Martin's New Garden

I did some more work on the greenhouse today. 
First I moved everything out, got a bucket of flash and cleaned all the glass on the inside.
Then I refitted the staging and spread out my pepper plants on it.

   

A previous owner had covered up the soil on the other side of the greenhouse with concrete paving slabs on top of black bin liners. I wanted some ground to grow tomatoes in, so I moved the slabs away and forked over the soil.
Then a quick trip to the nearest garden centre to pick up three growbags (they'd sold out of MPC!) to empty onto the bed, and three small tomato plants to put in there.

   

In a corner of the greenhouse is the stump of an old grapevine. It's growing! So I'll train a couple of rods up and see what sort of fruit I get in 2022...

   

Weekend job: finish cutting back the privet so I can get round the greenhouse, clean the glass on the outside, fit the automatic vents that arrived this afternoon and I'll be about done.

Over the last couple of days I have fitted the automatic greenhouse vent openers, trimmed back the privet behind the greenhouse so I can get all the way round, then sowed all the old seeds I could find. Every seed deserves a chance (tm Veggie), so we'll see what comes up.

I know I'll have some DFBs and some sweet corn at least, because I chitted these before I sowed. I'm not sure where to plant the corn yet though!

   

It's a bit too late in the season already to start most bedding plants off from seed, so we took a trip to the garden centre yesterday and got a few trays of plants to fill my three troughs. Then today I dug up some more lawn to make a home for some of the perennials I brought with me from the last garden. My plan is to see how they take to the soil then hopefully divide and plant somewhere more permanent in autumn or spring.

   

Next job is probably to dig up yet more lawn to make room for sweet corn, runner beans, carrots, cabbages etc etc

That looks so lovely and inviting!
I love the wilder area amongst the trees, and yet it has so much potential too.

I spotted your Gargoyle, Martin.
Glad to see he's keeping his eye on you .

The grapevine was a bit of a bonus!  I am trying to establish a seedless variety in my greenhouse and I am glad to see its survived the winter with a single rod just starting to grow.  Even the seeded (but tasty) pink variety I grew from a cutting, which has stood outside all winter has buds on it so this will be grown outdoors, mainly as a foliage plant.

I spotted your Gargoyle, Martin.
Glad to see he's keeping his eye on you .

Yep, well spotted. I couldn't leave little Colin behind, he's family.

He looks well settled in his new garden.

We even get to see the (rather wobbly and hard to make out) reflection of the man himself!

That's Colin.

Time for another update. It's been a week!

I put the last piece of glass into the greenhouse today, so we're all weatherproof once again. I've reduced the grapevine to a single shoot, I've chopped all the other shoots down to one leaf. That single shoot will be trained up and along this year, next year we'll see what the fruit is like.

The tomatoes are growing now, I took out the sideshoots today and noticed the first flower buds. My cucumbers have germinated in the greenhouse border as well. There's now a bed alongside the greenhouse, with a few flowers and some manky onions. I will sow some carrots in there tomorrow...

   

My potatoes are coming through now, and I've extended the bed they are in to accommodate some sweet corn and a runner bean wigwam. The runner beans are chitted but haven't put their heads above the compost in the greenhouse yet. I'll probably be able to plant them out in another week or so.

   

Meanwhile Colin is keeping an eye on the planters. The first buds have appeared on the sweet peas behind him now, too.

   

Lots to do!