unixsmurf

While transplanting some chili plants today, I noticed my first fruits starting to form!!
First, a Ring of Fire:

Second, on a NuMex Twilight plant:

And finally, another Ring of Fire:


The mustard went completely mad, so had to trim down to only 5 plants in the box.
This gave an excellent opportunity to try the leaves, and they tasted like some weird kind of mustardy cabbage :)


Spuds have grown quite big and strong:

Took some pictures, but forgot to upload ... here goes before the next set:

The garlic has started dying down - a sign harvest is nearing. "Plant on the shortest day of the year, harvest on the longest" was something I read somewhere, and that really isn't that far away. Certainly won't be a massive harvest, especially as I'm planning to hold some of the best ones back for planting in December, but looking very much forward to it :)


In the raised bed, it is much the same as last update, only more of it.


In the barrel, the potato plants are now beginning to peek over the edge - should reach full compost level within a few days.


Strawberries and mustard look very happy, but oregano is certainly taking its time...
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Some more mustard pictures - have now removed all but the 5 strongest pairs from the box.

Here's one:


And here's another:


The potato plant in the shade is coming around OK, although it probably would have wanted more sun.


The four plants in the sunny spot are doing a bit better - bushing out properly.


Greenhouse is getting quite full:


The smallest plants are on the top bench in plastic pots - note the two new arrivals, two scotch bonnet chilis.
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The larger potted ones have had to move onto the floor under the bench, as they were hitting the glass ceiling (literally). While not optimal, as this means they get slightly less sun, they still seem quite happy and are sprouting buds like crazy.


In the growing bag, the plants have grown quite sturdy, but actually seem to have fallen somewhat behind on the budding front - although they are starting now.


All pictures taken yesterday ... mustard is actually noticeably larger today - more updates later this week.

...a bit too sunny, actually.

One of the remaining carrots died, and I had to move the potato barrel to somewhere a bit more in the shade (the plants would literally curl up in the heat). Should be fine to be moved back once they have grown up to the edge - it just gets way too hot down inside the barrel. They've kept growing quite nicely though, I'd say they're about half way up already, growing at what seems like at least a couple of inches per day.

Transplanted 5 mustard plants (or rather pairs of plants) from the box to the little growing bed underneath the kitchen window. This should allow for a total of 9-10 plants. In the process of clearing weed for this, I noticed one of the "weeds" was producing a carrot-shaped root thingy. Transplanted one intact specimen to the now quite spacious carrot row in the standalone growing bed to try to find out what it actually is.

The wine-to-be is still bubbling away happily, at an impressive rate for a standard wine yeast. The neighbour's elder has started exploding, so should be able to get a batch of elderflower champagne going next weekend.

This morning I finally spotted the plant from the 10th spud poking above the surface!


The plants in the barrel are growing like crazy, and I've already added two layers of compost - expect to be adding another this afternoon:


The mustard is also coming along nicely, and is now shooting proper leaves:


As I'm also planning to do some home brewing this summer, I've started out by attempting to make some elderflower wine in my grandfathers old demijohn, fiitted with some new rubber. Combined some recipes I found on the net and improvised a bit - will post if it turns out well :)
Found a shop with a lot of home brewing supplies on Mill Road - Cutlacks.
Now bubbling away happily on the dinner table:

As I'm on holiday (at home) this week, I took the time to go around the garden with a camera to document the progress a bit.

Starting with the former barbecue area:

To the left is a raised growing bed (amusingly constructed out of an old bed), in the middle is the potato growing barrel, and to the left are strawberries, mustard and oregano. In the centre of the picture is a sack full off compost to top up the barrel with.

The growing bed contains carrots, fennel, ... stuff ..., radishes, rocket, ... stuff ...:


The potato barrel contains 5 spuds of 2 different varieties - 3 Almond and 2 Arran Victory. The design is to keep filling up with compost as the plants grow, forcing them to produce roots all along the stem, meaning they will produce lovely potatoes all the way up!


Top box: strawberry
Middle box: red giant mustard
Bottom box: oregano
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Strawberry - probably eaten before end of week :)


Close-up of one of the most developed mustard plants:


Outside the kitchen window there was a small vegetable/herb patch completely overgrown with mint. Chopped around a bit, and am now growing garlic in a large part of it. Mint's not gone though...


After the gardener wrought havoc on the hedges and flower beds, there were some empty patches left over, where we decided more spuds was the answer. 4 of the 5 planted have popped up - 1 on the south side:.

and 3 on the north side:


The greenhouse is starting to look quite productive now:


The chilis are looking awesome:


Buds have started to appear left, right and centre. And I have my first flower!
Both of the below pictures are of the same Ring of Fire chili plant.

Now have a total of 9 potato plants spreading their leaves above the surface - out of 10 planted. Wouldn't be surprised if the final one makes an appearance soon too. The ones in the barrel are almost ready for another layer of compost.

Almost all of the chilis are now out of the study - 4 still in there, 2 of which have been transplanted into larger pots.
There are now 10 chili plants in the greenhouse and one by our sofas. I have given away more than 10 as well and will probably have to get rid of a couple more.

Both mustard and oregano have now been transplanted outdoors, and appear to be enjoying themselves. I don't know what I was thinking germinating them indoors though - next time I'll plant directly outdoors.

On holiday at home this week, so should manage a few more updates, and some pictures too!

As we're growing chillies, garlic and tomatoes, I started thinking about making some sauces.
Of course, for sauces you need spices; so for this purpose I ordered Oregano (Origanum Vulgare) and Red Giant Mustard, which arrived today. The former came in a pack of 2500 seeds, and the latter contained 1000, so if anyone wants some... :)

Interesting thing about mustard - most growing tips I found at first were about growing for using the leaves rather than the seeds. It took a while before I found a page that said effectively "yeah, they will produce seeds like crazy, just make sure you pick the pods before they burst and mustard takes over your garden" :)

Now germinating in the study - looking forward to a flavourful summer. Haven't figured out where they should be planted out though - we might be running out of space soon...

Today has been quite productive.

My mother is visiting and today all (three) of us have been working in the garden.

I started by clearing away some growth to let a bit more light into the greenhouse (to my chilis!).
Almost as a part of this, I moved a small bushy thing from in front of the greenhouse to the front of the house (the gardeners clearing left a large gap towards the street that needed filling). Given how much we've had to prune it down in order to not steal the light from our plants in the greenhouse, I expect it to fill this gap masterfully.

Next, I started actually cleaning the windows (and frames) of the greenhouse. I swear the chili plants looked noticeably happier by the time I was done. The difference was pretty astounding. For anyone who didn't know - when we moved in, the greenhouse contained a compressed bramble bush filling the entire volume, mixed with ivy and snails. After a _lot_ of work, it is finally turning into a very nice greenhouse.

Finally, we planted a bunch of potatoes today - 5 in a special "potato growing barrel" standing next to the raised growing bed, and 5 in gaps left after the gardener's clearing. We are growing 3 different varieties:

• Almond potatoes (northern Swedish delicacy, imported by my mother)
• Arran Victory (from Homebase)
• Désirée (from Trev)

Got plenty of stuff going, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all turns out :)

Whoops, I seem to have been neglecting my blog a bit.

Since my last post, I have been travelling around way too much, and only recently got time to start doing a bit more in the garden.
However, 4 chili plants were put into a large tomato growing bag in the greenhouse:

• 2 Takanotsume
• 1 NuMex Twilight
• 1 Ring of Fire

Several other plants are still growing indoors, with 1 NuMex Twilight having been potted and won't go outside at all.

Chili growth has been varied, with almost all Takanotsume seeds having resulted in healthy plants, but only one Birds Eye, and the others somewhere in between. I have given several T away at work, and still have a few more than I will be able to grow.
Several of the sprouted seeds did not turn into plants, and all of their growing pods were dumped into a "chili surprise" box currently residing in the greenhouse.

The garlic is growing like crazy, the tallest plants probably reaching 70cm freestanding. They have been joined by some Chinese (?) "mono" variety which sprouted before I had a chance to eat them.

Last weekend, we built a raised growing bed for various edibles and I expanded the shelf in the greenhouse so that it would be able to take two large growing bags. The chilis have now been moved to the new shelf.

This week, we (finally) had a gardener over. He cleared the garden out significantly, both giving more space on the lawn and more space in the flower beds.

Now that we have a proper garden, and a patched up/excavated greenhouse, we're set to do some serious home growing this year.

I have been focusing on my 2 soft spots - garlic and chili :)

2 types of garlic are already in the ground - the ones planted in December are now about a foot tall.

On the chili side, I'm afraid I might have crossed the line into complete madness.
5 species of chili are now going through germination/propagation:

• Birds Eye (nom)
• NuMex Twilight (fruits start out purple!)
• Ring of Fire (bonus seeds - look nice)
• Rocoto (gift from fluffboll)
• Takanotsume (Japanese)

To ensure I can track the progress of my little ones, both at work and during my upcoming US trip, I have created a Chilicam!
Updated every 5 minutes, it gives me a pretty good overview of their general wellbeing :)