Lighting the seeds ..

A parcel was blocking the front door yesterday when I came back from work-  once I had managed to get in and calmed down - I was pleased to see that it was my light fittings for the light box ! I did a dance to the photosynthesis god in thanks.

This morning I awoke bright and early (pun intended) and assembled my materials.

- Cardboard box nicked from work.
- Gaffer tape
- tin foil
- pritt stick from the pound shop
- a bit of wood
- a banana box lid
- my new lights .

Then while a glazier repaired my window I completed phase 1- lining the box.

Then I walked the dog after the glazier had gone - it was really sunny and it feels like the first day of spring today!

The making of the lid and fitting the electrics involved sawing , augering, screwing, and measuring - such multi talent !

Tarrah !!

It was a bit tight in the box for 4 half trays but they did fit ! I am very pleased - and it feels easier to control than the front windowsill heatwise.

The seedlings have already got some new leaves showing so I hope this helps them along even more - I really want loads of aubergines this year.

Out in the garden the sun looks great and this peony has appeared again- when I lifted the courtyard paving 8 years ago this just started growing - it must have been dormant agood 3 years.

 
We protect it from the dog with the basket but it's never really done well due to the shade of the hazel and acer.I am hopeful this year though as we radically pruned both of the light stealers last year- we may get some flowers!

Spuds are chitting away and digging will recommence tomorrow on the plot.

We also have this hellebore doing well in the garden-

ok - I am going out side now x

Chilly chillies and the beast

 

 

As you will have seen from the last blog hot seed action has been underway in Spitalhood.
I have got chilli and aubergine  seeds started and moved them to the south facing  bay window in the living room for more light and less heat – If you see what I mean- they have slowed down but look ok. They also have more company in here in the evening.

 

The chillis all look different, variety 3,4,and 5 are up but 1 and 2 are invisible – or have left the country. I understand other people have had similar problems so I feel quite good that they have come up for me at all.

 

 

I have moved the onions and celery to the greenhouse as it’s too warm for them in here really. I cannot believe how geeky I am being about this but it is in the interest of science as they say.

I have also made a gallon of parsnip wine that currently looks like a very suspicious and large  urine sample but I am not worried as it has 6 months to go before bottling. I used the thirsty gardener recipe with a tweak.

 

Meanwhile over on the allotment preparation of the new bed has progressed with the first outing of the cultivator for 2013 – I had dug over and weeded yesterday so I was just breaking the soil down so it was easier to get nearly level. It is easier than digging but still pulls on your arms and keeps you warm .

 

The flags I used to make the path came from our back garden – I dismantled a courtyard garden when we moved in here and created a cottage garden* instead. These have been very handy on the allotment over the years.

(*random arrangement of shrubs and perrenials that we like.)

 

 

From the path edge you can see there is still work to do – also this area has only been uncovered for 3 days or so and the dandelions are already coming up . I had better get it weeded this weekend.

The beast is the name of the cultivator – I also have a strimmer called the beauty.*

(*this is a lie).

So tonight I am going to a 70’s disco night – there will be a curry first and lager will be consumed so I hope I will be able to do more digging tomorrow. I am not posting any pictures of dancing you will be pleased to know.

 

This is not me and I will not be wearing anything like this  but we had a Mamma Mia Party once and this is what my neighbour wore .

Such Fun !

 

Propogate Update

Propagate Update February 8

 

 

Hello allotmenteers ! This is a bit of a general introduction to our plot and the start of the gardening year. If you have seen my pictures on twitter it looks very tidy . This is mainly a deception based on how I take the pictures. This blog has some worryingly candid pictures of untidy and weedy bits of garden.

You have been warned!

Meanwhile back at the house the heated propagating set up for the chillies is going well – as in I have onions and AUBERGINES !!! sprouting but no sign of  any chillies yet –still plenty of time eh? Here are the aubergines.

 

I have also got my seed potatoes chitting in the spare room – in the past I have saved egg boxes for this- but I don’t think it makes any difference- so this year they are just in the blue crates. I have got Winston, a first early, Kestrel a second early, and Desiree main crop. The first two are varieties that my allotment mate Ken* swears by so I am trying them out. Desiree always do well for us. We have all the slugs in the world on our site so you have to grow slug resistant types.  

*Ken has been gardening on our site for 50 years –he is lovely and has the next plot to us – this year he invented this bird scarer that has kept the pigeons off his cabbage all winter- it is made from pedal bin liners.

 

 This area under the carpet was raspberries and overrun with couch grass so I covered it last spring as we are also going to grow peas again this year I need an extra 2 beds so it needs sorting.

 

The next job is to dig this over – remove the raspberry runners (knackering) and put a path down the side of the greenhouse. I will put the main crop potatoes in here this year and then use it as another bed in our rotation system.

The strange lump is the last of the manure heap - referred to as black gold- there is enough left  for this year.It cost me £7.50 for half a trailer load 3 years ago and it has rotted down really well. I will get some more this year but store it on another part of the site now I need this space.

The thing with the big rubber mats on it is a home made cold frame I got from "union " Ian ( to distinguish him from "god" Ian).

This is it - I have put these rubber things on it to stop it blowing away before it is in place. If anyone has any idea what they may be I would be very interested!

 

As well as the new seeds we have some stuff that has been growing all winter. This is winter salad in a cold frame in the greenhouse.

 

This is how it stays warm- clever eh?

 

We took loads of rosemary cuttings that seem to have taken well- and we keep some parsley inside over winter as well.

 

The rest of the plot is looking ok I have moved the compost bins down by the shed out of the way - here is a long view from the greenhouse end.

 





For those of you who are still awake and a bit geeky here is our planting plan for this year - this is our 5th year in this layout and we rotate beds and the greenhouse crops.

zzzzzz- oh sorry!

  2013 Planting plan

Potatoes	New cold frame			Plum/Gooseberry Blackcurrant Rhubarb raspberries
	Greenhouse Tomatoes and aubergines
Beans and garlic			Greenhouse Basil, chillies and cucumbers
parsnips			Potatoes
Chard/beetroot			potatoes
onions			peas
cabbage			onions/Leeks
cauliflower			courgettes
Sweetcorn			strawberries
Herbs			Pumpkin/courgette
Shed			Compost area Wildflower garden

This bit is the fruit area - obviously.

So that is the start of our gardening year - I will update progress with the new spud bed and any other interesting things that happen.



Well I think it is interesting anyway....can you see this garlic I planted last october ? No me neither !

See you later ....

 

 

Trials of Chilli -part two

Trials of chilli part two

 

 

Well a month of snow and public holidays and birthdays has not stopped my fellow twitter chilli triallists- (from now on we will refer to them as THE OTHERS) from planting seeds and making them grow! I was sooo impressed.

As it is not a race this action by THE OTHERS has not frustrated me or triggered any sort of strange response at all.

 I always look like this on New Years Eve -

 

So I devised a cunning mechanism to allow me to propagate seeds indoors – (no chickens were injured in this process).

 

 We had the trays etc. from the greenhouse and the weather station* was a present a couple of years ago.

*As an aside a techno gardening miracle happened as the remote temperature sensor has started working so I have 2 readings for the first time since the really cold weather 2 years ago!! I attribute this to my saint like patience about this trial. (IT WAS NOT NEW BATTERIES – OK)

This is the first time I have done this as we try to keep the veg out of the house until it is ready to eat except for chitting the potatoes. I have tested the set up and the trays will heat to about 25 degrees but we don’t have the radiators on all the time so it is an experiment.

From left to right we have

1.    The chilli trial seeds

2.    Aubergines long purple

3.    A different aubergine

4.    Another different aubergine

5.    Onion seeds yellow rynsburger

6.    Onion seeds small paris onions

I really like aubergines and haven’t been very successful in the past so I am hoping this will work. I have never grown onion from seed before either so it is all new and horticulturally exciting!

The cat was very interested in this process and offered her advice in the usual manner.

 

This was after an hour of rubbing her chin on everything and being sworn at by a fishwife who possessed my body!

Here is the equipment I used (boring myself now) for the benefit of THE OTHERS – this is a bucket, tray and washing up bottle.

 

I also invested in a heated propagator where I have some more onions and celery seeds so I will compare the progress of both systems of propagation.

WATCH THIS SPACE ….

 

 

 

Spitaldyke’s Trials of chilli – part one

Spitaldyke’s Trials of chilli – part one

 

 

So this bloke @5olly on twitter invited ME to do a chilli trial!

 I was so flattered (and drunk) that I agreed enthusiastically- I also agreed to blog a bit about it and now we begin.!!!

My Chilli History

Most blogs I read have an irrelevant self- indulgent biographical introduction so here is mine.

I first encountered chillies in kebabs and curries as a London teenager – my  drunken late night  cry of “I WAANT A KEEEEBAB” was legendary in Neasden where I spent those formative and hazy years. I always had chilli sauce and lemon on my kebab. (cosmopolitan face)

Here is a tenuously connected picture of what was- in 1978/9- Level One Nightclub in Neasden – I saw WHAM there before they were famous!

 This close to George Michael I was !!

Once I learnt to cook I would use chilli powder and later chilli flakes then I discovered whole fresh chillies!! My pilchard curry was infamous at university- not in a good way. My friend once  pretended to be excited at the telly so she could jump up and spill a pilchard curry- we don’t speak anymore.

Eventually I stopped going out every night I got into gardening and started growing vegetables on an allotment – just outdoor stuff at first as we had no greenhouse.

About 10 years ago I got a greenhouse and realised I could possibly grow chillies of my own! Here is a picture of the greenhouse several years ago in the summer. This is an excuse to show you the allotment in full crop –not how it is now- a soggy quagmire !

First step with chillies was getting the seeds to germinate eventually I realised that the only variety I could grow with any success was Cayenne red. So most years I have about 20 plants and get enough chillies to last us a year – we use them fresh and also dry them and keep them in a jar.

We are in Chesterfield Derbyshire so it’s not right warm and we have a cold greenhouse so I am a bit wary* of the more exotic requirements of the varieties in the trial.

*not at all confident

The Chilli Trial

The excitement when I received my seeds was indescribable – I thought it was a clandestine drug drop of some weird new drug!! wahay! Then reality – Oh ((

You can see why I made this weird mistake from the picture below – this also shows my raspberry wine BTW.

Then I read the vague blurb on the vegetablism blog and one of the varieties needs to go through a birds digestive system to germinate  !

AHA I thought – next doors chickens! They love me as I throw green veg over the fence for them all the time.

 So I just borrowed one to eat the seeds and shit them out. Twitter friends will know that this was not a success –but I learnt several things

·         Chickens do a LOT of POOING

·         CHICKEN POO STINKS EVEN WORSE WHEN FRESH

·         THEY ALSO EAT A LOT OF THINGS THAT COULD BE CHILLI SEEDS AFTER STRAINING THE POO. Here is a replica of the poo strainer as the original did not survive.( traumatic)

 

·         Chickens do not look like this in real life (this is my favourite picture of a big cock as he is sooo camp!! )   

                                                     

I am sure my neighbours will forgive me for borrowing the chicken overnight …eventually.

the dog didn’t have it in her mouth for very long …ahem.

So far so good – that is the beginning of my chilli trial mates!

Wanders off …