Like many people in the UK I did the “Big Garden Birdwatch” last weekend watching out for birds in the garden. For whatever reason, this year was a “bad year” with the total list of birds being: Great TitWoodpigeonCrow I’m convinced that the birds know that its Garden Birdwatch weekend and hide away because in…… Continue reading Big Garden Birdwatch 2021
Category: Garden
Split Apples
I don’t normally write about our apple trees (apart from the fight to stop magpies and squirrels eating them) but this is something new to me and shows how the weather has been somewhat strange this year. Split Discovery Apples As you can see our apples have split. We have (what I think is) a…… Continue reading Split Apples
Mid September 2020 – The beginning of the end
Whilst there are still quite a few tomatoes still to come, its obvious that the plants are well past their best and we can see that the end of the season is in sight. We pulled up the first of the plants today which (surprisingly) was Summer Cider. Our harvest so far has been much…… Continue reading Mid September 2020 – The beginning of the end
August 2020 – Report so far
Most things are doing fine. The tomatoes are cropping well with much the same weight of tomatoes as the previous couple of years so far. The 2018 crop seemed to peak in a few weeks time so it will be interesting to see how they compare. 2019 wasn’t a very good year overall, this year…… Continue reading August 2020 – Report so far
Tomato Progress & Selection
I’m always trying to think of different ways to compare the different cultivars. In the early days (when I was even keener) I weighed the harvest from each of the different cultivars to see whether there were significant differences that would influence my decisions as to what to grow. What I learned was that there…… Continue reading Tomato Progress & Selection
Growing my Tomatoes in lockdown
I’m not sure if I grow tomatoes in the same way as other people. My desire (usually) is to grow as many different varieties as I can fit into the available space and, because of the weather in the UK, this usually means growing them in the polytunnel or greenhouse. This year however, I think…… Continue reading Growing my Tomatoes in lockdown
Polytunnel now a Netted cover
So, the polytunnel cover was ripped apart by storm Ciara, flapping around and squashing my broadbeans in the process. My original plan was to re-cover and extend it but this proved to be impossible because of reasons beyond my control. So I had to make another decision. Despite the rain and wind, I’ve managed to…… Continue reading Polytunnel now a Netted cover
2020 Tomatoes Sown
After Tuesday’s indecision as to what to sow, today (despite the wind and rain) I spent some time in the greenhouse sowing my tomatoes which are now on top of the cupboards in the kitchen (a warm place). My final set was: Ailsa Craig, Bloody Butcher, Blue Ambrosia, Brad’s Atomic, Brown Berry, Crimson Crush (Cloudy…… Continue reading 2020 Tomatoes Sown
RSPB Garden Birdwatch 2020
Well, its that time of year again when we sit and watch the birds in the garden for an hour or so. As ever, the weather isn’t the best and it makes one wonder why we do it now. However, whilst we didn’t see all the variety of birds that regularly come to our garden,…… Continue reading RSPB Garden Birdwatch 2020
End of October 2019 – Review
Well, we’ve got to the end of October, the clocks have gone back and fireworks are beginning to sound in advance of Guy Fawkes Night. I tend to think about now as the end of the productive year and start to think about what should be done for next year. Its been a funny old…… Continue reading End of October 2019 – Review