FrogPrincess

Happy belated New Year Well it has been several months since I have typed into this blog...and not much to say today either! Been digging up potatoes, letting the brussel sprouts go to waste (oops) and collecting fruit and pretty much finished everything this year. A bit of tidying up to do - the new shed has lasted very well considering it is an old filing cabinet - slight rust starting at the base and hinges think it has one more year from it until it will be turned into a raised bed? I bought heaps of plants and small trees to make into a fruiting hedge down the right of the plot - from Hedgehog Nurseries. Sent to my work (and kindly placed into the car boot by the helpful security man Mike). Kept me busy planting them half a day as I studiously measured the planting spaces for the first 10 then gave up and dug holes and squished them in any old way hahaha. The trees are a mixture of hazel, beech and hawthorn while the bush type ones are dogwood, dog rose, wild rose and blackth...

I must have been doing most things right this year - been digging up lots of goodies recently! Potatoes - Edzel Blue - very nice tatties - bright purple skin and pure white inside, purple colour disappears on cooking though, bit of a disappointment there). Pink Fir Apples - so knobbly they look like Jerusalem artichokes, but lovely salad potato. (And still to dig up the main crop of Maris Pier.) Onions - all the over wintered onions are now dug up, white, red and yellow (as I can't remember their names) Garlic - got a mix of elephant and normal (welsh?) this year - all dug up also Broccoli - not much left of this either now, but been a good crop, small but very tasty (my nephew Liam says) Cauliflower - forgot I planted two small rows of this - the broccoli and Brussels sprouts covered them totally. Small but perfectly formed heads and no slug/snail or other beastie attacks to be seen! Strawberries - lots of greenery and a few tasty fruits but left them too late to pick so slugs ...

Think I must have found the foundations of an old building now - fork goes down about 3/4 then hits a solid lump of concrete over a lot of large stones. Still digging up half bricks, granite shards etc but this is new! There was an old crane on the site before the council made it into plots, so maybe a bit of the foundations are still there. They did dig up 3 car sized bits of concrete last year and that may be why the ground is fairly well compacted in some bits? My free wheelbarrow find last month has been a godsend for carting the lumps about. New stone wall build on the way.

Just came back from the plot and will try to attach some pictures - rhubarb is up lots now, got a clump from mum last November but no idea what type it is. It seems to be growing well. Very red. I didn't try to force it since this is the first year since I planted it.

Can't believe the price I paid for 2 green houses! £9.99 for 3 shelves and as high as my shoulders, cheap shops are just brilliant for bargains and I need to use something as the cats have discovered the nice individual litter trays on the window shelf...I could do a CSI Aberdeen with plaster casts of their ickle paws to find the culprit? I am leaving the print to see if any seeds survive - survive 3 cats wandering over them, they will survive Aberdeen summer. :)

Well I have just sowed enough seeds to keep Morrisons in business with brussell sprouts for this Christmas! Didn't think they would germinate as they are last years ones - got every seed coming up now and need to transplant them into more suitable pots. The Jersey Walking Stick Kale is also up and bolting with the sunny window sill it's on. Bit of a quandry - should I remove the covers now and let the cats eat fresh greens, or leave them on until I repot? Leave them on just now I think - less mess in the kitchen. Got a few cloches from my favourite online shop Ebay, now I need to figure out a way to stop them blowing away into the North Sea. Look great all the little tunnels but the plots are very open and prone to gale force winds. Wonder if washing line will work criss crossed over them with some tent pegs to hold them down? Will try that next weekend. On another thought - went to see Derek Acorah last night -what an experience - guy looked like he was a split personal...

Started digging up the 4 rows of tatties I'd left in the ground since last year...they are enormous. Only a few have been worm eaten, the rest are all bakers now, might try this again this year - salad potatoes or bakers? Bought a couple of Wisteria plants half price from Woolies and a blackberry cane. I love berries and will probably eat them straight off the canes again this year. I've been advised that they will grow everywhere so I need to cut down a foot away from the main cane in the autumn and separate the new canes. They have plenty of room to grow so might leave them be for a while.