Pub Kitchen Garden – Re-opening

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#gdnbloggers, Spring, The Queen at Brandeston, Vegetables

As we all know, it has been an unusual and difficult year all round but especially for the hospitality industry. The Queen at Brandeston, where I manage the garden has met each new challenge full on, opening a local shop and serving food and drinks as takeaway, then sitting outside and inside, as permitted, at different times.

Last week I was there on Easter bank holiday, trying to catch up with jobs in the vegetable garden to make sure I was ready for the growing season ahead.

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Rhubarb

Usually the pub would be busy, but this year it was just me and Mr Blackbird feeling the chill of snow showers.

You can just about see the snowflakes!

I was weeding the final beds to be done and he was following me, filling his beak with worms. He must have a family in the hedge.

Every year I hope to keep on top of the weeds with a little bit of regular hoeing but once I spend more time planting, watering and sowing seeds, the weeds take overk. So I will just take this moment to enjoy the vegetable patch being under control before it all goes crazy again.

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Here it is, ready to go. Strawberries in the foreground.

There are already some things coming on. I have winter lettuces and chard under green mesh, which seemed to have survived the recent late frosts.

Chard foreground, lettuces behind.

There are some tiny radish seedlings and peas planted out, having been started off in the the greenhouse in early spring.

Peas

The wild garlic, which I planted a few years ago, is looking well and finally spreading. I just have a bit of a problem in that bed with tiny field maple seedlings.

Wild garlic surrounding my new pinkcurrant bush.

There is lots of self seeded coriander in the herb garden and the chives are romping away as always. The only bed not sorted out yet is the flower patch.

Coriander

The flower patch – still to be sorted.

A week on and the flower patch is still waiting to be brought to order but I have planted 14 kg of pink fir apple seed potatoes to be used in the pub kitchen. A main crop variety, they should be ready, once they have flowered, late summer.

With the tables and outside space restored and and the glamping facilities re-vamped and improved, The Queen is ready to welcome people to sit outside to eat and drink and stay. Visit the website here for opening hours.

The tulips are flowering with perfect timing now customers are allowed to sit in the garden again.

Small changes.

It is mid March, and there is an abundance of primroses and violets. They do make a good combination and good to see because, with the exception of a few days, it’s still cold and blossom is late this year.

A rare sunny lunch break.

1st chilli seedling

When I couldn’t resist the urge any longer, I sowed some chilli seeds in a homemade propagator on the windowsill. All 3 have germinated now. The peppers didn’t do anything so I have tried some aubergines instead.

This is my corn salad and rocket, overwintered in the polytunnel, the pots had some good roots so I have planted them, still in clumps, into the ground within a cold frame.

As there was no frost forecast, lettuces and other salad, under cover and a few broad beans have been planted at the pub.

With a bit of space created, I have been able to sow the spring onions, beetroot and various brassicas. Germination has happened albeit slowly.

This is the beginning of the seed sowing for the pub, in early March. There are a few more now.

Daffodils are beginning to come out and the blossom is nearly there!

I’ve held back on my successional sowing while I wait for it to warm up a bit, I may have mentioned it’s been cold! My village seed swap has gone well, I have sent out about 40 packets of seeds and I’m very proud of the sustainability of all those seeds being put to good use.

Last weeks weather included blue sky, strong winds and rain and the curious Cumulus mammatus cloud.

Cumulus mammatus clouds.

So at the moment, work is picking up and I’m feeling in control of the gardens. It won’t be long before everything starts growing fast, including weeds, and seeds and seedlings will need a lot more care. That’s is when start panicking that I don’t have enough hours in the day. I’m looking forward to it really!

It has taken me so long to write this that at the beginning of another week I have returned to work to find that the cherry plum blossom has finally burst open and the hellebores are getting better and better.

It’s getting lighter – end Feb 21

Tags

gardening, seedswap, snow, Spring, Vegetables

That’s what we are all saying at the moment! The days are really drawing out, I was outside until past 5.00 at the weekend, and sunset is after 17.20.

Berberis in the supermarket carpark, while I was queuing to get in.

Since the last post, we have had the predicted cold snap. Lots of snow, drifts, icicles, bitterly cold wind and near or below freezing temperatures for a week. We were snowed in for a couple of days and I couldn’t work for the whole week. Really it was nothing compared to countries that have proper cold winter with snow for much longer but I did get fed up with being cold.

Snowy pictures.

And then just like that, it got warmer and melted, leaving everywhere wet again. But things are looking up, I got given some garlic bulbs that hadn’t sold so I have planted some in pots to use as leaves, some in the garden and some at the pub garden. They are not proper treated bulbs for planting but it’s worth a try.

And my seed potatoes arrived from Pennards Plants . I usually go to my local potato day and have great fun choosing lots of different varieties but it isn’t on this year. Pennards do have a good selection, it just doesn’t have the same buzz as a gathering of lots of people all interested in buying and selling potatoes and other horticultural supplies.

I always grow Charlotte as that’s my name, there are some more underneath, some are for the pub.

I won’t be planting them until at least April so I will have to keep them cool, I don’t do chitting but they may sprout a bit anyway by then.

Then this weekend, it got a lot warmer, up to 13°C. It felt properly spring like although we mustn’t get too excited, there are probably many more cold and grey days to come. Nevertheless I went grocery shopping and came back with dahlia corms, something else which will have to wait, and peonies in those boxes which are usually full of shrivelled up plants. This time I got lucky, bits of peony roots just starting to grow which I have potted up and put in the polytunnel. No pictures but I might go and get some more while they are still in good condition.

Seed swap ready to go.

The other thing I have been doing, with the new season in mind, is creating a village seed swap. We are only a small village so it has been easy enough to gather the seeds, make a list, sent out on the village email, and now I am starting to distribute seeds to people that want them. I am charging a small amount, 20p -50p per packet in aid of the woodland see the blog here, if there are no swaps, but it is really to promote sustainability rather than make money. Next year a proper event hopefully.

The salad in the polytunnel survived the snow and I have had the first picking of mustard wasabi leaves.

The broad beans went back inside for the cold snap and are mostly ok.

The overwintering peas have been a failure, this was even before the cold.

The flower seeds have also mostly grown well and I have started pricking out Ammi. I have rather a lot.

The hellebores have popped back up

Always an exciting moment, the re-appearance of the crown imperials. There was no sign of them last week.

It has been so nice to have some warmer weather, just to have a few less layers on and get the washing on the line. There will be a few more frosty nights to look out for but there is hope for summer and getting out and about again

It’s February, where is spring?

Tags

#gardenblog #wintergarden #snowdrops # gardenersyear #fruitgarden

Snowdrops in the rain

I said that I wasn’t going to take so many snowdrop pictures this year, as I have loads I from previous years, but the drifts are just reaching their peak and I can’t resist. The flowers are opening out now but the cold and wet weather mean that they are lasting well.

Mahonia in flower now.

Well, here we are in February and, apart from a few sunny days, it has still been mostly cold and wet. I am not able to work in some of my gardens due to the waterlogged ground, I am really hoping to get going again this month.

These are borders in two different gardens.

As I write this, I have enjoyed a couple of days of mild weather, with hints of spring, but we are forecast another “beast from the east” bringing snow and freezing conditions; so I have rescued a couple of plants from the floods and fleeced the seedlings in my polytunnel.

Old fruit cage

New fruit cage

On a more positive note, ‘my’ fruit cage is very nearly finished and the new fruit arrived and planted. I ordered it from James McIntyre and Sons and it arrived quickly. I have gooseberries and blackcurrants, saved from the old fruit cage, and a new selection of raspberries, strawberries and a redcurrant. It’s not really my fruit cage but the customer and Trev, who built it, both refer to it as “your” and I’m in charge!!

As well as the snowdrops, the hellebores are also putting on a good show and shoots of the peonies are beginning to show.

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Peony shoots.

I have got on well with the muck spreading at the pub with a bit of help from my son. I have also added to the fruit bushes there with red, white and pink currants and an Aronia. The loganberry from the old fruit cage has also been relocated here where there is more space for it to grow.

In other news, I have enrolled on a distance learning garden design course. I have so far enjoyed the buying of materials and setting myself up with some office space but I am finding the measuring and drawing difficult, which is what I expected. I am looking forward to getting to the plant bit and I will update as I go along.

Meanwhile, here’s some more pictures of a Daphne humming with bees on a warm day and more glistening snowdrops.

Daphne, the scent is amazing!

Still January – 2021

Tags

January

This picture of of my vegetable garden planning was shown on BBC Look East!

It seems to have been a long month, we’ve had lots of rain, snow, fog and more recently, Storm Christoph. I have had a few more days off since the last blog post, due to the weather rather than the pandemic. Today was a beautiful sunny day but I was at home because Friday’s garden is still flooded.

Snow in the back field a week ago.

Since the last post I have been rose pruning and general tidying of the borders, trying to make the best of the emerging spring flowers.

Weeded and compost added, ready for spring.

I have also started spreading a nice thick layer of muck on my vegetable beds at the pub.

Ready for the vegetable beds.

The rectangular planter has a good crop of wasabi mustard, not thinned, the round pots are my newly transplanted salad leaves.

Salad leaves in the polytunnel.

In the polytunnel, I have transplanted my salad leaves, sown in the autumn. Winter lettuce, corn salad, rocket and beetroot, for the red leaves. Not ideal when it is going to be frosty but they were getting too big and starting to rot off.

The snowdrops came out!

At home today so no excuse for not getting on with my own garden. Always first is to clean out the animals. I can’t let the chickens out of their run at the moment so they like to get in on the action.

As soon as I take the side off to clean out the hen house they are in to have a look.

Beautiful blues skies and I found ladybirds on the yucca as I was cutting off the dead flowers.

I have made a start on my, rather neglected, front garden.

Mr Robin at the top of a tall conifer, singing to the moon.

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First time flower patch

Nigella Persian Jewels

This year, I finally grew myself a cut flower patch, something I have wanted to have a go at for a while. It’s in one of the beds at my allotment garden.

It actually started in September 2019 with an offer of a hardy annual collection of seeds, suitable for autumn sowing, from Ben at Higgledy Garden .

I managed to direct sow all the seeds while the soil was still warm and they germinated quickly, some better than others.

October 2019, the seedlings are just visible coming up between the canes.

So the seedlings overwintered, with a bit of weed hoeing in between, but not changing much until the weather got warmer. I laid the canes on the ground so that I would know where to expect the lines of seedlings to come up, and so I could tell if they didn’t!

This is the plot in March, the nigella and escholtzia, Californian poppies, at the front and big Phacelia seedlings at the back.

At this point, I should have thinned out the rather crowded seedlings but it’s also the time of year when the rest of the veg patch and all my other gardens are springing into life. I was probably busy trying to prepare beds, sow seeds and control weeds, anyway, I didn’t get round to it before they were too big to transplant.

April, dahlia tubers waiting to be planted.

Fast forward to early June and we have flowers ready for picking! Lots of Nigella, Californian poppies and the wonderful smelling Phacelia. Also cornflowers and a few Calendula, pot marigolds.

I really enjoyed picking posies to give to people.

Nigella Oxford Blue

Calendula ice maiden, with the orange Californian poppies, Escholtzia, and a very few larkspur.

By August the flowers are fading a bit but I am still picking cornflowers, marigolds and Nigella seedheads. The yellow are Anthemis, a perennial I added, and the greenery from around the plot. The pink is Godetia which turned out to be big sturdy plants. I also had lots of self seeded Verbena bonariensis which was useful.

September, Antirhinum sown later and dahlias at the back.

October, lots and lots of self seeding.

October, and the dahlias are still going along with self sown marigolds and poppies which I cut back and have given a second flush. There has been lots of self seeding all over the bed, the neighbouring bed and the surrounding gravel.

Since then I have cut back and mulched the dahlias, hoping they survive the winter in the ground. I have transplanted as many seedlings as I can to various locations but also removed a lot where I don’t want them. I have also ordered another collection of hardy annual seeds!

On reflection, I have really enjoyed having flowers which I can pick without having to worry about leaving gaps in the border.

I have also liked having the space to grow annuals, it reminds me of the packets of mixed annuals that I used to grow as a child. It is quite magical the impact that a few tiny seeds can have in just one season of growth and I am planning to use more in my customer’s gardens, well I do have quite a few seeds now.

To have a longer flowering season in 2021, I have sown a few in my polytunnel to overwinter, mostly because I didn’t have enough space in the bed and I left it a bit late. I then intend to sow more successionally in the spring, and more thinly!

Ammi and Nigella in the polytunnel at home, sown rather late in the autumn but they will be ready to flower next summer.

Allotment update

This is what I call my allotment, I have previously referred to it as the pub veg plot if you want to look back on previous year’s progress. I am still growing stuff for the pub although only for the pop-up shop and takeaway ready meals at the moment. I am also spending a bit of my own time there to grow things for me. My new, and favourite, project this year has been a cutting garden, which you can see here.

On the left hand side, I have six beds. Two are permanently planted with rhubarb and fruit trees (underplanted with wild garlic) and the others currently have squashes, potatoes, sweetcorn and brassicas, and my cut flowers. And lots of weeds!

Not sure how to caption now WordPress has changed but this is courgette and a giant pumpkin with lots of space to grow.

This is just another view, including the flowers. The nigella have finished but I am using the seedheads and the godetia is just coming out. The cornflowers have just gone on and on.

End of June bucket of flowers.

On the right hand side, another six beds, this time three with permanent planting. One with herbs, one with newly planted asparagus, established globe artichokes and gooseberry and blueberry bushes and one with strawberries. Considering how I neglected the strawberry bed, it is producing well, plants in their second year now.

In the other beds, I have given up on the broad beans, harvested a few and pulled up plants. The red flowered, spring sown ones never really thrived and covered in rust and black fly, it’s time to go. I have let last years leeks flower, just because I like them, and planted s new crop, sown earlier in the year.

Also on this side, some later sown salad leaves and spring onions. The peas have been picked and eaten, by us and the pigeons.

Salad seedlings.

Autumn planted onion sets are almost ready to harvest, not very big because of the dry spring, after the wet beginning of the year, and a bit of a lack of time on my part, hence my ongoing weed battle. I have more courgettes and squashes dotted about, first courgette harvested this week.

Weeds!

July tasks will include weeding and getting to grips with the blog. I also have dahlias to add to the cutting patch. I have learnt a lot about growing flowers so I will try to put it all together in another post. I also have some more beans to squeeze in somewhere.

April Diary 2019

Tuesday 9th April

In the greenhouse, the French marigolds are up and the Gypsophila, pricked out last week, are doing well.  Sowed more squash seeds.

Started checking the dahlias. I usually pot them up at this stage but I have decided to water the dry soil that they have overwintered in, and move them from there if they grow.

Outside, pulled up the last of the brassicas and planted the next lot of peas. Put pea sticks in.

Friday 12th May

Planting seedlings in my raised bed

Managed to get the teenage daughter into the polytunnel to re-sow the failed sunflowers and also start the giant pumpkins. Planted spinach and lettuce seedlings into my raised bed. Still a bit cold at night so hoping they survive.

Found vine weevil in pots so tipped out completely in the chicken run.

Easter Holidays

Made use of the light evenings to sow squash, courgettes and beans in the polytunnel while learning Macbeth.

Visited allotment to water, first potato up so starting earthing up. The broccoli are too infested with aphids now to bother eating, so gradually bringing a couple of sticks home at a time for the chickens. Car also has aphids now!

Tuesday 23rd April

After a hot dry Easter break, it is back to grey weather and chilly nights.

Ready to eat, rocket, radish and baby spinach. Broad beans, not really but I can see the little beans forming.

The dahlias, that I bury in the bone dry greenhouse beds over winter, are beginning to shoot. I have been storing them like this for several years and it is really successful but you have to have a large, brick built greenhouse to do it! My customer is very lucky.

In the orchard, the apple blossom is divine, see top photo,  and I love the quince flowers, above, too. Saw my first speckled wood of the year.

Monday 29th April

Not a single potato left at the Hall. Not sure what has eaten them, possibly rats. The squashes are doing well, no germination on cucumbers, maybe the seed is too old now.

Tuesday 30th April

Saw the first damsel flies emerging from the pond. It is still cold though.

March Diary 2019.

Ladybird on overwintered parsley enjoying the spring sunshine.

Here we go with my attempt at a gardening diary.  I am making a few notes, on actual paper and on my phone, as I go along and then transferring them to here at the end of the month.  It will include gardening at home and work, mostly work this month and mostly lists of seeds!

Tuesday 4th March.

Autumn sown peas in the foreground, broad beans at the back.

Everything is growing! Pulled up the overwintered rocket to transplant the new lot in the greenhouse.  Also pricked out some into pots. Planted radishes outside!

Sowed Calvalo Nero, butternut squash, maybe, and borage to try and use up packets, bronze fennel to sell and parsley for the pub herb garden.

Saturday 9th March.

Home. Seeds- salad leaves, spring onion, giant sunflower, purple sprouting broccoli, plain parsley, dill, watercress. Put the sweet peas outside after pinching out.

Tuesday 12th March

Another list of seeds! First time I’ve grown Gypsophila. Transplanted sprouts, and had to ditch a few as I really don’t want this many.

Monday 18th/Tuesday 19th March

I keep writing ‘the peas are doing well!’ So here they are.

The radishes have survived. Planted out rocket, mass seed sowing beginning. Outside, parsnip, spring onion and winter density lettuce. Inside, 1st lot of French beans. Cornflowers outside to harden off.

Saturday 23rd March 

Planted potatoes. Some that I got at a potato day in February and some ordered online. Buying them at the potato day means I have 5 tubers of several different varieties.

Potato day at Stonham Barns

 

Planting potatoes on the allotment.

 

Tuesday 26th March

Lots more seeds including some squash and courgette in the greenhouse although it is still cold some nights. Planted out sweet peas.

The daffodils are out in the orchard.

 

Fritillary time.

 

Well that was March, I didn’t put all the lists of seeds in, in the end and it obviously doesn’t include every bit of gardening that I did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Spring 2019

I am posting this in early March, getting towards mid March now, having intended to do a bit of a diary catch up at the end of February. That month is so short that it caught me unawares! 

So,here is a quick summary of what I have been up to and some flowery pictures of what is out now.

At the end of last year, I was given the opportunity to take over, what I have previously called, the pub garden to use as an allotment. Last year was a difficult one weather wise and I just didn’t get enough paid time to get control of it. I think that all the time that I did get there, I spent watering. I am hoping that I will get to spend more ‘free’ time there, my son has been helping me and it is looking better already.

I have some Autumn sown broad beans, too much kale and I have planted some fruit. This side is pretty much under control the other six beds not so much but I have picked my first rhubarb of the season.

In January, I started keeping a garden journal. I glanced through my previous attempts, there were several January entries for preceding years, all talking about sorting through the seed packets, then nothing else.

This year I have managed to keep a list of what I have sown, I have done this before it usually lasts until about mid April when everything is growing and I can’t keep up. I try to write notes when I have spent a bit of time or done something specific in my garden, as opposed to work.

I have also made a couple of very rough sketches of the vegetable gardens so that I have an idea where everything is supposed to go, it is subject to change!

 

The sowing has begun in the greenhouse at The Hall and in the polytunnel at home. The first lot of seedlings are up, rocket, beetroot, radish and a whole packet of very old Brussels sprouts which have all germinated.

January sown sweet peas have been pinched and put outside although I should protect them from the frost due next week. Later sweet peas are just coming up.

I am picking rocket leaves from the polytunnel, sown in the autumn but only just getting going. As soon as the weather warms up they will flower and be over very quickly.

Now for the photos of all the lovely flowers appearing now.

Sweet violets, scilla and Leucojum (snowflake).

Hellebores, narcissus and dogwood.

This week has been wet and very windy, hoping  for a better one to come with lots more gardening.