Watercress (Nasturtium microphyllum)
I always thought that you needed a stream of running water to grow your own watercress. I discovered that my friend Carol knows where wild watercress grows locally. Despite a bit of gentle pressure she refuses to divulge her secret. I’m not surprised, watercress is expensive. But if you follow Carol and discover her watercress beds, be on your metal. Dirty streams makes watercress unfit to eat. If you wouldn’t drink the water, you shouldn’t eat the watercress. Unless you can use an entire supermarket pack within a day or so...
read moreHyacinths in the garden
I always plan to plant my hyacinths in the garden immediately after flowering indoors. They are put outside the back door and often forgotten. About fifty percent survive there. Sometimes I discover a forgotten pot the next year, bravely flowering, The stems pinched and weak, the bulbs nibbled by mice and slugs. If I’m galvanised, the indoor hyacinths are quickly transferred from their pots to the borders when the flowers fade. This year I cut off the dead flowers of my indoor hyacinths and put the pots in the greenhouse. I can’t...
read moreWallflower ladybirds
I was amazed to see that my wallflowers had tiny red buds three days ago. But on closer inspection the buds turned out to be a group of ladybirds huddled together amongst the leaves. I was delighted. These little beetles are valuable. Felling a bit like a younger Silas Marner I did a spot check of all ladybirds clinging to our wallflowers. There were twenty six. Worth £14.99+ if I had bought them from a ladybird farm. But leaving cash aside, ladybirds stop aphids being too much of a problem in our garden. I drove off to work feeling smug and...
read moreRunner Beans
Our runner beans have perked up with all this rain. With their “fresh from the garden” flavour, we could eat them every day. The early beans were poor, even with regular watering but now we are getting a good harvest every second day. There are loads of flowers and with them the promise of more beans. Last year we bartered some pots of jelly and chutney for the runner bean seeds from an old boy in the village. His seeds produced good, strong plants. I was feeling a bit smug about our runner bean yield until this evening when I...
read moreCucumber farming
We have grown cucumbers for three years in our PIUY (put it up yourself – from a long thin box marked “greenhouse” – it took us 2 long days) . The first year we grew three tiny cucumbers that shall remain nameless. As beginners, we were delighted with the result. The next year we grew even more of the same variety and then suddenly disaster. Initially it was mouldy fluffy stuff on the leaves. I checked the Organic Gardening Book and dusted with the recommended treatment. Everything perked up. But within a couple of days...
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