And the answer lies in the soil. Especially if you want big, fat, succulent spears of Asparagus.
No, I don't think she knows the name of the variety that she grows but the spears of most of them, there is an occasional one who is a skinny, are very fat and purple. (Until cooked).
Yesterday was a glorious day amd it stayed true to its' promise of being a fine day all day long. Being able to garden in a sleeveless t.shirt in early April, what a blissful pleasure!
And what a glorious sight greeted her.. Wow, what a difference a week makes in a garden. We have had a fair amount of rain and equal amounts of hot sunshine so the grass is beginning to look lush, a bit too lush but a much better colour than winter grass.
All of the fruit trees are, or have been, in blossom. Those silly Seneca plums are now in full leaf, they are such daft dollies OR do they know something we don't?
All of the fruit trees are, or have been, in blossom. Those silly Seneca plums are now in full leaf, they are such daft dollies OR do they know something we don't?
For her White Cypriot Fig tree, which did not wake up last year until well into May, is showing baby leaves and the minute buds, which are this years' figs, are beginning to swell.. in April?
The delinquent Cherry trees are behaving is their usual mad fashion and are covered in blossom! The Stella Cherry trees which were the first trees she planted, are behaving in a much more sober fashion but they, poor dears, had a severe prune last June.
Which is what Yellow Gage is going to get this year.. for it is doing a Douglas Bader imitation act and that is not a good idea. Huh.. there is no point in having those glorious fruits growing halfway to the sky as you can't pick them, is there?
She has to get down to cutting out a briar from the Redcurrant's netted cage and replace the netting.
A strong nylon horticultural mesh is what she uses, birds cannot get caught in it and you can take it off, fold it up and use it again and again.
The Blackcurrant bushes will have their nylon hats again this year, this is how she makes them, it did make Margie laugh when she told her how she does it but then she tried it and said "it really works!"
Only do this once your fruit is beginning to colour up and just before birds would show interest, you need to allow any Bees, if you are lucky enough to have any, full access to the flowers.
Take a length of fine nylon curtain fabric, make sure it has a pocket for the wire at both the top and the bottom and that the width is more than the height of your bush.
Slip an elastic cord with hooks at both ends into the end of the pocket, push it all the way through and then hook the two hooks together around the base of your bush, repeat this through the top of the curtain, wrap the bush in the curtain, you will need to adjust the netting so no branches are sticking out and hey presto, hey-li-cheese, you have perfect netting for the bushes.
The sunlight can get through and you can see the fruit ripening.
She gets the cords with the hooks at either end from her local branch of PoundLand, they are to be found in the Camping section, along with another useful hook!
Tent hooks are absolutely the very best things for using to secure Pea nets, Fleece covers, Cloches etc, etc! They are steel, long with a proper hook which means they do the job!
Three new Roses were planted, two Joro and another which she picked up in error. Joro is, without doubt, one of her favourite varieties, it is a good looking plant with excellent foliage colour, the bud is well formed and the flower itself is startling in its' beauty. Plus the fragrance is outstanding.
The cloches came off the dwarf Broad Beans yesterday, they blinked a bit but hopefully will grow on happily like most of the Peas have, a few have turned up their toes but she allowed for that.
Fresh Peas.. and talking about Peas!
She has a Pea that is behaving in a fashion that can only be described as 'beyond the call of duty'.
For she is a Sweet Pea. That somehow, was not planted out last year, she was left with a mini tray of assorted Chards that she was experimenting with.
She has stayed alive throughout the winter, growing on a funny, withered looking stem and she has leapt back into life, her leaves are fat and green and she is showing signs of podding up!
Has anyone ever had this happen to them? She has a Wild Sweet Pea that grows amongst a Honeysuckle hedge but this little brave baby is, most definitely, not one of those.
For she is a Spencer Sweet Pea and I think she may even have the label still on her tiny pot. One thing is for certain, she will be keeping some Peas from this little Sweet Pea!
She had to pack up and to leave earlier than normal, she had a Doctor's appointment at half past seven. Taking a sharp knife, she walked the Asparagus bed for the first cut of the season.. April 9th.
It was not the biggest first picking she has ever done, but it was one of the earliest, usually she starts cutting in the first week of May.
And, apart from a spear given to a plot neighbour and one to her new Doctor, it all made it home! It
was put into an Asparagus steamer, then eaten with a delicious sauce, she gave me a fat one one about six inches long.. it was, indeedy, worthy of "wooo". The word I say when something is extra specially tasty.
Now, when do you think those Peas will be ready?
PipPip Dear Readers.. it is another very sunny day.
GeeGee Parrot.
April 10th, 2014.
Postscript: A new, to London, exhibition opened yesterday.
The Fashion World of Jean-Paul Gaultier: 'From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk Exhibition', it is on at The Barbican Gallery until August 25th.
There are 40% more pieces being shown here in London than any of the other showings of this exhibition which started life in Montreal in 2011.
Three new Roses were planted, two Joro and another which she picked up in error. Joro is, without doubt, one of her favourite varieties, it is a good looking plant with excellent foliage colour, the bud is well formed and the flower itself is startling in its' beauty. Plus the fragrance is outstanding.
The cloches came off the dwarf Broad Beans yesterday, they blinked a bit but hopefully will grow on happily like most of the Peas have, a few have turned up their toes but she allowed for that.
Fresh Peas.. and talking about Peas!
She has a Pea that is behaving in a fashion that can only be described as 'beyond the call of duty'.
For she is a Sweet Pea. That somehow, was not planted out last year, she was left with a mini tray of assorted Chards that she was experimenting with.
She has stayed alive throughout the winter, growing on a funny, withered looking stem and she has leapt back into life, her leaves are fat and green and she is showing signs of podding up!
Has anyone ever had this happen to them? She has a Wild Sweet Pea that grows amongst a Honeysuckle hedge but this little brave baby is, most definitely, not one of those.
For she is a Spencer Sweet Pea and I think she may even have the label still on her tiny pot. One thing is for certain, she will be keeping some Peas from this little Sweet Pea!
She had to pack up and to leave earlier than normal, she had a Doctor's appointment at half past seven. Taking a sharp knife, she walked the Asparagus bed for the first cut of the season.. April 9th.
It was not the biggest first picking she has ever done, but it was one of the earliest, usually she starts cutting in the first week of May.
And, apart from a spear given to a plot neighbour and one to her new Doctor, it all made it home! It
was put into an Asparagus steamer, then eaten with a delicious sauce, she gave me a fat one one about six inches long.. it was, indeedy, worthy of "wooo". The word I say when something is extra specially tasty.
Now, when do you think those Peas will be ready?
PipPip Dear Readers.. it is another very sunny day.
GeeGee Parrot.
April 10th, 2014.
Postscript: A new, to London, exhibition opened yesterday.
The Fashion World of Jean-Paul Gaultier: 'From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk Exhibition', it is on at The Barbican Gallery until August 25th.
There are 40% more pieces being shown here in London than any of the other showings of this exhibition which started life in Montreal in 2011.
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