DIY Veg Box

The cat looks quite content with this veg box so I'll pretend she built it.

This is a very bad weed infested area of the garden that I want to grow more veg in so at the moment I've got some plastic down and it's a bit of an eye sore. I'm hoping I can pretty it up this summer & control the weeds. I can visualise what I want it to look like, fingers crossed I get there.

Sowing lots of seed at the minute. My first seed sown in late Feb were peppers and chillis. Then flowers and this weekend various veg seed. Date and type of seeds I've sown can be viewed from my '2011 Seed List' page tab located towards the top of the blog.

In the green tray (left) Calendula 'Orange King' are coming up nicely. The flowers are edible and the bright orange flower petals will be nice scattered in salad this summer.

Left: Two chillis and a pepper plant got a slightly more permanent home .

The Maris Peer potatoes were planted in the ground this weekend (I was watching Monty on BBC Gardener's World plant his potatoes & I remembered mine were still in the garage). I almost put them in tubs or large compost bags to grow but had some ground ready so this way I'll get a higher yield (based on last year's test).

Remember my 'Name that Veg' blog post (27 March)? Well seems my fellow bloggers were right about it being a radish. But it looks long and red rather than round.  Suppose I need to pull one out soon and have a look. There are only about 8 of them that survived the winter and most are quite small.

Digging Dilemma (blog 31 March) - good news... I took the digging fork back to the garden centre and they gladly gave me a refund. After my wheelbarrow, my digging fork is my favourite garden tool so content I have a new one. Fingers crossed I chose a better one this time!

Digging Dilemna

I had a bit of an accident with my digging fork. Unfortunately in a moment of desperation I put my body weight on it and it snapped. I know better but it just happened. So my fork of about 10 years has been retired (until the day I find someone who fixes them).

Pictured with Mondo Black Grass.

So off I went to buy a replacement. Decided to give the business to a garden center and surprisingly they only had two forks to choose from. So I went for one that described itself as "high quality carbon steel" with a "ten year guarantee" and comfort grip. Happy with my purchase I went straight home to use it. Here's the result I got the first day using it...

It's maybe hard to see in this photo, but can you see the second prong has bent. The 'high quality carbon steel' bent from a rock it hit. I was quite surprised it bent so easily. So I'm wondering, is this just my hard luck or should it have bent so easily? The packaging doesn't say exactly what the 10 year guarantee is in relation to.

You can see in the photo above my ten year (broke) fork has straight prongs after 10 years' use. It's kind of embarrassing to think about returning a digging fork to the garden centre. Should I write it off as bad luck and use it anyway? Buy a new one? Ask for my money back?

Perennial Peek-a-Boo

The perennials are out of hiding and peeking up nicely. Not many slugs munching yet but I'll keep a watchful eye. (The Irish slugs are hungry little guys).

Here's what's popping up around the garden...
Above/Below: Aquilegia McKana Giants Mixed, Mr Fothergill's Seeds. Sowed April 2010, flower their 2nd year. They should reach 3 ft.

The colouring in the two Aquilegia photos above look quite different. Suppose they'll be different colours. Will they really reach 3 feet by May? My money's on a June show.

Sedum Autumn Joy is a reliable plant. It'll have pink, turning red, turning burgundy flowers from late summer.

Variety: Lupin Russell Mix. A striking cottage-style perennial coming up nicely. These were grown from seed several years ago and come up every year. The flowers add striking colour in June/July.

Above: The primrose come up every year. They're in a shady, dry area of the garden and seem to like it. I divided some babies over the weekend. Spot the weeds!

I'm not a big fan of Astilbe but it doesn't mind a wet area of the garden. I recently broke my digging fork dividing this plant which was 4 times this size!

My favourite early flowering perennial - Phlox. This is a tall variety with cheerful pink flowers. I divided it a few weeks ago so hopefully I'll have two beautiful plants this year.  Variety unknown.

Delphinium - my all time favourite cottage perennial plant. Above plant sown from seed several years ago. Does anyone know if delphinium can / should be divided? I've heard they only last 3 or 4 years and then should be replaced. Any thoughts on this?

In flower (2010): Phlox, Lupin, Sedum Autumn Joy.