Monday 24 October 2011

gardening info- to do list

Yes we've all had them some still use them the TO DO LIST
 Take compost to wormery
 Water seedlings
 Check foxglove seedlings in tunnel
 Plant stock take
 Check seeedlings in small greenhouse
 How are propagated plants doing?
 Turn compost heap
 Cut comfrey







 Pot up strawberry runners and these jobs were not even on the TO DO LIST,these are OMG I'll have to them today

Sunday 23 October 2011

gardening info-small disaster

You know those small mishaps that happen especially at the end of the day,well here's my latest,seedlings having a water when you know what's coming yep the rose comes off the can and bye-bye seedlings S%&£

gardening info- wheat grass

Wheat grass grown in small trays inside polytunnel by my colleague Annick who extracted the juice giving a beneficial drink. Wheat grass consumption began in the 1930's as a result of experiments by Charles F Schnabel It has been argued that Wheat grass helps blood flow digestion and general detoxification of the body. I have tasted it and I have had no side effects except that I need scarifying in the Autumn to prevent moss

Monday 17 October 2011

gardening info-germination with the moon

Gardening with the Moon is getting a little complicated, well that is if I let it, this is just a little experiment just to see if the Earth/Moon relationship works or is it just coincidence. Basically these plants have had a decent germination and were sown roughly a month ago, the chart I'm working from says that it is favourable to sow again tomorrow possibly Wednesday,but I know the temperature/light will be different,interesting!

Sunday 16 October 2011

gardening info- OH NO


OH NO Just when you thought I was regaining my sanity look what happens I've set up another snailery.What do you want another one for? I here you say,well I've got a lot of snails,joking aside they are beginning to work.This one again is fitted out with self contained apartments and you can see one of the happy tenants settling in

gardening info- butterfly area path


The path area for the butterfly garden was dug out as well as the large area for the largest butterfly mosaic.The path will hopefully be finished by November,and the large butterfly bedded in,small mosaics to follow and then the planting begins

Sunday 9 October 2011

gardening info- butterfly area




A great start by the Wednesday Volunteers at the National Wildflower Centre clearing an area that is going to be planted up to attract more butterflies into the area which as well as plants will festooned with butterfly mosiacs made by local groups under the watchful eye of Tracey(local and very good artist).I've left details out as I've lost the bit of paper with them on ,anyway watch this blog for progress and to all involved so far, you know who you are THANK YOU

gardening info- new residents

New residents moved into the snailery(one of the few if not the only one in the North West) recently,this time of year though not much useful compost is being made,WHY NOT you may ask,well .......................the snails are starting to hibernate zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tuesday 4 October 2011

gardening info- wormeries






These are the methods of worm composting that I use at work to produce a valuable nutrient rich soil improver (worm poo and juice to you and I ).These photos show the compost produced in a bought ,recycled,and a constructed wormery and a tumbler wormery.The bought wormery is the one that produces compost and liquid,but the others can be adapted. It's not easy,but I will say this give it a go,start off small and you'll soon get in to it

Monday 26 September 2011

gardening info-hanging baskets



The hanging baskets are still hanging in there,the weather's being kind to us at the moment,regular watering/feeding is the key especially in these baskets as they've had tumbler tomatoes in them as well as flowers.

gardening info-seed sowing

Seed sowing at the National Wildflower Centre,sowing wildflower seed when it's at its best i.e. fresh and are we using Peat...........NO,Pete's the one doing the sowing,we use Coir. Do I wet the compost first or sow the seed then water?  Answer at bottom of the page.







A mixture to see if there is any difference in germination

Tuesday 20 September 2011

gardening info-Snailery up and running


Yes the Snailery is up and running (well maybe not running as snails can't run or can they). As you can see from the photos I've started with a small group which will be added to.They have food ,water, place to hide,now all they have to do in return to produce snail poo which I can add to the plants that I grow,oops nearly forgot to mention you can add egg shells,the snails like them as it provides Calcium for their own shells,CRAZY ISN'T IT :))))

gardening info-cuckoo flower

Cuckoo flower,Ladys smock(Cardamine pratensis) cuttings taken today,this plant likes wet grasslands so it likes heavy soils as well. It is an important larval host plant and nectar source for the Orange Tip and Green Veined White butterflies.These cuttings are just laid flat on this occasion gritty sand and periodically misted

Saturday 17 September 2011

gardening info-pt 1 snailery

Going too far in our efforts to get compost,no I don't think so,an old laundry basket to keep the snails in with a lid,snails need ventilation.Place some broken pots in the bottom,add a drop of water and snails you can find.Feed them veg waste any leafy materials,torn paper,cardboard.Crushed egg shells gives them a source of Calcium for their shells.The snails munch away producing snail poo which is our soil improver.Turn out the snails into another pot use the compost put the snails in and start again. Keep watching this space!

gardening info-late visitor


A late visitor to the tunnels last week a Comma butterfly,this is one species which hibernates emerging in March,but they can awaken on warm winter days,possibly giving us false hope that winter has ended,nice to see at any time of year.

Tuesday 6 September 2011

gardening info-vermiculture





These are just two of our vermiculture experiments we have ongoing at the National Wildflower Centre,these are  easy to set up yourself and the finished products i.e worm juice,worm compost two valuable bi products of the waste which the worms have composted to have in the garden

gardening info-new dwellings

My colleague John constructed this new dwelling for the local House Sparrows,we hope all three premises will be occupied next spring,all potential tenants are encouraged to view at their earliest convenience as the early bird catches the nestbox!!

Saturday 3 September 2011

gardening info-gardener meets celeb

The last two Saturdays I've been lucky enough to do a gardeners question time type broadcast on Radio Merseyside with presenter Nick Robins,today also on the show was Sue Johnston and what a great pleasure it was to meet her,I'm going to try and help Sue out with her glut of grapes,if you didn't catch the show I'm on i player and live again for 1 more Saturday

Monday 29 August 2011

gardening info- will slugs take over

I hesitated in posting this blog,but sharing it with others got the better of me,a slug having finished with the veg goes straight to the meat by devouring an already dead frog ( I hasten to add ) that's nature for you

Monday 22 August 2011

gardening info-symbiosis


I find that when taking cuttings the plant material responds well when it is inserted with Comfrey which is already growing in the pot. It is early days yet but the success rate for cuttings is really good,perhaps it's another good reason to grow Comfrey. The cutting in these particular pictures is the wildflower Crosswort.

Thursday 7 July 2011

gardening info-They've Landed


They've landed,no don't rush out to lock up your plants or anything or anyone precious to you,these two are part  of the Scarecrow Festival taking place at the National Wildflower Centre on the 9th-10th July,all the scarecrows are made by children from schools,guides,etc,well worth seeing

gardening info- I thought I'd seen everything


I've seen elephants fly,pigs fly, Everton and Liverpool both win league titles,even saw England win the World Cup but this is the PLANT equivalent a sunflower growing out of the wall,fantastic but that's just my opinion.