Jottings from the Potting Shed.

A light-hearted look behind the scenes by Gary the Gardener.

May/June 2008

No jottings this month – Gary is too busy.

April/May 2008

Things are getting really busy now. The Kitchen Garden is fully planted up and we’ve made a start on the Physic/Herb Garden. A few weeks of fine weather should see it up and running.

We’ve had to make two new Cold Frames and they, and the Greenhouses, are full of plants which will be ready to go out as soon as they’ve been ‘hardened off’.

The New Garden behind the Education Block is half planted with potatoes, onions and carrots and we’ll put the rest in once all risk of frost is over.

Tip of the month:
How many times have you planted out cabbage plants only to see them flop over in warm weather due to the dreaded cabbage fly? You could put collars around them but this is fiddly. Why not try planting them with, or near, hyssop? This is a versatile herb in its own right but it also distracts the cabbage fly away from your your brassicas. Good luck!

March/April 2008

Hello again. Easter is normally when we start planting up the gardens but, because it’s so early this year, we’re not quite ready. Also, although the temptation is to get things going, we’ve been caught out by late frosts (and snow) in previous years, so we’ll wait until the weather shows more definite signs of warming up.

The 16th century vegetable plot behind the Manor has been dug over and is ready for planting. I wish the same could be said of the herb/physic garden which looks a sorry sight - but we’re waiting for the perennials to start shooting (and the self-set seedlings to sprout) before we tidy it up. The greenhouses are full of seed trays and young plants and we should be able to start the hardening off process soon.

We’ve had to start mowing our grass but we’ve set the mower blade on ‘high’ so it just takes the tips off to tidy things up until we can be sure the frosts are over.

Tip of the month:

Are birds playing havoc with your broad bean seedlings? They seem to just pull ours out of the ground and leave them lying on top of the soil!

I’ve now got some small sticks, pushed them in around the outside of the bed and I shall be looping a reel of cotton across in a zig-zag pattern. As soon as the birds touch the cotton they fly away -fingers crossed!

February/March 2008

At last we’ve said goodbye to a wet January and the dry spell meant I could crack on with digging over and manuring the new vegetable plot.

As soon as this is finished I will be covering the individual beds with weed block. This is a black membrane which excludes light and suppresses those weeds which would otherwise start popping up from March onwards.

Now I can forget about them until the soil warms up in late spring/early summer and then just peel back the covering and plant into weed-free soil.

I’ve also been busy in the greenhouse sowing onion and broad bean seed as well as geraniums, pansies, petunias etc which will brighten up the flowerbeds and planters once the bulbs have finished.

Now is also a good time to have a final outside tidy up – weather permitting – before the busy season gets underway next month.

Tip of the month:

If you can’t get weed block, or want a cheaper way of covering soil, use black polythene. Black bin liner bags are cheap and readily available. Just overlap them on the soil and weight them down with stones. This also helps to warm up the soil which will enable you to make earlier sowings for earlier crops.

Gary the Gardener

January/February 2008

This is probably the quietest time of year for working outside – it’s mainly planning ahead for changes during the coming year. (Watch this space!).

In the greenhouse though I’ve been busy cleaning all the pots and trays in readiness for sowing over the coming months.
Mini Tip: I use a weak solution of Jeyes Fluid to disinfect the pots and clear up any diseases lingering from last year.

Now that we’ve started our new vegetable plots behind the Education Block we will be able to offer visitors the opportunity to buy freshly picked vegetables throughout the summer months. We did this on a small scale last year and were pleasantly surprised with the demand and the (financial) outcome. All the money raised is ploughed back into seeds, plants and equipment. Obviously availability will vary so please telephone to check what we have before making a special journey.

Behind the Manor House our period vegetable, herb and physic gardens will soon be springing into life and we hope to introduce some more heritage varieties of the 17th century to complete your trip back in time at Llancaiach Fawr.

Tip of the month:

Save all your egg boxes and trays for ‘chitting’. Stand a potato in each section and then put them in a greenhouse or cool, light area and they will quickly develop strong shoots ready for planting out later in the spring.

Quick Links

Produced by CCBC Communications Unit