the seeds in warm (80° F), sterile potting mix. Seeds should be planted in sterile soil as young papaya seedlings have a high mortality rate from damping off. Potting soil can be sterilized by mixing 50-50 with vermiculite and placing in an oven at 200° F for one hour. Under ideal conditions the seeds may germinate in about two weeks, but may take three to five weeks. Gibberellic acid can be used to speed up germination in some seasons. Seedlings usually begin flowering 9 - 12 months after they germinate.

Seedling papayas do not transplant well. Plant them in large containers so the seedlings will have to be transplanted only once, when they go into the ground. Transplant carefully, making sure not to damage the root ball. To prevent damping off, drench the potting mix with a fungicide containing benomyl or captan. Set the plants a little high to allow for settling. A plastic mulch will help keep the soil warm and dry in wet winter areas, but remove it as soon as the weather becomes warm. Plant at least three or four plants to insure yourself of having females or plant hermaphroditic plants." www.crfg.org

I don't think some of that will apply to UK growers wishing to just grow an interesting plant with no hopes of growing fruit.

Lemon seeds and mango:

Again, I keep seeing the same advice. To scratch the seed/stone with a nail file or pierce a hole to allow water to get in.

How to do this is best explained by Ruth on ehow.com

General fruit growing:


"If their pot is too large or if they have an unrestricted root run then the whole plant will simply get bigger and bigger but it will refuse to flower and therefore produce the fruits. By limiting the pot size you are limiting the ability to grow and this is seen as a threat, so the natural mechanism is to produce seed for the next generation. A suitably sized pot for an adult plant would generally be of 12 inches in diameter." www.rareexoticseeds.com

Fascinating eh?

Gardening blog recommendation

I thought I'd share this beautiful garden and it's blog with you.

I would love to produce something as wonderful as this - blog and garden wise.