Garden Planning - Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea, an essential part of my garden year. Even sowing them is an act of optimism, being as I place the gorgeous satisfying pea seeds into a pot now, in Autumn, to be planted out in early spring. 

Here's my 'How To Guide'. You will need the following:

1. Sweet Pea Seed
2. Good sized pots
3. Compost (maybe some added nutrition from Lou's Poo, Dried Alpaca Manure) 
4. Toilet Roll insides
5. Plant Markers
6. Water

Choose your seed. Personally I save mine from the best of my plants.

Gather good sized pots and half fill with compost. At this stage I add a small handful of Lou's Poo, Dried Alpaca Manure as my seedlings will be in these pots for at least 4 months. Remember alpaca manure is not a hot manure, it's gentle and won't damage the seedlings, plus it will take a while for their little roots to penetrate to this layer.

Next add your toilet roll insides and fill these with compost.

Choose your seed, I like to grow the same colour in one pot and another colour in another pot.

I generally only add a few seeds per roll.

Label each toilet roll. This seems extreme but in the spring, when you gently separate these rolls into their own good-sized plant pot, you'll be glad they are already labelled.

Water well and place in a sheltered area. Personally I don't put them in the greenhouse, I treat them as meanly as I can, though I do afford them the shelter of the walled garden. They need protection from slugs and snails and if there was a sustained frost I might cover them but otherwise don't molly-coddle them.

As soon as the seedlings get to be about 4" tall I pinch them out, nipping off any extra growth. I do this every so often, till early spring, I pinch them out again and again, letting them grow just a little bigger each time, to ensure strong, bushy plants rather than tall, sickly ones.

Go on, sow some sweet pea now, you'll be so glad you did next summer.

Lou
xx

Village Show... Queen of the Peas.

It's tricky if you don't read the exam question correctly. So it was with my horticultural entry for the village show this year: I eagerly awaited the booklet in late spring outlining the categories to be judged and was delighted to be able to tick off a good many that were already underway in the garden; beetroot, cucumbers, courgettes, sweet pea, soft fruit, it looked like being a bumper year. I was also pleased to see the onion category was still key as I was determined to defend my 1st place title of two years. Queen of the Onions me.

So, last Friday, between storms, I hurried about the garden, pantry, shed and greenhouse gathering up my harvest for show prep. I was particularly pleased with my carrots which I'd grown in a stack of 5lt pots, one on top of the other with the bottoms cut out to give height and hopefully length to my crop as well as deterring the dreaded fly. It worked a treat and as I gently excavated, beautiful, perfectly straight (though slim,) 6"to 8" carrots were revealed. Next year I will thin more ruthlessly and water more but this is my chosen growing method from now on.

Hubby is usually my fluffer pre-show but he'd excused himself to Germany for a meeting and wasn't due back till late so I was left with the task of prep. The kitchen smelled wonderfully earthy with the aroma of herbs, fresh cut flowers and a multitude of fruit and veg. The cats looked on, slim pickings for them.

The sproglets weren't home from school till late and after a hasty tea they soon set about their chosen domestic entry, the 10yo making whopping great buttermilk muffins covered in pink icing with antenna of mint Matchmakers. They were obscene. I marvelled at the fact that she was totally in control, very Mastercheffy and looked at me funny when I offered to help. Love it!

 

The 8yo opted to make a pizza. Again I stood back and waited politely to be asked to help. I was proper redundant. Mummy for sale, two previous owners.... Boy read his packet of Tesco pizza base mix (well, you HAVE to cheat on a Friday night especially when there's Saturday school the next day!) made up his dough, rolled it out [the mess, the mess] and then placed red pesto, mozzarella, red onions, olives and Parma ham artistically around the artisan shaped platter. Lush.

When the sproglets were in bed I finished my prep and that was when I realised that my prize (possibly) onions couldn't be entered for the show. The category was for seed grown onions and I'd grown mine from sets. Bum.

[I say bum, but I'm secretly pleased, don't tell anyone...In my mind I am therefore undefeated. #insanelogic]

The show was fabulous and among other 1sts, 2nds and Commendations I won a 1st for my sweet pea display, even though it looked a bit pathetic and until an hour before the show was covered in greenfly. Apparently the judge admired my choice in variety - this year all my sweet pea were marbled purple or red with strong scents. Who knew.

Roll on next year, I might even enter some of the bigger shows round here - get me!

A New Start.....

If you [Dear Reader] were ticking off the seasons according to my blog then it may seem as if December never happened. The sproglets broke up on 7th December and are still off now...... I may have plenty of anecdotes but they are written in my notebook and haven't made it to the computer yet. Another reason I disappeared is that my trusty Kodak camera died, sad, fortunately Santa noticed and now I have a shiny new Canon.

Normal (or as normal as The Archers at The Larches can get) service to be resumed next week.

For me, 2012 felt a tricky, bitty year though there were notable highlights: The Olympics, Paralympics and antics from the then 9yo and 7yo, were of course wonderful as was raising the bottle fed lambs, publishing my first e-book and completing yet more essential work on the house, but the inclement weather put a distinct dampener on everything and our garden produce was woeful. I welcome 2013, if it behaves itself!

The New Year started well with a smashing dinner party and family sleepover at a friend's. We awoke to bright sunshine on the 1st. The weather has been fine ever since and yesterday we drove to the Carding Mill Valley (and hills) to visit with Sam at Middle Farm Cottages. As soon as we arrived we were helping to steer the biggest British Lop eared boar I've ever seen back to his pen. He must weigh a ton, only marginally ahead of me on the scales after a food fest Christmas. It transpired that Charlie had been on a love quest at another farm and was being returned home..... for a rest!

Incidentally if you are booking a mini break next year and want to be treated royally, check out Sam's website, the cottages are to die for, she and her hubbie are passionate foodies so you definitely won't starve and there's so much to do on her doorstep you'll never want to come home. (I can bear testimony to this as my two children were distinctly cool with me when I said we were leaving yesterday afternoon!)

Today the weather continues to be fine and tripping out to the wood shed in my PJs at 7am, the temperature was approximately 11° and rising. Lovely, I'm determined to do some gardening today and will try to get more broad beans in before the temperatures plummet. In the greenhouse the sweet peas have emerged from their loo roll seed trainers; we shall be assured of scent for summer. If you haven't sown any there's still time.

Roll on 2013.

Love
Lou

Silent Sunday at The Larches

Cold but stunning

Best place for dust baths for the girls..



Fat new Buff Orpington girl

Come on Spring!

Mrs Bradshaw Geum

Sweet Pea

Autumn Sowing....

Clematis Ville De Lyon

Several days ago I sat in the walled garden working on my novel, I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, it was 82° and leaves kept falling on my manuscript. Considering that I live half way up a mountain in Shropshire UK and it is October, I was mildly confused.


Today Mother Nature has turned the dial to Autumn, it's blustery, cool enough for socks and a sweater. Lovely.

I've taken stock of the garden. We've accomplished such a lot this year; removing huge conifers and an unwanted hedge from the centre of the plot. We planted a new hedge and incorporated our orchard into the garden space. We've softened the pond area, laying turf into the water to both to hide the liner and to allow creatures safer access. Around the pond we planted nectar drenched flowers to encourage more wildlife.


At the bottom of Home Field the allotment has generated enough potatoes to last until late Spring and is now planted with leeks, spring cabbages, broad beans, onions and celeriac.


The walled garden still feeds us daily with spinach, dwarf french beans, runner beans, lettuce, parsnips, cucumbers and yet more celeriac. Here the onion sets are already sprouting.


Not wanting to rest up over the winter, I've been planting madly to try to steal a march on spring. Some of my sowings are a bit of an experiment!!! I've planted next year's sweet pea now (super early I know, but I'm pinching out the growth to see if I can make strong, bushy plants before it gets too cold.) At the moment the seedlings are in the green house. As I don't plan to heat the greenhouse till early spring, I may well bring them into the utility room, which is bright and cool, when the temperatures drop dramatically. I've sown Miss Wilmott, a vintage pink from 1901. A big blue and two types of old fashioned mixed. My garden should look and smell gorgeous next year. 

Sweet Pea Miss Wilmott

I've also sown sweet rocket, a tall perennial that can be considered invasive.... I prefer to refer to it as offering free cover to a large space.....

There's a ton of other seedlings and sowings in the greenhouse but this morning I noticed the Tutti Fruiti Lupins had broken the surface of their compost. With their garish colours they are aptly named.

This year the orchard is providing tons of huge cooking apples, probably due to the hard pruning we've administered over the past two winters. I've started making Spiced Apple Jelly from the harvest. These jars of bottled sunshine are delicious and are flecked with chilli flakes and lemon rind and would be a great pressie for Christmas. They are however quite high-maintenance to make. See next blog post for recipe.

If anyone out there has any other suggestions for Autumn sowing (particularly perennials) I'd be really pleased if you'd leave a comment.

Lou

xx