My garden Gnome worked his magic in the garden this week while I’ve been busy plotting, planning and repotting. I seek sanctuary and some degree of sanity from my garden endeavours as the craziness of Brexit comes to pass and Britain embraces the next phase of its history.
1. Raised Vegetable Bed
My garden gnome kindly weeded the raised garden bed and dug in all the compost. What a lovely surprise! Reposition the watering system and it is ready to be populated with new plants.
We will pick one more feed of sprouts this week and then the scrawny looking plants will be rehomed in the compost heap.
2. Carrots
I love eating raw baby carrots so as they cost €2.75 per kilo at our local market I thought I’d attempt to grow my own.
Once I’d planted the seeds I covered with a plastic crate to discourage our resident blackbird from helping himself to the seeds.
3. Radish
Time to plant the radish. I now plant these in pots as they seem to crop better than when I’ve planted in the open bed.
I only plant up half the pot so I stagger the crop.
To discourage the blackbird and speed up germination I have added a plastic cloche (aka a recycled fridge draw)
4. Vriesea: bromeliaceae
Its Latin name escapes me at the moment – any suggestions? I used to grow these as houseplants in the UK but they never flowered. The snails love this plant. They don’t eat it just take refuge with its trumpet-like receptacles.
5. Peach Tree
We’ve never pruned the peach tree and so its become rather misshapen so after consulting YouTube we decided to live dangerously …
Before
After
Hopefully, it will survive. Eeeek!
6. Cuckoo in the Bed
I’ve tried numerous time to remove this weed from my succulent and cacti bed. I was going to try again and then I stopped to look at the beautiful flower.
I don’t have the heart to dig her up. A weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place.
That’s my Six for this Saturday. Why not click over to the propagator’s blog for more Six on Saturday gardens while I nurse a cold aka Man Flu.
Piglet in Portugal 
I also like your idea of stagger planting radishes in a pot! Definitely worth trying.
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I might copy your idea of growing radishes in a pot. And the use of that crate is ingenious! Nice to see you back here again.
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I hate to see all the plastic crates discarded at the local bins so I try and reuse as many as possible around the house and garden. From protective covers to storage trays!
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I haven’t seen you for ages! Have I been missing or was it you? Please send the garden gnome to my house, I will look after him very well, I promise. I’m not keen on carrots unless they are raw, great idea to grow them yourself. Love the snail hotel, I’m afraid I don’t know what its real names is, looks very exotic though!
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Hi, I had to take a break as I could barely walk. But thanks to my gnome (Idarent’ call him a fairy) I am back in business. 🙂 I’m sure rates for the gnome are negotiable 🙂 Carrots are best raw (IMHO)
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So pleased you are back. Hope you are feeling better x
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That thistle flower is very pretty. Your pruning job on the peach tree looks good to me. Pruning always worries me, especially when it comes to trees.
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The pruning was a little drastic as it was long overdue … we will see if the tree survives. We won’t get any peaches this year… but it had to be done. Gnome made me sign a disclaimer.
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The soil is still a bit cold to plant radishes right now here. But it will be the first sowing that I will do. Carrots will wait for April.
Plant # 4 is a vriesea: bromeliaceae.( I think)
I hope that your peach tree will survive … You risk not having the fruits this summer because it’s advisable to prune it in late summer or early autumn. It may be a little late…. keep us updated
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Thanks, Fred. I’ve now updated the ‘trumpet flower’ to read vriesea: bromeliaceae
We took a chance on the peach tree. the gnome and I both agreed we would take a chance on the tree’s survival. 😦 the peaches were tasteless and really only suitable for jam.
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Hope the man flu goes soon. The Thistle is very pretty even if unwanted.
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thank you 🙂 I’ve now given up with the thistle. It’s been a thorn in my side for years…
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