Sexy Carrots.

Today I decided to pull my carrots after noticing they were going to seed. One set of carrots were in a trough (I knew all along was too shallow but had no other containers). The others were in a potato bag (should've been ok).

There's really not much more I can say about them but well look at the pictures. At least they all have nice personalities, even though they're unpealable. Oh well that's my salad topping sorted for later and mum's veg to go with chops.

My Royal Subjects hehehe

Now everything's starting to go mad in the garden, I spent 1 night away from home and something new emerges =0. Yesterday I came home from the fella's and found the strawberries were popping exciting EEEEEEE! I most look forward to strawberries, I'm hopping the raspberries and blackberries catch up so I can have a nice summer fruit salad.

Also shooting up are the spuds, I have a patio bag out front to grow them in and a bed out the back (which we keep having to pull the dog out of). You know I really can't remember when I planted the ones in the bag but I should be expecting them to flower soon.

The latest crop I've tried this year is peas, last year I grew beans which was silly because I don't like beans. So yeah I'm currently trying to train them up a cane wig wam but it's windy and some are finding it hard to grip, they need to grab the canes so they don't grab each other and pull themselves down.

Another plant that's fairly new to me is the sweetcorn, the Royal Consort likes his sweetcorn so I have to make an effort to please him
 I accidentally killed it last year very early on so I'm
paying extra attention to it this year, I've got 5 stalks at the mo growing happily in a bag. Lets keep it that way =).

Tomatoes are doing well as they always do in pots in the sunny front garden, last week I spread them out into 3 troughs, 3 plants each. Today I nipped off the extra shoots at the bottom of the plant so they can put more         energy into fruits. 

Also doing well in the little cold frame are the pepper plants, turnips and a little grape vine I bought cheap hopping when I move out I'll grow have more space to grow it up a pergola. 

Also out there is a little fig bush, spring onions, beetroot (not doing so well), leaks, goja berries and carrots which I went a bit overboard with.

                                          G Dog is not impressed with the lack of biscuit plants.

Bargain Books

Just a short post on good books for gardening and helpful people.

I've built up a collection of books over the last couple of years but they really don't break the bank, I've bought most of my books at less than half price in The Works bookshop. Just because they're cut price doesn't mean cut quality these are really ace books. Some like the Good Fruit and Veg Guide are RHS books, this book in particular shows every plant you could want in a edible garden and a guide on how to grow them, perfect.

Another great pair of books are by "Dirty Nails" who is a wildlife/eco friendly gardener and the books "On the Plot" and "Vegetable Gardeners Year" are fab, they take you through jobs that need doing every week of the year and what he finds along the way. Dirty Nails is fab and you can find him on Facebook where he's always willing to answer questions too. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dirty-Nails/174305439287?fref=ts

I don't think I have a book that cost me over a fiver and ones I haven't picked up in The Works are usually from World of Books, http://www.worldofbooks.com/ which sell second hand books for charity. They can be found on eBay too.

James Wong's book are also good but are more aimed at plants for medicinal purposes but he gives a great list of the essential plants you should have. For tips I like his Facebook page too. https://www.facebook.com/pages/James-Wong/172599712783088?fref=ts

BBC Gardeners World books are also good they're usually full of ideas. Also I pick up the odd magazine of Grow Your Own because they sometimes give away 5 or 6 packs of seeds.

Exciting James Wong Seeds

Ash was watchin Sunday Brunch a couple of weeks ago and tells me "there was this botanist bloke on tv recommending plants you missed it." Later I found out on Facebook it was James Wong from Grow Your Own Drugs. I went on his site and found out about electric daisies, little flowers that taste of citrus. Cucamelons, tiny melon that tastes of cucumber but are much easier to grow than both. Saffron that' worth it's weight in gold and nasturtium, bright flowers which are great on flowers and also keep pests off other veg.

So yeah off I go to http://seeds.suttons.co.uk/search?w=james+wong&asug=, thought I'd drop the link in
there. I've bought seeds for electric daisies, cucamelons, nasturtium, chinese chives and winter green (little berries that taste of root beer).

It's all really exciting and the reason why is these little plants I have never ever tasted before I doubt many people have. You can't buy any of this in the shops. There's still alot I've got to try and grow I just picked the most appealing as I don't have masses of space. I'd like to buy Saffron bulbs but they're a bit more costly (I have a budget) but flower into pretty crocuses, I might bu them at next pay day =).


                                          Thankyou Mr Postman eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Today I planted the daisies, cucamelons and nasturtium. I don't know which to look forward to the most.                   

Green Fingered Legacy

I'm feeling a bit emotional today so I thought I'd share with you a little bit about the Grandad I never knew. My Grandad Jack, my mum's dad was a miner, a hard worker and a true Yorkshireman. He would leave the curtains open until the last glimmer of daylight had gone from the sky as he valued it so highly after his time in the pits.

I never knew Jack as he died of a heart attack 2 years before I was born while my mum and dad were on honeymoon in Southport so all I have is photos (he liked photos) and what mum and Grandma (who's memory is very quickly fading) tell me. I know he was a gentle and quiet man, he kept pigs and loved dogs and he loved his garden, veggies above all else.

My mum always said he had his priorities right, the beans, the dog, his daughter, his wife. Lol.

When I started growing I didn't have much of a thought about my Grandad it was just a natural progression that came from a love of nature, wildlife and free tasty food. But over the last year or 2 I've been hearing more and more of "oh your Grandad would've loved you he would've loved helping with that" from Mum and Gran.

So yeah green fingers must run in families and I feel very regretful that I never got to meet and chat to my Grandad, to ask him what feed is best for garlic? Where would be best to plant potatoes? What's the tastiest breed of tomato? I'm not a spiritual person anyone who knows me will tell you but I don't have alot of garden mishaps so maybe he's there tending to the herb bed, checking on the veggies and giving some love to the fruit bushes, I dunno maybe it's just blind luck, it's a nice thought though.

Through gardening it has brought me closer to a man I never met and I feel like I know him, like we're working to the same goals.

I specially picked these photos below because I love how they illustrate his character.

                                                                                                        Feeding mum to the Mary the Horse.

Baby Birdies

This is just a short post to share my photos of the baby Starlings which were taking over my garden this morning all lining up along the fences waiting for their mums.

Good to see they did so well even without stealing the thyme from my herb garden. After I took m photos and the neighbors scared them off I went out to fill up the bird bath to make sure they had plenty of water to start them on their flights.