Electronic Petition

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to provide more land for allotments for people to grow their own vegetables

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/allotments/

This will do the following:

1. Allow people to save money.
2. Provide an area for abundant wildlife.
3. Help to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
4. Help to cut the amount of carbon dioxide in the world's atmosphere: people grow their own food instead of buying it all thus reducing 'air miles' (and shipping and lorry pollution).
5. Provide people with a community group to belong to and enjoy.
6. Provide people with a space to exercise while doing something worthwhile - it will benefit them in two different ways at the same time.

There simply aren't enough allotments around and waiting lists are ridiculously long in some areas.

Other petitions which may also interest you:

Allotments for Schools - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/schoolplots/

Petition against demolition of Manor Garden Allotments for Olympics -

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/manorgardens/

January 2007

Happy New Year!



Now the main event has passed i always look forward to starting the growing season all over again. My copy of the T&M catalogue arrived just before Hogmanay complete with DVD and this inspired me and i was raring to go. Well, that was until i realised that my ambitions were going to cost me a small ransom should i buy all my plants from T&M....much cheaper to raise the majority from seed.

Some may recall i received two of the Hall's cold frames for my birthday in November so in my quest for a bright, blooming and productive garden i'm busy getting these sorted and put together. I'm not sure how much they will hold in seed trays but the box says i have 12sq ft of growing space for each frame....what's that in proper money then?

I'm planning on starting quite a few plants off from seed and for the first time ever going to try growing on a few plug plants (just as insurance)....always been difficult for me in the past as i didn't have a greenhouse or cold frame and i found that trying to get these going indoors (usually in the dining room) is less than ideal due to modern heating and difficulties with watering. Much easier to throw water around without the soft furnishings!

I feel the cold frames are a good start to moving to the greenhouse and look forward to seeing what can be achieved, afterall a cold frame is just a mini-greenhouse and ideal for the cultivation of small plants.

Once I get everything under way and fingers crossed the weather will be kind to me i'll be getting the greenhouse base in. Decided that the best way to do this is to lay slabs rather than a concrete raft. The reason's for this are around flexibility; should the need arise to move or dispense with the greenhouse in the future then it can revert to another patio area, also slabs laid on sand would be easier to be removed if required, at least without the need for a pneumatic drill.

I find that April and May are my busiest months in the garden getting all the tatties in and vegetables underway, also fighting weeds is the biggest job for a couple of months...any slacking at this time of the year and they get the upper hand, turning into an even bigger job trying to get on top again...much easier to get the hoe going early and sever the little darlings when they are wee.

I don't know about anyone else but there's still certain areas of my garden that are in bloom and shouldn't be! I've still got Geraniums flowering in tubs from the summer bedding, a penstemon, pansies and more geraniums in the beds flowering too. Okay they're not at their summer best but if it keeps up like this then they will hopefully make a full recovery for next summer!

Had a quick peek out today to see if the bulbs are poking through the ground and they don't appear to be....but then again we haven't had the usual cold snap they like so if they do show through will they flower i wonder? I read that bulbs need 10 weeks of cold before they will flower.

Interestingly if the warmer temperatures are set to continue with global warming we may have to resort to growing bulbs by chilling in the refrigerator before we plant them in order to get them to flower. Thankfully daffodils don't require such a long chilling as tulips. If bulbs do not have the correct chilling time some will not grow and others will produce stunted stalks. I noted last year we had a relatively warm winter, and some of my less exposed daffies were stunted, this may perhaps explain the reason why. Ach well we'll see what happens this spring when they venture forth.

Mid November 2006

The grass is still growing and I had to take a chance and mow it last week, seemed to have benefitted from the haircut as it's looking very smart at the mo. The crazy weather continues with trees dropping their leaves and plants which should be dormant putting out flowers and more growth. The birds are still nesting and one wonders what will happen to them if winter hits with a venegance. They have hardly touched the feeders I filled for them. We've finally had some snow today particularly on the hills. Other areas had it in spades and it caused a bit of bother on the roads.

Continuing to tidy up the garden and have just about cleared all the beds and top dressed them ready for the spring. I've still got garlic to go in but the weather has been very changeable over the weekends and the nights dark early so really restricted to how much time I've got in the garden at the mo.

I've aged another year since my last post and for my birthday now have two cold frames as a result which I'm delighted with. They will make such a difference in the spring to getting underway. Also looking at greenhouses for next year and looking forward to getting that up and running.

All the apples have now been harvested and either eaten or stored. Planning on adding to the apple collection with a cooker next year and didn't want a Bramley but have managed to find a variety called Annie Elizabeth so will be preparing the soil for one of these to go in next Autumn. Will try this on a MM106 rootstock as this shouldn't then grow too big. The nasturtiums are also still flowering in this part of the garden but have died off in the other parts so this is an indication how much shelter the wind netting provides.

The asparagus bed was finished just in time for the plants arriving so have popped them in and top dressed them. Hopefully they should survive the winter with a bit of protection from yours truly. I planted 10 Crowns Of Connovers Colossal and 10 Crowns Of Pacific Purple, and really looking forward to seeing the spears poke their heads up next year.

The autumn raspberries are still to be pruned back with the blackberry canes. The currant bushes are all pruned and ready for the winter.

Not long to Christmas now and it doesn't feel like winter at all but I always think once we have that past Spring is never far away with the lighter nights and we'll be back growing everything again.

Thinking ahead to next year i've placed my potato order. My order for next season consists of Lady Christyl - I know I said I was going to grow something else but I really do like the flavour of these earlies, Swift and also giving Vanessa a try.

Another crop i'm going to try is Sweetcorn Swift F1. This will be a first for me and looking forward to seeing how i get on with this. I love sweetcorn and really looking forward to picking my own juicy cobs - delicious. I am really struggling for space now with all the things I would like to grow.

In the Ornamental garden I did manage to get another bed planted before the soil cooled down so really don't have much to do next year by way of planting to get it all finished off. I've noticed a big difference in the soil temperature despite the milder weather.

The Fatsia Japonica continues to put out it's first flowers and I'm waiting in anticipation for the full effect. We've had a few cold snaps of late and the plant doesn't seem bothered by it at all which is very encouraging. Keep planning to keep it indoors but think I will wait until it's flowered now.

November 2006

Despite the worst of the recent weather there are still some plants that are continuing to flower. The Fatisa Japonica is now starting to put out it's first flower of the year and i eagerly await this as it is the first year it has flowered as the Fatsia has to be mature before it will flower and mine is now three years old. The plant is grown in a pot and is needing to be repotted and i was in two minds whether to repot in the autumn or the spring, i'm so glad i decided to wait until the spring.

I find the Fatsia a stunning, architectural plant and is lovely when it's rains, as the rain stays on the leaves creating further interest and really set off the leaves. Fatsia is better as a specimen plant on it's own where it can make a nice impact. I was planning a fig to compliment it for next year in another pot.

I'm now picking Apple Greensleeves in earnest and they are lovely, i need to get these wrapped and stored for the winter. The recent high winds didn't help matters resulting in a quite a few windfalls so these will need to be eaten pretty quickly and i've left these on the window cill meantime. I've still one or two Scrumptious ripening but not in earnest yet. Likewise the Red Falstaffs are rather slow to ripen but one or two starting to come now.

Notice how the Falstaffs have the lovely red tinge to the skin, the more light and sun they get the redder they will become.

The grass is still growing, albeit slower but the needing a trim, the unseasonally warm weather isn't helping it at all. Some of the plants are starting to put out flowers whilst the fruit is still on them, so they are very confused. I noticed that the large trees have become bare in a week always a sign that winter is truely here. I just hope that the temperatures also start reflecting this soon. Not that i'm a fan of cold weather but the likes of the strawberries need a frosting whereas at the moment they're putting on too much sappy growth with the wet warm weather and they'll likely suffer if and when the colder weather comes.

My patio rose is also continuing to give it's best in the pot on the patio, despite the wetter weather, significantly shorter days and the cooler nights.

My runner beans that i've been growing for seed for next year are starting to turn black now and should be ready very shortly for harvesting. I'll need to get them off the vines and into the house for drying. The plants have produced much more pods that i had hoped for so should have plenty to give away too.

I've finally place my order for Asparagus, i decided to go for a mixed bed of green and purple Asparagus. Having had the bed fallow for two years to ensure that all the perennial weeds are gone i've just got to add more compost and well rotted cattle manure which i saved from the spring to the bed ready for the plants when they arrive. The ground is very free draining as it's a sandy loam and plenty of stones, also added to this is the fact that the bed is raised about 19 inches off the ground so that should ensure that the roots aren't subjected to water logging in the winter.

My compost bins are full to overflowing and a quick look today showed loads of 'black gold'. It's sounds daft but i get a real buzz from making compost. It's the idea of turning something useless into something very useful and putting it back in the garden. I need to get the bins emptied and on the soil which i should hopefully get done in the next week or two. I've stock piled stuff i couldn't get into the bins so that will make a good start for next years compost.

I made a hot heap in one of the bins when i did the strawberry bed and cleared some stuff in the ornamental garden, this rotted down in six to eight weeks, whereas my cold compost heap has taken all summer. Well worth the wait though. For anyone not had the pleasure of making their own compost theres a strange sense of completeness when you spread it on your garden ready for your plants for next year, like the circle is complete.

Winters on it's Way

Garden is really slowing down now and autumn has taken a hold. We've had quite a few nights of frost shown up clearly by some of the shrubs which have taken on that reddish tinge after being frosted. The leaves are starting to drop and the rest of them are a turning as the nights are really dark. Daylight is fading fast by 5.30 and virtually dark not long after. Found this interesting site which gives the Sunrise and Sunset Times in UK ...being a little bit further North we lose a bit more daylight than our English cousins.

I'm still picking rasps and blackberries. The rasp canes are now starting to change colour so i reckon by the end of the month they will need cutting back. The blackberries are doing fine and still producing well. I noticed today that my gooseberries and currants have dropped their leaves so will need to give them a prune.

Apples are starting to ripen now and starting to get more and a few wind falls but lovely apples and nice to be able to pick and eat off the tree.

Picked a few brussel sprouts today as they looked like they needed to be picked. I planted Maximus F1 variety but they seem ok. It was a fight to get them off the stem as they are all packed so tightly and don't yield very well. Just picked a few and have a few little holes in them from the beasties but on the whole not bad.

They've not had the hard frost as yet but just been lightly frosted. They are still tasty but just not as sweet until they've had their first hard frosts on them.

The Broccoli is still cropping so i'm picking this as and when i need it....had some earlier in the week and it was delicious. Another F1 variety Marathon. Unfortunately the caterpillers got the original heads so i took a chance and cut them off and they have produced more of the smaller heads which are really nice.

The cabbages that I cut down due to the caterpiller problem are now producing smaller heads so looking forward to harvesting my first one probably in a couple of weeks time.

In the Ornamental garden there's still colour in some of the plants. My Japanese Flowering Quince is quite confused and started to produce more flowers probably due to the mildish weather for the time of year. So at the moment it's got fruit and flowers on it. My poppies are in flower still and seeding well. Meant to collect the seed but haven't bothered so i'm sure i'll have lots of little plants come the spring.

The lawn is growing significantly slower and I managed to get my autumn feed and weed on the grass and that's made a big difference the grass is really green. It will require another cut but it's been so wet this last week it will have to wait until a day or two without rain and then i'll just top it ready for winter. Hopefully it won't need much more after this. The worms are really active just now in the lawn and there's a few worm casts. People get really upset by these but i don't, i'm really pleased to have a good worm population and see this as a benefit. Casts are easily swept off before mowing and don't really do any harm and aerate the soil for the little roots.

I managed to finish off another border and got this planted up and it's looking quite good. I also managed to find a few plants that had self seeded in the front garden. I found various types of Lavender, Aquilegia Vulgaris and the biggest surprise of all was Crocosmia. Not sure if it's Emily Mackenzie or Lucifer as i have two types but i've a little crop of small bulblets and managed to thin them out and replant the surplus.

I was also delighted to see that several 'cuttings' had taken. These were just bits i had stuck in the ground whilst pruning. So far i've found a honeysuckle, buddliea, redcurrant and my biggest surprise Rose Gertrude Jekyll, although don't think this will come true but it'll be interesting to see what does come of it.

Mid October 2006

I finished harvesting the first of the dessert apples, ‘Red Windsor’. I lost a few to earwigs and thinned quite a few as it was laden but still managed to get a good crop. The tree is now stripped bare and three other trees happily producing away and developing well. They all flower and fruit in succession, essential for pollination and also makes it easier to manage when cropping. Red Windsor produce nice medium sized apples with a nice sweet flavour, not quite as sweet as ‘Scrumptious’ but still sweet.

I picked the first two apples of ‘Scrumptious’ another dessert apple and these tend to be a fair bit larger than the Windosr’s but the flavour is really nice, the apple skins are naturally shiny too which also makes them appealing, and although they look completely red in the picture they are a dual colour. The flesh is white with a nice texture which is really sweet and juicy would be a favourite with children. Certainly you can’t beat home grown apples straight off the tree.

For anyone wanting to grow apples but worried about space I would recommend cordons, I have four trees in a 12ft space. They crop well enough to keep you going in apples and you can have more varieties in a small space cropping in succession. They are also very decorative and it’s amazing the amount of interest they generate.

Found a shield bug part of the 'stink bug' family again on the apple leaf...think he must be looking for somewhere to hibernate over the winter as turning from green to brown. They don't do any harm from what i can gather but they can exude an unpleasant smell if they feel threatened which if they happen to be going across your blackberries is left behind. Haven't seen these before in Highland so assume this is due to the hot summer we've had this year.

Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll' is still producing buds. It's a very pretty 'girlie' pink and has lovely shaped flowers. It is very fragrant and looks really attractive in the lower light levels of autumn, likewise in the summer at the end of the day it shines.

The yellow rose is ‘Golden Shower’, a climbing shrub rose and has grown quite well to cover a trellis and again is very fragrant.

Still blackberries to be picked and these are starting to ripen in earnest now. This is the second growing season for Blackberry ‘Chester’ and has produced very large fruit which is very sweet and full of flavour…very different to the brambles you see growing in the wild. An added bonus is that it’s also thornless. Despite it being the second growing season it’s still managed to produce a reasonable crop and put out new shoots to be tied in next year. I will have to move the bush though as I allotted 6ft of space it clearly isn’t enough and could do with twice the amount. Luckily I’ve a spot where I can move it too where it will have enough room to flourish.