~ the garden ~

Time to revamp this page, methinks!!

first of all: big changes are planned for 2008! I well and truly got the bug in 2007 and often found myself chomping at the bit, wishing i had more space, especially earlier on. At the same time, i didn’t do too well with utilising the space that i did have, not so much because i didn’t fill them with plants, but.. well. partly because the weather meant some plants just didn’t grow as big as they would’ve otherwise. And partly because, i think, my inexperience led me to put plants further apart than perhaps someone else would have. so that’s the big thing for this year: growing lots of plants to try to make use of every available bit of soil i have, and generally learn to manage it better. When something comes out, have something else ready to go in.

Just for comparison, i’ve been into the archives and dragged out last year’s garden plan. I’ve drawn a plan of the garden as it is now (so you can see how it compares to the plan), and, of course, my hopes for 2008.

you can see, there’s not a lot of detail here. its very basic, see-how-it-grows, kinda plan.
you can see that quite a lot of it is the same as the 2007 plan. the orientation of the sweet pea bed has shifted, and the infamous bed 3 never got finished. Otherwise, pretty much as i had planned. The reason i didn’t try to plant up the side garden in 2007 was twofold - partly not to try to run before i could walk, kinda thing, but also because that part of the garden isn’t overlooked from the flats, its not as secure as the front part, and i didn’t want to encourage trouble from the local kids. However, since we went away last August, and came back to find the garden untouched, i feel more confident about planting up that side garden. Who knows. maybe the kids and their parents are intrigued by it. Certainly i got asked about it when i was out and about last year, and i shared some of the fruits of my labours with neighbours, which i think they appreciated.
big changes ahead!! as you can see, i plan to dig up the side garden, underneath the trees, and finish bed 3 properly. this year, instead of growing tomatoes in pots and salad stuff in the ground (where the slugs can get at them more easily), i shall be reversing the order, and i hope everything does better all round. I’m taking a risk with the side garden, as its in shadow for part of the day, so things won’t grow so well there. but it can’t be helped.
A full list of plants i intend to grow and where will be put into a post - this is purely a reference point for 2008. If you wish to see all my gardening posts, click here.

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2007 stuff:

note that a lot of pictures are posted as regular blog entries - use this link to find those entries.

other stuff:

~ garden plan as at 22-3-07 ~

~ digging that first bed 19-2-07 ~

~ garden photos as at 11-2-07 ~

~ garden planning & seeds ~

~ notes from “the great vegetable plot” ~

~ thoughts on what to grow~

~ thoughts on greenhouses ~

 

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List of Flower varieties (links do not necessarily go to where i got them from):

Allium Christophii
Sweetpeas - unknown varieties harvested from last year’s plants
Sweetpea - Old fashioned mix
Sweetpea - Spencer mix
Sweetpea - cupani
Sweetpea - tall, mixed
Sweetpea - painted lady
Aquilegia - Biedermeier Mixed, and a white 2005 seed variety from mom’s garden
Cornflower - tall double blue, (link isn’t exactly the same, but very similar) and Polka Dot variety
white poppy (from mom’s garden)
white foxglove (from mom’s garden)
foxglove - Excelsior Mixed
lupin - Russell mixed
Sunflower
stock - night scented
Ipomea - morning glory
Nigella - persian jewels and last year’s seeds
Wilko cottage garden annuals mix, and Thompson & Morgan simplicity private blend

(I may buy more seeds from shops. especially sweet peas. i adore sweetpeas.)

List of Vegetable varities (links to do not necessarily go to where i got them from):

Rocket
Corn salad
Mixed varieties of lettuce leaves
Pak Choi
Swiss chard - both plain green and bright lights
Spinach - Medania and Hector, F1
Spinach Beet - perpetual spinach (link is not the same, but close to)

Courgette - one ball, Black forest, de nice a fruit rond, kojak, gold rush, (scroll down to see them)
Aubergine - moneymaker, mini bambino
Pepper - sweet rainbow mixed, sweet colour spectrum
Chilli Pepper - tabasco, Meek & Mild, pinocchio’s nose, cayenne,
Tomato - Moneymaker, Minibel, Tumbling tom, Costoluto Fiorentino, Gardener’s delight, Golden Sunrise, Red Pear, San Marzano 2, Tigerella, sub arctic plenty
Tomatillo - Purple di milpa, kindly donated by Fluffius Muppetus
Cucumber - Venlo “pickling” cucumber, crystal apple, Telegraph improved
Squash - Butternut Hawk, Butternut Harrier, Winter Festival, Patisson sunburst

Sweetcorn - miracle
Pea - sugarsnap, Asparagus, Douce Provence kindly donated by Fluffius Muppetus
Bean, climbing - Borlotta di fuoco, Blue lake,
Bean, dwarf french - Borlotto, Kitchen Favorite, Kinghorn Wax, The Prince
Broad bean - Bunyards Exhibition

Beetroot - chioggia, boltardy, donated by lightisfading
Celeriac - alabaster 3
Carrot - Autumn King, Touchon, Paris Market, kindly donated by Fluffius Muppetus
Radish - Ostergruss rosa 2, scarlet globe, french breakfast 3

Asparagus - Martha Washington
kale - jersey walking stick, Starbor
Cauliflower - snowball
Broccoli - purple sprouting

Leek - Autumn Giant, Musselburgh
Onion - rijnsburger
spring onion - white lisbon
shallots - golden gourmet (pickling onion)
Garlic - solent wight

List of Herbs:

Coriander
Thyme
Chives & Garlic Chives
Parsley - both curly and flatleaf
Basil - sweet, thai, cinnamon, greek, purple delight, lemon, lime, lettuce leaf and Ararat Borage
Par-cel or celery leaf
Chervil
Comfrey
Feverfew
Dill
Lemon Balm
mint
mustard greens
sorrel
rosemary
Sage - kindly donated by Fluffius Muppetus
oregano - kindly donated by lightisfading
green fennel - kindly donated by lightisfading
bronze fennel - kindly donated by lightisfading
lovage
Russian Tarragon
Sweet Marjoram

List of Fruit:

Melon - honeydew (seed taken from fruit from the supermarket and i might have a shot at growing it in the greenhouse!)
Strawberries
raspberries - glen ample and malling leo
redcurrant
blackcurrant

Still to buy:

Herbs - lemon verbena,

Veg - potatoes, beetroot - golden burpees

Fruit - loganberries (not needed.. a want more than a need).

 

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