Blueberries

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Everyone seems to be growing them and not wanting to be 'off-trend' we ordered three blueberry bushes at the start of January from Buckingham Nurseries. Very cost effective plants - I think it was under 15 squid for three includinging postage. However, we got a bit of a surprise when they arived in one small box. A kind of 'oh is that it?' moment. They're one-year old cuttings - about 6" tall - for some reason we were expecting something more bush-like. Although a little disappointed with their diminutive size, they look very healthy.

On the advice in one of Bob Flowerdew's books (The Gourmet Gardener) that I received as a lovely stocking filler from Nicholas and the BBC website's 'growing blueberries' page we've opted for two Herberts for their flavour and one Patriot for its vigour - all sounds a bit yankee-doodle to me, but as I said it's all about being on-trend. Apparently it's a very good idea to have a least two varieties to aid pollination.

We've saved the tips of our Christmas tree to mix in with eracatious compost and manure and will plant all three in an old cast-iron bath. Given the amount of space they have for the first few years, we should have space for a bit of companion planting - ideas welcome. They'll need transplanting eventually to 5' apart, but I suspect that will be in a few years. Don't expect an update anytime soon.

Getting Started

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

Our first entry for the Hackney Veg patch blog (will anyone other than Stephen read this.....? ok ok, Hi Mam). I'm Nicholas Ridley-Wilson, some like to call me NRW, my boyfriend is Stephen Derbyshire - we like gardneing, we love our home in Stoke Newington and this is the story of our veg patch.

We are now over the Christmas excess and have been busy preparing our new and very fabulous raised bed which is filled with the very best cow poo the south of England had to offer us on a cold and wet Sunday morning. Being one of the coldest winters of record we have had to take precautions to ensure that the bed doesn't fail us in the coming months, therefore it is now toasty and warm with a big plastic sheet over it. Of course this isn't sufficient in the long run so Stephen has been doing extensive research into various erect plastic apparatus (cloches) that will protect our wee seedlings when the sowing season commences - I can't wait. Can you?

While drinking various Christmas alcoholic concoctions over the past week or so our gardening hasn't come to an absolute halt, we have been very busy looking though seed catalogues and websites, including incluiding our favourite Thompson and Morgan and Suttons, ordering a plethora (love that word) of culinary and green delights that will see us though the next year. Naturally this list of seeds were cross referenced from various sources to ensure we have the best variety (thank you to Gardeners Question Time expert Bob Flowerdew - we love you man). Our seed box is half full and once the others arrive we will be on our way to the "Goode Life". We have even bought some blueberry plants which are currently being held hostage at the post office and I will get the tomorrow, I promise.

Well, if you managed to get to the end of this very uneventful first entry congrats - expect more exciting news when the weather gets hotter and the days get longer.