Day 1: Update

Here it is - the end of day! We completely weeded the border for my rockery and cleared and swept the patio. It's amazing how a few little things make such a big difference!





We went out this morning and got everything we need for the Easter break (Tesco was ridiculous!) and should now be alright to spend all day tomorrow in the garden! Imagine what we could do with a whole day...

Day 1: Before...

Today is the first day of our Easter holidays. So to chart progress I have taken some 'before shots' to see how well we do. So, here are some photos of our garden and a general idea of the amount of work we have to do!!

This is the salad bed we started last summer. It is somewhat overgrown now and probably my main task for this week. Due to lack of depth of soil it will be turned into a rockery with some herbs and heathers and pots.

This is the view from the top of the garden. It is very steep and will be levelled. Currently there are no plans for this space. Some raised beds, mini fruit garden and decking (hopefully a mediterraenean bar!)

And this is the patio. We're hoping to have a bbq on it on sunday, so this is priority number 1. Thankfully all it needs is a bit of a tidy up.

And off to the garden centre....

Summer's here

The clocks have gone forward...and hayfever has struck! Great! But I will not let it get to me and it won't stop me from working in the garden.

I gave up on my lettuce, and planted Jalepno peppers instead, leaving the lettuce to Matthew. I have also discovered that the Rocket I planted last year has grown again. It has to be the easiest salad leaf to grow - and definately my favourite!!

Very excited though as we have managed to take off the Thursday and Tuesday either side of Easter in an attempt to make a mark on the garden. So expect lots more blogging and, finally, some photos!

When is lettuce too lanky?

I sowed some more seeds a few weeks back and so far (touch wood) they seem to be doing ok...apart from my Tumbling Tom Tomatoes (which haven't done anything) and my lettuce which went from just pushing through the soil to about 2 inches tall and barely able to hold itself up. Does this mean it's too weedy to do anything? Will have to re-pot it on the weekend to see.

What seems to be going well so far are spinach, sweet basil, alisa craig and sweet millions tomatoes, borage, parsley and garlic chives. As well as the garlic I planted early Feb.

light evenings...finally

I am very pleased that the evenings are getting lighter (and drier, and warmer...) and I am looking forward to being able to get out into the garden during the week.

I have a full weekend planned in the garden this weekend. Re-planting seeds that went slightly awry last time and checking out my new fence and, hopefully, taking some photos. AND I will be shopping for a rabbit hutch! Very excited. A mate of mine has recently had baby bunnies...well, she didn't, but you get the gist, and I am on the list to get one. So cute. Not sure what the cats will think of it though... :)

If at first you don't succeed...

My seedlings have unfortunately been taken by the strange weather we have been having. In an attempt to harden them off I put them outside....and they never made it back in! A very long bout of rain and wind removed their propagator tops and drowned them. so it is time to start again - hopefully tomorrow (unless I can squeeze in a bit of sowing before the rugby starts today!) I am determined to get a decent crop this year.

Plus - we have had a new fence put up. The garden is beginning to come together. Finally! Photos to come.

Stop...too much life!

Well, I came back from Scotland to find many of my seedlings 3-4 inches tall! Exciting, but I think they may be a bit lank/weedy to actually grow into anything worthwhile! Some will be ok...

I am hoping to get in the garden this weekend and re-pot some of my seedling, but rain is forecast and the greenhouse isn't up yet. We will see...

Oh, and my sprouting seeds were unfortunately passed their best when we got back. Better luck next time!

There's life!

I am please to report that already there are signs of life in my seed trays. Thyme was first to show, borage is there and a few others have just about started to show themselves. It's exciting to see your work come to life. i'm already looking forward to eating my home grown fruit/veg/herbs!

Beansprouts

Step 2 - the seeds are laid out and rinsed twice a day. I put these in my sprouter this morning and already they have started to...well...sprout!

The Urban Garden

A lovely site for gardening related gifts.

www.theurbangarden.co.uk

Sprouting Seeds

Unfortunately it was too dark after work to do anything in the garden tonight, but I have bought a seed sprouter and sprouting seeds to do a bit of 'indoor gardening'. Here I have Rocket and Mung Beans.

First step...soak seeds over night.

Now, this doesn't take a great deal of effort, but it's a start!

My Tiny Plot

Just found this fab blog.

http://www.mytinyplot.co.uk/

Great photos and very interesting!!

And sow it begns...

I did manage to get some seed sown yesterday. I planted Garlic Marco in pots outside and on my kitchen units I now have Ailsa Craig tomatoes, Jalepeno Peppers, Sweet Peppers, Basil, Parsley, Garlic Chives, Borage, Thyme, Ornamental Pepper - Firestorm & Coriander in mini propogators.

I also bought a mini Bay Bush (tree?) that is currently sitting on my window sill. And on Saturday I re-potted 5 Rosemary plugs i got on eBay and Majoram.

I am really looking forward to working in the garden, and am a bit gutted we're going to Scotland next weekend and won't be able to carry on! Will post more pics soon.

Photos

Here is the start of our patio. The retaining wall in the 2nd photo hold up our salad bed where we quite successfully grew lots of lettuce and rocket. (I loved how great the rocket tasted, and it was so easy!) and the pots along the wall were my first attempt at tomatoes. The ones we had were lovely, although we ended up with a lot more green tomatoes and several jars of green tomato chutney (a la Delia).

First Day (part two)

Several weeks ago I ordered a potato planting kit after giving in to my urges of wanting to find out how to grow these vegetables. They arrived last week and completely confused me; I have approximately 120 tubers and only 3 Potato barrels. I can plant 3 -4 tubers per barrel so the math just didn't add up for me. Since receiving my seed potatoes I have shamelessly been on the scrounge for tidy size buckets to enable me to grow as many of these as possible (Not liking to waste anything if I can help it). I have been promised some but as of yet none have materialised. I have been researching "growing potatoes" and have found out that there wasn't as much to fear about as I first thought. I have just put my earlies in to Chitt and am really looking forward to planting them and eventually eating them. I just hope that I can work the timings out successfully and don't end up with a mountain of potatoes in one glut. Last year I had some success in growing a small amount of Beetroot and Carrots and massive failures in my Swede and Cabbages. Not to be put off I may try the later two again to see if I can at least get one meal out of them. As Rhian mentioned the garden is a mess and is slowly being cleared, many weeks of digging to look forward to I think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the beginning...

The top photo shows the view from the top of the garden the first time we visited the house. Over 2 years ago! The little extension at the back was knocked down and a larger, double storey one built. The outhouses have also been knocked down.

The image below looks up the garden.

On the first day...

Today is the first day of the rest of our garden's life!
I wanted to keep a diary to see how it progresses and as a reference for next year, and I am hoping that putting it online and having other people see it will spur me on to keep it up to date and keep working. We will post photos of our successes (and failures) and look forward to comments, advice and help from other gardeners.
I am 25 and did a little bit of gardening last year (tomatoes and salads mainly) but I am hoping to spread out a bit more this year. Matthew (my fiance) and I moved into our house a year ago and the garden was a complete state...to be fair it still is, but we are working on it slowly and am hoping it will soon be a space we can enjoy and benefit from. We will have fruit, veg and herbs..and I'm hoping to sneak a few flowers in somewhere too.