I decided to sow some early peas in root trainers today to give us an early crop in May. The variety I chose was 'Douce Provence' a French-bred variety renowned for it's winter hardiness. I popped three seeds to each cell and covered them over with a layer of grit to discourage any four-legged fiends getting at them.
I now make my own potting mixes in attempt to keep them as organic as possible. There are about four different mixes I make for things like seed sowing, pricking out and potting on, planting bulbs, tubers and corms and also for striking cuttings. My seed sowing mix is as follows:
3 parts peat
(I now have a supply of coir which I am slowly introducing to cut my peat usage)
2 parts loam
(I use sieved molehills. An excellent source of quality loam which, if collected locally to you, should contain a similar make-up of microbes and good bacterium to that of your own soil into which you will plant)
1 part perlite/sharp sand
(I prefer the former as it keeps the mix nice and light)
1 part garden compost/vermicompost
There are great benefits to making your own compost mixes which anyone can do with the minimal effort required. First and foremost it works out much cheaper than popular brands of compost you buy at the garden centres. From buying a bag of each of the above I can make perhaps 9 to 10 times the quantity you buy in commercial bags, therefore making it economically sound.
Secondly, you know what's in it. Many commercial brands which we have all come to rely on somewhat have been adding cheap bulking materials to their mixes to cut production costs.
Last but not least, unless you can absolutely trust your local nursery or garden centre it is hard to know quite how old that bag of compost actually is. If it's old stock that has sat on the premises for a year or two; it is highly likely that most of the goodness would have leached from the bag. Water may have seeped into the bag making it, at times, saturated which could trigger anaerobic activity in the mix, rendering that compost useless for our use.
If anyone is interested in my other mixes just email me and I will send you the ingredients and their ratios...
Back to the garden. Despite the recent harsh weather, the snowdrops in Monty's garden are looking splendid. It will be their second year after I planted them 'in the green' (the best way to quickly establish a colony as bulbs often dry out before planting and can be hard to get going). There is one particular clump flowering their socks off at the foot of our immature golden willow. The unadulterated cleanliness of the snowdrops against the harsh lineal form of the salix really do compliment each other very well.
On the topic of bulbs, back in autumn I planted a number of dwarf bulbs in pots which I sank into the borders. Having planted thousands of bulbs in the past and then inadvertently digging them up when working in the garden and their labels have either faded or been commandeered by an over inquisitive dog; I came to the conclusion it would be much easier to plant into pots and sink them into the ground where I wanted them to flower. As and when they look past they can be lifted, pot and all, and put away to die sown naturally, free from hindrance and a wandering spade.
Amongst the bulbs were beauties such as Tulipa 'Red riding hood'and 'Wisley'; Hyacinths and many different cultivars and species crocus. I'm hoping it will be a sight to behold come springtime.
Over the past week I have made numerous shrubby purchases including the elegant winter-flowering Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn' with its delightfully scented pink flowers on bare stems; Sambucus nigra 'Black beauty' made popular by its intricately shaped foliage as rich and dark as damson jam and topped by pink/white flowers adored by bees and butterflies. I also indulged myself on a guilty pleasure ladies and gentlemen... I have a soft spot for Betula jacquemontii, or Himalayan white birch to use its vernacular name. It's an interesting little tree well-suited to the smaller garden with an eventual height and spread of 16ftx10ft. Forming a loose canopy it wont form a dense mat of shade beneath nor will it insist on thrusting its roots further and further in pursuit of moisture and nourishment. As a young tree its bark is a rather mundane corduroy brown but, as with all good things, patience is the key. As the tree reaches adolescence, it sheds its this layer of bark to reveal it's true colours. Suddenly, what you considered to be just another tree, becomes the talking point of your garden. And, I challenge you not to go and visit that tree every day. If that was not reason enough to have one in your garden, it seeks to further impress with its pale yellow autumnal colours and its small brown tassel-like catkins in spring. I haven't yet reached the point of jet washing the trunk or taking a scrubbing brush to it to exemplify its ghostly charm but there are those that have. There is a wonderful glade of white birches at Anglesey Abbey gardens which is just as beautiful as a border packed with flowers. It has an eerie charm about it and one almost imagines it as somewhere fairies and nymphs prance about under the cover of darkness.
The trick with this particular Betula is to make it a dominant feature within the garden. Plant it at the end of a pathway so it draws you down the garden or underplant it with plants of contrasting colour such as a carpet of Ophiopogon nigrens; a tactful little grass with jet black foliage, small purple flowers which are followed by black berries and it's ability to slowly bush out by slowly running underground. Ours will take the place of an old coldframe where it will catch the late afternoon sun.
Finally, I popped down the allotments this afternoon for a few hours. Whilst I was there I managed to finish woven hazel edging on one of the large beds.
I also planted a row of Jerusalem artichokes, positioning them where they will receive full sun for most of the day. The require this amount of sun as they are actually a relative of the sunflower. I had a few tubers from a friend so what was left after planting I took home and made roasted artichoke chips.
Also picked some monster parsnips and the last of the baby leeks for dinner tomorrow...
I also planted a row of Jerusalem artichokes, positioning them where they will receive full sun for most of the day. The require this amount of sun as they are actually a relative of the sunflower. I had a few tubers from a friend so what was left after planting I took home and made roasted artichoke chips.
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