Mostly gardening
Apr. 1st, 2009 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
urocyonI'm getting some energy back again, which is very welcome. The past few days, I've spent trying to play catch-up around here (and overdoing it, of course). Not much time to spend in front of the keyboard.
The new batch of seeds I'd managed to misplace turned back up (not before time!), so with the lovely weather today I'm planning to go out and wrestle home some more potting soil, and get a lot of things sown. A lot of the seeds I'd been hanging onto just need to go away; some of them were pretty old when I moved here five years ago. *shakes head* So I went ahead and ordered replacements for things I actually wanted to grow this year. The rest of the big bag of potting soil I'd been planning to use went to help fill in a huge hole a frustrated Max dug in the main raised bed out back--what didn't fill in where Churl the Destroyer (cat next door) almost emptied a smaller raised bed!
The new batch of seeds includes: a cucumber variety supposedly suited to hanging baskets, catnip, "Fish" hot peppers (from around Philly, but similar to an old variety back home--hopefully as tasty!), tomatoes "Siberia" and "Stupice" (hopefully better suited to the climate here), Nicotiana rustica (wild tobacco), Yucca filimentosa (bear grass--did not know it's the most common ornamental species in the UK, with plants readily available :/), "Little Lucy" okra (worth a try in a warm spot), Tagetes lucida (Mexican marigold, will get extra slug protection!), "Sundance Kid" sunflower, "Mohawk Gold Patio" sweet pepper, and Ocimum sanctum (holy basil). Already planted from that batch were "Golden Nugget" hot peppers (need to replant that one!), "Mini Spice Peppermint" pinks, and "Micro-Tom" tomatoes. Elsewhere, I've also picked up some double calendulas, "Lampion Mix" trailing snapdragons, mixed cornflowers, sweet peas, and assorted salad greens. The lettuces finally got planted out the other day, and the calendulas are already starting to germinate. The trailing petunias I tried direct seeding into a basket probably won't come up for a while still. I also couldn't resist some bareroot four o'clocks, which still need planting once I get suitable pots.
This year I purposely chose varieties which should do well in containers and growbags, and gave priority to things we can't readily get from the market, or which are enough tastier homegrown--like tomatoes. (They're worth it, even if they do need a mini greenhouse here if you want them to ripen!) A lot of the veggies will be doubling as ornamentals. It only made sense, with limited growing space. I'm trying to make better use of what space we do have, on the patio and out front--though, with an A road out there, vegetables don't go out front! More ornamentals in containers are going out there this year, though.
The marigolds do not go in the tomato growbags this year, either. I automatically used that companion planting combo last year, but it works better where there are fewer slugs. Multiple of them found their way into the mini greenhouse after the marigolds, and only one tomato plant survived (it was a close thing, too). Now I know about marigolds and slugs, and plan to put crushed eggshells on top of the marigold pot, with Vaseline around the rim for good measure! That's also a major reason the hanging basket cucumbers appealed. It should be harder for slugs and snails to get at them.
We've actually got a reasonable amount of usable patio space in the back, and I'm still trying to work out how to use it to advantage. Getting someone to haul off the collected junk would help free up more. It's not quite to the point of having dismantled small planes or cars on blocks out there, but it's getting close! :-| That bugs me a lot worse, having lived with a hoarder for 25+ years. It would also be nice to have space to put up a small table and chairs.
Yesterday, the manual pond vac I'd ordered arrived, and I gave the pond its first spring cleaning. It was mucky enough that I'm planning to repeat in a week. Once I got the hang of using that vac, it did make things much easier, so the Pondy Fiends are likely to get more frequent water changes now. I had been trying just to siphon it out with a hose, but that gets a little tricky when the pond bottom is sitting on the patio surface. *g* The vac also makes it easy to pump the pond gunge straight onto the beds back there, or into a watering can. Between all the messy goldfish around here, I shouldn't have to buy any kind of fertilizer!
I also got the Aldi Special bare-root arrowhead I'd been growing out in a boggy pot, planted into its basket and put into the pond. I'd half considered just picking up a couple of tubers from Hoo Hing's produce section, but it was too convenient picking up a cheap one complete with planting basket. What I just potted up actually looks more like tuckahoe, which is OK too. We'll see if it grows spathes or little white flowers. Don't think we'll get enough roots to eat out of that pond, in either case. :)
Yesterday, a little peering around the playing fields while Max and I were out netted enough further tawny owl feathers, mostly secondary wing ones, to make a small fan. (Can't discuss that one much further.) I'm pretty sure they were not there before, and something got hold of that owl. I also picked up some mangled ones, and am going to bury them later. Westlands Rough, by the playing fields, is also looking like a good source of blackberries later and nettles right about now, once I remember to take along some gloves. Along with a filthy little stream for Max to bound through and require a bath, as happened yesterday. :)
Pretty soon, it's time to head for the smaller Sainsbury's up the road in Chadwell Heath, to try and drag back a compressed 20L bag of potting soil on the bus. I know the Brewery location has them in, and am hoping that one does too. Normally, I'd strap that kind of thing onto the bike rack, but I'm still holding off cycling until my eyes are tracking better. It has improved some already, at least, but still seems safer to wait a while. Then it's time to trot Maxie Boy around some more. Yep, exciting days.
The new batch of seeds I'd managed to misplace turned back up (not before time!), so with the lovely weather today I'm planning to go out and wrestle home some more potting soil, and get a lot of things sown. A lot of the seeds I'd been hanging onto just need to go away; some of them were pretty old when I moved here five years ago. *shakes head* So I went ahead and ordered replacements for things I actually wanted to grow this year. The rest of the big bag of potting soil I'd been planning to use went to help fill in a huge hole a frustrated Max dug in the main raised bed out back--what didn't fill in where Churl the Destroyer (cat next door) almost emptied a smaller raised bed!
The new batch of seeds includes: a cucumber variety supposedly suited to hanging baskets, catnip, "Fish" hot peppers (from around Philly, but similar to an old variety back home--hopefully as tasty!), tomatoes "Siberia" and "Stupice" (hopefully better suited to the climate here), Nicotiana rustica (wild tobacco), Yucca filimentosa (bear grass--did not know it's the most common ornamental species in the UK, with plants readily available :/), "Little Lucy" okra (worth a try in a warm spot), Tagetes lucida (Mexican marigold, will get extra slug protection!), "Sundance Kid" sunflower, "Mohawk Gold Patio" sweet pepper, and Ocimum sanctum (holy basil). Already planted from that batch were "Golden Nugget" hot peppers (need to replant that one!), "Mini Spice Peppermint" pinks, and "Micro-Tom" tomatoes. Elsewhere, I've also picked up some double calendulas, "Lampion Mix" trailing snapdragons, mixed cornflowers, sweet peas, and assorted salad greens. The lettuces finally got planted out the other day, and the calendulas are already starting to germinate. The trailing petunias I tried direct seeding into a basket probably won't come up for a while still. I also couldn't resist some bareroot four o'clocks, which still need planting once I get suitable pots.
This year I purposely chose varieties which should do well in containers and growbags, and gave priority to things we can't readily get from the market, or which are enough tastier homegrown--like tomatoes. (They're worth it, even if they do need a mini greenhouse here if you want them to ripen!) A lot of the veggies will be doubling as ornamentals. It only made sense, with limited growing space. I'm trying to make better use of what space we do have, on the patio and out front--though, with an A road out there, vegetables don't go out front! More ornamentals in containers are going out there this year, though.
The marigolds do not go in the tomato growbags this year, either. I automatically used that companion planting combo last year, but it works better where there are fewer slugs. Multiple of them found their way into the mini greenhouse after the marigolds, and only one tomato plant survived (it was a close thing, too). Now I know about marigolds and slugs, and plan to put crushed eggshells on top of the marigold pot, with Vaseline around the rim for good measure! That's also a major reason the hanging basket cucumbers appealed. It should be harder for slugs and snails to get at them.
We've actually got a reasonable amount of usable patio space in the back, and I'm still trying to work out how to use it to advantage. Getting someone to haul off the collected junk would help free up more. It's not quite to the point of having dismantled small planes or cars on blocks out there, but it's getting close! :-| That bugs me a lot worse, having lived with a hoarder for 25+ years. It would also be nice to have space to put up a small table and chairs.
Yesterday, the manual pond vac I'd ordered arrived, and I gave the pond its first spring cleaning. It was mucky enough that I'm planning to repeat in a week. Once I got the hang of using that vac, it did make things much easier, so the Pondy Fiends are likely to get more frequent water changes now. I had been trying just to siphon it out with a hose, but that gets a little tricky when the pond bottom is sitting on the patio surface. *g* The vac also makes it easy to pump the pond gunge straight onto the beds back there, or into a watering can. Between all the messy goldfish around here, I shouldn't have to buy any kind of fertilizer!
I also got the Aldi Special bare-root arrowhead I'd been growing out in a boggy pot, planted into its basket and put into the pond. I'd half considered just picking up a couple of tubers from Hoo Hing's produce section, but it was too convenient picking up a cheap one complete with planting basket. What I just potted up actually looks more like tuckahoe, which is OK too. We'll see if it grows spathes or little white flowers. Don't think we'll get enough roots to eat out of that pond, in either case. :)
Yesterday, a little peering around the playing fields while Max and I were out netted enough further tawny owl feathers, mostly secondary wing ones, to make a small fan. (Can't discuss that one much further.) I'm pretty sure they were not there before, and something got hold of that owl. I also picked up some mangled ones, and am going to bury them later. Westlands Rough, by the playing fields, is also looking like a good source of blackberries later and nettles right about now, once I remember to take along some gloves. Along with a filthy little stream for Max to bound through and require a bath, as happened yesterday. :)
Pretty soon, it's time to head for the smaller Sainsbury's up the road in Chadwell Heath, to try and drag back a compressed 20L bag of potting soil on the bus. I know the Brewery location has them in, and am hoping that one does too. Normally, I'd strap that kind of thing onto the bike rack, but I'm still holding off cycling until my eyes are tracking better. It has improved some already, at least, but still seems safer to wait a while. Then it's time to trot Maxie Boy around some more. Yep, exciting days.
