Summer Distractions

I start by apologizing for the distance between my posts but Summer brings holidays, weddings and lazy days in the sunshine.

Well in the garden the weeds still pretty much have the upper hand if I'm honest but slowly I'm reclaiming the land, now the dandelions have gone to seed and planted themselves I have again dug them up, the main problem I have here is creeping buttercups which are buggers to get rid off, even with chemicals which I refuse to poison my soil with, so it's basically back ache or nothing.

I have had lots of progress in the tomato department, they have grown thick and very fast, until now I have only ever grown them in pots but they really are seeming to enjoy their free range life and the bees are doing a brilliant job of pollenizing them all. I'm now not just seeing little yellow flowers but little green tomatoes too. When I grow tomatoes I always grow too many for myself but it's great to hand out free food like this to friends and neighbors they'll love them so much more than supermarket stuff.

A week after my holiday in Wales I planted some butternut squash seeds and some more cucumbers, they grow great on windowsills with plenty of light and water. I can hardly believe the speed they grow and now just one month later I've had to separate them into bigger pots. Slugs and snails love cucumber plants as well as squashes so I'm keeping them covered for as long as possible so they'll have the best chance of winning the war with the beasties. Another problem was I planted them thinking for sure I'd know which was which but as it turns out the plants look pretty much the same at this stage.

 < Butternut Squash                                                                                     ^ Cucumber


I have also decided to plant up some flowers for my doorstep so bought some Nasturtiums from James Wong's range and some Phacelia I claimed for free from the Soil Association as they are supposed to be loved by bees. Nasturtiums as well as looking pretty go great on a salad as they have edible flowers which look lovely and colourful too. This is them not looking very colourful yet.


In other news my mum's eaten all the raspberries from my other plot outside her house and I've been handing out the herbs for free as they grow like wildfire. And I also have mini pepper plants growing on the windowsill and they are starting to flower so fingers crossed they do well this season.

The Animal Sanctuary

While browsing Facebook a few weeks ago I came upon a job vacancy with a difference. A voluntary position at Yorkshire Animal Shelter. I've always wanted to work with animals since being very young, I missed out on veterinary nursing college because I couldn't get the GCSEs required in maths and English, and now with my work experience only being in retail and creative work any job I apply for I get knocked back from. Working with animals is highly sort after work even if it's not particularly well paid.
So when I see I could gain a little experience I jump at the chance. Yorkshire Animal Shelter mainly takes in the over spill from the RSPCA basically saving them from death row. They have a horse, 8 sheep, 1 chicken, 1 rabbit and 6 cat currently although I'm informed this is a quiet time.

www.yorkshireanimalshelter.org.uk If you can help them do even if it's only collecting stamps.

So I meet the animals. Suzie a 15+ year old horse with arthritis and cushings disease and she's also retty deaf. Poor Suzie was bought by a naive lady wanting a show jumper of around 9 years old, when she found out actually Suzie was neither 9 or in a fit state for jumping it was either the rescue or the slaughter house for Suzie. So we start the day by feeding Suzie a mixture of feed, apples, carrots, biscuits and breadcakes as well as oil and cider vinegar (good for her joints). Suzie doesn't wear horse shoes but needs the mud and grass cleaning from her feet daily, she's not 100% happy about it because of her sore joints. By what is now my 3rd week I've learned to lift her feet by running my hands down her legs and grasping the wispy hair down near her feet and holding the hoof close to the toe whilst leaning in to her (although she ended up leaning on me.) Then taking the hoof pick to firmly but gently remove the mud from the hoof. Her back feet are a little harder as she finds it uncomfortable so we have to bend down lower (exposing gardeners arse crack to the world.) This week with help from Abbie I cleaned all 4 hooves. Result!

2 of the sheep also have arthritis but plod on in their retirement. The rest of the sheep including Larry and Baby Lambkins follow me round the field while I shovel poo into a wheel barrow. Picking the poo not only keeps the field from becoming a pooey mess but also the poo gets added to the onsite allotment. Can't go wrong with lotsa veg.

Then there's Queenie the only hen currently at the sanctuary, they usually take in ex-battery hens for their retirement but at the moment Queenie happily scatches around the allotments alone. Abbie tells me they will be getting more ex-batteries again soon which I can't wait to see. Chickens should be happy and free. Queenie is 8 and a oriental breed so produces greenish eggs. However being 8 she is past her laying age but this week she surprised us both, as I leaned in to clean the hen house I see a single egg in the corner. Amazing, just goes to show what a happy animal can do.

Anyway I'm learning already and I love it looking forward to my work week after week also lotsa wildlife around too. Next Friday I get to see the farrier at work, the way he handles Suzie might help me with her. Can't wait.

Appologies for the Instagraming taking the real camera tomorrow.

New Lemon Tree and Mushroom Growing too.

I hate Ikea, but the other day I saw some thing that didn't require delivery, assembly or an allen key. It was a lemon tree, just a couple of feet tall and costing £20. But something bothered me and that was all the signs around them saying "fruit is not edible" and "please do not  eat the fruit". I went home to read up on why this is. I suspected it was just to stop people stealing the fruit as I has never heard of a purely ornamental lemon tree. Reading on the Grow Your Own forum http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/  a person had the same experience at Aldi and the experts say it is because the tree and fruit has probably been sprayed with pesticides and other nasties but after the fruit growing in store has gone further fruit will be fine. Great we went out again and brought our lemon tree home and named it Jonny, after a friend who used to call himself Mr Lemon.

Something bothered me though and that was the size of the pot Jonny was crammed into, poor thing. It's roots had emerged on the surface, this is the sign of a pot-bound tree. So off I went to my local garden center (I tried The Range first but word of advice, they're useless) to buy citrus compost. You should plant citrus plants in special compost because they are very picky. A pH of 6.5 is ideal,they don't like acid or alkaline very much at all. It also needs to drain well. They also need feeding often especially in the summer. For now Jonny lives indoors in the corner of my living room but in summer He'll probably go live on the step outside the door.

My next little (indoor) project at the moment is mushrooms. Chestnut mushrooms to be exact. I bought a little kit from The Range for £3.99 which is a good price as they're usually about £8. Maybe you pay for what you get but we'll find out. The kit is basically just a box with a lid, wet compost and substrate covered in mushroom spores. Follow the instructions, keep moist, warm and dark and wait for the mushrooms. I tried one of the little kits from the pound shop before and they are good, mushrooms only take a couple of weeks to pop up. Can't wait chestnut mushrooms are great in a stir fry or risotto.

Photos will be added when the mushrooms grow but for now I thought this was funny ^

Sowing the Seeds of Love

Right the time has come to fill my windowsills with seed trays. Tomatoes and peppers need their head start in January/February so that when the frost has gone in March/April they're ready to go straight outside either in pots or into the soil in the sunniest place possible.

So I began with filling seed tray cells with 1 Gardener's Delight  tomato seed each, tomatoes are probably the easiest crop to produce with the best most satisfying results. In the other half of the tray I have sown 1 mini bell pepper seed per cell. I've had some bad luck with conventional pepper varieties as they seem to grow to a certain size when I have to pick them because if I leave them any longer they rot, but when I pick them and try them out they don't taste sweet just bland and boring. I have chosen this mini variety hoping they will take less time to mature and just like cherry tomatoes they will have more taste.

I have also put in a row of butternut squash seeds, according to the seed packet they shouldn't be planted till May but I'm really eager to see how they do as I've never grown them before as they take up alot of space. Mr Veg has a great recipe for a goats cheese and squash lasagna which we'd love to try with home grown squash. If the growing is successful I'll share the recipe.  

In another tray I have descended to put in more James Wong seeds I've never tasted before. These include Chinese Chives which are supposed to taste of roasted garlic, Microgreen Herbs which grow quickly like cress and go great in salads and on top of burgers. The final seed I've set off are Inca Berries which are cherry tomato sized yellow fruits that are supposed to taste of gooseberries, kiwi and pineapple, so really looking forward to tasting them. The great thing is once grown they should produce berries right into winter.

Hibernation and New Year Plans

My posts here are becoming a bit few and far between..... Sorry. I am planning on picking up properly again soon but at the moment the wild weather is rather keeping me in a semi-hibernation and out of the garden.

That said I have noticed one or two things. The first is the holly bushes I have in my new garden, these bushes come December are usually full of berries, this is to help support birds and small mammals through the hash winter. But this year the bush is empty and the same is true of the holly tree back at my old patch. Does this then mean a mild winter? Also as I put out fat balls weekly for the squadron of sparrows that visit my garden they are not going down as quick as they usually do, the birds mustn't be too concerned about building fat reserves then. So my best guess (better than the Daily Express anyway) is that it's probably gonna be a wet, windy but mild winter, not bad for wildlife.

Regarding my new years resolution my first was to break the plastic bag habit, there really is nothing worse than seeing a supermarket bag flying around in the wind or even worse, stuck in a tree for days/months on end. I've even dug them up in my old patch. Yuk! It benefits sea life too, it sickens me when I hear of whales found with a stomach full of rubbish or rescued turtles and dolphins caught up in plastic. So no I don't need a bag I've got a cotton one thanks ;-).

Next is simple I'm going to try and help my local wildlife even more, by planting insect friendly plants around my plots, hopefully adding a small pond and making some little hidy holes for mammals (or whoever wants to use em). I've seen foxes round the area on my late night and early morning drives so hopefully over the coming year I'll have more to report on these urban cuties. Oh then there's Bill. Bill is our resident squirrel, at the moment he's a little shy, I catch glimpses of him on my way to work, but back in Autumn he was out front searching for conkers so I threw him a few peanuts. I like Bill, even though I'm a big supporter of native species I guess round here is not ideal for reds anyway, Bill can stay.

                                                               Say hello to Bill!

It's Been a While.......Sorry.

Hi Veggers, sorry it's been a while since my last post alot has been happening I've been on a couple of holidays and I've moved house. Don't worry the Urban Veg is still there and growing in my mum and dad's front garden. I now have a bigger and more challenging plot (photos later).

So for an update on the existing veg we've had many many many cherry tomatoes off our 6 plants, more than me and mum can eat. I've got some juicy looking peppers nearly ready for picking. The leeks are doing well as are the little turnip I'm hoping they along with parsnips will be good for Christmas. Parsnips taste sweetest after the frost has got to them.

Also we have electric daisies which I tried the other day and must say are a acquired taste, nasturtium which the caterpillars took a fancy to are now in bloom and the cucamelons are fattening up and should be ready soon.

On a downer the sweetcorn just didn't do well, it went to seed and on the plus side is now feeding the birds, lucky birds.

Apologies also for the image quality my big camera wasn't to hand.

A Note on Recycling.....Plus James Wong update.

I've found over time in the garden that things really don't have to cost much and when I'm not in Pound World (or Pound Land) or ebay I see things around that come in very handy in the garden and the best bit is it's all free. My latest ingenious find came when I realized the cucamelons I started growing after James Wong's tips were starting to trail, they needed something to climb. I used canes but they were out grown in a couple of days. In the corner of the garden was a rather unloved sad looking pan stand which we put flowers on top of last year and tied the little greenhouse to when it nearly blew away.
I re-planted the cucamelons in bigger pots, put them on the bottom shelf of the stand then trained the vines up between the other shelves. Now they are growing happily, wrapping round the shelves and poles and we're hoping to sample their delights soon.




While we're on the subject the electric dasies are also doing their thing I haven't had any flowers yet but (apart from a little leaf munching) they're looking good. I planted them up in a old tub that you buy bird's fat balls in. Just melt or drill (me and power tools don't go) holes into the bottom for drainage and put some stones in before you cover with compost.




Also the Nasturtiums are doing well I lost one plant while I was on holiday but the other's going from strength to strength. The bees will love em when they flower.

Final note...The peppers are in flower. Yey!

Our many neighbours

The resent rain after the hot 2 weeks of sun have sent our wildlife into overdrive, we're now getting bees by the dozen, peacock butterflies and cabbage whites. Our Budlia or butterfly bush is in flower which help attract so much life. This is a Buff-Tailed Bumble Bee enjoying the Budlia plant ------------>

Our resident Tree Bumble Bees are also very busy with males hanging round constantly waiting for the busy passing females. We are now unfortunately starting to see the ill and dying members of the colony, this is only natural as bees like to keep their home clean and free of disease so the kick out the sick members. We are seeing the odd one on our garden path now.  They are however very happy with our flowering herbs especially the thyme.
This appears to be a big male on the thyme.








I've also seen my first Peacock Butterfly of the year in the garden, they are totally stunning. I snapped this one as it basked on the potatoes. ------->








And then we have a problem, I am a organic gardener with a love of wildlife and nature but unfortunately sometimes the wildlife just doesn't respect the veg and just goes munching straight through it. This is a cabbage white caterpillar, I found him munching massive wholes in the sweetcorn leaves. But don't worry I just picked him off and relocated him however I don't think the food will be as tasty. It's best with caterpillars and snails etc to just relocate them don't kill them as they're a tasty meal for the birds.

Just an update

After 3 weeks of scorching weather and one massive downpour the veg is getting exciting and there are more happy tree bees about as the herbs are in flower, soon the buddleia (butterfly bush) will be in flower too.

The tomatoes are now well on their way, I usually buy Money Maker Tomato seeds, they are quite reliable and give a good crop, at stages throughout their growth I pinch off lower leaves and stems as the plant can then focus more effort on fruits.

They're now green and just need plenty of water and sun I have also caned them up as with the weight of the tomatoes and the heavy rainfall they're starting to droop, I don't want them to snap.









Next is the pea pods which are really starting to fatten, I'm not sure how many peas I'll get it will probably just be one serving but hey, as long as they taste as great as other home grown veg. Unfortunately my peas appear to be affected by a pest known as Thrips tiny black or brown bugs which hide under the leaves, they've made a mess of the leaves but they don't really touch the pods. They can be controlled with a organic insecticide spray.


While I've been gone the sweetcorn has grown nearly as tall as me but I'm not sure if it will crop well being in a container. I guess we'll just have                                                          to wait and see.

Our New Guests

I haven't blogged in a while as I've been at the rather more cloudy East Anglian coast. However on my return I find I have new neighbors, a queen bee appears to have chosen our sparrow terrace (a bird box with 3 holes for sparrow families) as the perfect home for her tribe.

Upon researching our new guests we found them to be Tree Bumble Bees (Bombus hynorum), who like to inhabit holes in trees or nest boxes. They are none aggressive (one flew into my camera lens and went happily along it's way)

They were only discovered in the UK in 2001 but they are a welcome foreigner as they are pollinators, bees prop up life on earth and keep the human race in food, a very important species I am proud they chose to live with us.

It seems they were attracted by The Veg, and why not it's very attractive veg as well as wildflowers growing on the motorway embankment and the other flowers round the garden like lavender. What's fab about bees is the ladies rule the hive so the queen and workers are all women and men just linger outside the door hoping for some action. This is a pic of a hopeful Mr Bee.

I'll be keeping a keen eye on these little lodgers over the coming months.

Enjoying the Lavender, eat up little bee. For more info on attracting bees or helping their conservation see http://bumblebeeconservation.org/get-involved/gardening-for-bees/

A Pointer from Gino D'acampo

This is a quick post just to get down on paper a interesting growing tip I heard on "Lunch with Gino and Mel" apparently Rocket grows best where the air is dirty. As they act like an air filter. Sort of like mussels in the sea or river filter dirty water and grow big. Apparently Rocket grows best next to motorways, dirty air is what gives the peppery taste.

So I'm thinking Rocket is perfect for the Urban Veg Grower because of the dirty city air, if it gives out clean air it can only be good for the environment.

Salad Potatoes are on the Menu.

I've been watch my potatoes grow in their bag, they grew there successfully last year, but just a week or so ago they started to go a bit wrong. Potato plants are usually lush and green and when they produce little flowers (white or purple depending on breed) it's time to harvest. But these plants started to look very unhealthy 2 out of 4 went brown and sagged and the other 2 just looked a bit sick. So because I go on my hols next week I decided to pull them and give something else the space. Below is a photo of the sickly plants.

Happily in the time they've been in they produce a little crop of salad potatoes which I'll enjoy later.

In other news the sexy carrots pictured here with Quorn Sausage and peas were delish and Mr Urban Veg will be putting what's left in a pie.

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.

Growing My Own Drugs part 2.

Ok so on the success of the herb garden I decided to give the other small part of the garden a make over in a similar way. It was coming up to May Day bank holiday which ment 3 for 2 plant sale at B&Q YEY!
Plant I was looking for in particular were heather for my bee friends, lemon balm and sage for herbal remedies.
I found all these and set about adding to my medicinal garden, along with the Raspberry bush I raised, strawberry cuttings, blueberry plant and 2 different honeysuckle plants I bought at work for like £2.

I've done a bit of research before choosing the plants I have some remedies are more obvious than others, blueberries are high in antioxidants and along with raspberries and strawberries taste delish. But did you know that raspberry leaf and sage tea is good for hot flushes. And honeysuckle is good for headaches, rashes, colds and flu. Lemon balm has anti viral and anti bacterial properties also so again good for colds and flu.


 Strawberry Plant                                                                                    Raspberry & Honeysuckle

Lemon Balm & Strawberry