DIGTOPLANT

Windmills at Killington

2012-01-20T21:03:00.002Z

As I travel around the county of Cumbria most days I thought i would take my camera with me and last Tuesday 17th I snapped this picture at M6 junction 37 it was a great winters day crisp and bright and hardly a cloud in the sky, A bit different to today! Not everyone cares much for the windmills but I think they look quite a feature as you are driving on the M6. Just for the record I set up 30 of my shallots in to some 3 litre pots and put them in my cold frame, usually I keep them in the greenhouse but somehow Judys got her 6 hens settled in their early december , mind they are under eviction orders to be gone by the end of february. I may try growing the shallots in the pots right through as a trial and use the ground that I normally grow them in for something different this year but there again I might change my mind come spring and just grow them as normal.

Leeks and lights

2012-01-15T19:34:00.009Z

I thought it about time to pot on my leeks again as they were looking like they were in needed a change. I decided I would try some different pots this year as I hope to encourage them to root a bit deeper, with the standard size pots it always seemed that the roots hit the base quite quickly then just went round in circles so with an extra 2"of pot to grow into I hope to see some extra benefit. I do find it a bit of a fidley job ( it took me from 11am to 2-30pm to get 21 done) staking and slipping on the collars which are at up to seven inch and with another inch underground they are a fair bit ahead of the ones I grew last year. The mix I used was 3 parts levington No 3, 2 parts peat saved from last years potato bags and 1 part vermiculite it looked nice and open so I thought I would give it a try. On tuesday I was at our NVS meeting and John Soulsby from the north east talked on growing leeks with artificial lighting some of it was fairly technical but still fascinating to hear the different requirements and options that are available, but I was pleased that he thought Envirolights like I have are a decent compromise for the hobby gardener like me, One thing that I picked up on was that onions need slightly different light spectrum than leeks seemingly if you use a 600 Watt sodium light with dual spectrum and a proper reflector hood is essential, it encourages longer plant cell development giving a more shapely and upright onion than if fluorescent type light is used, so now I know why I am hopeless at growing onions from seed. Last summer I grew some Kelsea onion seed into sets after reading about it on the NVS forum and I am going to try planting them this spring my main thought was that it would save a lot on heating and lighting from Christmas to March , I know it may be not for the purists but if it works I may stick with it so watch this space and see how I go on.

Hello again

2012-01-07T21:31:00.003Z

Hello and it is nice to be back, as it is just over a year since i last updated i thought it time to get back on the blog trail again. I didn't really mean to leave it so long but I guess I just ran out of things to write about.

I grew A bit less Veg last season and as we had such a wet and cool year it was probably not such a bad thing, got to the usual shows and even managed a couple of best in shows with my potatoes (Amour) and another best in show with a pair of marrows, and I had a go last season at showing Dahlias with some success even getting a bronze medal at Ingleton show with some Weston spanish dancer, and I even put an entry of a trugg of vegetables in at Harrogate which won a second. So thats a quick round up of my 2011 growing year now it's time to look forward to this season.

I have got some nice pendle improved leeks that i got from David Metcalfe in November coming along at the moment, they are under lights 10 hours a day in my growing room with just a small amount of bottom heat. I am trying to take them on nice and steady, last year I think I may have pushed them to fast to soon and they seemed to stall a bit in late May early June and never grew with much vigour after that.

I have plans to get some more stump and long carrots barrels set up so as to get enough to cover an extra show plus I am having a go at long beet this time never really grown them before so I will have to give a bit of thought as to the best way doing them, and as a bit of extra interest I fancy trying to grow some beans for the longest runner bean classes I used to manage to compete with just the longest of my stenner variety but the opposition have upped their game and I have been falling short the last couple of years so this time I have sourced some special seed and, well this time I mean business.

Start of another years growing

2010-12-28T16:06:00.013Z

Well we definitely had a white Christmas this year and I thought I'd take a picture as they don't (thankfully) come along that often. The snow may not show up too much on the picture but believe me it was chucking it down, and we got another 3" on top of what we already had, luckily it turned to rain on boxing day and now we are having quite a rapid thaw. It's not possible to get on with anything outside but at least it is heading in the right direction.

So yesterday seemed a good day to get on with potting on my leek plants, I was given a nice head of pips (Pendle Improved) at our local NVS meeting in November and after a slow start they have started to do well, recently I think they weren't getting enough heat so I notched it up a bit and put them on to 24 hour daylight. I intend to knock them back soon to 12 hours once they have settled from repotting. If you look closely you can maybe see some of my shallots in the background they are not on any heat but it was a bit rough to put them out in to the greenhouse, so I have started them off inside the box and intend to move them into the greenhouse as soon as a couple of trays of Kelsea Onions and one tray of Pot leeks germinate that I sowed this morning. I don't think my shallots will take a lot of harm if it gets cold out in the greenhouse, if it does get really cold I will pop them on my heat mat at a low temperature and put some fleece over them. Below is a shot of the grow box I knocked up late summer when I was a bit out of sorts and needed something to keep me busy. It's built into some old industrial shelving I had, I lined it with 1" thick hardboard all round and covered it all with reflective foil. Then set 2 separate lengths of heat cable into 4" of sand so now I have enough room to hold 6 standard seed trays with the option of heating just 3 or all 6 depending on whats needed, the lights are 125 enviro lights. The main thing I made sure of was that there was plenty of headroom to raise the lights as my leeks grow. If you look closely you might be able to see a bottle of provado, as yesterday when I was potting on the leeks I noticed there were a few black flies on the leaves which I suspect may have been hibernating on the shallots and the warmth has woken them up so I gave them a quick blast and today they seem clear.

Greetings

2010-12-24T19:46:00.002Z

Not a lot to say other than Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to everyone. James

A thumb twiddling sort of day

2010-12-05T14:15:00.008Z

Some days its just to cold and snowy to go out side and today is one of them days so it seemed an ideal time to get some seed out of the marrow (Blyton Belle from Smithy) that I set to one side early October it was the best one on the plant. I managed to collect about 100 seed that were good and plump so once I have got them nicely dried and stored in the fridge with any sort of luck I should get enough for my needs (3 Plants) to germinate next May. It is my intention to start them of a 3 weeks sooner next year as i did find starting them beginning of June just left it a bit tight for the earliest shows, Normally they do grow fast but with all the very dull cool and wet weather we had here from July onwards it held them back plus pollination was hampered with lack of insect activity. Quite a lot of the seeds that i have ordered have arrived now but im still waiting for Medwyn to send out the Kelsea his own selection I hope they get here before Christmas as I planned to sow them before the new year, that reminds me talking of Christmas I haven't even started any shopping yet.

Thank goodness

2010-10-22T19:09:00.003+01:00

What a relief that Wayne Rooney decided to sign I for one was really panicking. Don't think I could have stood another week of all the tension. Not sure which is bigger his ambition or his ego.

Cool mornings and long nights

2010-10-17T19:16:00.007+01:00

There was a bit of a nip in the air this morning, not quite cold enough for any frost but it left me in no doubt that Autumn has well and truly arrived, it was enough to make me decide to take the marrow (Blyton Belle) I have been keeping for seed inside, I have left it in the spare room and will give it 2/3 weeks before I open it up and take the seeds out. That done it was time to tackle sorting out my garage, well I call it the garage but it has never had a car in it so I suppose it is better described as my shed, it's surprising what turns up, some things that I thought were well and truly lost had just been lurking in the back of a shelf , I knew I had put them away somewhere safe. Last Tuesday night we had David Thornton along to give a talk to our local NVS club on growing potatoes and very interesting it was too, one variety that he seems to think could be promising is Casablanca so I have decided to give them a go next year instead of Winston which never seem to do very well for me. I also have some Sherine and Amour tubers that I saved from the mini tubers I grew this summer, saving my own seed potatoes is not something that I have done before but as they are almost first generation seed and I made a big effort to keep them healthy I think I will get away with it plus Kestrel that always seems to be reliable.

Bit of a disaster on the football front with United going down 2-1 to Exeter at St James Park personally I think after that result they should rename their ground.

I'm Back

2010-10-11T18:59:00.007+01:00

I'm back from a great holiday in Majorca and back on line and blogging again. Thanks to all those that took the time to email me when I was off line. It's a bit late now to bother about this Summer though I did get to most of my usual shows and did get amongst the prizes, I have to say I did struggle to really compete, and this last month I have been putting my efforts into getting ready for next year, even built myself a grow box with heat cables and grow lights so as to be able to start things like onions and leeks off just that bit sooner and keep them moving, hopefully without getting any checks, I have even got most of my carrot and parsnip mixes ready so as I don't have a last minute dash next spring.

On the football front United are having a storming start to the season sitting a comfortable second in the league after last Saturday's win over Notts County, this could be our year for promotion with a bit of

luck just keep your fingers crossed.

Talking about football, I couldn't help but take this picture next to the pool when we were away, yep they get everywhere but I never saw it again after the game against Blackpool, though I'm sure I did see the same guy reading the beginners guide to baseball later on in the week.

On the flower front

2010-06-06T18:25:00.011+01:00

Just a overall shot of our back garden, it seems a bit empty in parts but we have put in quite a lot of bedding plants to fill up the gaps where things got killed of in the hard winter. I have put up my flag to support England at the World cup I just hope it's flying high next Saturday when we play the USA in our opening game.

The rhododendrons are now just getting in to full flower which is the best part of a fortnight later than usual, they do make a good screen for my compost bins and store of old plant pots that are tucked in just behind them.

Even Judy's hanging baskets starting to get in to flower.

A check on progress

2010-06-06T16:32:00.060+01:00

It's been a strange sort of week here in Cumbria with all the trouble on the west coast and it's put a bit of a damper on things even though we are about 30 miles away from where it all happened, it does make you think if it can happen here in Cumbria it can happen anywhere. On Wednesday there was that much police action going on it seemed more like Los Angeles than here, it's just so sad for everyone affected.

Well on a more upbeat note I think I have finally worked out how to upload pictures with this new computer so I thought I'd give a quick look round and show how most things are looking today.

My onions seem to be growing at a fair old pace and seem to be doing well, it's just a pity that they were a bit late planted, but they may catch up with a bit of luck

The carrots are showing good growth recently and I think they are just a shade ahead of where they were this time last year, maybe it is because we have a lot more sunshine and warmth.

After a steady start the potatoes have sprung into life and I will soon have to think about supporting the foliage and maybe start with a bit of blight control.

The pumpkins are now starting to be hardened of ready to be planted out hopefully next weekend, I had to lift them inside this morning as they were getting a bit of a bashing in the heavy showers we have had this morning.

May 29 th where has the year gone

2010-05-29T21:45:00.004+01:00

The carrots and potatoes seem on the whole to be making steady progress this month with quite a surge of top growth in the last week on the potatoes especially, and I have been thinning the carrots down once or twice a week and now most stations are down to just one plant. I try to resist the final thinning as long as I dare as I can suffer a bit with jackdaws pulling them out at times and there is nothing more annoying than empty stations so I hold back till the last moment when the last plant is well rooted and they don't seem to bother as much.

Now that June is in sight and the 5 day weather forecast is quite favourable I decided that it was time to get the greenhouse sorted out, it's amazing just how much clutter seems to build up in the last month or two with all the bedding plants that have been growing on and others that needed overwintering inside, add to that all the potting on over the last few weeks when no matter how hard I try compost and other rubbish seems to get scattered about the floor, so it was nice to get everything outside that will be planted out over the next week or so (except my hopefully giant pumpkins that I potted on only a week ago and will be better inside for a fortnight yet) and have a good brush up, leaving me the space to set up the leeks onions and tomatoes that I grow in large pots in their final positions for the summer plus some cucumber and pepper plants that I am trying for the first time this year, if I get everything sorted this bank holiday weekend I can relax and watch the world cup and as I'm an optimist I think we might do well this time making the final at least.

I will try to get some pictures uploaded in the next few days but just at the moment I'm having trouble working out how to do it on our new computer which is an Apple I think? and seems to work a bit different to our last model, one other problem I am having is it simply refuses to open the NVS web site saying it cannot connect to the server so I am missing out on all the banter on the members page which is a pity or is the site down for everyone I just don't know.

Frosty nights and dry days

2010-05-12T19:51:00.007+01:00

Blimey we have had a couple of cold nights this week, down to minus 6 at Shap, which is our nearest weather monitoring station Thankfully it's not got quite that cold in my garden but it's been pretty nippy with a frost and it has meant that the potatoes have needed protection along with some bedding plants that Judy put out last weekend into three really big old metal pots that were once used for boiling swill for feeding pigs in the dim and distance past, another thing that has long since been banned, though it would probably be thought of as pretty trendy recycling now. I brought them from the farm when we moved home. Fortunately a builder's bulk sand bag just fitted over each of them and gave them just enough protection, the potatoes are still small enough to be OK with an upturned bucket over them but it's just as well that I don't grow too many as I had a bit of a job finding enough old buckets. Mind you, even though it's been cold it's been so dry here with almost a month without rain that I have had to do a fair bit of watering just to help things along especially my carrot drums so as they don't get dried out and start wilting.

Its a bit ironic just as it turns cold my 3 pumpkin seeds have germinated though I hasten to add they are well tucked up in the greenhouse and in my propagator at a nice 60+ degrees.They only got planted at the end of last week and they are up and away already, I think Heidi would be proud of them, now I just have to see if we can keep them going without a check till planting

out in June. If they keep growing at this rate, the centre one was the same size as the two on the outside yesterday, they will be big plants by then.

My dahlias are starting to put on some good growth these last 10 days since I divided them. For some reason I don't seem to have a lot of luck at taking cuttings, probably because I start a bit too early in the year when they are not growing as vigorously, so this year I thought I would divide them first and maybe try some cuttings at the same time or later. The cuttings that I took are under the milk carton that I popped over them so as they had a bit of protection from the bright sunshine. If you look carefully at the second picture three plants have quite a distinct yellowing on the young leaves compared to all the rest, they are the variety Marys Jomanda so I am hoping it is just a quirk of that variety and not something more sinister.

Weekend off but no time to put my feet up

2010-05-02T21:20:00.018+01:00

It's nice to have a long weekend off and I have been making the most of it with getting on with some much needed weeding, done in my flower beds, before they really get away on me, one problem of making a new garden out of what was an old pony paddock is that there is a large reservoir of weed seeds just waiting to germinate, and they reckon it takes 10 years to begin to exhaust the supply so on that reasoning I should be all right in about 4 years. The hard winter that we had, has left us with some casualties having lost a couple of Hebes and a Cordyline plant that I was particularly proud off, plus others like a ceanothus that has had all its leaves killed of but fortunately it is now just showing signs of coming back with quite a few shoots starting to show on the main stems, it won't be much of a show this year but with a bit of luck it could be back next spring.

My carrots have germinated fairly well with most stations through now with just half a dozen not showing as yet, it may be that they failed because I didn't start watering them soon enough to help them along, the problem being that the drying winds that we have been having made a crust form on the top of the mix and I suspect that some have not been able to push their way through and died, I am thinking of popping in a long beetroot seed in the failed stations as i think it a bit late to resow carrots.

I received my Kelsea onions that I ordered about ten days ago and as they wern't as big as I thought they would be, instead of planting them out right away I just potted them up into some 3 inch pots and kept them in the greenhouse. Its only in the last few days that they seem to have started to move forward so I think it could be another two weeks before they get in to their final position, most will go outside but I will keep about ten in the greenhouse in 20 liter pots to see how they do compared to the ones grown outside. I have been watering them from underneath as in the picture to see if I can encourage them to get their roots down searching for water rather than just stay in a tight ball it might work you never know.

Tonight there is a chance of frost forecast and sods law today the first of my potatoes have pushed through so I have had to earth them up with a bit more peat and the covered them with some upturned buckets to keep them nice and warm, the ones in the yellow buckets are growing Winston with Kestrel in the white buckets and in the bags are my NVS varieties, yellow bags Sherine and blue bags Amour, It's all colour coordinated and planned out you know.

60 Today

2010-04-18T19:09:00.014+01:00

This Saturday was my 60th Birthday and though I'm not usually that keen on any celebrations I did make a special effort this year and took the family (weren't they lucky) to watch United play Oldham and just to make it more memorable we sponsored the match ball and had the full days package it was a pity we lost 2-1, mainly because of bad refereeing decisions, and if we had been playing Alec Ferguson's time I'm sure we would have got at least a draw.
There was that many candles on my cake it nearly burnt the house down.

My youngest daughter Susannah and oldest Granddaughters Amy and Jenny thinking of making a substitution, not me I hope.

Young Ella studying form, you are never too young to start.

The roar of the crowd makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

That's me in the middle you will notice Susannah my daughter has already pinched the ball off me.

A bit more done

2010-04-18T18:39:00.005+01:00

I can hardly believe that we are past the half way mark in April, I have had that much to do at work it just seems to have flown by, but this morning I decided to start getting the first potatoes planted out, I don't grow that many just a dozen Winston and the same of Kestrel plus this year 5 NVS Sherine and 5 NVS amour, and it was the Sherine and Winston that I planted today. The Winston seemed just a bit further on than the others but with luck the rest will be in by next weekend, quite how the NVS varieties will grow I'm not sure as the seed potatoes that I got sent are only the size of marbles and have only just got some tiny chits on them, it may be they might just struggle to get any size so I will have to settle to get some reasonable sized stock for growing next year.One thing that hasn't come through yet are my carrots that were planted on the 4th of April, still time yet I suppose but they should be popping up soon I hope. The dahlias that I'm growing seem to be doing well out in the greenhouse and it is just a matter of keeping an eye out for frost from now till they go out late May. I do have some fleece to put over them should it be necessary.

April Fools Day

2010-04-01T20:23:00.010+01:00

I hadn't realised that it is about 2 weeks since I last logged in on the internet, as I have been very busy with lambing and it has been a hard slog this year, with a constant fight with the poor weather we have been having, any way we are about halfway through now and hopefully a new month will bring better times. After looking round all the usual blogs (you know who you are) to catch up with all that happening, it seems that everyone has really got cracking and left me on the starting line. So I must try and find some time this weekend to get organised, mind I did get all my carrot mix done and into the bore holes last Monday (actually it was quite therapeutic after the Johnson Paint final where United just fell short of their usual high standards) even if it was dark when I got it completed, its not easy pouring carrot mix and holding a torch at the same time. If there is any sign of a bit of warmth I might try and get the carrots sown this weekend, or if not I will try and get my peat shredded ready for setting up my potatoes later in the month. The Winston are getting some shoots up to a couple of inches long now and will need planting out soon, though the Kestrel, Amour and Sherine are still a bit behind and don't seem as urgent to need planting and should be OK till near the end of the month. With a bit of luck I might have chance to do another update this weekend and will try and get some pictures taken to show whats going on.

Now I know why I don't get stressed

2010-03-18T19:11:00.003Z

Stressed workers given jam jars of fresh air
The jars were filled at beauty spots including Townend near Windermere
Fresh air captured in jam jars at English beauty spots has been given out to city workers in a bid to encourage them to visit the great outdoors.
The National Trust handed out the jars in London after a survey revealed going to the countryside made 70% of people feel more relaxed.

2010-03-14T16:44:00.010Z

With it being a bit warmer I took the time to blanch my leeks, at the moment they are in the garage under lights that are on twelve hours a day. They are growing steadily enough but the really cold weather earlier in the year, has just held them back a bit ,even though they have had some bottom heat since they were planted up. In about a fortnight there will be 12 hours of natural daylight so at that point I will try and put them out in the greenhouse with just some light bottom heat so as to harden them off and just hope that they catch up by September. I have been moving and dividing a few flowering plants around this afternoon which is a bit later than I would normally do them but as they are still only just breaking into bud they should be OK. One thing I will have to get cracking with is getting all the mixes done for carrots, parsnips and potatoes before we start lambing on the farm. Lambing starts at the end of the month for us and if it gets hard going and we need a extra pair of hands I wonder if I could get Kate Humble to come and help out as she seems to have enjoyed herself on 'Lambing Live' this week.

The really good news is United's great win over Colchester on Saturday. Just lately we have struggled a bit having been hit with injuries to our strikers, and so it was handy our new loan signing Jason Price slotted right in to the team scoring one and making one for Ben Marshall . If we can get a result against Yeovil on Tuesday and Southend on Saturday we may get to the magic figure of 50 points before the Johnson Paint Final at the end of the month .

Happy days are here again

2010-03-08T21:02:00.010Z

Last few days have really lifted the spirits with lot's of bright sunshine and blue skies , though it has meant some frosty mornings. I decided to turn all the sand in my long carrot and parsnip barrels to loosen it up ready for boring out the growing stations towards the end of the month, the house next door to my home is used as holiday cottage and i'm sure the people staying there this weekend thought i was a bit nut's as i first emptied one barrel in to a bulk bag then proceeded for the next 2/3 hours to empty one barrel in to the one next to it before putting the sand in the bag in to the last barrel. One thing about having all this frost and not so much rain since Christmas is it has made a good job of getting all the ground on the veggie plot in realy good condition with it breaking down in to a really nice seed bed for when it starts to get warmer.

I took a look at my seed poatoes that have been chitting up on Sunday and they seem to be coming on nicely with some good strong sturdy shoots starting to come on both the Kestrel and Winston mind my NVS varieties Sherine and Amour seem a bit further behind but I suppose that's because they are a lot less in size. I might put them in the kitchen for 3/4 weeks where it is a bit warmer just to get them pushing on a bit faster. A couple of my dahlia varieties (Marys Jomanda and Shophie Taylor) are just starting to show signs of sprouting so it could be that i will be able to take some cuttings towards the end of the month.

This last week I have somehow got myself roped into standing in as a temporary caretaker at our local junior school from 6.30 to 8/30 AM, as if I haven't got enough to do! but i find it hard to say no if they are stuck, still it was interesting to see that they have plans to grow quite a bit of veg this summer all the kids seem to have a potato each chitting up and there was a decent selection seed packets ready for sowing so with a bit of luck some of them might enjoy the experience and stick with it or take it up when they get older. I didn't think they did that any more, mind when i was at school (When you say that you know you getting old) we all had to help in the school garden, and the school kept pigs and hens.

Thinking of Summer

2010-02-21T19:29:00.006Z

Just when it seemed that we were finally starting to shake of winter once again another big dollop of snow dumps it self on us, hopefully it won't hang about to long but it makes it difficult getting caught up with jobs in the garden that are now starting to pile up. One thing I am pleased to say is that I have at long last finished erecting my new greenhouse, it has taken since mid December to get it completed which seems a hell of a long time I know but I haven't wasted any time, (honest) but the weather just made it a long struggle, If I ever build another it's going to be in Summer.

I have set up some of my Dahlia tubers today as i am going to try and get some cuttings of them, the varieties are.Lakeland polly. Marys Jomanda .Sophie Taylor. Kenora Sunset and Western Spanish Dancer, plus to come in April i ordered some Teesbrooke Redeye and Honka Suprise. It seems a lot of different varieties but I just thought it would be interesting , mind it will mean that i grow a few less Veg this year but I will try to grow some better sorts of what i do grow, so I will concentrate on Potatoes Carrots Onions Leeks Marrows and a giant Pumpkin anything else will just have to fit in where it can.

Winston finally turns up

2010-02-12T19:08:00.008Z

A couple of weeks ago I got the first of my seed poatoes (Kesterl) but was having trouble finding any Winston, after searching around i was beginning to doubt that i would ever get some, but yesterday i just happened to call in at very low key type garden center a few miles away that i was passing by during work and finally tracked some down, best bit was you just pick out the ones you wanted and as I only need 12 the cost was only £1. 20 for a real good clean and even bunch. Mind as is the usual way i couldn't resist buying 4 bags of Irish Shamrock peat as well that they were also selling, I think they must be about the only center round here that still stock peat all others seem to have to have been pressurised into not stocking it any more. Well I say good on them and as Arnie says I WILL BE BACK.

United win Leeds lose.

2010-02-09T21:52:00.005Z

We're off to Wembley after beating Leeds United in the semi final. I know it had to go to penalties but who cares just so long as you win,and it's even sweeter when it's Leeds that you beat.

Getting impatient

2010-01-31T20:15:00.018Z

Well it's a few days since I got back from holiday and although all the snow and ice has gone thank goodness, the ground is frozen solid which is a bit of a pain as I had planned to get stuck into doing a bit of late digging and finish erecting my new greenhouse, I knew I should have done it in late summer early October when the weather was good but as I had to build it on the site of my old smaller one it seemed a shame to take that down when the tomatoes were fruiting away furiously and now I'm stuck trying to do it at weekends as the days are too short for working in the evenings and as you can see it looks a bit like a building site at the moment. It is going to have a solid floor made with spare bricks that I have had left over from other projects and others recycled from the previous greenhouse, as I prefer to do all the growing in pots. All of the pots that I used in the past have come from the farm that were sold to us full of animal feed but just recently Health and Safety has meant that we can only get every thing in smaller lightweight buckets so we don't hurt ourselves lifting them, OK for us I suppose but they are a bit useless for growing in so I have had a look on the net for some large pots and the cheapest I found were about £6 pound each.

My shallots are now potted up, a bit later than last year but as it has been so cold I don't think they will be very far behind come planting out in the spring and I got my NVS Sherine and Amour potatoes this week from Jamieson's of Annan they look clean and healthy and should be interesting to grow this Summer, also I picked up from our local garden centre some Kesterel but they have decided not to stock Winston this year for some reason so I will have to try some where else for them this week, I gave the Kesterel a good wash under the cold tap as shown in Sherie Plumbs DVD to sort them out and I must say I was I bit disappointed with them when I looked at them closely they had a fair bit of scab marking on them, they say it doesn't affect the new crop but I'm not so sure as last year I had a lot of scab on my Winstons especially and they were grown in clean fresh peat not in garden soil. An old trick I was told to kill off the scab bacteria used to be dipping the seed potatoes in a weak solution of formaldehyde for a hour It sounds a bit drastic but I wonder if that would work or even if it's still legal! does anyone know?

Leeks and more Leaks

2010-01-09T19:11:00.015Z

There's no getting away from this cold weather and work outside in the plot has ground to a halt, the only good thing with all the snow covering everything my garden looks as good as everyone else's, though I have taken the time today to pot on my leeks that I started mid November on into some 5" pots, should have probably done them sooner but there you go, and now they look a bit lost in such large pots. I would have usually put them into 3" pots first then 5" but as I am off to Portugal in just over a week for a break and will have to leave them to fend for themselves I thought they would have less risk of drying out whilst I am away in a bit more compost. The leeks are now about 6"/8" in height which is probably on the small size compared to some but I have tried to grow them at a slightly cooler temperature this year so as to be able to keep them moving froward slowly but steadily so as not get too tall and leggy too soon when it is still Winter. On the farm we have had a bit of a problem with the cattle's water troughs freezing up and this morning I arrived to find a leak in the system which had made quite a mess, plumbing is not one of my favourite jobs but we finally managed to get it sorted and mopped up but it was a cold and miserable hour doing it.

Theres always something to make you smile that turns up every day and today was no exception when I received an email from Gordon Brown asking me if I would like to donate ten pounds or more to the Labour party, er sorry Gordon you've got no chance. Mind if anyone reading this is interested in helping him out, and just at the moment the poor guy does seem a bit short of friends the message and link is. If you can't make it out to campaign this weekend you can still make a huge difference to our fight by donating just £10 today - every single penny you give will go towards our campaigning in the coming months. http://www.labour.org.uk

I think it was a serious ask, hell he must be desperate.

This cold weather is getting boring now

2010-01-04T20:44:00.017Z

This is the third week now, since it went cold and snowy and it is not showing much sign of changing yet, all the side roads and pavements are still covered in solid ice about a couple of inches thick, making it hard to get about and I am still having to walk to work because the local council will only salt the main roads, hard to believe that at the end of November, Cumbria had the wettest 24 hours ever recorded in England at just over 12" rain when Cockermouth got flooded and Workington had it's bridges washed away, I don't think we have ever had so many Government ministers and national politicians rushing up to see how things were, making sure that they got their faces on TV, you would think there must be an election coming soon. Thinking of visitors I have just been watching ITV's new series "The Lakes" recorded last Summer, if you were eagle eyed you might just have spotted my house from the ariel shot of Windermere thankfully the garden looked tidy and all veg seemed OK. Another victim of this weather is the work on my new greenhouse that has ground to a halt as it is just too cold to start handling the glass but hopefully it will be finished soon and I can get my shallots planted.

On Saturday I got to Goodison Park to see United play Everton, even though we lost and the score was 3-1 it was a great game with United playing some of the best football and up until the 83rd minute we could have nicked it having had a great shot from Danny Livesey strike the underside of the bar 5 minutes before Everton scored their second goal after getting away with a dodgy foul in the build up to it, their last goal was a penalty when they caught us on the break in the last thirty seconds as we had one last attack and only left the goalkeeper back, but at least his was a good fair foul. Now as they say we can concentrate on the League although we are still in the Johnson Paint Cup with a tough semifinal draw against Leeds United but they are now't so we should see them off.

Back in Business

2009-12-28T19:31:00.012Z

Finally I have managed to get my computer back on line, and hey we are up and running just over a month it's taken with all the messing about, so fingers crossed things are looking up, the problem seemed to be via our Internet connection with Orange so now that we have dumped them and the odd tweak here and there and its job sorted. Hope every one had a happy Christmas and are ready for the new year I know we have / are, all the snow put paid to any travelling about, I even had to walk to work on the farm as the roads are so full of snow and ice that no vehicle could travel on the steep hills safely so the couple of miles walking has helped to walk off Christmas dinner, just keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is clear on second of January as I'm off to watch United play Everton in the third round of the Cup, it should be fun, I wonder who we draw in the next round, Manchester United at home would be tasty.

My new greenhouse arrived just before Christmas and I have been getting on with putting it together these last few days, it's been a bit nippy on the finger ends and as I have been working in snow 6" deep it has taken a bit longer than I had planned, still just about got it ready for glazing when the frost goes, hopefully before I go on holiday mid January, thought I had plenty of time to sort everything when we booked but I can see it is going to be a mad rush as usual One thing I did remember was to pay my N V S membership on time this year and as they now can accept payment online it was a lot less hassle, it seems decent value for all the information that you can pick up I might even be tempted to go and show at Harrogate next September or maybe I just had too much wine to drink and getting carried away. One thing that I have held back on this time is planting my shallots, last year I did them on the shortest day but it was cold then I remember and they just did nothing so I am going to leave them a couple of weeks and see if they get a quicker start.

As Things Stand

2009-11-21T20:36:00.017Z

For the first time in ages I have had a few spare hours this weekend when I had hoped to get stuck in to some of those jobs in the garden that have needed doing, but unfortunately the weather has dashed all hopes of getting on with anything outside. Once I just carried on regardless of the weather, but I think I must be getting wiser or maybe just older that I am a bit more reluctant to get soaked to the skin. I have found away round not been able to be outside and have just ordered a new larger Greenhouse to keep dry in, so as soon as I get my old 8x6 taken down I will replace it with a new one 8x12 doubling my growing area plus it will be a foot taller, it's the same old story after about twelve months you realise you should always get the biggest one that you can first time but i never learn. Hopefully it should be up by the turn of the year the only thing that i have had to deal with are the Leek grass that i potted on from the head I was given so they are in a simple light box type arrangement in the garage I planted up 3 -40 module trays of them and in the main they seem to be growing quite nicely I have put them on heat and 12 hours a day of light just looking at them it seems they will need potting on in 2/3 weeks when i will just keep the strongest half and i plan to keep selecting them until I'm left with just 20 or 30. Last week Judy and I were down in Cambridge visiting our youngest Grandchild and as it is quite near Jimmy Docherty,s (Jimmys farm of the telly) at Ipswich I couldn't resist popping along to have a look round, well it's farming I suppose but not as i know it, still he giving it a good try and bringing in a fresh approach to farming and selling to customers, but i did think £20 for sausage and mash and a sausage roll plus 2 cups of tea was a bit steep

Miss Ella Lauren Ford

2009-10-29T19:24:00.016Z

Yesterday was a bit special in that Judy and I dashed off to Cambridge to say hello to our third and latest granddaughter Ella Lauren born on Monday 26th of October it was a long trip at just under 500 miles there and back to Cumbria . Grandma soon got back into the swing of nursing even if I was a bit rusty at it. Our stay seemed all to short but it was well worth it just to see Abi, Ian and Ella and we are planning to get back for a few days early next month.

Even when we were miles from home there is always something that reminds you of home and when we caught up behind one of Eddies Lorry's I was reminded of Uniteds main shirt sponsor and it must be a sign that our Ella must be their youngest fan. I wonder if they do baby grows in united team kit, lets hope so.

Grinding on

2009-10-25T20:44:00.007Z

Last year it seemed to take forever to clear all the fallen leaves but this year it should prove to be a bit easier as I got the chance to fell a couple of large trees that were getting on a bit and last wednesday i had a local contractor in to get the the stumps ground out, it was pretty tough going as they were well secured in the ground and tangled up with a lot of rock and stone but it just steadily munched it all up and now all i need to do is back fill with some rough fill and cover with top soil and leave it to settle over winter ready for reseeding come spring. Should make it easier to make a tidy job of mowing the front lawn in 2010.

United V Morcambe

2009-10-25T20:21:00.003Z

It's that time of year again first round of the FA Cup and United have got a great draw at home to Morcambe who are the nearest league club in the draw (Newcastle is nearer but we will deal with them in the third round ) so it should draw a good crowd, especially now we have hit a bit of good form after a slightly iffy start ( a bit like Liverpool ) with a handy win over Southend on Saturday when our new signing Vincent Pericard ex Portsmouth and Stoke grabbing his first goal let hope it's the first of many.

Next years Leeks

2009-10-15T19:08:00.003+01:00

It might not look much just at the moment but with a bit of luck they could turn out to be next years winners. This is a head of the new Improved Pendle leek grass that I was given early this week by our top local leek grower Jim Robinson of Endmoor, just shows how generous some exhibitors can be that they are happy to share their stock with the very people that are trying to beat them , now the tricky bit is I don't really know what to do next I have been given a lot of good advice and looked it up on Medwyns pages on the NVS website so i know the theory but! anyway I will probably have ago this weekend at potting them on fortunately i only need about 20/30 plants to grow and just looking at the amount on the head there must be well over 100 potential plants.

The changing seasons

2009-09-27T20:43:00.032+01:00

Today was the last show of the season held in the Club Inn at Endmoor which is where our local N V S meetings are held, it's a bit different in that all entries are auctioned off for Charity at the close of the show and I suppose it is a slightly low key show but still everyone likes to win, and I am no exception so i was especially pleased when my Winston potatoes came first meaning that I have got first with potatoes in every show that I have entered them this year, in fact this is the first year I have ever got a ticket with potatoes. My granddaughter Jenny is keen on going to shows and had some entries in the children's competition and was pretty chuffed to get a first prize with her Veg Animals even though the other entries were her sisters.

So now all the excitement of the show season is over I had to get down to some serious work on the plot starting with a rough dig and weeding where I grew my onions and leeks this year, it has been empty since early August except for half a dozen leeks that I kept back for showing and it had started to look a bit neglected, it should break down nicely over the Winter and I will give it a good covering of compost soon and then cover it with plastic sheeting after Christmas as an experiment to see if it allows me a quicker start next Spring, the plant left in the corner is a hydrangea cutting that I took last backend and just popped it in the corner for the Summer, when it dies back in a month or two I will move it to a permanent place in the front border, I also got on with cleaning out the growing mixture from the carrot and parsnip with my home made coring device, so as to lessen the chance of carrying over any nasties that may have made them selves at home in there, later when I turn the sand over I will splash some disinfectant about, as a final clean up.

Results

2009-09-12T11:14:00.011+01:00

These are the best potatoes that I have ever grown after some disappointing years with them and I managed to get a first with a set of four coloured potatoes in the members section plus they won the cup for best set of potatoes in show in the members and open sections. My first attempt at growing marrows earned me a second with the one in the top right. Add on the win with peas and a couple of thirds with some fuchsias it was a OK day.

Little Helpers

2009-09-12T10:49:00.015+01:00

These are my two grand daughters and helpers who are holding some of the entries for the show. I managed a second with the leeks, a first with the long carrots, and as there is not a class for parsnips I used them in the any other class and tray of four different vegetables and got another couple of firsts with them plus as a bonus the special rosette to celebrate 75 years of the show with best veg in the open section. I think they were as pleased as I was.

Westmorland Horticutural Show

2009-09-10T15:12:00.008+01:00

Things are a bit hectic on the farm today with us finally able to get on with our silage, now the weather has finally picked up so i will give a fuller report by the weekend with more pictures, but things went well with a few firsts and seconds, but here is a picture of some of the team that do all the unseen hard work and make it all run smoothly. Mrs Robinson on the right even working on her Birthday. not sure how old but I'd guess about 55.

Those Bl***y deer

2009-09-05T14:40:00.013+01:00

Had a look on my plot this morning to see how things were looking ready for my main show on Tuesday /Wednesday to be met by a massacre of my Runner Beans, French Beans and Peas by the local marauding deer population , the whole of my peas and runners beans were completely stripped and the dwarf French Beans have just vanished completely, I have suffered a bit in the past but never on this scale. I will have to drop out of a few entries now but at least my marrow were left untouched along with the Parsnips Carrots and Broad Beans and my Potatoes are safely in the garage plus my tomatoes in the greenhouse. I'm not going to let it get me down but it may be time to try Venison for Sunday lunch soon. I only grew 2 Marrows and both seeds came from the same packet but there is quite a difference between both plants, the lighter variety is a lot more vigorous mind it did get a 3 week start on the other, yet I think I favour the darker one.

Football and Cricket

2009-08-31T20:35:00.004+01:00

United are starting to come into form now after a tricky start to the season having got a couple of strong draws away at Millwall and Orient, and best of all turning Bristol City over in the Carling cup, earning them a lucrative home draw against Portsmouth from the premiership. It should be a winnable match as Portsmouth won't fancy travelling up to Cumbria on a wet and windy Tuesday night, last time we played premiership opposition it was in a pre-season not so friendly against Hull City who somehow sneaked a lucky win. On the sporting front I'm hoping for a dry night tomorrow as our youngest daughter has got Judy and me tickets for the Twenty 20 England v Australia cricket match at Old Trafford so it should be good entertainment under the floodlight's, and I made sure that I'm having the morning off on Wednesday so we don't have to worry about getting home early either.

Mud and weeds

2009-08-31T19:44:00.003+01:00

Well, that was some bank holiday weekend it has hardly stopped raining since Friday afternoon and things are absolutely sodden and wet through, I would have liked to get on with some serious weeding as they have really taken off this month but when I walk on the ground it just turns to mud and it seems that I'm doing more harm than good so I have decided that I will just have to live with them until it drys up a bit, in fact it might be best to not bother till after most of the crops are lifted as they are at a size now that they can out compete most weeds, and then give the ground a good clean up through winter.

It seems that most of the country is having shows this weekend but round here it,s all quiet on that front which is a pity as I would have liked a day at a show. Next Saturday it is Milnthorpe and Sunday is Ingleton show, I have not entered either but may go and have a look round, I'm especially keen to go to Ingleton to see the Onion class and see how they should look as mine have been a big disappointment.

I was able to get on with sorting out some potatoes for my next show, the Kestrel turned out nice and clean but the Winston have suffered a bit of scab in fact some had suffered from too much rain and a few had grown big and had splits, Can't be sure why the Winstons only suffered from scab but I suspect that the Winston seed potatoes may have had a touch of scab when they came though I didn't notice it at the time, as both varieties were grown in buckets in a peat based mix and were not in contact with the soil, ( I will have a good look next year and might even get them from a different supplier ) I am thinking of trying NVS re introduced varieties Amour and Sherine supplied by Jamieson's of Annan next year and if they do well for me could save my own seed.

Just when things were going so well

2009-08-22T19:53:00.013+01:00

A week ago every thing was looking rosy and going on just great now seven days later things don't look just so clever, the main problem has been the high winds and heavy rain that have been battering us for the last 5 days which has really smashed up my plants, probably the worst affected has been my french beans and dahlias that have in some cases been smashed flat. I have spent quite a bit of time firming and re staking them back and i,m just hoping that they will pick up quickly i,m fairly optimistic about the dahlias but the french beans look to be a lost cause just at the moment they were a bush variety and to be honest i hadn't bothered to give them any sort of support as they looked strong low growing plants even my parsnips and carrots are looking a bit rough up but i think they will not take a lot of harm once the weather calms down. I did notice that just one of the dahlias seems to be suffering what looks to be some sort of virus damage which is a bit disappointing as i had just bought it as a rooted cutting this spring and was hoping to be able use it as a stock plant and get a good few cuttings of it next spring I would think it likely that any cuttings might be carrying the same virus so it will probably have to be binned even though it seems to be going to flower quite well.

On the Tomato front i have what looks suspiciously like the first signs of blight on one or two leaves so i have taken what looks like drastic action and removed any leaves that had any hint of it plus a good few more of the lower leaves just to be sure, now it is just a case of watching carefully to see if it has been nipped in the bud as most of the tomatoes are now fairly well grown and i have been picking them for just over a week now i think they they should continue ripen OK in fact it may help them with a bit more air and light.

On a brighter note the Fuchsias cuttings that i got given at our NVS meeting ( Some that were taken as part of the demonstration ) at the end of April are doing nicely and are looking like having a nice cover of flowers, it might have been better to not let them flower this year but i was curious to see how they would look in flower hopefully i might be able to get some to show next year.The varieties are white ones Sophie Louise and pink ones Border Raider.

Day out at Rusland Show

2009-08-15T19:27:00.015+01:00

After the wild and wet weather we had on Friday afternoon and night it was quite a relief that it all blew out by mid morning today (Saturday) and we were able to get outside and enjoy the show and sports that take place at the same time. It was a bit different as I said to the night before and which was absolutely no fun at all picking the crop to take and to be honest I made some pretty hasty decisions as to what went and what stayed but it turned out really well in the end winning the Blue Ribbon and cup for the best exhibit in Vegetable section with 3 leeks, not bad eh! they were pretty decent leeks but perhaps I could have blanched them a bit higher, still there's always next year to get it spot on. I also got a first with the carrots, parsnips and broad beans and a second with peas, but my marrow just scraped a third even if it was twice the size of the winner. I didn't take any onions as they seem to have done pretty poorly for some reason this year they grew well until the end of June then when it started to get in to July and it turned wet they seemed to grow lots of leaf then just flopped over next year I might try and plant them wider apart to give them more air and light later in the year, blimey I am thinking about next year and this year is still in full swing. I have some tomatoes now starting to ripen (them banana skins worked wonders Simon) and I managed to have just enough to get a set to take today but they just lacked a bit of quality and missed out on a ticket still there should be more to pick from soon. I had better give a mention to my granddaughters who took part in the sports section with Amy winning a third in the 200 m under twelves she got a cup to keep and that made her day, mind you she had already run the junior Fell race half an hour earlier and round here they run up proper Fells not just some steep hill. Jenny who's not just as athletic won the prettiest fancy dress competition so that's honours even in my book. Oh i nearly forgot Judy won a first with a knitted article and a second with a piece of sewing, she was robbed it should have won in my book.

Marrow day

2009-08-05T10:35:00.007+01:00

Picked my first marrow this morning i have a few now getting to a decent size but this one was the biggest, unfortunately it has got scratched quite a bit by the leaves so i decided to pick it now for tea tonight, and let the smaller but better ones have more time and space, it was growing at ground level. I have started to train a shoot up off the ground and hopefully soon they will hang down out of the way of damage. I can't decide if I should have stopped it from spreading out in all directions and stopped it from fruiting at ground level and made it concentrate it's energy in to just one shoot sooner. I think i might try that approach with my second marrow which was planted about a month latter and see how it goes on.

School Holidays Are Here Again

2009-08-03T18:47:00.013+01:00

Things have been quieter since the weekend when Simon and Natalie and family went on holiday to south Wales, though it was a bit hectic here just before they went, now that the school holidays have started we have had my 2 granddaughters spending quite a bit of time with us which keeps us on our toes they are quite keen on helping in the garden but it does make me a bit nervous where they are stepping at times, plus they are keen on picking the raspberries but unfortunately not too many make it back to the house. They had a bit of fun hiding under our Gunnera plant plus it made a good shelter from the rain showers that we have been having.

I still haven't been able to pick any tomatoes yet although some are just starting to turn but it will be touch and go as to whether I will have enough to make a decent set for the next show on the 15th August, I have trimmed some of them back to just three trusses to see if it helps to speeds up the ripening process, but at least I should have plenty by the end of the month. I did cover the glass with cool shade at the beginning of June when we had that heatwave and everyone was predicting it was going to be like that until September but it seems a waste of time now, still I bet if I wash it off things will get hot and sunny again! hum I might just try that.

Lifting Potatoes , First show

2009-07-26T20:22:00.027+01:00

Having lifted some potatoes last weekend for the first show of the season this Saturday I was well pleased with the Kestrel, soon being able to make up what turned out to be a winning set the Winston's were a bit of a disappointment though being very rough skinned and looking as if they had been over watered, making it impossible to get any sort of sample to take, so as it was a nice dry day on Saturday when I got back I decided to lift all the rest and take them inside to keep them out of the rain. I only grow 10 buckets of each variety and as I only emptied one bucket of Winston I am hoping that the remaining 9 will be a lot better. I did mean to lift 2 buckets of each variety but you know how it is I didn't book down where each variety was when I planted them, thinking I would remember, I think next year I must start to keep a diary of dates when things get planted and where it is.

Ambleside show proved a good day out winning five first places a couple of seconds and a couple of thirds and as a bonus I even won a cup with a rose that I entered I have never bothered with showing flowers before, but it just look too good to leave at home, I have planted some dahlias with the intention of showing this year but they still need 3 weeks before they will be ready. And just to finish the day off in style we have had the Red Arrows flying overhead giving a superb demonstration over the Lake for the air show being held in Bowness.

It's nearly showtime

2009-07-18T19:37:00.005+01:00

Next weekend is the first show of the season so i took a look round to see what looks like been ready before i fill in my entries. It is just a bit early for me and i am very doubtful that i will have any tomatoes ready in time which is a pity as i made an real effort starting them of in mid March, but i think i should be all right with Potatoes, Leeks, shallots, beetroot, under 8oz onions though they will be borderline as generally they seem to be struggling to make close to the weight, peas and hopefully broad beans plus i think i might pull some parsnips as i have plenty that seem to be doing well and i can spare a couple even though they might seem a bit on the small size with it being early season, though it is the same for everyone else and I'm happy to make up the numbers in the class. Plus one or two entries like one specimen Flower plus one specimen Vegetable and i might even have a some Dahlia ready if the weather is nice and sunny in the next few days to bring them on a bit. With the show being next weekend i have cut of all the top growth of 5 buckets of Potatoes covered them over to keep any rain of and set them to one side to give the skins a bit of time to set, i just hope that when i have a proper look they are OK. All in all it,s been an enjoyable day quietly mowing my lawns and pottering round the garden and now when i come back inside I see that we have the Aussies on the run in the Cricket and Tom Watson who is even older than me is leading in the Open golf so things just keep getting better.

Shallots drying off

2009-07-05T19:43:00.009+01:00

Early last week I lifted all my Shallots and set the best of them up on the garden seat to dry, they are in quite a cool shady spot under a large Oak tree which also keeps 90% of the rain off hopefully they will dry nice and slowly for a few more days and then i will sort through and see if i can get some matching sets before putting them away in a cool dark corner of the garage, the size of them is fairly decent so hopefully i can get a sniff of a ticket this year, it is usually quite a popular class to show in so winning any ticket is not easy.

Where they were lifted from I have now planted some Peas that i started in pots quite a while back and if i can keep them clear of mildew i might get a crop for September.

Marrows progress

2009-07-05T11:13:00.006+01:00

Managed to get a picture taken of my marrow plant just to show the growth in 7 days at this rate it going to take over the entire garden in about a month, it's maybe just as well only a couple germinated or i'd be soon running out of room.

A Hot And Humid Week

2009-07-04T21:24:00.009+01:00

The heat and humidity of the last week has really made a difference to everything, it made me wilt but everything in the garden seems to have lapped it up, our Gunnera has put on a spurt of extra growth and is pushing on for about 7'6" in height and even wider, most books say plant by water to help them grow but ours is just on the edge of the back lawn and seems to manage no problem, it makes a good screen for the blue barrels that I use to grow my parsnips and long carrots in, they have really started to put on a lot of strong healthy top growth lately so lets hope that things are growing just as well below ground. The beetroot needed earthing up as they had started to push up on to the surface and as I don't want them to get rough skins I just dragged some soil over, the beetroot have been a nightmare to grow this year as I have had them attacked by everything from jackdaws, slugs, rabbits and deer so every row has plants of different stages of growth where I have had to resow to fill in gaps plus the brussel sprouts are now getting a lot bigger and are just starting to compete with them for space, it's the same old story of thinking that there is room to spare when you sow things and just try to squeeze in that extra row. My marrow plant is now starting to grow some marrows I should have really taken a picture to show the difference of one week, if I get the chance I will post a shot of it tomorrow, I thought that they (marrows) were semi climbers and it was my plan to grow them up and over stakes but it seems to be producing from the centre at near ground level, all will come clear eventually I hope.

Marrow Growing ?

2009-06-28T18:10:00.005+01:00

At the end of last year i said that i was going to have a go at growing Marrows, well here it is the only one that i managed to get to germinate out of the first sowing, and i must say it does seem to be doing very well it was up and growing in 4 days and has never looked back , quite why i made such a hash of getting the rest of them to germinate I'm not sure i did everything according to the book even down to giving them a bit of gentle bottom heat, I did keep back half a dozen seeds for a second sowing but out of them only one germinated again, it is still in a pot at the moment as i want to give it a really good start before planting it out. I am going to sort out some frame work for them to grow over so as to keep the fruit of the ground in the next day or so and we will see how we go.

Tomatoes coming along nicely

2009-06-23T19:33:00.003+01:00

I had a close look at my tomatoes tonight and the heat of the last few days as really started to bring them on some of them are now about half grown and at this rate should be ready to pick in 2/3 weeks, one thing that i am having to watch is the watering as they seem to be needing a lot more than just a week ago, but i don't want to over water them so at the moment i am just giving a little and often and see how it goes. I have a show late July and it would be nice to have an entry as i will be a bit light on most other classes as it is just a bit to soon in the season for me really.

Uniteds Derek Lacey

2009-06-20T08:51:00.008+01:00

United lost one of it,s best supporters on Wednesday Radio Cumbria,s Derek Lacey.

Thank goodness it's the weekend

2009-06-13T19:40:00.013+01:00

It has seemed a long couple of weeks having been very busy with work and it surprising how things change when you turn your back , so it was nice to have a day quietly weeding and pottering about in the garden, though Simon has been busy mowing or silage ground Friday night and today so it looks as if Sundays going to be busy again. I think our rose is putting on a pretty decent show this year it has been in a about 3 years now and is just getting in to gear after a slow start and the geraniums are blooming away merrily i think of them as a reliable backup as they don,t mind a hard life and just keep coming back year after year.

The leeks are now needing the support for their leaves as they seem to be growing steadily away, I had a go at balancing them at the end of May, as it is the first time that i have tried to grow them for show potential I'm not to sure that i have done it right but we will soon find out come end of August

The Tomatoes are now getting a bit of size on them so i had to lift them down to ground level and get some supports set up they have all stared to come into flower this last week so lets hope that i can get some quality specimens, as they are growing in pots i water them from the underneath in a morning and at night i fill the pots set into the top of the compost, I have added a bit of Tomorite this weekend for the first time because they soon deplete the compost of nutrient when they are growing so rapidly next week i will probably give them a feed made up of soaked sheep muck and just keep alternating it all summer.

Parsnips and Carrots coming on

2009-05-30T18:26:00.006+01:00

Since the weather stopped raining just before the bank holiday it has made a tremendous difference to my parsnips and long carrots, just goes to show that no matter how hard you try you can't beat nature if you have to grow them outside. All the parsnips are still going strong but i did lose one long carrot and a couple of stump carrots to a jackdaw that seemed to be fascinated by them and the beetroot and leeks . I tried all the usual things to keep it of but I think it just got fed up in the end, though i did bring in the big guns to frighten it of.

Rhododendrons

2009-05-28T18:17:00.007+01:00

It,s been nice and sunny lately and has brought out my Rhododendron out a treat, they seem to thrive in the Lake District because of the high rainfall and acid soil. I started planting them about 4 years ago on the edge of my garden where the ground is very step and on the edge of a neighboring wood they seem get better each year.

Onion and Shallots

2009-05-25T10:05:00.018+01:00

These are the only 2 large onions of the 10 that I bought that are showing any sign of making any size at all this year and even these will be struggling to get past a couple of pounds. the rest that survived are now planted out in the open ground next to the Vento onions and seem a long way behind even them.I can only think that they got to dried out in the post as it took 5 days for them to get them delivered. I might with a bit of luck get one to use in the 1 large 1 small onion, and a shallot class. One certainty is they won't be going to Ingleton show, Iv'e seen the size of the opposition see Dans page http://www.allotment-diary.co.uk/

The Vento onions on the other hand are looking to be really healthy so i should be able to select some decent specimens come August. I might have to pull some early just to keep a check on their weight as i,m not sure as to what is the optimum size to get close to 8oz weight limit.

I managed to split down the Shallots to a maximum of 4 on Friday night i did try doing them a week ago but the were reluctant to split then so i just left them a bit longer and it was a lot easier.

Tomatoes

2009-05-23T21:27:00.018+01:00

I had the chance to pot on my tomatoes in to their final pot's today, I don't have any growing beds in my greenhouse so they will have to grow in some 15" animal feed buckets that had contained molassed feed blocks for feeding my sheep through lambing time I'm not exactly sure how much they hold but it must be around 22/25 liters . Last year I grew a reasonable crop in just 9" pots so I hope that the extra room should give a lot better results and with just a bit of luck I might get a decent show sample.

First job was to make a good few drain holes both in the base and nicks in the side as well as I intend to sit them in 42cm trays so as to water them well from the base plus from the top. .

They had a good set of roots and potted on pretty easy, the growth over the last few weeks has to be seen to believed, it was only on May 4th that I moved them from 3" to 6" pots.
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I did put a short cane in just next to the rootball when i potted up them so as to be able to slip a even longer cane in without damaging any roots when i lift them down to ground level , but just for the moment i have left them on the bench where they can get the maximum light. I did set them in as deep as i could so as to stimulate more root growth. Now it just a matter of regular feeding and keeping my fingers crossed.

Parsnips Carrots and Fuchsias

2009-05-10T18:18:00.015+01:00

My parsnips are making slow but steady growth since i thinned them down to the strongest one . This weeks wet and dull weather has slowed down their progress but I'm sure if we get a decent sunny spell they will make up. The variety is Picador F1 it looked good in the picture on the sales catalogue so i thought I'd give it a go this season, previously i have all ways grown Gladiator and been satisfied with it, so i hope it it turns out to be a good choice

The long carrots ( Grahame Watsons seeds that i won in club raffle) seemed to take an age to germinate with the first through in 17 days, fortunately all stations bar one germinated which i resowed and it to has now germinated so all station are now growing, the second sowing only took about 11 days to come through probably because things were a bit warmer when it was sown and hopefully it will catch up with the others, makes me wonder if I should rig up some protection to give March sown seed a fair chance. Just to round up on the carrot front the stump carrots are nearly all through with just a couple of stations still to show, but the recent heavy rain does seem to have given them a real bashing.
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Last night as the weather was wet and wild i potted on some Fuchsia cutting that i was given buy the speaker at our last NVS meeting it was a different topic to normal to finish of this winters season of meetings. I had to pot them up at about midnight after the meeting on the 14th of April but I'm glad to say they have all

have started to grow plenty of root and look to be doing well with new leaf starting to come, the Varieties are on the right Sophie Louise and to the left Border Raider plus a couple of Dahlia cuttings that i took to fill the 2 empty spaces in the tray

Bank Holiday Monday

2009-05-04T18:31:00.008+01:00

As it was typical wet bank holiday weather here in Cumbria we had a drive down the road to the new garden center at Barton Grange near Preston it,s only been open since last year and is massive, only about a third of it is garden stuff though, but they do a decent lunch with a restaurant that must seat at least 500, and a shed full of garden furniture to check out, I couldn't find anything in my price range though so had to settled for a bag of compost.

I did when we got back pot on my Tomatoes from 3"pots to 5"pots planting them a bit deeper which according to Medwyn encourages more roots to form. I only sowed 5 seeds as my greenhouse is 8 x6 and any more just cramps me for room. The variety is Cederico. The stump carrots that i planted on the 18th April are just showing in 2/3 stations this afternoon so that's a relief to see them coming through, hopefully the rest will be showing by the weekend.

What is it.

2009-05-03T13:33:00.003+01:00

I took this picture this morning but i don,t really know what it is, it was dumped in a field gateway a couple of years ago and last year it struggled to get going after i planted it, but this year it is putting on a decent show, it looks at a guess like a member of the euphorbia family but if anyone does recognise it drop me a line.

Shallots are starting to divide

2009-05-02T20:26:00.004+01:00

It may be time to think about splitting them down to 3 or 4 in a couple of weeks.

United 2 Millwall 0 Leeds 3 Northamton 0

2009-05-02T20:16:00.004+01:00

I always knew we would be safe.

Vento onions

2009-05-02T14:03:00.008+01:00

At long last i have managed to get the problems with my computer sorted out (with the help of some child computer genius from down the road) and managed to get some pictures of the onions (Vento) uploaded They were planted out on the 15th April from 30 module trays they were all well rooted and seemed to have been doing well since they went in I did put a stake and collar round them all after a week just to help them to keep growing upright, the bed that they are in this year is close to a old oak tree and although it is on the Northern side it does tend to make things planted lean slightly to the South where the strongest light is coming from. The last 2/3 days of quite heavy rain after the hot sunny weather has really perked them up so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some nice specimens for showing in the under 8oz class, it looks unlikely i will have many for the large onion class as of the ten that i bought 4 died 5 are pathetic and only 1 seems to have any size at all.

Things are getting in to gear

2009-04-26T21:20:00.007+01:00

It,s been a cracking couple of days day for getting on with things in the garden and i have tried to make the most of it getting some planting out done so as to make room in the greenhouse, first to go in were some Sprouts (Abacus) i chose them because they are an early cropper and should be ready by the by the beginning of September, just in time for entering in a any other veg class you never know they might have a chance, as the spacing for them is quite wide i popped in some spring onion plants just to fill the space up. The broad beans and pea,s that i sowed in pots a while back have been putting on a spurt of growth so i got them set out and rigged up some canes to give them plenty of support, i know it,s a bit earlier than i usually set them of but theirs a local show in the end of July that i want to support this year, there's only a couple of Beans and the same with the peas just to see if i can get some just that bit sooner, the bulk will go in around the middle of May. with the same show in mind i started a few runner beans of in pots this morning and that,s almost 3 weeks sooner than last year. I got all the potatoes in as well today,though i did dig out the trench and set up the buckets (with the Base,s cut out) last weekend, i have thought about where i went wrong with potatoes last year and I'm sure that the ground was a bit cold when they went in so this year with setting out a week before hand the warm weather has warmed up the base soil nicely and with the peat base mix i,m using in the buckets has been warming in the greenhouse for a month and felt nice and warm to the touch they should get of to a flying start and grow rapidly without any checks and hopefully they should be clear of netting on the skins this time. well that,s my theory and I'm sticking with it for now. It,s a pity that i still cant get any pictures loaded, up in fact my computer has crashed 3 times just writing this blog so maybe i will have to sort out a new computer this week. Next weekend i will be of to give some support to United our relegation battle is going down to the last game after a draw at Cheltenham yesterday so keep your fingers crossed and think of us at 3 o'clock saturday.

I'm Back

2009-04-16T20:04:00.007+01:00

I can hardly believe that it was the end of March when i last blogged it,s been hectic what with Lambing time on the farm, and i have hardly had the chance to get on with much at all in the garden or veggy plot and by the look of it you can tell, so i will have to make a big effort to get caught up, but yesterday evening i did managed to get my onions and leeks planted out they were getting ready for planting on as they were pushing quite a bit of root out of the pots they were in and in danger of spoiling if left. The parsnips that i planted on the 31st of March have stated to come through with 2 or 3 growing in all the stations, and the long carrots that went in about a week later are coming through with just a couple of planting stations still empty so it looks like things have taken care of themselves without me bothering to much, I have tried to upload some pictures of how things are looking but my computer is not responding, hopefully i can sort it out soon and get them loaded. This weekend I really need to try and get my potatoes planted, and a win for United on Saturday against Swindon will be handy to help our relegation battle, then i will be Happy .

Todays Work

2009-03-26T19:48:00.014Z

I managed to get some pictures taken on my trip to the Solway to collect more sheep today, gives an idea of the trip. They were taken just past Grasmere going over Dunmail Raise and along side Thirlmere i think the mountain is Helveyln but I'm not certain. There was not alot of traffic but it was good to see someone was getting on with a bit of muck spreading

If you notice in the picture above is the Main pumping station for supplying Manchester and surrounding areas with water, it is built like a medieval castle. I always think it looks a bit out of place. This last picture is of the Solway plain where our sheep have been for the winter if you look hard you might just see Scotland.

Busy Busy

2009-03-25T20:00:00.010Z

Things are starting to get busy at work on the farm with the start of Lambing time which means most other things like gardening and blogging will have to take a back seat for 2/3 weeks. Most of today has been spent getting trailer loads of sheep back from the Solway coast where around a third of them have spent most of the winter and tomorrow i will bring home the the last of them it's a round trip of just over 100 miles going up through Ambleside, Grasmere, St Johns in the vale, Keswick and Cockermouth, it was recently voted one of the most picturesque driving routes in Europe by some driving organisation and today with the sunshine and not a lot of traffic it was looking at it's best, especially the stretch from Grassmere to Keswick along by Thirlmere lake where over the Winter most of the conifers trees have been removed and it was light and open like i have never seen it before. I will try and get some pictures taken if i can tomorrow.

I did manage to get my Parsnips sown over the weekend I tried chitting them for a week first as recommended by Smithyveg but by the weekend they had not sprouted so i planted them 3 per station crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. The Sprouts and Tomatoes that i sowed 10 days ago are now all through and as i sowed them individually direct into decent sized cells they should be ok for a while till i have more time. Last Sunday i planted out some leeks that were not the best ones just so i could make some room in the greenhouse but by Monday they had all been pulled out and were left lying on the top of the soil i suspect that i had had a visit from the local deer population as their was some clear hoof prints in the new raked soil or they had just been passing through and the Jackdaws had been at them, anyway i just stuck them back in and we will see how they go on if they recover great if not well it,s no big deal just as long as my best ones get left alone when they go out. I'm hoping to be able to get my long Carrots in soon, but the weather forecast this weekend is poor so it could be the the middle of next week before i get a chance

How things are mid March

2009-03-15T18:24:00.015Z

After a few problems last week I'm back in business, it's starting to get a bit hectic now with all the bench space starting to get full in the greenhouse and still quite a bit to sow yet it might take some juggling to fit every thing in, every years the same i tell my self to just concentrate on fewer vegetables but then them catalogues come around Christmas and i think i will just try this and that.

I potted up my leeks on Wednesday night they are now in 5" pots and hopefully they will be OK until they get planted outside as i said in a previous posting this is my first time at growing Leeks from seed but I'm quite pleased with the way they are growing at the moment i had a go at starting to blanch the when i potted them on.

The Shallots are now staring to romp away with the mild weather all thought i did have to give them a all spray of last week I'm pretty sure one had an infestation of trips ( little green thing) so i sprayed the lot plus the leeks and onions and took the affected one outside until it was looking all clear though it still shows signs of being checked it is now picking up.

I put my Vento onions in the greenhouse on Monday as i thought they were getting slightly leggy probably with slightly poor light in the house , they will probably slow down a bit with it being cooler but hopefully they will keep developing a good root system and catch up when spring really gets here. I got some tomatoes brussel sprouts and the rest of my leeks sown just before the Rugby started I nearly didn't bother to watch but as it turned out i'm glad i did beating France is all ways good, in fact their was one or two surprise results this weekend with Liverpool wining 4-1 away at Manchester making the run in to the title a lot more interesting. It would be interesting if they met in the European cup final as Liverpool have beaten them twice this season, i sure i could hear Alec Ferguson screaming at them after the final whistle and i live 60 miles away. United managed a good 1-1draw against Scumthorpe and are edging closer to 50 points which should be enough to see them safe.

St David's Day 1st March 2009

2009-03-01T16:51:00.006Z

It seems hard to believe that it is March already the weeks since Christmas seem to have flown by and all of a sudden it time to get cracking with lots of jobs that seemed not to urgent only a week ago. With all the rain this weekend I got stuck into preparing the mixes for the Potatoes , Carrots and Parsnips, the Potatoes mix is simply moss peat that i put through Fred my shredder so as to get all the lumps out when I finished I had filled six storage boxes full which should be enough,its now stored in the greenhouse so as to help it warm up a bit before use,I will put it through my mixer just prior to planting out and add some slow release Phosphate and Potash and a few slug pellets just to be on the safe side then just give the plants a touch of Nitrogen when the leaves pop through, I might also incorporate some calc-sea-feed in the mix as well, as peat usually has a PH of about 4.5 -5 so it may be worthwhile but as potatoes don't like to be growing in an alkaline soil it will only need a small amount. Doing the Carrots and Parsnips was a bit more time consuming as it all had to be well riddled to get out all the rough bits,

I used a No 2 potting mix as a base to which i will add Some Maxicrop Cal-Sea -Feed at a rate of a hand full (3oz approx) per builders bucket full plus a bit of slow release Potash and Phosphate with a bit of luck i should get all my growing station filled by next weekend and be ready for sowing some Parsnips after the middle of the month.

The Rhubarb patch is starting to really get going now it got a good covering of FYM last back end and it seems to paying dividends should be able to pull a few stalks for a rhubarb crumble in about 3 weeks at the rate it's growing. Maybe we are in for a early Spring this year i certainly hope so as it been a year or two since we had one and we don't have a great deal of spare silage on the farm so it would be handy to have a good flush of grass by the end of April.

It feels like spring today

2009-02-22T18:20:00.019Z

Wow it's been nice and mild this weekend and I have taken the chance to get on with some catching up with all those jobs that needed doing, top of the list was getting the last of the digging done where the last of the leeks and parsnips were. I did have to lift the last parsnips so I could get on with it but there wasn't many left so it was no big deal and the conditions were to good to miss, I covered the ground before i started digging with some dried cow manure that I bagged up last May when we turned out our cows for the summer and then dug it well in. It is the plot that i am growing Peas and Beans on this summer so it should give them a good start when they go in around mid May time.

Most spring plants are are starting to come in to bud know and i had a good look at the Rhododendrons because last year they were a bit light on flowers but this year looks like it could be a bumper spring for them, they do like a cool damp spell in summer to help them set flowers so last year must have been about right, even my potatoes are starting to put on some strong shoots i have them in the greenhouse where it is cool and light there is just a couple of dozen of them but they do take up quite a lot of growing room during the summer so I'm not tempted too grow to many as i like to have lots of different vegetables, the ones to the left are Kestrel and the ten on the right Winston Most of the Kestrel seem to have 5 or 6 shoots each so i may have to remove some so as to leave them with only 3 shoots each to give them the best chance of growing a good even showy crop.

My onions (Vento) that i potted on about 10 days ago seem to have got over the shock and are now starting to get their act together and putting on more leaf, I had expected to get some large Kelsae Onions from Medwyns this week but so far they have not arrived hopefully they ain't lost in the post and will arrive this week, my last lot of seeds (not from Medwyns) for this year came, Pablo Beetroot and some Chanson Carrot seeds that were sent instead of the Sweet Candle that i ordered seemingly Sweet Candle are out of stock so i hope Chanson turn out OK. I could order some Sweet Candle from Medwyns but at £6 pound with postage it seems a bit expensive as i was only needing 20 to grow for showing and all the rest would have gone in the open ground for the kitchen.

Rugby

2009-02-14T20:02:00.002Z

Wales 23 England 15 just when football results were going well. It's enough to make you chuck your Leeks out.

A Nice Trip To the Seaside

2009-02-14T17:58:00.004Z

United had a nice 730 mile round trip to the seaside today beating Brighton 2 0,and collecting 3 valuable points, it's the longest distance to an away match that United have in the season, mind our nearest away games are against Hartlepool and Leeds and they are 180 and 240 mile round trips.

Snowdrops

2009-02-08T17:31:00.011Z

It's been a strange sort of week most of the country seems to have been suffering heavy snow and up here in Cumbria their's hardly been any snow at all, though it has been a bit on the cold side and as a result things are looking a bit behind this year with all the cold days we have been having since Christmas in fact the Snowdrops have only been through since the beginning of February and that's at least 10 days behind where we were last year, the ones that i have taken the picture of are about the most forward and have still not yet opened fully.

I have had a chance to get on with some more digging these last 2 weekends as the ground is quite dry for the time of year, which should save me a bit of time in the spring, with a bit of luck i might get the last of it done next weekend. The Shallots that i started just before Christmas are at long last just starting to move forward some are still to put out some leaf though they are all putting down strong roots so i am confident that they will soon romp away when things get a bit milder and catch up. The onions (Vento) that i planted about four weeks ago seem to be growing steadily although some seem slightly elongated which may be because of a lack of good light, i haven't pricked them out just yet as i am expecting some large Onions plants from Medwyns around the middle of the month and they will need to be kept warm when they get here so if i had potted all the Ventos up in to small pots i might be a bit to pushed for space, hopefully it might warm up a touch and the leeks will be able to moved on next weekend and that should give me enough room for everything, Later on tonight i will chit up my Potatoes they will stay indoors on the Kitchen window sill where i can keep an eye on them.

Burns Night

2009-01-25T14:59:00.008Z

Today (Sunday) it is 250 years since the birth of Robert Burns and living fairly close to the Scottish border means we have had quite a lot of media coverage of his poetry and events planned to celebrate his birthday, it seemed appropriate that i raised the Scottish flag this weekend to mark the occasion and we will also be having Haggis for Tea tonight with the usual neeps and tatties to go with it. This year is being marketed as the home coming for all persons of Scottish decent so if you are coming home this year have a good time.

On a more regular level i took the chance this weekend to move some of the leeks i started early December out into the greenhouse so as to make room for the onions that are now starting to get growing , I just moved enough of the strongest plants out, they still have plenty of bottom heat as i sat them in the propagator, tho it will be a bit cooler air temperature i think they should be all right, if it starts to get realy cold again i will pop some flece over them. At the same time i set some canes in with clips as they were just starting to need a bit of support to keep them growing straight, it is the first time that i have done this and was suprised just how fiddly it was to do.

Can't think of a Title

2009-01-17T19:34:00.013Z

It was our local NVS meeting on Tuesday night with a talk buy David Metcalfe on how he developed his Pendle and now Improved Pendle leek, the meeting was the most popular of the winter season so far with around 40 / 50 people coming along. He grows both Leeks and Onions in pots the Leek in 50 ltr and Onions in 30/ 35 ltr pots in a mixture of.

For Leeks 120 ltrs sterilised soil + 75ltrs sphagnum moss peat with 1/2 a jar of dried blood
1 jar of dolomite lime 1 jar calcified seaweed 1/2 jar humate 1 jar osmocote exact (15-9-9) and 2 handfuls of viresco dry. Then NO extra feeding. With that mix he hopes to grow blanched Leeks with a girth of 12 ins +.

For Onions 75 ltr sterilized soil +75 ltr sphagnum moss peat with 1 jar of Vitax organic grower 2-1-4 1/2 a jar dried blood 1/2 a jar calcified seaweed 1 handful of viresco dry 1/2 a jar dolomite lime. Then NO extra feeding. The jar he uses is a old 500g chicken tonight jar. Sounds easy growing them when he tells you but?
It did at least spur me on to try and get a few jobs done this weekend so as not have the usual mad spring rush, so i started to empty out all the sand from the drums that i grew long carrots in last season and set them up on the new base that i built last back end' it took an age as i had to barrow the sand about 80 yrd all up hill to refill them, i gave them a splash over with armillotox as i went along just in case anything nasty was lurking. With haveing the extra drums for this season i hope to get some decent Parsnips as well as Carrots next August, at least all this work keeps my mind of all the doom and glum that's around just at the moment i see tonight our dear leader Gordon is about to spend another 200 billion pound helping out the Banks yet again, i hope he knows what he's doing but i have my doubts, what is certain is theirs going to be a lot more pain before we are finished with this recession. Oh i nearly forgot to mention on a more cheerful note United gave MK Dons (the so called away win specialists ) a 2-0 first half lead then stuffed them 3-2 in the second half, great eh! moved us up the league 3 positions as well, as they say United all ways come strong second half of the season so watch this space.

How things stand so far

2009-01-11T17:17:00.009Z

The weather has turned a lot milder today and hopefully my Shallots will appreciate the easier conditions as they seem to have done nothing since i planted them on the 21st December, i have had to keep a fleece over them almost all the time and had a 60 watt light bulb on under them to give of just enough heat so as to stop them freezing solid, the leeks have been growing well though in the warmer environment that i rigged up for them and are putting on a lot more leaf i put a good covering of Vermiculite around them this morning as one or two pots were starting to get some mossy growth on top of the compost, hopefully with gently lifting it of and covering them with Vermiculite it should inhibit the green mold from growing. I got some of my seed potatoes yesterday which is a bit sooner than usual but being about the first customer i was able to have a good sort through and pick out some nice specimens of Kestrel, i did think of trying Bonnie this year instead for the coloured potato classes but was slightly disappointed with the ones on offer so stuck with the old faithful. I will still need to get hold of some Winston though for the white potato classes as they didn't have any of them in stock yet. The Onions that i sowed last week have been in our airing cupboard all week keeping warm, but i have taken them out in to my propagator in the green house today as i expect them to strike soon and they will need some light, the lupins that were sowed at the same time are now starting to push through.

I said we were good

2009-01-10T17:04:00.002Z

Leeds 0 United 2 The best result in the most important game of the season.

New year Onions

2009-01-03T19:33:00.008Z

Is it just me or has anyone else lost track of what day it is with Christmas and now New Year i will be glad when we get to Monday and some sort of normality returns, with it being dry and bright in the main over the holiday period their does seem to have been a lot of visitors out and about and one or two look like they have treated themselves to some new walking gear for Christmas and are full of new year resolution spirit .

Still i decided to sow some onion seed today which is maybe a bit on the early side but i was eager to get started with my new propagator, it is the first time that i have tried growing onions from seed, other years having just bought starter plants ready for planting out come spring time, but the main drawback with that is you just tend to get mainstream varieties and i was looking to get something a bit better to put in for showing come August so i am having a go with Vento f1, not having seen onion seed before i was suprised that it was in a pelleted form being coated with a blue film, it certainly made it a lot easier to see them when sowing and i sowed them at a rate of 50 per tray, i just wonder if it takes them longer to germinate being pelleted, i also sowed a few lupin seeds that i saved from the plants i grew last year, hopefully if they get a good start they should flower by late June. The leeks that i potted on last weekend seemed to have taken it in their stride and are now growing more leaf though one or two seem a bit bent over still, but in the main they are growing well with a good deep green healthy colour to them i will try to keep them with plenty of light and warmth till the beginning of February then they might have to go in the greenhouse with just heating from underneath so as to make room for some large exhibition Onion seedlings that are due from Medwyns mid February.

This hard frost that we have been having should do a good job at killing of a few of pests that seem to have been able to over winter in the mild wet winters we have had in the past few years so that may be no bad thing even if it has meant i am unable to get on with the last of my digging for the time being but there's plenty of winter left for that.

End of the year Start of new year

2008-12-28T17:20:00.013Z

Their,s a bit of catching up to do on my blog due to the fact that i have been offline for the last fortnight due to a problem with my computer, something about some virus spy ware that shut it down and it seemed to take an age to fix, still we are now back in business. The Leeks that i sowed 6th December are now decent size and i have today potted them on into 3" pots, i sowed 30 and they nearly all sprouted but i think i may have under watered them a bit early on as i had a bit of a disaster with some of the plants that sprouted slightly later in that they really struggled to get going and as a result i had to disposed of them , but the early ones must have had enough root system to find enough moisture to see them through and are now as i said looking well, pity that theirs just 14 left though. I might be able to get some more plants at our NVS next month when David Metcalfe comes to speak about his Pendle strain if he brings some to sell, as it is i have most off the packet of seeds left and will sow a second batch in February. On 21st December as tradition says i planted my Shallots in my unheated greenhouse but with the cold nights we have had since Christmas it might have been better to wait till the new year as i have had to put a light under the bench just to give off enough heat to stop them from getting frozen even though they have some fleece on top as well. A couple(Top left hand corner of picture ) are showing some green shoots now, they were a bulb that was in the process of dividing when i checked them over prior to planting so i just clicked them and as they both had some root system i planted them separate, i will have to watch to see how they go on. In a couple of weeks i hope to get some under 250 gram onions sowed this time i am trying Vento F1 from Medwyns it will be the first use for my new propagator that my daughters bought me for Christmas, thanks a lot Abi, Natalie and Susannah it's a good one and is much appreciated, i think they must have read on my blog that i was thinking of getting one and clubbed together, thanks again. Perhaps i will have to hint i need a new car next Christmas!

Christmas time

2008-12-13T16:44:00.006Z

It's that time of year again when everything is starting to look like Christmas the tree is up and we have been to the grandkids school pantomime (do all under ten's sing in the same way, slightly flat and loud but with lots of enthusiasm) still it was good to see them having a good time even if it was about half an hour to long and the seats were a bit to small and hard. At least it was in the spirit of the season compared to our local garden center where it seems to have been taken over by commercial Christmas tat, when i just bought a bag of compost they must have thought i was scrooge's brother. I got the compost levingtons no 2 to sow some leek seeds of in, it's a week today since i sowed them and as of now well over half have come through it is just a bit of an experiment to see if i can get some better grown leeks next show season without buying bulbils, on the subject of leeks at this weeks local NVS meeting our top local exhibitor has had his bulbils growing since the early November so i have a bit of catching up to do, and next month we are haveing David Metcalfe breeder of the Pendle coming to show us how he grows them and give details of his new improved Pendle variety that he considers to be an improvement on the original . I must say we do seem to get some top class speakers to come.

Big race day

2008-12-07T16:00:00.005Z

Today has been a bit different to usual in that it was the Western Australia Ironman race( 2.4 mile swim 112 miles cycle race then finish with a Marathon ) in which our eldest daughter Abi was taking part so we have been watching most of the action via video link over the Internet, and i have to tell you it is hard work when your kids are doing something like this, as you mentally run all the way with them so it was quite a relief when she finished and i could have a cup of tea. Her time just for the record was 13 hours 42 mins 59 seconds, her goal was to beat her previous PB and thankfully she did by about 1hour 10 mins, so if you read this Abi you can retire now and give us a rest.

The picture is of her finishing the first one she did last year as today's picture is not yet available.

From the past

2008-12-06T18:08:00.009Z

Some times when you dig up ground that has been occupied for quite along time you turn up all sorts of things and today up popped an old what looks like a kind of hoe minus it's handle of course which must have rotted away a long time ago. I might have a go at cleaning it up and putting a new handle on as it is quite sound and most of the rust should brush of , I presume it was used for earthing up rows of veg or something similar in the past, I wonder who and when it was last used, the weight of it and solid nature of it makes me think it could be from the 1920 /40 era. This is the first time I have found anything that could still be useful normaly it has been old horse shoes i have about 6 of them that I've found nailed up on our wooden pergola to bring us plenty of luck, other things that we have found are 3/4 old spoons and a couple of vintage padlocks.

Fighting back against control freaks

2008-12-02T22:06:00.003Z

Read this in the paper today must say that's a great way of dealing with them, i bet they sat and counted it all to.
A carer who was slapped with an £80 parking fine by her council, despite winning an appeal to drop the charge, has presented her fine to officials in a wheelbarrow full of pennies to pay it, in protest at the penalty.

Something new for 2009

2008-11-29T21:05:00.004Z

I like to try something new most years and i have started to get ready for next year a site for growing a couple of Marrows, it is on the area where i have previously grown my Gooseberries, i am in the process of digging them up and moving them to a different position near to where i have some Raspberries and the hope is i can put up some caging over both to see if i can keep the birds from pinching most of the fruit, as this year they went with 90% of the crop.

The Marrow i,m hoping to grow is Table Dainty as i believe it can be grown of the ground and not take up quite as much growing space as some types, the ground will get a good covering of FYM and compost dug in by the end of the year and we will see how it goes if i can get a few good sorts it will give me a chance to try it at some shows next year where they are quite a popular class. I have been trying to find out how high they grow and how much support they will need of the Internet but as yet i haven't had much luck so i will just have to use some strong rails to be on the safe side

United march on

2008-11-29T15:40:00.004Z

Grays Athletic 0 United 2 . No problems with Grays floodlights this time and a good professional performance putting us through to a second round tie with Crewe, and a special mention is deserved to near neighbours Barrow for a good cup win over Brentford, in my book that's Cumbria 2 London area 0

Is this the start of winter

2008-11-23T15:39:00.012Z

This is the sight that greeted me this morning looking out from the front door when i was about to go to work, it was quite a shock allthough the forecast had said their was a chance of snow i was still suprised just how much of it their was. Luckily it hadn't frozen before snowing so the roads were no bother. I had fortunately taken the chance on Saturday to get on with some digging on the veggy patch and managed to get next years Onion and Leek bed turned over incorporating a lot of the compost that i made this summer as i went along then i gave it a splash of magnesium lime which i consider to be better than straight lime it seems as though the magnesium helps plants utilise N P and K more efficiently and then a bit more compost on top, hopefully the cold weather and the worms will do their bit and it should just need a quick forking and be ready to go without much work come spring. It is my intention to have a soil test done about end of February just to check how things are, the P H i suspect may be still be a bit on the low side after the 2 wet summers we have had so if i get the results back by beginning of March there will be plenty of time to get it sorted. It was inside work today and i have been trying to knock up a growing box i have a soil warming cable so if i can get some lighting sorted i may try starting some leek seeds of nice and early (first week of December?) to see if i can get them a bit bigger come August, i know most folks who show leeks start with bulbils but they seem quite a price for someone who is just learning so i think if i grow them from seeds, i might learn a bit as i go on and maybe next year if all goes well i might buy bulbils. The leek variety i have got is Windermere F1 from Medwyns it seemed an appropriate choice considering it's where i live.

Our Abi is off to Australia

2008-11-20T19:14:00.015Z

How do you fancy swimming 2.4 miles then cycling 112 miles and just for good measure finishing off with a marathon 26 miles 385 yds. In just 6 days time our eldest daughter Abi and her husband are off to Australia where she is to compete in the Western Australia Ironman or should that be Ironperson competition on the 7th December at Busselton near Perth, we are all quietly proud of her here at home for having a go and wish her all the best. This is the second time Abi has done one and i know that she is really wanting to beat her previous time of 14 hours 50 minutes. I haven,t told her but i was thinking of getting in to training for it, but you know how it is just when you get ready to go for a run something crops up like my runner beans needed watering or onions need weeding so unfortunately I'll just have to pass on doing it. So best of luck Abi, if anyone wants to look at her training blog click on the link Mustrunfaster . if you do take the time to look drop her a line to give her a boost.

United are on a roll now

2008-11-15T18:39:00.004Z

United 3 Brighton 1 things are looking up should be back in the promotion hunt by Christmas, well maybe playoffs, and Leeds got stuffed by Huddersfield as a Bonus.

Blow those leaves

2008-11-15T16:59:00.003Z

I finally got fed up with raking leaves up and treated myself to a leaf blower, it's not new of course I'm to tight for that, I spotted it on eBay for sale locally and managed to get it for £72 as it was just up the road i picked it up last night saving a hefty postage cost. Surprised just how well they clear ground and it took me less than an hour to fill a couple of wheelie bins ready for the council to collect, that's 8 bin's full of leaves I've sent them in the last 3 weeks and i put some in our own compost bin as well every week, it's handy that our local council collect green waste now as the amount that we seem to produce was always a bit of nuisance at this time of the year, just about makes me feel a bit better about how much council tax they take of us every year.

Graeme Watson on Shallots

2008-11-12T21:16:00.009Z

Had the chance to get to the local NVS meeting last night were the guest speaker was Graeme Watson of Whitby on his method of growing and showing Shallots at National level. His level of care is quite meticulous with the timing of splitting and lifting being absolutely crucial to success, although surprisingly he didn't seem to mind as to when they were started having had top level success with dates varying from end of December to first week of February. One key fact that struck me was the need to grow them hard with very little if any feed so as to keep them healthy and not risk them getting to lush and leading them to being prone to disease. Once they are lifted they are dried out side on chicken wire mesh and he didn't seem to mind if the got a bit of rain on them in the first week or so in fact he thought it did them good helping to give them a nice colour. So in a nut shell their you have it and as a bonus if anyone fancies trying showing at the top level He is packing in growing Shallots for the next few years so as to concentrate on Leeks. All in all a very interesting meeting that gave me something to think about how i will grow Shallots next year, and just for good measure i won a packet of his Long Carrot Seed in the raffle so rounding off a good night.

On the road back

2008-11-08T21:25:00.009Z

I haven't mentioned United for quite a bit preferring to suffer in silence but today after a ten game losing streak we managed a impressive draw in the cup against Grays Athletic whoever they are. Is this the start of a great fightback under our new manager Greg Abbott, lets hope so. Our new stand must have been rocking, that stand is all we have to show from the days when Micheal Knighton was in charge, were is he now i wonder ?

Dahlias lifted for another year

2008-11-03T19:37:00.005Z

Following the sharp frosts we had early in the week i took the opportunity to lift my Dahlias and put them in the garage to dry out a bit before giving the a good fungal dusting just prior to packing them away in a couple of weeks time. The variety is that good old favorite Bishop of Llandaff which is supposed to have been around since the 1920 and is still very popular. Some other varieties i have decided to not keep over winter this time as i think i will try some different varieties allthough I'm not sure which they will be yet. What i am looking out for is a type that will not grow more that a couple of foot tall so as not to need a lot of staking.

Scary Halloween

2008-11-03T19:32:00.002Z

Scary Halloween pumpkins courtesy of my to very special granddaughters.

A good solid base

2008-10-26T17:31:00.010Z

It's been a weekend of extremes with torrential rain on Saturday, you may have heard about the local marathon where the runners that came unstuck in the downpour, silly b***rs i say for setting out in it. Fortunately i had an invite to watch one of our local rugby union teams and was able to view it from the comfort of the sponsors lounge how they managed to play a decent game in the weather i don't know, but as i would have been unable to get outside and get on with some jobs at home i was able to relax and enjoy the game.

That said today Sunday has been mild and dry and it gave me the chance to to get a bit more done at leveling the base for sighting my nine Carrot and Parsnip drums, i think you might be able to tell just how steep it is from the picture, it is now ready for back filling as soon as i can find the time and fill material, all the blocks were recycled from an old building that we knocked down on the Farm so it's an economy job but thats the best sort as far as i'm concerned.Hopefully i will get it finished by mid- late November leaving it plenty of time to bed in before setting up the drums early March. They should get at least 7 hours of sunshine a day next year which is more than double what they got in the old site.

Some pictures of work

2008-10-23T21:49:00.013+01:00

I've been suffering from bloggers block these last few days so i thought I'd just put up some pictures of my farm and and surrounding area, i didn't take any of the photos myself just nicked them of the Internet but as they are all of my farm i think i can get away with it. I don't actualy live on the farm anymore as my daughter and son in law live their now, but it's not a bad place to spend your working day allthough it was a bit testing today with the storms and driving rain.

How's your week been

2008-10-19T16:02:00.006+01:00

I was glad when the weekend came as we have been busy working among our sheep all this week dagging, showering and sorting them into their breeding groups ready to let the Tup's (Ram's) go at the end off the month. It,s all well planned and organised you know, it isn't a matter of just letting them get on with it like a lot of visitors think, so i didn't mind the rain to much this weekend as it gave me an excuse to take it a bit easy,i did make a start on leveling the new site for my Carrot and Parsnip drums but it got a bit to slippery in the the rain on the step ground i was working on so i had to pack in half way through and so i collected up my saved Runner Bean seed and put them in store,10 should be enough to see me right next year it was surprising just how much bigger the fresh seed were compared to the ones that are carrying over from this year just extra moisture i suppose so i will give them a dry dark airy place to dry down a bit more.

N V S District Meeting

2008-10-16T19:13:00.007+01:00

Last Tuesday night I went to my first meeting of the local N V S District Association held just down the road at Endmoor with guest speaker Mr David Hampsey giving a talk on solving your growing problems, it covered most of the usual problems and some that were a bit more in depth but it was certainly enlightening and you always learn something useful. Their was quite a disscusion also as to whether the new N V S policy on not cutting Beetroot for judging was a good decision, on the whole most people thought it to be the right decision but some still do have doubts, personally i think it better that they are judged uncut as was pointed out if you give them a good soaking in salty water any white rings disappear anyway so what the point. The speaker at the next meeting in November is Graeme Watson who will be talking on how he grows and shows his Shallots so that should be interesting. I will just have to make sure i get my hands on some decent shallot stock to try out what i learn next year. Back at home I have decided that i need to move the drums that i grow my long Carrots and Parsnips in for next year as i'm sure that they just don't get enough sunlight were they are at the moment the only problem is that my plot is on a very steep slope and i am faced with having to build quite a bit of retaining wall so as to create a level site to set the drums level on, so that takes care of my weekend .

An Away Day

2008-10-11T18:25:00.006+01:00

............... Have been away most of the day today visiting my youngest daughter Susannah who you might have guessed lives in north Manchester. I couldn't resist taking these pictures of Old Trafford it is some stadium from the outside, impressive sure but not as homely and friendly as Brunton Park, the Statue of the United Trinity of Best, Law and Charlton reminded me of when i so them play in a cup match at Preston N E in the late sixties they won 3-0 if my memory serves me right.

What with the newly built Lowery Art center and the Imperial War Museum and the dockland regeneration scheme it seems an area that is slowly turning the corner and starting to pick it self up.

Studying Catalogues

2008-10-10T17:00:00.009+01:00

Yesterday a couple of seed catalogues came in the post (D T Brown and Unwins) so i was able to settle down planing what to grow for next year, I have good mind to order some Kelsae Onion plants from D T Brown at £5.95 + postage for 40 they seem a good buy compared to what i have paid other years i just wonder how strong a plants they will be, hopefully they should be well grown as any thing Browns have supplied me before have been good quality. Last year i collected plants from Robinsons late April and i think they were a bit crowded and were just beginning to suffer a check in growth as a result, they never really came to much over the summer, but then it was a difficult year for Onions locally so perhaps that was the problem. Plus I will order some Cavalier peas from Browns as well not that i know a great deal about them but they do come recommended buy a well known top Parsnip grower and blogger . My Broad Beans from Medwyns were top class this year so i will get the same again along with my long and stump carrots and beetroot seed which all so did well. I have collected plenty of runner bean seed for next year from my own plants. I have been looking to buy some Hative de Niort Shallots as they seem to win everything at the shows locally, but I can't find them anywhere, this year i grew Red Sun but they weren't really suitable for showing. That just leaves me to decided on which Leeks to get i have a thought to try some Bulbils but as i have never had them before i'm not to sure how difficult they might be to grow on . Then all i have to decide on is Parsnips,Tomatoes and Marrows i'll see if i can get them from Unwins as i won a £5 voucher from them and it would be ashame to not use it.

A new workmate

2008-10-10T10:42:00.005+01:00

Hi we have taken on an extra helper on the farm his name is Tan and he's 9 month old and just learning how to work sheep, but he is very keen to work all day and all he's wants is some biscuits and a tin of food and a pat for wages so he welcome to stay. He wouldn't smile for the camera as he was concentrating hard on some sheep just out of the picture. Our old dog Rob is now 8 year old and is going into a well earned semi-retirement

A weekend of extremes

2008-10-05T21:43:00.003+01:00

Cracking day (Sunday) today giving me the chance to get on with some back end jobs like clearing out all the Tomato plants out of the greenhouse and sweeping out all the rubbish that seems to accumulate through summer hidden behind the pots and benches, if i get the chance this week i will get the scrubbing brush out and clean all the glass and spray some disinfectant about then I'd like to leave it empty for a week or more to give it a break . Also took up all the bamboo canes that have been on the plot wiped them over and left them to dry for a couple of hours before storing them away in the garage till next spring, it's surprising how long they last if they are stored in a dry airy place, Still a bit to do but it was a good start, Saturday was a day to forget with driving rain from beginning to end, you no when it's bad when you can't go out and are reduced to watching Football on teletext and that was pretty grim too with United losing to Tranmere 1-2 the only Bright spot was Leeds losing 2-0 to Peterborough, Scunthorpe managed a draw but unfortunately Leicester City sneaked a jammy win in extra time at Huddersfield. Supporting United is just slightly better than being a Spurs fan this year