Sunday, December 01, 2013

The Garden Share Collective ~ December

The Garden Share Collective is the brain child of Lizzie from Strayed from the Table. There are a group of bloggers from all over the place who chat about what is going on in their gardens, with hints and tips. Pop over to Strayed from the Table to check out all the others.


This is going to basically be a veggie post this month, because things are finally really growing.

 The Veggie Garden

I've now got tomatoes ready, lots of greens coming along nicely. In the gaps I mentioned last time I planted things that will take up a lot of space ~ I went for butternut squash, crown pumpkins, a watermelon and a honeydew melon. Quite excited to see how they all do. I've had success with all but a watermelon before.


Courgettes looking good - it always has a bit of a setback when I transplant it outside - I may have been a bit early this year!

My 2 different types of cucumber ~ a lebanese and an apple one ~ are going amazingly!! Perhaps I wont give up on them after all. I can even see  some teeny tiny cucumbers appearing.

The butterbeans are going crazy. The snake beans are growing really slowly. It would appear they had a bit of an aphid problem. So I neemed them! what a difference that made!

Some of my sweetcorn. Every year I plant this is stages in the hopes that the corn will come ready at different times, and every year they all seem to  come ready round about the same time anyway. Still, I keep at it.





So, that's about it really for the veggies. They're doing what they're supposed to.


The Greenhouse
I washed the outside of the greenhouse a couple of days ago. Over the last year it had got terribly green on the roof and walls. I thought it looked dirty! So I got the garden hose and a broom, and just brushed the green off and sprayed it clean - it looks lovely again.


I wish I'd planted peppers/capsicums in the greenhouse last year - they are just doing so well!


The aubergines are growing like weeds in here, but I'm not too sure if my experiment is going to be a success or not. They're dropping their flowers rather than setting them. I've been reading up about flower drop and it seems that it could be either not enough water, or temperature fluctuations - which they do not like. I can control the water issue, but not so easily the temperature. Not sure what I'm going to do with them. Hope for the best I suppose!

Here's a wee overview of the tomato side of the greenhouse - I've pruned them quite heavily and nipped the tops out so that they don't grow any more - my plan is to harvest these tomatoes over the next 4 weeks, then plant out some more from seed. I'm sort of hoping they grow over summer and we'll have late tomatoes.

The chillies are coming on brilliantly!

 This is a wee harvest of tomatoes, the branch on one of the plants was so heavy that it broke off when they were all still green. So I picked them off and just put them in the trug to ripen.


My hydrengeas are out in force now!! I LOVE them!

 More exciting news!
Elizabeth hatched 5 out of the 6 eggs I put under her. She really is the most gentle mum. Gerald, my white leghorn is the dad. The mums are some of my white leghorns, and three mixes! You can see how strong the leghorn gene is as they are all yellow. Two of them have wee black spots though! They're like Dalmation Chickens!



 I adore having chicks around the place!!

So, there you have it!
See you next month!

20 comments:

  1. Wow your garden looks fantastic. Aw how sweet are those chickens, the mummy chicken is also beautiful I love her color.
    x

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    1. Hi Sharon, thank you! this is a TINY fraction of it, and it is a real labour of love!
      Elizabeth is a totally gorgeous wee girl. And the best mummy! xx

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  2. Thanks for the peek into your garden and at the sweet chicks.

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  3. Your little chicks are so cute! And your vegetable garden is looking great. It's the middle of winter here, so my vegetable garden is nothing more than a memory and a hope for an early spring so I can get out there and do it all again :-)

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    1. it's funny when you think about the opposite sides of the world being in such different places weather wise!!

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  4. I can't believe your eggplants have flowers already. Mine are tiny little things so I think you're probably more likely to get fruit than me :-) What a healthy looking garden you have and very tidy! Lovely post - very inspiring!

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    1. mine are in the greenhouse, though. thank you! I do love my garden <3

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  5. The greenhouse really is the key to growing in cooler climates, those peppers and tomatoes look great. I hardly water my eggplants at all. Once the flower sets fruit I then water them a little - well in my case let the rain do it. I found they really don't like to much water, but your plants look so healthy. Hope you figure out the problem soon. Yours chicks are so cute.

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    1. it really is :) we are sub tropical though so everything really does grow well outside - I still grow the same things, I just get a bigger crop!!!!

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  6. Your garden looks wonderful and so tidy, I am a little jealous of how many ripe tomatoes you have already :) I like the chicks different coloured patches, they look adorable.

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    1. I am a little anal about it :) I really hope the chicks grow up and keep their wee spots!

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  7. I think from all the GSC posts, you have to have the most attractive veggie patch! What a gorgeous garden

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    1. aw thank you Lisa <3 and right now some much needed rain is falling so it will be giving a sigh of relief!

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  8. All looking wonderfully productive. When I tried to grow aubergines they were tiny - maybe just too cool in my greenhouse. I adore your hydrangea and chicks.

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    1. one aubergine really isnt doing that great :( but the other is amazing - but still no set ones :( the wee chicks arent quite so wee any more!

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  9. I think one of my favorite things about following different blogs is the fact that just when we hit our coldest, it's incredibly rewarding to see the height of summer and the abundance that exists in the other half of the world during this time of year. Sort of a great reminder of the cycle of the seasons and of life. :)

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    1. I like that too - when we're in the depths of our damp, dull winters I love looking at the northern hemisphere blogs!

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    2. I like that a lot as well!

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  10. Wow. What a wonderful garden you've got! That chili makes my mouth water! I also really like your little "veggie garden" sign. So charming and rustic looking. We've decided to try growing watermelon for the first time this year. We'll see how it goes! We're also going to put up a greenhouse and get chickens! Whew...its about to get wild....

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I love it when you leave me comments, it lets me know there are folk out there reading my ramblings! Thank you, I appreciate them loads and loads
Laura x