The garlic harvest

   I harvested my garlic yesterday. They were suffering from rust and all the foliage was yellowing and dying. I didnt know what to expect from the bulbs. Its always exciting digging something up and seeing if your hard work has paid off. Its my first harvest of garlic and I will defiantly be growing them again this Winter. I thought they might have suffered after all the bad weather and then from the rust, but they seem to have survived. They arent the biggest bulbs ever but for my first time i am very pleased!

The risk of frost has passed

    Its mid June so all the tender veg is now planted out in their final positions.

   My Tomatoes have been planted out into pots, these include Ferline, Amish Gold and Black Krim. I always plant my tomatoes deep up to the first true leaves, this ensures good anchorage and encourages it to develop feeder roots. I just need to sun to start shining and the rain to stop.

    Up at the allotment Ive planted out my final bed. Its a take on the three sister bed, but mine just consists of two of the sisters. My sweetcorn is in a grid with my squashes planted among that grid. The plan is that as the sweetcorn grows up nice and tall the squashes will spread around the bottom covering the ground which suppresses weeds and keeps in the moisture. (The third sister is runner beans which normally grow up the sweetcorn, but my beans are in a seperate bed.) I dug in a couple of bags of manure because the squashes are greedy plants. I've also planted courgettes and gherkins

out. I think they all might sulk for a little bit as they they sat in their pots a little bit too long as they had started to yellow, but they should soon pick up and get growing.

Squashes, Courgettes and Cucumbers

    Since the weathers been so rubbish I thought I best get on with some sowing from the comfort of home. The start of May means it is time to sow the cucurbita family for me. Last year my squashes and courgettes were a disaster. It was just too dry for them. This year I'm hoping it will be different ( well if it stays like this it certainly wont be too dry for them!) So that means I need to prepare their bed well with lots of manure. I've sown a variety of squashes, courgettes and I'm even trying 'Crystal Apple' for something a bit different. They've gone into pots which are now in my heated propagator. Hopefully a bumper harvest awaits later in the summer.

Tulips

    I bought some reduced tulip bulbs last winter which i planted at the end of November. They were a bit of a gamble whether it was too late to plant them or if the bulbs were a bit past it. However as you can tell by the picture above the gamble paid off. I planted them in a row at the end of the bed that the tenders will be going into, so that the bed would be free till June. Perfect for my first attempt at growing cut flowers. Tulips are my favourite flower, i just love the simple shape and bold colours of them, a truly elegant flower. The thought of growing some extra ones to enjoy in the house as well as the garden seemed a good idea. So i currently have two bunches of homegrown tulips providing my house with glorious colour and all it cost me was a few pounds back in November- bargain!

One Sunny Day

    Well I couldn't believe my eyes this morning when I woke up to find the sun shining through the window after yesterdays torrential downpour. It was just in time for my first day off work. I headed up to the plot to take advantage of the sudden sunshine. I did the usual weeding to try and stay on top of it. Then I started digging a bit more of one of the beds and raked it over ready for sowing some seeds direct. I also planted out my parsley plants that overwintered in my blow-away greenhouse. I hadn't really thought about growing parsley till I saw Monty with his healthy looking plants on 'Gardeners World'. Hopefully I'll have nice big plants ready for when my new potatoes are due to be dug up.

April Showers!

   Well this last week has been a right wash out! So much for the drought! The rain has stopped me from doing anything at the plot. Whenever i was about to venture up there the heavens opened. All I've managed to do is pot on my tomato plants and sow some more broad beans. My fingers are itching to get things planted out at the plot. Hopefully it'll stop raining long enough for me to get a bit done now that I've got three days off from work, fingers crossed!
    I have been enjoying my first rhubarb pickings, turning them into a good old fashioned crumble. I've managed to get some more today after the gale force winds have blown over the stems and broken some. Well we cant have them going to waste, so Im thinking i might try making a rhubarb fool tonight.

Tomato Time!

  
    All my tomato seeds that I sowed last week have emerged. I always wait till April to sow mine because they'll be grown outside which means they need to be ready for June.  I think tomatoes are the vegetable that I most enjoy to grow. I love to grow lots of different varieties. This year I've chosen to grow 'Ferline' (my good old faithful), 'Black Krim', and 'Amish Gold'. Then 'Black Cherry', 'Green Grape' and 'Gardener's Delight' for gorgeous cherry toms and I'll be trying to grow 'Rambling Gold Stripe' and 'Fountain' in a hanging basket. Ive grown tomatoes once before in a basket with great success but that was with shop brought Tumbling Tom plants.  The seedlings seem so tiny at the moment, but I'm looking forward to a late summer harvest of tasty juicy toms! What tomatoes are you growing this year? have you got a favourite tom?