September is getting closer. Also some vegetable pics.

It is very quickly heading for September. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. The temperatures have dropped and the rain is pooring (Which is a good thing as we need the rain). Autumn is slowly on its way. The housemartins and swifts are thinking about leaving this country on there annual epic migration across sea and land. If you are reading this and are thinking that it sounds very depressing the fact that autumn is only just around the corner then I can say that I find September and October to be very nice. The change in the light levels and the smell of the moist leaves as they change colour and drop to the ground. It is also good to take stock of things that have and are still growing on the allotment. This year so far has been a strange growing year what with the heatwave and the very low rainfall. Some crops did not workout at all yet others thrived. Here are a frew images from my plot of a few of my vegetables I am growing

My Leeks
















The Broccoli








My Runner Beans














My Little Pumpkin

The_Snail

Plant Propagation - Taking Mint Cuttings The Really Really Easy Way.

A few weeks back we where given some mint stems so we could use the leaves to make some mint source for our Sunday lunch. I decided to make the mint source. When I made the source instead of taking all the leaves of and chopping up the stems also I just took the lower leaves off and left just a few leaves on at the top and all of the small sideshoots on the main stem. I then cut the stem so it was about 3 inches long just below a leaf joint and placed them in a glass of water.

After about 2 weeks or so small fine roots started to form on the stems. These roots I like to call water roots and they are very thin and fragile unlike the roots you find on plants growing in the ground or in compost which are a lot stronger and the density is greater. The roots had formed and it was time to get them potted up. This picture shows the water roots on the mint stems. These took around 2-3 weeks to form after sitting on the kitchen window sill.

I then gathered together 2 pots and something to stand them on as they are going to grow on for a little bit longer on my bedroom window sill. The pots where dirty so I washed them over in a solution of jeyes fluid (which is an exterior disinfectant). Hence they are wet. I rinsed them over well in fresh water to remove and residue of the disinfectant. I then dried the pots.

After filling the pots with a good multi purpose compost, being carefull not to over fill them so it is easier to water I carefully so not to damage the fragile roots, placed in the rooted cuttings around the side of the pots. The reason why I placed them around the side of the pots is due to fact that there is more drainage at the side of pots than there is in the center.

Once the sides of the pots where full I watered them and then placed the plant pots in the stands on my bedroom window sill. That is a very easy way of rooting mint, and also getting some great mint source also.

Plant of the week. The Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)

Snapdragon
(Antirrhinum majus)

The name snapdragon refers to the formation of the flowers. If the flowers are squeezed together then it looks like the mouth of a dragon opening and closeing. The Snapdragon or (Antirrhinum majus) is closely related to the Toadflax. The Antirrhinum can be seen growing naturaly is the side of building walls and on chalk cliffs in Britain. The Antirrhinum is not a native plant to Britain but it originates from the mediterranean islands. It has escaped from well maintained gardens by seed carried on the wind and by birds to establish itself in our native wildflower collection. There are a few herbal uses for the Antirrhinum, in the older days they used to use the plant as a preservative to ward off the evil withcraft, they also used to use its close relative the toadflax to do the same job. The Antirrhinum is now widley grown in cottage style gardens and in many town and city gardens. It is grown as a half hardy annual but by my experience if planted in a sheltered place and the winter is not to severe then the plant may survive and flower again the folowing year.

If you intend to grow the Antirrhinum yourself then it is grown from seed sown in Febuary and March in a warm place like a heated greenhouse or a warm window sill if a greenhouse is not available. If you are starting the plants off on a window sill then fill a 3 and a half inch plant pot with a multi purpose compost. You can use a mixture of 50% compost and 50% horticultural sand. This helps with drainage and stops the water from sitting on top of the compost and allowing molds and algea to form. My personal mixture is roughly 75% multi purpose compost and 25% horticultural sand. Ratio of 3 to 1. (3 compost to 1 horticultural sand.) This mixture I use for all indoor grown seeds and I find it works rather well. Fill the pot with the mixture and and level off the compost. Press down very lightly with a round flat object like for example the base of another 3 and a half inch plant pot so the surface of the compost is nice and level.

Open the seed packet at the top. Make sure you flick the top of the seed packet so any seeds trapped inside at the top of the packet are allowed to fall to the bottom so you do not waste any and they all have a chance to germanate and grow. Once the packet is open then you will see that the seed is very fine. A good tip for sowing fine seed is to use very fine and very dry horticultural sand. It is like a dry fine salt in consistance. Put a pinch or two of the dry fine horticultural sand into the seed packet and folding over the top of the packet closing it so no seed escapes gently shake the seed packet so the seed is mixed up with the silver sand. Once that has been done sprinkle the seed and sand evenly over the surface of the compost in your pot and then place the pot in a tray of water so that the compost can absorbe the water from the bottom up so not desturbing the seed. The seed does not need covering with compost because it needs light to germanate. I personally do not do that I like to use a very fine rose head on my watering can then gentle pass the water over the pot from side to side so it gently beds the seed into the compost enough so it has a chance to allow the light through and germinate.

Once you have done all of this the only thing to do is to lable the pot with a plant label with the name of the plant and the date that you had sown the seed. Cover with a clear plastic bag and secure with a rubber band. A good tip is to use a bendy straw and inflate the bag once secured. This will add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere inside the bag and give the seedlings a little boost once germinated. The germination should take between 2-3 weeks, depending on the area the seeds are being grown. Once germanated grow on until the seedlings are large enough to handle. Seperate the seedlings and put them in fresh compost in pots or trays and place in a greenhouse or coldframe. Grow on until you have strong plants. I like to plant them out after all frosts have passed in the end of May if you live in the United Kingdom.

The_Snail

Courgettes Update. Huston We Have A Problem!!!!

A little update with regards to the post I did about not being down the allotment for a while and needed to check to see if any courgettes needed harvesting well......
Huston we have a problem. We have got 12 new marrows not courgettes. As you can see by the pictures they are rather big. The smallest one is around 14 inches and the avarage size is about 17 inches.

So in my previous post I said I was getting a little tired of eating courgettes. Well I got marrows now for breakfast, dinner and tea.
I hope my pumpkins grow as big as the marrows

The_Snail

Courgettes, Hmmm I wonder how many there will be?

I have not been on the allotment for a week, and I wonder how many courgettes there will be waiting for me to pick. Normally I bring 2 bags home a week but being as I have not been down there for a week I bet there will be marrows and not courgettes. I must confess I like courgettes and for that matter marrows but I have been eating them for dinner and tea nearly every other day. Guess what is for tea tommorrow? Yep you guessed it marrow and brocolli with cheese source and mashed potato. O well. I hope courgettes are healthy for you. I will let you know how many are on the plants after I have been down to harvest.

The_Snail

The English Weather. Hot and Cold.

I was thinking to myself today about the diversity in the English weather. Today or Tuesday as it is now very early Wednesday morning was cold (20 Degrees C which in comparison to the temperatures of late is cold) wet very, windy and over cast with pockets of sunshine. It was only last Tuesday (7 Days ago) that I was sitting out side trying to find some shade to shelter myself from the scorching sun. It was 30 Degrees C in the shade and must of been 33 Degrees offer slightly more as the garden acts like a suntrap. All the plants where drying out and the only way we could water them was to use the old soapy washing up water. So all the tubs and bedding plants where blowing bubbles and foaming at the petals (Joke!). They where not really and it is ok to use your soapy dish water on your bedding containers as the soap does not really hurt the plants. I think it may benefit the plants as the deturgent in the water will break down the resistance of the compost so it can absorbe water more readily. The reason why I am saying this is in hot dry weather the compost can dry out and it forms a barrier that acts like a waterproofing and the water just runs through the pots and out the bottom so does not get absorbed and retained in the compost.

One good thing about the weather today and over the previous few days is that it has watered the garden and will hopefully green up our brown dead looking grass. The forcast is for it to stay unsettled in the Midlands and warming up towards the weekend. In some ways I am delighted with the weather as hot dry days every day can get boring and can make the place look quite deserlet.

The_Snail