Easter Hols!

Well that was it – the Easter Holidays!! It went by in a flash and not a morsel of chocolate has passed my lips!!! Gave it up for lent and feel so much better for it that I have decided to try not to eat any although it is proving hard with the mounds of Easter Eggs in this house!! Hopefully some of that will disappear when my son goes back to University next week!!Traditionally for me Easter is the time to really get on with my vegetable growing. I always like to set my seed potatoes on Good Friday and although it was not the best of weathers I managed to set a salad variety – Charlotte, as well as some red and white onions all in a nice straight line thanks to the Vegetable Row String Line

I am also trying out the Dig It™ Garden/DIY Gloves this season and they are proving to be very comfortable indeed particularly for the heavier jobs around the garden helping my hands stay clean and mud free particularly when spreading the well rotted stable manure – lovely jubbly!!!

I thought I would also trial an English Summer Salad Seedbed Roll as salad leaves, although not difficult to grow, soon get eaten by slugs and the rabbits who find their way down our drive – obviously words spreads that there is a good dinner going here.

Now I have to say it was a rather unusual way to set seeds but I am really hopeful that I may get some jolly nice crops as it has its own built in mini polytunnel no less, which should keep those pesky creatures away. I will let you know!

If I don’t get good results though I may just have to go back to the chocolate!!

Easter Wash Out Waters Garden Divas’ Willow Planter!

Well the Easter break is truely over and what a wash out it was here!!! Despite the rain, potatoes were planted along with onion sets, carrots, and lettuce in the Garden Divas garden. (I am experimenting by planting just one seed potato into the attractive willow planter http://www.gardendivas.co.uk/details.php?prodId=230&category=5 using just compost from the compost bin to see how many new potatoes it will crop – will let you know in due course. )

The cucumbers (Marketmore) and tomatoes (Gardener’s Delight and Berry F1 ) are all growing strongly in the greenhouse; the courgettes are up as are the tagetes which will help ward off fly infestation on the roses in the summer, and I have also set some chilli seeds free with Gardener’s World magazine, so thank you to them for those!!! The small Haws watering can http://www.gardendivas.co.uk/details.php?prodId=174&category has proved to be perfect for watering delicate seedlings and, as with all Haws watering cans, looks set to last and last.

The first shoots of asparagus from the garden were enjoyed on Easter Sunday together with a rather large amount of chocolate so it is a good thing that there will be lots to do in the garden to work off all those calories!!!

I have to confess though that I managed to bend my favourite Burgon and Ball hand trowel http://www.gardendivas.co.uk/details.php?prodId=37&category -unheard of in over 30 years of gardening) which just goes to prove that you should always use the right tool for the job and that snowdrop bulbs firmly embedded deep within a bank need something a little more than a trowel to shift them!!! Oh well I will just have to choose another - now which colour shall I have?