Fingers Crossed
We’ve been pressing ahead with work in the garden this week, so much to do and so little time.
The greenhouse has been bursting at the seams. No choice but to get things planted out. And now the weather forecast doesn’t look promising at all. 3 deg C is the minimum predicted for this area this weekend, but if it gets any lower it’s a gamble I may live to regret.
Tomato ‘Sungold’
Mike has been hard at work. He has built staging that is now multi-purpose. In the winter it supports trays of tender plants and, up until recently, germinating seeds. In the summer it acts as a support for the tomatoes. I couldn’t wait any longer to plant them up. The leaves were starting the turn yellow, even though I’ve potted them on twice since sowing the seed in February.
There’s still room for seedlings on the other side of the greenhouse, but many more are now scattered far and wide. Those that can cope are in the cold frame, some in the shed. I’ve resisted the windowsills. So far. Let’s just hope the temperature picks up again soon.
Brussels Sprout ‘Trafalgar’
Last year we were gifted a vegetable cage. More construction work for Mike, it’s a bit like a big boy’s Meccano set. Covered in butterfly netting, it’s the ideal place for brassicas. At our previous house, I lost an entire crop to cabbage white caterpillars and vowed never again. At 1.5m off the ground, the cage is almost the same height as me. So no more crawling about on the ground under netting to get at the veg, I can just walk straight in. At least that’s the theory.
And finally..
A huge apology to anyone who has had difficulty reading or commenting on the blog over the past few days. We contacted the site host yesterday and there was indeed a problem. I am hopeful that the work they have done will resolve it. Certainly the site is now working better for me.
Those of you who blog will know just how precious comments are and I truly value each and every one.
Could I just take this opportunity to thank you all for contributing to rusty duck and for your patience if it’s been a pain.
Have a great weekend!
Jessica x
Your tomatoes are way bigger than mine; every year I vow to sow the seed earlier but it was so cold this year I was as late as ever. All our veg is on a go slow with this cold weather. Let’s hope June blows in some warm sunshine.
It’s the first year I’ve sown the tomatoes so early, and it has paid off. But, apart from salad leaves and peas, everything else is doing miserably. Beans that germinated in the warm spell at the end of April and started so well are now looking sad.
It is soooooooo cold here in Kent, too. Hailstones the size of peas yesterday and constant rain today. However, new fencing arrived for the garden yesterday, and paving slabs arriving this weekend, so we garden on regardless and hope June comes in aflamin’!
Hefting paving slabs about is great for muscle development Denise.. No doubt the chickens will help. Here here re the aflamin’.
Oh Jessica,
I am not one to moan about our weather BUT …….. it’s beyond a joke now !! What with trying to have a new roof, having the flank wall re-pointed and the whole house painted, this weather is not helping !! I think that the weekend is going to be much better though so, things might be better for us gardeners { I can’t see the roofers, painters and pointers coming round this Bank Holiday weekend !!!! }
Your greenhoise looks brilliant as does your vegetable cage …. good old Mike !!
Have a productive weekend and I look forward to reading about your progress. XXXX
Crikey, you are having a lot of work done! I hope it’s going well! In any ‘normal’ year late May would have been the perfect time to do it.
Your toms are much further on that ours and I love the veg cage idea. We also lost an entire crop of cabbages to caterpillars. I put some in a fish tank for the children to enjoy watching them turning into pretty butterflies then looked on in horror as parastic wasps took them over and burst out of them! Yuk!
ps- had to put email etc in this time so am hoping that means the comment will appear 🙂
Hurrah! Welcome back CT.
The veg cage doesn’t look very pretty, but it saves an awful lot of work and keeps the pigeons off too. Oh goodness, I would have been having nightmares about the wasps..
Goodness me, your toms are huge! Mine are only just germinating, even in the greenhouse.
I love those cages, I lost all my caulies too….
Oh Lordy! The weather is simply dreadful, it’s freezing here too and has been blowing a gale for the last few days, hard to believe it’s nearly the end of may isn’t it…..xxxx
Very windy here too.. it’s such a shame to be constantly showered in torn off bits of leaf when they’ve only just appeared on the trees.
Did you plant those tomatoes right in the bag of soil? What a good idea! Must have saved a lot of work.
Hi little red hen and welcome to rusty duck!
I germinated the seeds in a propagator. They’ve been growing in pots ever since in the greenhouse, but had filled the gap between the staging and the roof so I had to get them planted! The soil in the greenhouse border is pretty awful so we planted them into these grow bags instead. If I had more greenhouse space then they would have gone in a lot earlier and on to the watering system, which would then save work!
I love the way everything you do is so beautiful and neat. I aspire to such beauty but rarely achieve it! Perhaps that’s just my own self criticism but it’s a joy to see your lovely garden. You’re so right about comments by the way – it always feels like a privilege to have people bother to do so. Have a great weekend! x
Close up photography hides a multitude of sins Em.
It really is a privilege to have comments and for me the most enjoyable part of blogging by far!
Your plants are looking really healthy – come on sun, SHINE!! (It’s cold in Berkshire, too.)
Who printed the label in the first photo? It’s lovely, so neat.
Oh we really need the sun, and some warmth in it when we get it.
It’s called a blackboard label, basically wood covered in blackboard type paint. You then write on it with the pencil that comes with the labels. They give the effect of posh slate labels from a distance, but don’t last long. I am reusing some from last year and am finding they break very easily. Look good if you can avoid treading on them though!
Some of my tomatoes were planted out two weeks ago. They are now drowing in a big puddle. I had other tomato seedlings in a mini greenhouse. They were doing well. Then a big wind blew the mini greenhouse over and put the seedlings all in tumble. So have given up for this year and an going buy tomato plants in. Hope yours flourish. I am sure ours will – eventually!
Oh no! It sounds like the jet stream has slipped even further south this year. You have our weather from last year, we have arctic!
I completely agree with ‘so much to do and so little time’ in the garden but it doesn’t help dealing with a cold, wet, miserable late May. Hope your veg thrive and you get a lovely tomato crop. I lost all my tomato-fruit last year to pests so I’m hoping that this year will make up for that.
Last year I lost all the outside tomatoes (and maincrop potatoes) to blight, so I’m growing the toms inside this year and hoping for the best. It’s all got a bit tricky hasn’t it.
Am awaiting the arrival of my first greenhouse!!! Yay!! Only a small one, but have my tomatoes ready and waiting!! Really looking forward to being able to plant my own seeds to bring them on instead of having to get the seedlings from the garden centre!! Hurry up greenhouse!!!
Hi rabbitquilter and welcome to rusty duck!
Yay! Oh that’s so exciting! And you will love it. I’ve only had a greenhouse very recently too, we inherited it with the house. It’s like having a mini extra room, a place to retreat to on a miserable day (do we have those??!), and so satisfying to see things grow. It is my own domain (Mike has his shed!).
Your potatoes are about the same size as ours, we’ve planted those out but everything else is in the greenhouse. I just hope it doesn’t get too cold this weekend. Where is that sunshine and warmer weather? All the plants need it now:)
I know, just looked at the local weather forecast and the nights now colder still.. I’ve really had enough.
Wow! You have been busy. You put us to shame – our garden is a disaster area. My excuse is that it clearly isn’t spring yet as we still have the heating on and giant hailstones today!
I think I may have jumped the gun though.. your approach may well have been the wiser!
It’s looking great Jessica. I have pots everywhere waiting to go out, but no greenhouse so I think they’ll have to wait a while Julie x
Thanks Julie. It’s going to be cold again tonight 🙁
Fingers crossed after all your hard work. I want to get some salad leaves in but it’s turned very cold here too.
Mine are not growing very fast at all. Briefly we were self sufficient, now I’m having to buy them again.
Looking very good! My ‘veg patch’ is confined to 4 window boxes so it is limited what I can grow, but I have already had my first dinner with this year’s salad! The rest is very late though. We need some really warm weather and sunshine for weeks to catch up 🙂
Good luck with your new cage, hope it keeps everything out that is supposed to be out!
Thanks Helene.
It’s amazing what even one day can do… it’s been lovely today and beans are suddenly germinating! Just a shame it’s not going to last. 🙁
Good luck with all your veg Jessica. I have lost almost all the plums off my potted plum tree despite having loads of blossom this year. Gardening is a hard slog 🙁
Oh that’s a real shame. It isn’t always easy Simone, there will be good years and bad years with fruit. The weather has been really difficult this year.
It seems we are doing the same sort of jobs there comes a point where you just have to plant out regardless of the weather and hope for the best. We had a lovely day today too much to hope that it will last over the bank holiday.
One more cold night forecast for down here, then the cloud comes in. After the next lot of rain I plan on doing just that.
this is the first year i’ve put in a lot of cabbage….last year my two little plants did great, so I went a bit overboard this year…..but now I have to worry about cabbage caterpillers???!! YUK.
I don’t know whether you have cabbage white butterflies in Kentucky! But it’s worth checking. Even if you do, just put butterfly netting over (but not touching) the plants. Then the butterflies can’t get near the leaves where they lay their eggs.
I hope the weather has been better than was predicted for you this weekend, we had a gorgeous day yesterday and the sun’s back again today, we’re being spoilt. It’s so nice to see some sunshine at last though. Potting on my tomatoes in to their final positions is a job I must get round to sooner rather than later too, they’re growing at quite a pace now, I can almost taste the first sun warmed tomatoes, delish.
Yesterday and today lovely here too, I will be back outside in a minute to make the most of it.
I love growing tomatoes but can’t stand eating them – they are all for Mike!
There is nothing like the smell of tomatoes in a greenhouse. Mine will be lovingly looked after by a neighbour as we are away for our annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Man TT Races. Sun is out today so Mike will have a good day!
Yep, I like the smell too. Just not the taste. Or the texture.
Have a great time! Jx