Garden Update
Wow I’ve been busy. If I’ve not been working I’ve been sorting out the garden, especially with the sudden good weather we’re having. So what’s on the go now?
Fruit
Well the Raspberry canes are looking good and plenty of green leaves on them. I’ve got a few which will give us a crop in July/August time and the rest will come in September/October time. The strawberry plants are also looking good and strong and new leaves are coming out of them too. Hopefully some fruit will start to appear soon. I’ll have to start saving the paper from the shredder to pack around under the plants to keep the fruit clean.
The gooseberry bush has also been planted into the ground this year and there are flower buds showing on it already too. It looks a lot healthier than the ones we saw in the garden centre which I’m quite chuffed with. Dave’s looking forward to eating fresh Gooseberries, although I think my days of eating them straight from the plant have gone! Heated with a little sugar and cream will suit me fine 
Chillis
97 plants and counting!! We’ve got 5 different varieties going, and it seems that almost every seed is germinating! So far we have
Demon Red – 5/6 plants
Capsicum – 5/6 plants
Cayenne – 70/73 plants
Tokyo Hot – 7/17 plants
Green Jalapenos – 10/22 plants
Dave’s not impressed that I keep offering people a Cayenne Chilli plant, but we really don’t have the space for them all. I was under the impression that not all seeds germinated, however it seems that these all have. Still, it seems almost everyone I offer a plant to is quite happy to accept one so they’ll make nice presents 
Salad
Well my first salad tray got a bit dried out one day in the greenhouse when I wasn’t here. Some spring onions are still fighting through but I think the rest is just dead. However I’ve started a new seed tray, and got some seeds straight out in the garden. My Dad lent me some corrogated plastic to create a mini polytunnel, and the seeds are loving it. Within a matter of days I had the little gem lettuce seeds start showing. The radishes are also showing already, so I think I’ll just grow seeds straight into the ground under the polytunnel for now, and then in the summer maybe do some in the ground and some in a seed tray. It seems better to keep a propogator lid on the seed tray as the condensation keeps the contents dry.
So we have little gems, mixed lettuce leaves and Rocket growing, along with two types of Spring Onions and some Radishes too.
Onions and Garlic
The Shallots and Garlic are still going strong. These are pretty much looking after themselves and I’m looking forward to July when I can pull them all up! I’ve also planted some Red Onions as well, as Dave uses these a lot in the summer in sandwiches and salads. These are also growing and the shoots are showing already too.
Flowers
Yes flowers! Okay well there’s only one type and that’s giant Sunflowers. I’ve planted the first few seeds just to see what happened and there are shoots already showing. However, don’t forget sunflowers produce edible seeds, so despite being a flower, I’m still growing food
The garden is looking so much tidier and neater now. It’s amazing in the difference since we moved in about 18 months ago. This time last year it was still a state. I’m very happy with the way it is now but I’m itching for more space to grow more stuff. Perhaps in a couple of years we’ll have somewhere bigger
- April 19th '07
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