Quarantine Gardener

Beginning to garden

[scottypixie]

31st - leeks

I got 40 leek plugs delivered a couple weeks ago! That's a lotta leek! But I managed to find space for most of them, planted a few a bit closer than the books advise, but they might not all work so we'll see how it goes! They plugs were just like thin bits of grass really, I would not have guessed they are leeks. So I did my best to measure the spaces out, made sure the soil was soaked as advised, and made 6 inch deep holes for each leek. You may need to cut off a bit of top of the leeks and the roots depending on the size. Once you pop the leeks into the ground, you don't fill the holes in with soil with leeks, you just pour water over them to fill the holes and leave it. Eventually the rain and the soil fill in around the leeks over time.

[scottypixie]

30th - the rocket really took off! 🤣

The rocket grew big pretty quickly, and the leaves seemed bigger than most rocket I've eaten before! This could just be the type, I'm not sure. It tasted good anyway! Yes, rocket makes #1 in the harvesting! We've had a few salads and sandwiches with this in the past month. Though I don't think the rest of my family enjoy it as much as me unfortunately. Luckily the neighbours took some today, so I hope they enjoy it. I felt like there was so much rocket that I didn't do any succession growing. So they kept growing, the stems went a bit hairy, and now have started flowering. I think this means they will go to seed, spread more rocket in this area. I cut some stems down, but might wait and see what happens with the others. The leaves now from these plants taste pretty strong, so not sure we'll keep eating them from now. See how it goes!

[scottypixie]

29th - Strawbs

Exciting when these guys first produced flowers a few weeks ago. Then continuing to grow well. I found some brown bits of the edges of some of the leaves, which I'm not sure why that is, they have been getting plenty of water at nights, so I don't know if it is lack of water or too much water...there are also some diseases that may have this affect on strawberries, but I'm not sure how exactly to find out what it could be. My gardener cousin who saw them, said they are probably fine if they are still producing flowers and strawberries anyway. And they have started producing strawberries!! Green of course, but getting bigger all the time!

[scottypixie]

28th - potatoooooeees!

So happy with how well the potatos have grown. They have gone from strength to strength, as you can see in these pics! I didn't know how big the plant would grow actually, so a bit surprised by the size of them! Hopefully that means there are plenty healthy tatties below the ground!

[scottypixie]

27th - snapping with the peas

I'm way behind on the gardening updates recently! Have made a few changes and things have grown a lot, so just trying to catch up now!

So I had experimented with starting some sugar snap peas in pots and some in the ground. As far as I can tell, it's not made a big difference! That's them in pots in the first photo.

I planted the ones from the pots into a raised bed once they were several inches high and seemed healthy. My parents had bushes growing raised beds at the side of our garden, but decided to take some out as they were not looking so great anymore. Therefore I could utilise the space for my veggy babies!

I put three in this bed as you can see in the second photo, alongside a coriander plant that was originally bought from the supermarket and re- planted outside. As the pea plants have gotten bigger, I made a support for them with bamboo sticks and string. So far they have started to attach themselves to the bottom part of the support structure okay, but sometimes I've tried to move the plant to help out attach where I want it to. Still small, but doing okay!

[scottypixie]

26th - Shearing

The grass next to the plots was getting a bit long as a growing on the edges of the plots, so I sheared it down a bit.

[scottypixie]

25th -Scrap growing

The cabbage scraps that I put in the ground appear to be doing okay so far, not too much doing yet, but they haven't died at least!

[scottypixie]

24th - cheeky bird

This little guy was hopping around the strawberries and other plants for a wee while the other day. He took a bit of the straw mulch around the strawberries and seemed to be looking for a way in to the plots! He also hopped right on top of the meeting at one point! Luckily it didn't look like he could get to any of the plants really. Phew!

[scottypixie]

23rd - Pests! Oh no!

Well I knew it would happen at some point 😂 nasty little critters have come along for lunch. As you can see in the photos, there are a few small holes in the leaves, mainly on the rocket and a little on the strawberry plants. I think this is mainly from slugs and snails, as I have seen some trails, though not the actual culprits.

I'm trying to go with non - pesticide ways of controlling bugs, so have put down broken egg shells around the the main plants they have been nibbling. I heard they don't like going over egg shells so hourly they'll stay away. I have also put some salt around those plants too, kills the poor buggers.

[scottypixie]

22nd - Sprouting!!

Things are sprouting and growing well now, (as far as I can tell 😬)

The peas I planted in pots seem to be doing better than the ones I planted in the ground, maybe they are warmer. I'll have to read if I should then plant them in the ground, or if I can keep going in the pots.

Shallots and strawberries are still the tallest greenest things for now! Potatoes coming through and rocket etc too now.

[scottypixie]

21st - growing scraps

Another current fad I've taking up with the growing buzz is attempting to grow from scraps. Basically, keeping the stem bits of lettuce, cabbage etc that we've bought from the supermarket and putting it in water to sprout, then planting out in the garden. I tried a few things, onions and cucumbers too, but some went a bit mouldy and smelly so I chucked them!

The lettuce and cabbage seemed to re-sprout well, I left them on the kitchen windowsill in glasses of water, changing the water every couple of days. I planted them out in the plots once they had some leaves, though I think I may have waited too long for the lettuce as it's leaves were getting big. After a few days out in the garden, it doesn't look so great 🤨

The avocado nuts, I first had them soaking in water for a while, then I read that you should pop cocktail sticks in them and suspend with an inch in the water. I've done this now, but they are looking a bit dry on the top... Originally they changed shape a wee bit to a bit more pointy at one end which was interesting.

I haven't really read much on how to do this all properly, so nothing might happen with these, but fun to try a wee experiment.

[scottypixie]

20th - Sprouting!

Things are popping up! Most still so small, but exciting! Somethings working so far anyway 😂 The onions have really grown in the last couple of weeks.

[scottypixie]

19th - Seed sharing

One of the nicer things about this lockdown is seeing neighbours about more than usual and often pottering about in their gardens too. One neighbour even let me take her tin of seeds for a few days and take what I liked! How kind!

So I ended up planting a few more seeds, sunflower, cabbage, carrot, red spring onion and spinach! Excited to have a few more things in there now.

Good to share seeds as you don't always need the whole packet and seeds don't always last until the next season.

Tip from my gardener cousin - top up the planting drills with compost, it gives the seeds a boost and you can see where you planted them as the compost is usually a darker colour.

[scottypixie]

Share your tips and gardening stories!

Have you started gardening during lockdown? Have you always had green fingers? Do you have any kitchen gardening advice or tips? Or any stories of things going wrong or not as expected?! Or any questions or comments, feel free to post them.

[scottypixie]

18th - Covering

There was the leftovers of a planting tunnel that we used years ago found in the shed in the garden. Unfortunately, the plastic covering for it was missing. But there was also an unused pea netting there too.

I had been using an old shower curtain to cover the onions and strawberries to protect them from the birds and other pests that might see the green and fancy a snack. Mainly putting it on at night and taking it off in the day to allow them to get the sun, but it didn’t seem ideal.

I put the metal poles from the tunnel over the shallots and strawberry plants, then pulled the pea netting over it, trying to tuck it into the soil or under a stone to hold where possible. Hopefully this works well to protect the plants!

[scottypixie]

17th - fertilizing

I bought some fertilizer from the local supermarket as I kept reading that it’s good to have in the soil for many plants. This one is a general fertilizer, but I know there are different kinds for different types of soil and plants too. Also, ideally I would have put this in with the soil well before planting, but it is also possible to add after planting. There’s info on the back about how much to put per plant type and area. I measured it out on scales as I had no idea how much the amount was, but I reckon seasoned gardeners just throw it on when they can estimate the amount better. But I could be wrong! I gently raked over the soil first, then sprinkled this over each of the four plots and then watered it in.

[scottypixie]

16th

16th -Chives

These chive seeds are tiny, I put a small pinch, about the amount in my hand into each hole I made. I'm growing them in the plot with the lettuce and other salady things. They were planted about 6 inches apart...but to be honest, I've been guessing a bit more with the distances of planting. I do try to measure it but I think as they grow if plants are too close, I can thin them out. (I think this doesn't apply to all plants, but it seems to with quite a few)