the holy trinity

Well things on the allotment front are looking up. I'm down on two waiting lists, and i'm pretty much guranteed a plot by September! This is very exciting. I'm already thinking about what to grow, and also what the shed I'm going to build is going to look like. I'm thinking maybe a metallic Frank Gehry or white rendered Neo-Corbusian one, but that remains to be seen. Apparently Highbury North allotments (West Jesmond ) are clearing loads of new plots for September, and as i'm 14th on the list its as good as a done deal. Hurrah! The below picture shows the locaiton of Highbury as part of the Holy Trinity for next year; Home, St James' Park and the allotment. Bon nuit!

book bought

Its all quiet in the garden at the minute, lettuces ticking along, shallots flying, rocket okay but need to plant some more, rosemary not dead yet so heres hoping, chillies and peppers doing okay too etc etc. I did buy a new book yesterday though, its very informative and has a guide to nearly every vegetable you can grow in England. Its by Dr Hessayon and he/she knows their crack! More rockets going to get planted this weekend, asside from that i really need to get on the waiting list for allotment for next year!

thats mint that like!

It is indeed! Ive sown a whole load of mint seeds today, I didnt quite realise how little they are, they were almost invisible. Asside from my chillies, this is the crop im most excited about, as it means when i throw extravagant cocktail parties at my house i can make beautiful mojitos with my own fresh mint. Germination is apprently a bit 'erratic' so i hoyed the whole packet into two trays currently living on my windowsill where they will get plenty of sun (south facing).

circular planters

I planted out some lettuce into my circular pots earlier this week as the plants were too crowded in their little trays. This has freed up some greenhouse space and ive filled that with another tray of mixed lettuce, which i planted the first row of today. I'm going to do rows weekly, now ive seen how nice and easy to grow lettuce is. Maybe i'll have enough for a lot of the summer. Theres also a few bits of rocket in there too, aswell as some sage that my mothers been growing.

greenhouse progress

Wor Billy has been busy today inbetween the bouts of rain we've had. Foundations are now laid for the greenhouse. We've had to sling a big plastic sheet over it now, as its TOSSING down. Again.

rain stops play

The heavens opened earlier, which means anything i was going to do outide has been cancelled. Seems, not only for me though - this blackbird seems to have set up camp under the garden table until the storm passes! He will be late for his tea and be in trouble with Mrs Bird.

on your marks......get set.........go!

This evening I am pleased. I got one little job done this evening, before the mad thunderstorm we're about to get starts. It was to take some cuttings from our rosemary, and pot them up to see if i can get my own bush going. This site gave very good instructions on how to do this, and I've now got some potted up. Two are 'ripped' from the bush and two are cut. Hope they soon adjust to their new soil, as rosemary is a top herb, and I need it for my new house. Who will win? Place your bets now!

special treat

To celebrate the blog creation i have treated myself to my own, new, personal watering can. It cost £3.99 and is painted with red garden creatures. Most importantly, it has a working rose, which will prevent any watery mishaps that might flood and drown my seedlings, of which there has already been one incident of this year.

the locations

Here are the locations that things are currently being grown in. First is the shallot patch mentioned below - where i intend to put some lettuce too but have not yet done. Secondly is the circular planter area, most of this lot is my mothers but ive been allocated three or so of the pots. There is some rocket and lettuce here at the moment. Next is the greenhouse at the bottom of the garden, which gets plenty of sun all day - which will be useful for the peppers that live in there, along with some rocket and lettuce. Finally is a bit of a work in progress; a 6ft by 6ft greenhouse we're currently making. Dad is having fun pretending the garden is a gypsy encampment!

meet the family 4

The final crop i currently have going is the shallots. I planted four bulbs a couple of weeks ago straight into the soil (a first for me) and they are already popping their shoots out of the hard soil. I think the patch they're in is pretty good as it gets sun from about 12 until 3 or 4, and its quite sheltered. This is the area i may plant out some lettuce into tonight. We shall see.

meet the family 3

Next up is the pepper varieties. I have four different types. Cayenne Chilli, Jalapeno Chilli, Sweet Californian Pepper and Sweet Yolo Pepper. They were growing in a very small container alltogether, but this morning I transplanted the bigger seedlings into individual sections of trays. They are now in the greenhouse with one tray of rocket, one of lettuce and some tomoato plants (not mine.)

meet the family 2

Second up is my rocket, an it is indeed living up to its name with regard to its growth speed! As with the lettuce there are two trays and some plants in the ground. The rocket took me by surprise a bit and got very overgrown very quickly, meaning the very long stems before the leaves, and a had to get rid of a lot of the seedlings to give the others room to breathe and grow. It tastes lovely and peppery, and although there are two varieties planted, i no longer know which is which.

meet the family 1

First of all here are the lettuce plants. They are the clarion variety, which i do believe means that the leaves can just be picked off and will regrow. The lettuce does not 'bulb' like the ones you get in the grocers. I have two shallow trays, though i think i should probably plant into the ground soon, i do have some already planted out (shown below) and they seem to be very happy. I think its ready to eat now, as I did try try a very small salad made with the baby leaves about a week ago, and it was delicious.

introduction

Welcome to the aMatteur gardener. This blog will be used to document the trials and tribulations i, as an absolute gardening novice, experience in growing my own things to eat up. Current works in progress are shallots, clarion lettuce, two rocket varieties, two chili varieties and two pepper varieties. I have had the lettuce and rocket in for about a month, maybe five weeks, and the shallots, chilies and peppers in for about two weeks.

After very rapid growth in the lettuce and rocket trays over the first few weeks, i took the executive decision to seriously thin out the seedlings. The first lesson i consider myself to have learnt - do not over sow seeds as when they start growing they will only get tangled up and create more faff for yourself to sort out! It resulted in the death(murder?) of many fine, young seedlings. However, this was justified by the greater happiness created in the greater number of remaining seedlings.