The Home on the Hill                 


Home Diary Links Kitchen Still room Sewing room
Kitchen garden Ornamental garden Orchard Chickens Wildlife Pond


The Kitchen Garden                 


When I say kitchen garden I primarily mean the vege patch, but also include herbs which are dotted around the garden and the soft fruit. And, I guess, the greenhouse too.
This year - 2005 - I've got one bed as a no dig bed, covered with manure then cardboard, then wood chippings. In this I've planted spuds, broad beans and sweet peas. As I write in early May I'm planning to put climbing French Beans and Runner Beans in there too, as well as a few tomato plants. The next bed is covered with black polythene in an attempt to defeat the couch grass once and for all. This has lettuces planted through it, and brassicas. I've not had much success with brassicas before but this year they are covered with Viromesh as protection against the birds and bugs. So far I've used it to make a kind of tent thing, but later today I'm going to plant some more and just lay it over them, weighted down with bricks. I'll let you know what happens. The two lower beds - one is covered with polythene and will be developed as a herb garden next year. The other should contain permanent plants but only has rhubarb. I've let the rhubarb flower because I read in a Christopher Lloyd book that it looked good - and it does, a beautiful pale green colour. I'm still debating how best to proceed with the rest of the bed but I hope to get some asparagus in there eventually.
The greenhouse has lots of plants waiting for the end of the month to be put out - some hanging baskets, lots of tomatoes and chillis, some aubergines. Some of this will be sold in aid of my local Friends of the Earth group. I've also just sowed, or will sow later today, pumpkins and other squash, courgettes and cucumbers. All these plants hate the cold hence the late sowing.
Finally, I sowed some salad boxes in the greenhouse but these are now by the back door for ease of picking. I used some crates that veg was delivered in at work, put a layer of newspaper in the bottom, then some polystyrene for drainage and then the compost. Then I thinly sowed a mixture of cut and come again salad greens and watered. A few weeks later I did the second one, and plan to do a couple more this week. We have been eating lots of fresh salad for a couple of weeks now.
I've also planted up a new herb box by the back door - it's made from old pallets and contains bay, parsley, thyme, rosemary and chives. Sweet peas are growing up the wigwam in the centre. I'm planning to revitalise my mint tub and put it there too.
Here's some photos - the hurdles are a new addition and came from Wiltshire hurdles. I tried to get some more locally but couldn't find any.

The top vege patches The bottom vege patches The Salad Boxes in the greenhouse Herb box
Greenhouse Vege patches Vege patches Pumpkins growing Summer 2005


Thanks for visiting, you can contact me by email with any comments.