There he sat preening himself in the early morning sunshine 6am this morning , as I approached the gate , on my way through the vegetable garden and on up to my greenhouse .
My vegetable garden is safe from nibbling Easter Bunnykins , with the new chicken wire fence all around .
My Peas and Broad-beans are coming along nicely.
Rather annoyingly though , despite pushing in lots of branches to deter them , the pigeons got to my Purple Sprouting Broccoli .
Usually pushing in branches around the PSB would be enough to keep the pigeons off , but I missed one corner and those gorgeous purple bunches of heavenly deliciousness and goodness were quickly snitched and gobbled up by two fat pigeons ..who know just the right time to take them !
The good news is that I can see more shoots coming . I need to make more gently Bird -Shooing things , Whirligigs , Potato Hawks , Windmills , Streamers and sparkly old CDs on strings will do the trick .
The Luminous Lizard is on guard against slugs and snails .
So upwards and onwards to my greenhouse .
Packed full of goodies ! Cacti , succulents, Epiphyllums , rare , unusual and weirdly interesting plants ......and where I start off seeds that need extra warmth ...
.........although unheated the greenhouse can get quite hot...I open the roof windows . Those are Cucumbers, Courgettes and Butternuts in the white box .
I took down that silver insulation from the roof today ..it is so hot here today, but the green shade net will stay up to protect the Epiphyllums who like it warm and shady .
I really need to clean the greenhouse windows .....
....but it also protects the plants from sun scorch .
These Epiphyllums prefer to be in warm shade ...the buds are getting bigger !
I need to sort out that pot of bulbs.
I think that label is wrong ..they look like Albuca bractata syn. ornithogalum longibracteatum ...other wise very well known as the Pregnant Onion !
For most of the year it sits in the pot looking like this ....yes ...like a large onion .
Warning --- poisonous ....this is not edible ..and will make you very ill ....do not eat !
Around about February , it throws up this flower spire and slowly opens with many pretty little star flowers .
I don't bother to collect the seeds , but simply gather up all the bulbs that form around the base of the "mother" bulb and ..well ....I obviously threw them all into one pot and forgot about them . Another little job to be done , pulling them apart and re-potting and then giving them away to who-ever would like one .
A fascinating plant !
So today I need to prick out and pot on these Yellow Tomato seedlings .
I use slug pellets only at this stage in the greenhouse and shed .
I got a free packet of special Dahlia seeds with my Gardener's World magazine back in February.....three germinated..and promptly all got eaten up by slugs....the rest of the seeds didn't appear so I suspect the slugs got them too before I even saw them , over-night .... I ,m sure these slugs are already in the compost that I bought from the garden centre or B&Q. I,ve been growing vegetables for long enough to know that if you dont get rid of the slugs and snails ...then you will have no vegetables ...simple as that ! These pellets dissolve into fertiliser when in contact with water and I make damned sure no other creature will be harmed by them .
Out in the main veg garden , veggies are under cloches . Birds and Hedgehogs can not get to them and I mostly prefer to pick off any slugs or snails that I find and re-home them across the meadow ..I lure the snails and slugs away by laying large cabbage leaves or lettuce leaves near to my vegetable plants and collect them in the early morning in my bucket and once again re-home them top of the meadow .
I tend not to buy or grow flowers that slugs and snails eat .
I try to live in harmony with nature , I love animals ! Let me know if you need any snails .
Mission completed !
I have put them back into the greenhouse to grow on a bit before taking them over to the much cooler Solar shed . The other Tomato plants are getting quite large now over in the shed .I need to plant out all the other seedlings to make space for all the Tomatoes and I need to fix up the "rigging" to support the Tomato vines .
Then I notice ...a few more of the Physallis seeds have germinated ! Joy ! I will pot them on next week . So exciting !!!
I also potted up some more Rossignol Kale .
Kalettes and Cosmos germinating !
I,m very excited about the Kalettes . I ,ve not grown these before , but from what I am reading about them , they look really easy , good and nutritious .
They seem to have all germinated very quickly ....almost over-night !
So my next job is to prick them out and pot them on ....and keep them somewhere cool to plant out later on .
But that's all for now..it is very , very hot here in Mullion this afternoon ..too hot for me ....time to go sit in the Summerhouse with a glass of lemonade and read my new copy of Charles Dowding and Stephanie Hafferty's "No Dig Organic Home &Garden" . Yes I finally gave back the library book and bought my own copy !
From my home to yours , I wish you a very Happy and Peaceful Easter .
........oh..and do watch out for that Easter Bunny !
He almost looks like a Hare!
ReplyDeleteA most enjoyable post, and good pictures. You've certainly got plenty of plants to keep you busy. Thankfully we don't get bunnies hereabouts.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I had a relaxing Easter and hope you enjoyed yours.