Been 'at it' again

Just back from Scottish borders after visiting family and attending local Burns supper, great night and company, however, on the way home around Edinburgh you have to pass a Dobbies garden centre, these places are brilliant, although a bit on the expensive side, was about to bypass it when out came the sunbeams again, quick left turn and before you could say "Bob's Yer Uncle" , I was over looking their seed tattie stock...I was very surprised to see the price was an amazing; 2x 3kg bags for £6, could not resist and added two bags to my now growing collection. Varieties were; Kestrel...2nd early
Pink Fir Apple....main crop (which I am assured taste amazing)
Also bought my runner bean seed; White Lady, chose this variety as it is stringless,which makes them a lot more palatable,also white flowers are not as attractive to the birds.....well have to go now got greenhouse to dismantle...
until later.....Happy gardening......Veggie

Happy Burns Nicht

Just pop this wee one in as it's the 'Bard's' ..well it is garden related;

The Gard'ner wi' his paidle


When rosy May comes in wi' flowers,
To deck her gay, green-spreading bowers,
Then busy, busy are his hours,
The Gard'ner wi' his paidle.

The crystal waters gently fa',
The merry bards are lovers a',
The scented breezes round him blaw-
The Gard'ner wi' his paidle.

When purple morning starts the hare
To steal upon her early fare;
Then thro' the dews he maun repair-
The Gard'ner wi' his paidle.

When day, expiring in the west,
The curtain draws o' Nature's rest,
He flies to her arms he lo'es the best,
The Gard'ner wi' his paidle.

Just Can't Resist It..........

Well it's that time of year again, cabin fever is starting to set in, the long, cold, wet, windy nights are starting to take their toll on us, the ground's starting to freeze up, and we suffer severe withdrawal pains as we long for springtime, then there's a brief glimmer of hope, as the heavy clouds subside and the warm, golden rays disperse the emptiness of winter( even if it is only for half an hour :-)
This triggers off an automatic reaction amongst gardeners to get to the garden centres/nurseries as fast as we can, yeah I know we still have about another 3 months up here in scotland before we'll actually need the stuff, but we just can't help it !, I was the same when I used to grow Fuchsias... could not pass a shop without buying much more than I needed, well I've not changed my habits much since converting to veggies,after our much welcomed sunburst ran out and bought;
Maris Bard....2.5kg early tatties...£3
Epicure.....(THE Ayrshire tattie) at same price
Shallots...Golden Gourmet at £1 bag
Onion sets Sturon also £1
also trying some garlic I bought from Morrison's (it's Spanish but just look how big the bulbs are for 50p each), they might work, might not but at that price it's worth a try. also got my lime which I'll need to put down soon on Barrasica bed.

All the veg bought was Thompson and Morgan, From a local garden centre which I thought to be reasonably priced
and best of all ...no postage!!!!
This will ease the pain for a while or at least until our next sunburst jolts us into' mad veggie buyer 'mode again .
...until we talk again...happy gardening...veggie

Rain, Rain, and more Rain

Not had much chance over the past week to get up the old 'Lottie'
(due to the heavy rain and winds),should really be making an effort
to dismantle my greenhouse and get it relocated on the plot, but afraid to start it until the danger of these gales have passed in case I have to leave it and the wind wrecks it. have new fence to build in back garden before serious work on the plot starts, this was task that I had not planned, but will come under heading of emergency repairs. We had first frost this year last night, although it was not a heavy one, followed by nice sunny day today, would have ventured up plot but I'm working nights this week and by time I'm up most of the daylight has gone.
Started to gather new collection of seeds and seed potatoes for the coming season
Homebase now have them in stock at fairly reasonable prices, bought 2x 2kg bags of maris piper potatoes and 2 x 2kg bags of Maris Peer at the price of £3 per bag, would not normally buy as early but if I don't these varieties go very quickly.
Most of seed orders in, will report in detail in future post.....happy growing..VP

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Cheap Plants

Popped into B+Q to get out of the rain before going to the allotment, ended up buying bag of mixed 'Glads', £2.50 for 50 and couldn't resist the Primroses at knockdown prices of 75p for 6 and £2.20 for 15, can't even buy the seed for those prices, should give a nice show of early colour, don't know whether to plant in garden or plot, might even buy some more and do BOTH!!!......Cheerio...Veggie

Happy New Year

Happy new Year to all of you keen gardeners out there, hope you all had a great rest over the festive season and are raring to go this year, hopefully with lots of new ideas and new challenges for the coming months.during the festive break managed a few visits to 'Plotland', well it did get me away from the hustle bustle of the Christmas shopping and a chance to get some winter jobs started before the mad spring rush. Been clearing massive pile of junk mixed in with earth/compost etc, think this has been there for decades, got it down to ground level now,raked and tidy to enable me to put in some compost bins and possibly cold frames or seed beds as it is a sheltered spot between the hut and the conifers surrounding the plot perimeter. Have included couple of photos, but it's quite hard to get a good view of the plot, will have better ones in the springtime. top pic shows view of plot, the others were the pile of rubbish behind hut, before and after, I'm still rotten at laying out this site but should improve as I go along...HAPPY GARDENING...Veggie