Come on little ladybirds!

We've installed a ladybird tower underneath the apple tree and now all we need is for some lovely little ladybirds to come and set up home in their grand tower.  We also smeared some 'ladybird attractants' (some powdery stuff that you mix with water) onto the outside of the tower in the hope that it will lure the brightly coloured little bugs to their new home. So far, it's still empty but it's only been a few days so here's hoping...

In the sunshine!

We've been outside in the garden all day. We finally sowed the garlic and we've put our potatoes into grow bags so now all our vegetables are planted. Also planted some sweet peas in the vegetable patch with the parsnips. ( I hope sweet peas like parsnips!) There is a trellis and some netting along that side of the vegetable patch so hopefully the sweet peas will climb it and add some colour to that part of the garden.

As you can see from the photo on the left, the banana trees are doing well. We pulled most of the dead bark around the trunk to expose more of the stems to the glorious sunshine we've been having. You can just about make out the apple tree in the photo - it's growing behind the palm.

Unfortunately we also discovered some ghastly green fly! They've attacked our tiny shoots of peas, our mange tout and our rose bush. So out came the soapy water and it was open warfare on those horrible pests! They're obviously enjoying the good weather too.

The second photo on the left is of the smaller banana trees. They're also doing  well and there's even a tiny pup bursting with life though you can't see him as he's hidden behind the fern. In the background is the stump of a Canary Island palm which sadly didn't make it through the winter. We're hoping to get another palm soon though how we get the huge stump out of the soil with all the other plants growing around it is going to be another one of our gardening challenges.

This photo also boasts our smart new fence which we only had installed a week ago. The old fence was falling apart and was even rotting in places so the time had come. We've also had the sides of the borders rendered and painted a bright brick red and so now all that remains is to replace the paving. That has been a huge saga and probably for another post. Today it's about the lush green plants and the stunning sunshine!

A quote...

Saw this on the back of a book by Louise Hampden called A Treasury of Garden Wisdom - "If gardening doesn't teach us anything it should teach us faith. All the time we are shivering and complaining nature is working miracles underground..."

Tips from the old wives

Did you know that marigolds are excellent deterrents for aphids? We discovered this last year in a handy little book called "Tips from the Old Gardener's" by Duncan Crosbie. We put this old wive's tale to the test and bought a large selection of French marigolds in spring last year, potted them and then placed the potted marigolds in between our tomato plants in the greenhouse. Well the aphids stayed very far away from our tomato plants. Result!

Apparently marigolds secrete an insect repellent that protects plants. I've always found the smell of marigolds very unpleasant and it seems I'm not the only one; aphids do too. The roots also secrete a repellent which is why it is  recommended that you plant marigolds near your vegetable patch.

This last weekend, we've been on the hunt for marigolds and sadly most of the nurseries don't seem to have any young shoots of marigolds yet. We managed to find some African marigolds so that's a start. The plan is to plant rows of marigolds in between the vegetable plots this year and to also dot some around the garden and greenhouse again.

Another interesting fact we learnt from Duncan Crosbie's little book is that parsley encourages bees and borage helps strawberries to grow. Garlic and chives keep greenfly away from roses and lavender planted near roses keeps aphids away.

There's also a handy little table in the book which shows you which plants should be grown close to each other and which ones should be grown very far apart. For example, onions shouldn't be grown near peas. That might explain why our peas shrivelled up so quickly last year - we planted them right next to the onions! Potatoes shouldn't be planted close to tomatoes but beetroots and onions are supposed to be good friends.

Days are getting longer

The clocks went forward last weekend which means the sun is now setting a little later and the afternoons are spreading out into the evenings. It's been fairly warm these last few days and with the lighter evenings there's a definite feel that spring is here. About time too!

So to give you an update since the last post -which was actually in the icy throes of winter - January! The basil, chives and salad leaves on the windowsill are doing well and we've been enjoying some fresh salad leaves with dinner every evening. The basil is still quite young but hopefully we'll be able to use it soon. The chives - well I'm not so sure about the chives. They look a little skinny to me - not like the thick chunky chives I know - our chives are frail little whisps of green. Not sure why? Maybe they need warmer weather and more sunshine before they start to bulk up... let's see what happens.

We've also planted some tomato seedlings in a pot on the windowsill and so far so good. Will need to transplant them into a bigger pot over the weekend. We also have some Maris Piper and King Edward potatoes chitting in some ice trays near the kitchen window. Apparently egg boxes are recommended for chitting but ice trays work just as well!

In another small pot next to the tomato seedlings we have some strawberry seeds. It seems most people don't grow strawberries from seed and instead buy them as young seedlings and plant them out. For some reason we chose the hard way and decided to plant from seed. The packet said to scatter the seeds on the top of moist soil and then cover the pot with cling film, which we duly did. Seemed strange not to cover the seeds with compost but apparently strawberry seeds need light to germinate. Well, after two weeks three of the eight seeds have germinated. It's all starting to happen on the Cowick Garden kitchen window sill!

In the vegetable patches we've planted  beetroot, spring onions, peas and mange tout. We're waiting till mid-April before planting the parsnips.

And the very big news of the day is most of the banana trees have survived! In the end we lost only two - two of the bigger ones, which is a shame. We should have covered them up earlier especially considering we had such a cold  December. Well we know for next year.