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Life Lately – April 2024
7 months ago
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Green fingers
After my accident left me unable to walk last year DH took over the gardening. These photos were taken last weekend and there has been a lot of progress in that short time.
Last year DH grew lots of different vegetables some where more successful than others and this year he's carried on:
These were the strawberry plants we started with last year. The position they were in was a bit shaded so instead of fruit we got a lot of runners
strawberries
It was DD's job to plant them all up in tiny pots & then I put them into troughs at the end of the summer. This spring DH built a home for them with some timber we given to burn from a dismantled garage but it was put to better use:
strawberries shelves
There are 15 troughs of strawberries, 1 of lobellia to attract the bees and the 3 on the bottom shelf are lettuce seedlings. We've been enjoying strawberries for breakfast for the past 2 weeks and tonight had enough for pudding as well!
The original strawberry plants are much happier this year as they're against our new polycarbonate greenhouse so are very warm and toasty in a sheltered position. Last year DH grew both tomatoes and cucumbers in a cheap plastic greenhouse but this year he's taken things a bit further:
tomato plants in our new p/c greenhouse
He has grown 7 different varieties of tomatoes from seed most of which are in the 8 x10 ft polycarbonate greenhouse in the back garden with some chillies, okra and basil:
various plants in the greenhouse
It won't be too long before the crop starts...
The other tomatoes can be found at the front of the house with the strawberry shelves and the plastic greenhouse from last year.
Tomato tree
DH built the 'tree' last year when we bought the hanging grow bags. He 'over engineered' it so he can hang off it but it works wonderfully well and soon the plants will be covered in both cherry & cherry plum tomatoes. We've planted Petunias, trailing geranium and lobellia above them to encourage the bees.
In the plastic greenhouse he has cucumbers and courgettes:
cucumber and courgette plants
Last year this small 'greenhouse' held tomatoes and cucumbers and was far too crowded and it ended up being a nightmare to water and care for. So this year DH has ensured that all the plants have enough room to grow.
A tiny cucumber:
cucumber plant
We had our first cucumber yesterday and like those from last year it was gorgeous! Fresh cucumbers taste so different to those bought in the shops as do all the fruit and vegetables we've grown so far.
Returning to the back garden, we removed 2 trees this spring in an attempt to improve the light for our new greenhouse which we hated doing. The wood has been put to good use but still it felt wrong. So I bought 2 apples trees which are currently in pots but will be planted out soon:
apples
There are 3 varieties of eating apple on each tree so in a few years time we'll be self-sufficient in apples in the summer (as long DD doesn't eat them all) and the trees won't grow too tall so won't cause a problem with light.
We've also got salad potatoes growing which will be dug up next weekend:
salad potatoes grown in recycled dog food bags
The bags are left over from the dog food and we've found plenty of uses for them in the garden plus I've just given about 40 of them away on our local Freegle group. We had some potatoes growing at the end of last year but the early snow killed them off. This year we're planning on moving the bags into the greenhouse in the autumn when the other plants have finished which should help keep them going until Christmas.
Also growing but not photographed garlic (about 12 varieties), assorted lettuces, peas, beans, radishes, blueberries and plenty of herbs.
How does your garden grow?
Last year DH grew lots of different vegetables some where more successful than others and this year he's carried on:
These were the strawberry plants we started with last year. The position they were in was a bit shaded so instead of fruit we got a lot of runners
strawberries
It was DD's job to plant them all up in tiny pots & then I put them into troughs at the end of the summer. This spring DH built a home for them with some timber we given to burn from a dismantled garage but it was put to better use:
strawberries shelves
There are 15 troughs of strawberries, 1 of lobellia to attract the bees and the 3 on the bottom shelf are lettuce seedlings. We've been enjoying strawberries for breakfast for the past 2 weeks and tonight had enough for pudding as well!
The original strawberry plants are much happier this year as they're against our new polycarbonate greenhouse so are very warm and toasty in a sheltered position. Last year DH grew both tomatoes and cucumbers in a cheap plastic greenhouse but this year he's taken things a bit further:
tomato plants in our new p/c greenhouse
He has grown 7 different varieties of tomatoes from seed most of which are in the 8 x10 ft polycarbonate greenhouse in the back garden with some chillies, okra and basil:
various plants in the greenhouse
It won't be too long before the crop starts...
The other tomatoes can be found at the front of the house with the strawberry shelves and the plastic greenhouse from last year.
Tomato tree
DH built the 'tree' last year when we bought the hanging grow bags. He 'over engineered' it so he can hang off it but it works wonderfully well and soon the plants will be covered in both cherry & cherry plum tomatoes. We've planted Petunias, trailing geranium and lobellia above them to encourage the bees.
In the plastic greenhouse he has cucumbers and courgettes:
cucumber and courgette plants
Last year this small 'greenhouse' held tomatoes and cucumbers and was far too crowded and it ended up being a nightmare to water and care for. So this year DH has ensured that all the plants have enough room to grow.
A tiny cucumber:
cucumber plant
We had our first cucumber yesterday and like those from last year it was gorgeous! Fresh cucumbers taste so different to those bought in the shops as do all the fruit and vegetables we've grown so far.
Returning to the back garden, we removed 2 trees this spring in an attempt to improve the light for our new greenhouse which we hated doing. The wood has been put to good use but still it felt wrong. So I bought 2 apples trees which are currently in pots but will be planted out soon:
apples
There are 3 varieties of eating apple on each tree so in a few years time we'll be self-sufficient in apples in the summer (as long DD doesn't eat them all) and the trees won't grow too tall so won't cause a problem with light.
We've also got salad potatoes growing which will be dug up next weekend:
salad potatoes grown in recycled dog food bags
The bags are left over from the dog food and we've found plenty of uses for them in the garden plus I've just given about 40 of them away on our local Freegle group. We had some potatoes growing at the end of last year but the early snow killed them off. This year we're planning on moving the bags into the greenhouse in the autumn when the other plants have finished which should help keep them going until Christmas.
Also growing but not photographed garlic (about 12 varieties), assorted lettuces, peas, beans, radishes, blueberries and plenty of herbs.
How does your garden grow?
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Essential Tweed socks
Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed
Pattern: David's Toe Up Sock Cookbook
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential Tweed in Plum (now discontinued)
Needles: 2mm
Time taken to knit: 21st January 2011 to 2nd June 2011
Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed
The yarn was a present from my friend CL in Canada a few years ago. It's made a lovely dense fabric and is very soft after one wash. However I don't know how long the coloured flecks will last as they're very loosely combined with the yarn.
Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed
This pair were knitted toe up, two at a time. The feet and body of the socks are in 3x1 rib and the cuffs 2x2 rib as I like my socks to stay up. I decided to use a simple rib as the flecks would detract from a more complicated pattern.
Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed
Overall I'm pleased with them but would have liked them to be a bit longer.
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