Lots to tell you this month as once again the growing seasons pelts into full swing.
The flowers are starting to bloom, the birds are singing and the self-sufficiency garden is once step closer to being finished.
Weather so far this month has been mostly wet! It’s making everything look beautiful and green but as the sun appears between each down pour it means the plants in the garden are growing at lightening speed and I’m having to keep a very close eye for any pests.
I’ll add my photo’s at the beginning of each post so if you haven’t got time to read you can quickly glance at the garden’s update.
As always, let me know what you think. Is it useful or just a pain to read?
May Update
(Click on any photo to make it bigger)
Indoor Cultivation
Oh yes the rocket. The seedlings that took weeks – weeks to turn into plants rose and bolted all within a week! Apparently my kitchen got to warm and that was that. Goodbye leafy salad crops, for now. I’m going to have another go (of course).
So that just leaves the chilli plants indoors at the minute as all other sowings and seedlings have vacated to the grow-house, or have been planted outside.
Raised Beds
The Garden Connect bed is coming along well (more on that in my #GardenConnect post next week). I realised too late I hadn’t bought strawberry runners in time so will now need to go and buy strawberry plants for one of the raised beds. In fact I managed to get all 26 plants just yesterday so will be planted this week.
The other beds are nearly all populated now. The garlic and onions in one are doing really well. In the front garden the potatoes are really taking hold and once the strawberries are in that’ll just leave one bed to house the butternut squash, and another to house the runner beans and sweetcorn.
Grow House (Plastic, walk in)
The garlic chives are growing but very slowly. I will need to put them out soon. The rest of the house is taken up with the runnerbeans, squash, sweetcorn (which I’m having a problem with germinating) and the gladioli and freesia bulbs. It’s quite packed out there at the moment but always room for more however I think most of my sowings are now complete. Anything that doesn’t (won’t) germinate now will be bought later on in plant form.
Fence (Fruit espaliers)
These guys are really busy growing. The plum even more so than the apple which was fighting some black bugs to begin with. There are three god shoots on the plum I can make the next layer of espalier with. I fed both plants with bone meal last week which will hopefully encourage strong roots and further growth.
Patio (Wildlife plants, hop, and soft fruit)
All berry plants are doing well. The blueberries are already beginning to form which I am pleased about, it means it won’t be long until I start eating fresh fruit again!
The hop is growing half a foot a day at the moment. Three shoots have grown which is apparently the most I won’t on the plant in any one season so at least I won’t have to prune any down. In the next week the shoot will reach the top of the fence and I’ll begin training them up above the patio and onto the roof.
Other areas (Wildlife areas, lawn, and soft fruit)
The lawn is still looking good. I’ve heard no more from the landscaper (no surprise there). Instead we’ve cut out the boarder for one end of the lawn and still another to do to get the perennials back in the ground where they belong.
I’m amazed at the raspberry canes. They are not only popping up all over the place (close to their original parents) but it means I don’t need to replace any that dies last year because they have managed to do it themselves. The height on some of the plants is about 60cms (2ft) and others are much smaller but all have got many flowers appearing on them. I’ve not feed any of the plants this year other than to give a couple of the canes the left over coffee grounds from my morning cafetiere.
Front Garden (Nut hedge, native hedging, raised beds and fruit)
All going well in this area. We’ve already had one desert helping from the rhubarb which was delicious. Plenty more to have off the plant as well so looking forward to experimenting with different rhubarb recipes.
The native hedging has taken well although it’s probably trying to deal with all the manure that I realised after planting, I wasn’t suppose to give it!
The raised beds appear to blend into the front garden nicely which I am pleased about. I didn’t want them to stick out and be too obvious for anybody walking past and looking into the garden. I wanted them to look as natural as possible and they do, especially now the garden has lawn edging made up of the same wood.
My top three jobs to do in May
- Plant the strawberries
- Get the lettuce set up again
- Keep an eye out for greenfly/blackfly
Garden jobs to do around the garden in May:
- Sow sweetcorn
- Tie up any loose raspberry canes
- Sow cabbages, carrots and beetroot
- Plant pot grown shrubs and trees
So, what will you be up to in the garden this month?