We spent Sunday building our second large raised bed, which involved moving a lot of bedding plants around to create the space, and then we started to transplant the larger of our seedlings into pots and borders. This is when having a big family of enthusiastic children really helps! Just two more raised beds to build now before summer.
This morning the bright sunshine had woken up all of the beetroot and chamomile seeds …
… and the chives have started to flower in the garden. This large, thriving plant was last year’s tiny seedling.
I am so pleased to see the little maple that we planted last year back in leaf.
The pickling onions, which have been growing outside from seed in a large pot, are looking promising …
… and we can now see the tops of our container-grown carrots.
Last week, I took our french beans out of the kitchen, and placed them on the patio. The next morning I was dismayed to find that they were covered in flies, swarming over the leaves. As we are organic gardeners, I started to search the internet for solutions but I needn’t have worried; within hours a large fat ladybird was taking care of the problem for us!
Happily, fresh new leaves are now starting to grow.
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I have an organic pest spray recipe at home. I’ll have to dig it out and give it to you.
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I would love that – thank you Jim! -beck 🙂
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Good job ladybird!
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Ooh me too Jim please!
I love this. Well done for getting so much done! I’ve just planted out my cucumbers and peppers so I hope the weather stays warm enough!
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Your plants are so big allready !!! We had so cold spring this year. Yesterday was snowing 😦 😦 But you gave me hope that summer is coming !
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Eeek – I hope the snow has stopped for you now! We’ve had weeks of very dry sunny weather and all the plants were looking really thirsty – but a huge downpour today has fixed that! Luckily the rain kindly held off for our camping trip last weekend … 🙂
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Organic treatments for aphid infestation usually contain the plant extract pyrethrum. You can also use soap water sprays. You do however have to use with care because they are not selective. You can some times just wash them off with a hose pipe. I hope they go on ok?
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Thanks Brian … a blast of water did help, and no trouble since (fingers crossed) – but I’ve planted some back up seeds just in case!
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Yay for ladybugs!
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Gardening is a perpetual game of swings and roundabouts. Our largest maple is in a dire way with three-quarters of the leaves frosted and this morning I found blackfly on the remaining healthy leaves… much squishing standing on a stepladder followed. Then this evening, I found a full crop on the remaining sprouting broccoli that I had meant to dig up days ago.
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It is! I’ve had several maples that were beautiful one year, and then never returned, just turned to old wood! I like veg growing because of the fast turnaround, and that if something goes wrong, I can quickly plant new seeds 🙂
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Thank goodness for the lady-bird.
Insects usually take advantage of plants under stress. We now grow herbs only. By and large they seem to ward off bugs and diseases. We had mealy-bug on our large indoor Ficus Lyrata. Each day we scan the leaves to see if new ones have appeared. It is not easy.
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We’ve just had a week’s worth of rain fall in a few hours here, which has washed all the little bigs away … but I’m now prepping for the slugs which will likely now appear at dusk!
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Your plants are so huge allready !!! We had so icy spring this year. Yesterday was snowing But you gave me trust that mid year is coming !..
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Oh my goodness … how do the tigers react to icy and snow? We’re just about into summer here now, we just spent last weekend at the coast in bright sunshine … I’ll post up a sunny seaside blog for you soon 🙂
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God bless ladybirds.😊
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It is such fun to see your garden growing. Your story about the ladybird reminds me of the ladybird in Roald Dahl’s book James and the Giant Peach.
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I loved that book when I was little – and I can see exactly what you mean 🙂
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Thank heavens for ladybirds!
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Just found your blog and realy enjoyivn browsing your posts. Planning a batch of smokey garlic ketchup when my tomatoes are ready.
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Thank you for stopping by – I’m so pleased you enjoyed reading through the posts 🙂 Good luck with the ketchup – I hope the tomatoes are coming along nicely!
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Wonderful 🙂
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