Last week (Two weeks after planting):

I reported that:

…….. there’s some green in there!

……… and moisture!!!!!!

Last week: All of these seeds had spouted very well. Last year, I had several failures, but this year, there was only one cell in each tray (Pumpkin Wicked and Butternut Walnut) which had not sprouted at that stage. I was very pleased with that result!

Many of the seedlings had already started developing their true leaves, which meant that I would be able to pot them up into larger pots very soon.

Gemsquash: A veggie well known to those of us from Southern Africa, which grows surpringly well in our cold, very northern climate. We usually get huge crops of delicious “gems”.

(Only six survivors!) ☠️ 😢

This might leave us one or two plants short, so, as it is one of our favourite vegetables, I have sown some more seeds.

Butternut (Walnut) and (Hunter): I grew these two varieties last year. After struggling with my butternut crop for several years, last year saw a nice crop of butternuts from within the greenhouse. So I am going to try these two varieties again and hope for the same result!

(Only four survivors!) ☠️ 😢

This will probably do us, as long as they all survive, as I have only been able to get decent butternut crops inside the greenhouse in previous years – I think the growing season outside is too short here.

Potatos (Winston)

I had planted some of these seed potatoes into grow bags in the greenhouse.

They have sprouted well and are growing so fast that I have now added some more compost to the grow bags to enhance the crop.

All I need to do with these from now on, is water and feed them until they are ready to harvest.

The wee plants, I mention, were sown three weeks ago. These have now all sprouted and are looking fantastic. Their true leaves have appeared (on the whole!) and I spent quite some time thinning them out to leave one plant per cell of the seed tray. The seeds planted include:

Summer Cabbage: I’m trying two varieties this year: Hispi and Caraflex. I have grown both before, but this will be a direct comparison.

Kale (Nero di Toscana): described as a “large stately plant with striking deeply-wrinkled, near black leaves. Can be picked from autumn onwards”.

Winter Cabbage (Tundra): I have grown this many times before and it is a firm favourite.

Beetroot (Detroit Globe): Another seed packet from my garden advent calendar. Described as: “a crimson red beetroot, a high producing crop. Can be grown in clumps of four. A sweet beetroot, its leaves can be harvested early and used like spinach”.

Brussels Sprout: Traditionally I have always grown Maximus and we have always liked them. But the sprouts have been getting smaller year-on-year, so, this year I am going to try another variety called Brodie. I am not brave enough to switch completely and will trial the two varieties side by side! If I don’t have Brussels sprout for Christmas dinner, well, ……… say no more! ☠️

Brodie is described as: “The ultimate Christmas Sprout! Exceptionally mild, no bitter taste”. It is apparently harvested between September and February, so would seem to be earlier than Maximus.

Turnip (Golden Ball): Again one of my gardening advent calendar seed packets, so will give it a go! Described as: “One of the best late cropping varieties. Excellent mild, nutty and firm texture. Patience is needed with this variety as it germinates and grows much slower than other varieties” – this does not bode well for the short growing season in the far north of Scotland!

Continuing with the planting in the greenhouse from three weeks ago:

Chard: Two varieties, again from my Christmas Advent Calendar: Rhubarb Leaf and Rainbow Mix. I am sure these will provide some colour in the Allotment together with some great eating!

Both of these have sprouted well and are coming on nicely 😊! They have been thinned out to one plant per cell.

Again three weeks ago, I started the summer planting of Leeks. They have all sprouted and are already looking really good.

I am trying 3 varieties this year as I have become increasingly disappointed with the quality of my old staple: Musselborough. So this year, I am trying:

Below Zero: I have grown this a couple of times now and get nice leeks which last well all the way through winter.

Oarsman: “A quality, early maturing vigorous and reliable variety! Long uniform crystal-white shanks with dark foliage which bulk up quickly. Stands well, shows good tolerance to rust and bolting.”

Autumn Mammoth: “early variety, is comparable to Goliath if left to mature to full size. It has a long shaft and erect leaves, with some rust resistance.”

It looks like the Autumn Mammoth (top left) is way ahead of the other two, but, to be fair, it’s packet of seeds had 3 times the number of seeds in it than the other two. So probably an unfair advantage!

These have also moved over to the new step-down mini-greenhouse

Right: Broadbeans (Sutton) sown next to their support stakes

Today, the first of the broad beans have peeped through the soil 🥳

Potatos – Winston

The seed potatoes have chitted (is that even a word?) well in the greenhouse, and now need to be planted out into their bed in the “Allotment” to grow.

So out I go into the garden to prepare the beds for them to be planted in.

Oh no 😟! The designated raised beds are full of weeds! Where did they all come from? Do they not know that it is seemingly still winter here in Northern Scotland. Maybe I should take this as an encouraging sign! Perhaps the weeds know something that I do not. Perhaps spring is indeed on the way!

There is nothing to do, but start weeding!

Unfortunately, once I get started, it is hard to stop, and I complete the weeding of the entire “Allotment” area. It looks wonderful now, but with my man-flu 🤒, I am now unable to breath and have to retire inside for a rest and a cup of tea!

For the last couple of years, I have been planting my potatoes through weed-suppressing fabric. The potatoes grow really well, but the weeds dont. That’s my idea of gardening!!!!!

So the weed fabric is stapled to the edges of the raised bed and then pinned down into the soil with multiple long garden pins (right).

Why, you ask? Well, this is the North of Scotland – the wind here really knows how to blow. If the fabric is not stapled and pegged down, it will very soon be heading off on a holiday across the North Sea!

Calabrese (Broccoli) – Marathon

I have ordered these over the internet for the last couple of years. They usually arrive as plug-plants which need to be re-potted and grown on in the greenhouse before planting out. This year, I ordered them from a different company, who offered the option of fewer, but larger, plants in 10cm pots. I thought that I might give this a try and ordered two separate deliveries of six plants each, about six weeks apart, with the aim of reducing our usual glut of broccoli. This might allow us to enjoy our broccoli more, without the panic of eating it every meal, twice a day and then freezing the excess 😉!

The larger plants arrived in beautiful condition. All ready to plant.

So out they went, into raised beds (left), prepared in a similar manner those for the onions described above.

A cage is also erected over these (right). Initially, this serves to stop the birds eating and digging up my lovely plants. But later on this netting will keep away the dreaded cabbage white butterflies. More about those later in the year…….

The battery powered watering system continues to function well and does what it says on the tin: water the plants!!!!

I will replace it with the full watering system which will connected to the mains water supply within the next week or so. Just waiting to see what the weather will do! Cant have the pipes freezing!

The salad lettuce seed tape and carrots which I planted at the same time are looking good. The lettuce is ready to start harvesting 😊. The carrots are getting quite big, but no signs of bulking up at the roots yet. There are also a few spring onions growing (hidden by the carrots), but not as many as I would have liked.

My seed potatoes (Winston) have chitted very nicely. Little shoots have appeared. They are now ready to be planted out into the garden next week.

I have planted some of these seed potatoes into grow bags in the greenhouse. They have sprouted well and are growing so fast that I will soon have to add some more compost to the grow bags to enhance the crop.

Two weeks ago, I sowed the seeds of several of our allotment crops. These have now sprouted and are looking fantastic. The seeds planted include:

Summer Cabbage: I’m trying two varieties this year: Hispi and Caraflex. I have grown both before, but this will be a direct comparison.

So far, the Caraflex looks much stronger than the Hispi.

Kale (Nero di Toscana): My wife has adopted an unhappy expression 🤢, whenever I have suggested growing Kale before. So I was delighted when I received a packet of kale seeds in my Christmas gardening advent calendar! This variety is described as a “large stately plant with striking deeply-wrinkled, near black leaves. Can be picked from autumn onwards”.

This Kale was a bit later in sprouting than the other brassicas, but it’s happened now and all looking good!

Winter Cabbage (Tundra): I have grown this many times before and it is a firm favourite.

Looking great.

Beetroot (Detroit Globe): Another seed packet from my garden advent calendar. Described as: “a crimson red beetroot, a high producing crop. Can be grown in clumps of four. A sweet beetroot, its leaves can be harvested early and used like spinach”.

This has also been a bit slow in sprouting and remains a bit sparse 🤔😕

Continuing with the planting in the greenhouse from two weeks ago:

Chard: Two varieties, again from my Christmas Advent Calendar: Rhubarb Leaf and Rainbow Mix. I am sure these will provide some colour in the Allotment together with some great eating!

Both of these have sprouted well and are coming on nicely 😊!

Again two weeks ago, I started the summer planting of Leeks. They have all sprouted and are already looking really good.

I am trying 3 varieties this year as I have become increasingly disappointed with the quality of my old staple: Musselborough. So this year, I am trying:

Below Zero: I have grown this a couple of times now and get nice leeks which last well all the way through winter.

Oarsman: “A quality, early maturing vigorous and reliable variety! Long uniform crystal-white shanks with dark foliage which bulk up quickly. Stands well, shows good tolerance to rust and bolting.”

Autumn Mammoth: “early variety, is comparable to Goliath if left to mature to full size. It has a long shaft and erect leaves, with some rust resistance.”

It looks like the Autumn Mammoth (in the centre) is way ahead of the other two, but, to be fair, it’s packet of seeds had 3 times the number of seeds in it than the other two. So probably an unfair advantage!

Juniper Bonsai: This has overwintered very well and is looking fabulous.

I am debating whether to:

1) remove the main branch on the left and convert it into a “wind-blown” (“Fukinagashi”) classic style,

2) leaving it as is

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section.

Two weeks later:

…….. and there’s some green in there!

……… and moisture!!!!!!

All of these have spouted very well. Last year, I had several failures, but this year, there is only one cell (Butternut Walnut) which has not yet sprouted. Very pleased with that result!

Gemsquash: A veggie well known to those of us from Southern Africa, which grows surpringly well in our cold, very northern climate. We usually get huge crops of delicious “gems”.

Butternut (Walnut) and (Hunter): I grew these two varieties last year. After struggling with my butternut crop for several years, last year saw a nice crop of butternuts from within the greenhouse. So I am going to try these two varieties again and hope for the same result!

Many of the seedlings are already developing their true leaves. This means that I will be able to pot them up into larger pots very soon, probably within the next week.

Spring Cabbage (Spring Hero) – as the days lengthen, so these are starting to bulk up. Wont be long until they start to form hearts and we will be enjoying them 😋 – a very tasty cabbage, one of my favourites!

Shallot (Jermour): looking really good inside their protective tent!

Right: Broadbeans (Sutton) sown next to their support stakes

Left: Perpetual Spinach – sown direct into the soil using a seed tape.

No signs of any growth yet!

Rhubarb: Growing really nicely now. I will soon be harvesting some of these stalks. Oh, I just love a rhubarb crumble 😋!

Note the flower stalk appearing at the back on the right. This will need to be removed soon, or the plant will think it has done its evolutionary duty!

The Snakes-head Fritillary are now looking brilliant.