Harvest this week/ cosecha

This week so far we've eaten fresh from the garden: kale (cooked with onion, garlic and cous cous), lettuce and oregano in tonight's pasta sauce. Motivation to keep on sowing!

Esta semana hemos comido, cosecha fresca: berza (con ajo, cebolla y cus cus), lechuga y oregano en la salsa de la pasta esta noche. Asi dan ganas de seguir sembrando!

Windowsill propagation - invasion

The house is invaded by small pots

This is what happens when you get the sowing bug... (and you have a very patient husband!). Almost every windowsill in the house looks like this. The seedlings get rotated from heated propagator to windowsill to plastic greenhouse outside, as they grow bigger and the weather gets warmer. Some get sown directly in the windowsill, as the heat from the radiator underneath is enough for most crops (not so much in January, but definitely in March). In this photo  you see (top to bottom): purple chilli, lobelia, sweet peppers (in the tall yogurt pot), tomatilloes, tomatoes, parsley and lobelia.

Casi todas las ventanas de la casa estan en un estado similar de colonizacion (gracias a que Nick tiene mucha paciencia!). Las plantitas van pasando de semillero electrico a ventana y por ultimo al invernadero de plastico fuera, segun van creciendo y las temperaturas suben (ahora en marzo ya hace calor suficiente para sembrar la mayoria directamente en la ventana, sin pasar por el semillero electrico). En la foto, de arriba a abajo, tengo: guindillas moradas, pimientos de Padron (en el bote alto de yogur), tomatillos (una cosa nueva que pruebo este ano por primera vez), tomates, perejil y lobelia.

Scavenged pallet

Reclaimed pallet from children's centre next door

It may not look much, but I'm very proud that I obtained this pallet, and I have great plans for the wood! This had been left as rubbish in the back of the children's centre we have next door for years - I could see it from my bathroom window! But the back of the building was fenced off and locked, so I could get my hands on it (also, it's private property...). So when I got a letter from the facilities manager of the centre last week informing me they were going to put a scaffolding in exactly the same bit at the back of the building, I called her and asked if I could have that pallet... and she said yes! And more astonishingly, this week she remembered to tell the builders and they very kindly left it on my front garden!

As you can see it's damaged on one side (the wood has rotten), but the rest is in good condition. I intend to un-nail the boards, saw off the rotten bits, and construct a small raised bed for the allotment. I've never done this before, let's hope the end result doesn't disappoint!

Este pales (he tenido que mirar en un diccionario como se traduce del ingles "pallet") a primera vista no dice mucho, pero tiene historia: estaba abandonado en la parte de atras de la oficina que tenemos al lado de casa, desde la ventana del bano lo veia triste y solo todos los dias pero como estaba en propiedas privada (y ademas sin facil acceso) no podia "agenciarmelo"... Hasta que la semana pasada me llego una carta del centro avisando que iban a poner un andamio justo en esa parte del edificio, asi que llame a la encargada y le pregunte inocentemente si, ya que iban a estar los obreros alli, si me podian poner el pales delante de casa, ya que estamos al lado... y para mi sorpresa dijo que si! Y mejor aun, se acordo de decirselo a los obreros esta semana, y cuando llegue a casa tuve la fantastica sorpresa: lo habian dejado en la puerta de casa! 


Las maderas en uno de los lados estan un poco podridas, asi que tendre que serrar esos trozos. Pero si consigo quitar los clavos y separar las tablas, mis planes son construir una jardinera baja para la huerta. Nunca trabaje con un pales como este, asi que sera un experimento!

Cucumber collapse

Before and After of the cucumber seedlings

Something mysterious happened to my cucumber seedlings. I originally sprouted them in the heated propagator, and I was so smug thinking "ha! look at my huge seedlings! Summer salads here I come!"... Clearly I spoke too soon. I had 6 decent-looking plants in no time, and then one by one they started collapsing - you can see the stages of decay in the photo. I am not sure what happened to them, but I have a theory: the heated propagator was not very sunny, and I wasn't quick enough moving the sprouted seed into the light. The plant grew too tall too soon, and the roots didn't have time to develop, so eventually they couldn't support the stem... I have sown some new seeds, but this time I'm trying a new approach and simply putting them in the windowsill next to the radiator. They have less heat, but at least the plant will grow slow but healthy.

El misterio de los pepinos:
Sembre unas semillas de pepino en el semillero electrico, y nacieron rapidamente. Las pase a la ventana, donde hay mas luz, y mirad que tallos tan esplendidos tenian! (La maceta de atras, en la foto). Pero de repente, una tras otra, las plantitas empezaron a "derrumbarse", y al final las seis que tenia acabaron por los suelos. Yo tengo una teoria: creo que nacieron demasiado rapido en el semillero con poca luz, y cuando las pase a la ventana ya tenian un tallo demasiado largo. Las raices no tuvieron tiempo de desarrollarse y la planta se vino abajo entera y murio. He vuelto a sembrar mas, pero esta vez voy a probar un metodo distinto: las he puesto junto a la ventana y el radiador, con menos calor pero mas luz, a ver si esta vez las plantas crecen despacio pero mas sanas.

Pre-planted onions

Onion sets started in a covered tray outdoors

March is the time to plant onion sets. I bought a net bag of 'Stuttgarter' to plant in the allotment, but I haven't had the time to finish digging and preparing the beds for sowing and planting. Being realistic, I may not have time until next month to do that, so in the meantime I'm starting them in the garden in small pots or plugs to move to the allotment as and when I can. I know I could just put them in the soil now as it is, but I know myself and in a month's time I will want to rearrange the beds or add some edging or something, and it's a lot harder when you have seeds already in place... So yes, I'm making extra work for myself by planting these onions twice, but I hope it'll be worth it and I'll have a pretty yet productive allotment! (it's so tiny it's more of a garden, really). I am following a tip I saw in this programme in the Horticultural Channel, which is to cut the loo rolls in two and plant the onions in them. The green thing are egg cartons, which follow the same principle: the paper is strong enough to hold for a month or two, and then you plant the whole lot (onion and cardboard) and the roll just rots away. Monty Don in last week's Gardener's World also planted his onions in conventional plastic plugs. I have mine in a tray covered with a clear plastic lid and kept outside, they shouldn't need much more heat than that...

Marzo es el mes de plantar cebollas. Yo tengo una bolsa de cebollas para plantar, pero mi huerta nueva todavia no esta acabada de preparar, asi que de momento tengo las cebollas plantadas en bandejas en el jardin - para que empiecen a germinar y crecer, y cuando el mes que viene (ojala) tenga el terreno preparado poder plantarlas definitivamente. Ya, se que es trabajo doble, pero prefiero tener mas tiempo para preparar el suelo bien y decidir como voy a dividir la parcela, y si quiero poner un borde de madera o no, antes de plantar las semillas (me conozco, y seguro que de aqui a un mes he cambiado de idea, o he encontrado unas maderas ideales para hacer un borde, o algo). En la foto veis que he utilizado los tipicos tubos de carton, pero cortados a la mitad (las raices de la cebolla no son profundas). Lo verde son unos cartones de huevos, que tambien se plantan directamente (igual que los rollos). Las bandejas las tengo cubiertas con una tapa de plastico transparente, pero ya al aire libre - en este mes las cebollas ya no necesitan mas calor.

Scillas and hyacinths

Scillas and hyacinths on my garden table this morning

Pretty spring flowers on my garden table. The scillas on the left come back every year like clockwork, and the hyacinths are so showy and smell so lovely! It's the third year I have these (they're perennials) and they're among my favourite spring flowers. This time of the year they go up on the table so I can see and smell them better.

Esta foto la saque esta mañana. La flor de la izquierda es una Scilla, y lo mismo que los jacintos es el tercer año que las tengo y cada primavera florecen puntuales. Son unas de mis flores favoritas en esta epoch del año. Las tengo en la mesa del jardin para verlas y olerlas mejor!

Bird visitors

I witnessed something special today: a blackbird was sitting on the fence and looking at me like, which I found intriguing (I had never seen one stay looking for so long) so I stayed still to see what she did. When she was happy that I wasn't a threat, she went to the shallow end of the pond (I have a planting bag covered with pebbles on one end) and... she had a bath! It was very reassuring to see that the pond, tiny as it is, is popular with the local wildlife. And it made me feel less bad about the state of the pond, which at this time of the year is looking a bit derelict. I lost many of the plants I planted last year, although it's still very early in the year and they may come back (keep dreaming...), but at least some wildlife is enjoying it as it is.

And last weekend, when I was digging the bed for the perennial herbs, a robin decided to follow me and peck at the bits of compost I left behind. But she did follow me around the garden, even when the mound of compost was in the other corner and I was looking at small pots, the robin was still behind me. I had read they do that sometimes, but it was really funny to see that in person!

Hoy tuve una visita especial: mientras estaba fuera vi que habia un mirlo sentado en la valla que me miraba mucho, y como nunca habia visto uno que se quedara quieto tanto tiempo me pico la curiosidad, asi que me quede inmovil a ver que hacia. Cuando se convencio de que yo no era una amenaza, se poso en el borde del charco y... se dio un baño! Una de las macetas sumergidas esta a poca profundidad y le puse unas piedrecillas encima, y el año pasado tenia una planta que ha desaparecido. La verdad es que el charco ahora esta desolado, casi no tiene plantas, asi que me animo mucho ver que aun asi sigue siendo popular con la fauna local.


Y el fin de semana pasado tuve un tordo faldero. Si, yo estaba moviendo el compost de la jardinera que plante con el perejil y demas hierbas, y el pararillo decidio seguirme por todo el jardin y picotear en todo el compost que yo iba soltando. Incluso cuando iba a hacer otra cosa lejos del compost, cada vez que miraba el tordo estaba detras de mi! Yo habia leido que a veces hacian eso, pero no me habia pasado nunca antes y es entretenidisimo.

Perennial herbs bed

Perennial herbs bed just planted

I was busy digging and planting last weekend. This raised bed was planted with flowers, but I decided I needed the space for growing perennial and edible herbs instead and the flowers had to go. Luckily I found a happy new home for them in the garden of my friends Stuart and Rachel, so nothing was wasted! There were some nice lilies, daffodils, croscomias, a cineraria and even a jasmine, I wasn't going to throw that lot away... and they needed some colour and fun for their garden, so everybody wins.

After refilling the bed and adding garden compost, I first planted the herbs I already had - what you can see in the photo. The big plant on the left is the sweet rocket, on the right far corner (you can only see the white label) is a meadowsweet (filipendula ulmaria), and at the front is a bunch of chives. Under the plastic I sowed some sorrel, and I'm growing some parsely indoors to plant there too. When the weather is warmer I want to sow red perilla, I bought the seeds last Christmas but never grew it before!

El fin de semana pasado tuve mucho que plantar y cavar. La jardinera de la foto tenia flores, pero necesitaba el espacio para plantar plantas comestibles perennes asi que decidi trasladar las flores. Por suerte les encontre un nuevo hogar en el jardin de mis amigos Stuart y Rachel, que querian poner flores. No tenian nada, y ahora gracias a mi proyecto, se han ganado unos lirios orientales, narcisos, lirios japonicos y hasta un jazmin! 


En la jardinera, tras rellenar con compost, he plantado primero las plantas que ya tenia: la hesperis matronalis es la planta mas grande en la esquina izquierda, en la esquina de la derecha (solo se ve la etiqueta blanca) hay una filipendula ulmaria, y en el centro delante un manojo de cebollinos. Tapado con las botellas de plastico he sembrado sorrel, que (segun los libros) es parecido a la espinaca - las hojas pequenas se comen crudas en ensalada y si las dejas crecer las puedes cocinar, y tengo perejil en macetas en casa ya germinado y casi listo para plantar. Tambien tengo unas semillas de perilla, que yo no la habia visto (mucho menos sembrado) nunca y que tambien iran aqui, pero cuando el tiempo mejore. 

Potato and onion sets

Potato Arran Pilot and onion Stuttgarter sets

Now that I have the space in the allotment (although not much - it's tiny!), potatoes and onions are back on the planting list. I had reached a drastic decision at the beginning of the year: I just couldn't find any space in the garden that I wanted to dedicate to such long-growing and space-needy crops, and I couldn't find any interesting varieties that justified the space (blue & purple potatoes are only sent by mail order and they're pricy). So I wasn't going to grow any potatoes or onions at all. But the first thing I did when I got the allotment was buy some potato seed and onion sets: They are potato Arran Pilot and onion Stuttgarter. New allotment and new varieties! The potatoes had already started to chit (sprout) in the bag (the shoots grow white and weak when in the dark - you can see them in the photo), but now I have them by the window and hopefully they'll start growing stronger shoots before I have time to plant them out.

Ahora que tengo espacio en la huerta ya voy a poder plantar patatas y cebollas. A principios de año habia llegado a una decision drastica: son cosechas que ocupan mucho espacio y por varios meses, y como tampoco encontre ninguna variedad rara que justificara el espacio no iba a plantarlos este año. Pero ahora que tengo la huerta ya tengo espacio, y lo primero que hice fui ir a la tienda y compre patatas y cebollas para sembrar. Son patata 'Arran Pilot' (madura pronto, a partir de junio) y cebolla 'Stuttgarter'. Las patatas habian empezado a brotar en la bolsa, son los tallos largos que veis en la foto. Cuando estan a oscuras los brotes crecen largos, blancos y endebles. Ahora estan cerca de la ventana, y espero que con mas luz echen mejores brotes este mes, mientras espero a tener tiempo para ir a plantarlas.

Tomatoes in loo rolls/ tomates en rollos de papel

Tomato seedlings are growing well after one month

My tomato seedlings are growing well, so I have moved them from the smaller pots where I sowed a few seeds together, into individual pots. They should have more compost and room for their roots to develop now. It is one month since I sowed the seeds, which sprouted really quickly in the heated propagator. I wasn't quick enough to move them from the propagator to the sunnier windowsill, so they grew a really long and spindly stem with a couple of small leaves at the end ('leggy', they call them). If you move them closer to the light, the stems don't need to grow so long. Anyway, I waited until my spindly tomatoes grew a second pair of leaves, on the basis that if the leaves grow so do the roots... You don't want to be moving them until the roots are strong enough. These in the photo had small but decent root systems, so I'm confident that most of them should survive. My main challenge now is to not leave the compost dry too much, but luckily they are in the kitchen so I see them every day.

The loo rolls have a 'unique selling point': you can plant them directly into the ground (or a bigger pot) and the roots wouldn't even notice the change. The cardboard disintegrates naturally when buried. With these I have to be careful that the roll doesn't start breaking down before it's time to plant the tomatoes outside (end of April). I realise it's an experiment and the rolls may not last two months, but I've been collecting rolls for months and couldn't wait to give them a try! And I have a few more tomato seedlings in conventional pots as well, in case the experiment with the loo rolls fails...

Mis plantitas de tomates progresan adecuadamente. Las sembre hace un mes en el semillero electrico y nacieron enseguida, luego las pase al borde de la ventana (cerca de la luz) y alli siguieron desarrollandose. Al principio sembre unas pocas semillas por maceta, y cuando nacieron en el semillero las deje demasiado tiempo y los tallos crecieron largos y endebles. Si las pones cerca de la luz, los tallos no se estiran tanto y son mas sanos. Pero bueno, yo deje que mis tallos endebles desarrollaran un segundo par de hojitas, para asegurarme de que las raices tambien se desarrollaban, y he pasado cada planta a una maceta individual (en este caso, un rollo de carton de papel higienico). Lo que tengo que vigilar ahora es que el compost no se seque - menos mal que estan en la cocina y los veo todos los dias, para no olvidarme!


Lo de los rollos de papel tiene su razon de ser: el carton se degrada de forma natural cuando lo plantas en el suelo o maceta mas grande, y las raices ni se enteran del cambio. El mayor reto va a ser que el carton aguante sin biodegradarse dos meses hasta que sea epoca de plantarlos fuera (los tomates aqui no van al aire libre hasta finales de abril). Es un experimento, lo se,  pero es que ya tenia ganas de usar los rollos, llevo meses coleccionandolos... De todas formas, por si acaso tengo unas plantitas mas en macetas tradicionales.