A very worky weekend

hasn't the weather been great for gardening, well it has where I am.
I have been looking at ways to grow a large selection of edibles but in small quantities. I looked at various "raised bed" planters that clicked or slotted together, as well as being ugly, cumbersome and in startling colours they were very pricey. 
I put my thinking hat on and went through the shed, BINGO, Black planters 30 cms from Wilko and only £1:50 each.

5 fit very nicely round each of my little trees, and these are set with free seeds from my gardening magazine, Red Chard,White Mooli, Turnips and some  Oriental Salad Leaves and Red Mooli that I had in the seed tin. I have 3 more trees and each will get this treatment. 

I have cleared another section of my little stone wall and planted it up with a couple of Pinks, these have been in pots for far too long and I will be taking cuttings. There is a small white flowering plant that will spread out and I popped a few trailing Lobelia along the edge. You can just see 2 legs of an obelisk, there were 2 climbers at the base but one died off, there are now 3 Climbing French Bean plants there, I will look out for a replacement climber later on. 

I have left some grass at the very front edge as the roots are growing far down through the wall, I aim to cut it back a bit further each time. Hopefully that will kill it off without causing any damage to the wall, if all else fails I will fork out for some weedkiller gel.

I went to a garden center at Cross Hands this morning, just to look for some seeds and found 2 racks of reduced plants, deep joy and a little happy dance.

4 Autumn raspberries for £2 each, nothing to look at now but next year they should do well, they are well settled into a bed enriched with Alpaca poo and topped off with spent compost for a weed free ( fingers crossed) mulch.

  

This is further along my stone wall, some herbs and Alpines along this bit. In the gaps I have sprinkled wild Rocket and Radish seed.

Along the back you can see my 2 pots of curly Parsley and some pots with 2 or 3 Autumn Calabrese seeds in each. The Parsley will be going into bigger pots and as it grows will be cut for Pesto made with sharp Cheddar and Walnuts, it makes a change from Basil, Parmesan and Pinenuts.

I found 7 little Strawberry plants for 30p each, these 6 are varieties that I do not know, I will have to wait and see if they are worth taking runners off.

This plant is Cambridge Favourite, a variety that I have grown and loved for over 30 years, I will be snipping the flowers off and keeping my fingers crossed for runners. 

I also found a Jasmine and a Pink for my friend over the road, she loves scented flowers and will enjoy these. Her hubby has strict instructions as to how and where to put them.

I will have a few Strawberries soon from my first pots, not enough but I will enjoy them. These are also new varieties for me, I still have to get some Mara Des Bois and as far as I know it will be an internet search, I have not seen them for sale in the flesh anywhere.

As I have done so much, there is a lot that is too mundane to take photo's of, I decided to tickle my fingers round a pot of Duke of York potatoes and found these little beauties. They will be part of my dinner tonight and I am really looking forward to them.

One of my troughs of baby spinach has collected some tiny aphids, so are for the burning bin, and I have no more seed, at least none that I can find, bum, I hope to find some when I shop later in the week.

I think that is all for now, I seem to have been tapping away for yonks, tea is definitely required, and lots of it.

I hope that you have all enjoyed your weekend as much as I have mine. I still have some weeding to do, well who hasn't, and once done there will be more along. I have called it a day now as my back is beginning to complain and so was Ben, he needed some time for a fuss. He is now curled up on his cushion, as close to me as he can get and is snoring gently. After dinner we will go for a walk round the park, he loves it there.

                   TTFN                                                      Pam

I am hoping to get to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in August. I am not sure if I could manage the drive and then be able to walk round, but there are some companies doing coach trips with an overnight stay. Fingers crossed.