A couple of day's in the garden

The recent weather has facilitated a general garden tidy up.I have collected 4 black sacks worth of rubbish and consequently found my lost Wedding ring.I now take it off every time I do anything in the garden or allotment.

I have looked at last year's leaf mould and stirred it up a bit,it is full of worms and seems to be breaking down nicely.I have emptied 1 compost bin and turned over two others.

The tomato graveyard is rapidly filling up and I am gradually pulling up my plants.The Tasmanian Chocolate and Dwarf Mr Snow have been exceptionally disappointing,so far I have had no ripe fruit.The Alpatieva 905 are a good size but something has been eating them likewise with the Beijing Yellow.
In the garden I have planted Blue Hyacinths,Iris Reticulata and Tete a Tete dwarf daffodils.
In pots for spring I have planted Carlton daffodils with Tete a Tete and Iris Reticulata,and one of Tete a Tete with Muscari.
Some of my pots from last year are already showing probably crocuses.
In seed trays I have started Calendula Fruit Twist,Cornflower Blue Diadem and some self saved Hollyhocks.
On the seed saving front I have bagged up Beijing Yellow,Slovenian Black,Harbinger,Mortgage Lifter,Alpatieva 905,Reisentraube,Napia Early Pointy Red and Alberto's Locoto.

This week at the allotment

A decent week's weather.Much weeding has been done.

White Lady runner beans,ready to be harvested in a day or two.

 The Headstart sweetcorn is fattening up.

 I gave my neighbour some of my Hungarian Zucchini and they have had a decent sized one,mine are still a way off having been planted later.Here is my first Black Beauty courgette about 4 inches long,hopefully the first of many.

Today's harvest of Pentland Javelin,still more to come.I also harvested my first Primo cabbage and some Charlotte potatoes.
In the garden I have potted up some Koralik,Sungold,Dwarf Mr Snow and Tasmanian Chocolate into large buckets.
I have managed to eat some Early Tanana which were a bit on the bland side and Latah which after a bit of sunshine had a decent taste.I also have had a few Piccolino cucumbers from the Conservatory.

Olympic torch

 As it was only a 200 yard stroll I went to see the olympic torch,well that is 5 seconds of fun.
On the allotment front we have come down with the dreaded blight,Thus I have cut the halms off of my Pentland Javelins and harvested a whole row.This area has now been dug over and fertilised for the next crop.This obviously doesn't bode well for the tomatoes down there so I am going to be growing a lot more in pots in the garden.From the allotment I have harvested my first batch of Charlotte potatoes,Golden Gourmet shallots,Senshyu yellow onions,Early Onward peas and some Albignesian Garlic.
I planted some Mrs Connell black runner beans from the seed circle.

It seems that my neighbours at Plot72B have given up,they didn't even last a season,at least Plot 72  are there are still there.
At home I have potted up Koralik,Sungold,Mortgage Lifter,Dwarf Mr Snow and Tasmanian Chocolate tomatoes and some Partner F1 gherkins.

Why gardening is so frustrating.

Yesterday I thought it would rain so I didn't go down to the allotment.Today the weather was similiar so I did and guess what it pissed down.

I had the time to cut down my chocolate spot infected Aquadulce dulce broan beans that had dropped their leaves.

 I also managed to harvest some of my Albigensian Wight softneck rust riddled garlic.I got some decent cloves out of them.

 On a happier note my Headstart sweetcorn and Black Beauty courgettes are coming along.

The tomato patch is progressing and as yet isn't blight riddled.

A pic of my bee magnet Borage,good for compost tea and the bees love it.

I also harvested some more Pentland Javelins and French Breakfast radishes.

At home I have started pots of Sweet Genovese and Purple basil.
In the garden I have finally planted out Beijing Yellow,Alpatieva 905 and Early Tanana tomatoes.
Into a container I have potted up Beijing Yellow tomatoes and a Picolino cucumber.
I am also hardening off Dwarf Mr Snow and Tasmanian Chocolate dwarf tomatoes.

Update

With the weather being adequate I havve been able to harvest some Pentland Javelin first earlies,Senshyu Yellow and Electric Red onions,French breakfast radishes and chocolate spotted Aquadulce Broad beans and a rusty garlic or two.
I have moved my brassica cage and have planted up some Falstaff brussel sprouts and Primo cabbage.I have had a good weed around the Sweetcorn bed which appears to be bulking up and tried to weed my carrots when I could find them.Tomatoes have been sideshooted and composted.
Time has been spent potting on Dwarf Mr Snow,Tasmanian Chocolate,Alpatieva 905 and Monkey's Ass tomatoes.
I have started a tray of Borlotto bush beans and Mrs Connell runner beans.
Hopefully the weather will be pleasant this weekend so I can get some serious allotment time in.

Seed Circle tomatoes Part 1

One of the joys of receiving tomatoes is trying to find out any relevant information about them.Both of these one's come from the Dwarf Tomato Project.

Dwarf Mr Snow- Indeterminate grows to 4 foot.I started these on 09/04 and got 100% germination and were left on an unheated windowsill being turned once a day.They were potted them on to 8cm pots on 09/05 and will be left in the conservatory for a couple of weeks.

Tasmanian Chocolate Dwarf- Indeterminate grows to 3ft 9 inches started and potted on as above with 100% germination.