Monday 30 July 2012

Progress of sorts

The polytunnel is coming along slowly - it really serves us right for buying such a big one!  Over the past few weeks, Mal's been putting soil back into the beds (after it was originally removed to flatten the area for construction).  While that's been happening I've planted the tomatoes in the back bed.  I'm quite surprised at how well they're doing really given that the seeds were all planted late and then were eaten by mice in the cold frames (I've since found out that mice don't like the smell of mint and I have lots of mint plants so that's next year's defence).  I think there's some Gardeners Delight and Alisa Craig varieties there.... and there's even some fruit on some of them!


Mum and Dad were visiting for a few days on their way back from holiday on Ynys Mon and Mum very kindly offered Dad's gardening services! As well as the boring job of clearing weeds on one of the flower beds, he also planted some of the pepper/chili plants in the small polytunnel bed.

We had a lovely flying visit to Ros, Gavin and the boys (and an evening watching the Olympics open ceremony). Once back we had a efficient session filling part of the right hand bed as I really wanted to get the sweet potatoes into the ground.  As well as them, I'd been given some cucumber plants from a colleague so they went in as well.


Lots of the veg aren't doing so great this year - a combination of the weather (wet and cold and grey), the the Japanese Anemone's are doing fantastically well.  Michelle gave me a plant and I put it under the laurel next to the veg beds and it's really grown this year - up to about 4' and peeking out from among the hedge.


I'm quite proud of how well the flower border is turning out and the bees are impressed too. With the echinops and lavender you can easily go out and spot a dozen bumble bees when the weather's good.  Plan for next year is to move the Crocosmeia and tidy up the corner with the Kerria Japonica, and try and make it into a purple/blue coloured bed.


Wednesday 11 July 2012

Feeling hot hot hot

So just got the max min thermometers and put them in the tunnel for the day.

Quite surprised that it got down to 10deg over night but I think that's because I roll the sides down too late in the day. Went out tonight at half eight and it had already dropped to 14.

And if I'd realised it was going to be that sunny I would have rolled the sides up more than a foot!