Hi everyone and welcome to Our Gardener Diaries. This is the first one so I will introduce all of the Gardeners that shall be sharing what we have been up to and our progress in the garden or allotment.
First we have me I am Nikki I am from Glasgow in Scotland, I have a small allotment plot and a large garden at home. I also help to look after a nursery plot where I work and teach children about how to grow food and flowers. I have been studying with level 2 horticulture with the RHS Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and gardening has changed my life!
Nikki Gardener
What I have been up to in my garden and plot this week:
This week in the garden , I have been sowing some Carrot seeds, potting on my Giant sunflowers , pumpkin and squash seeds. I have also been busy at the nursery plot at the allotment clearing it and weeding it for the new growing season. We started sowing our seeds in our greenhouse in April around the middle of the month and now we have lots of little seedlings. I am potting on my Giant sunflower seeds , Pumpkin and Squashes as they have out grown their trays and are now fighting for space and nutrients. I usually wait for them to grow their true leave but as they are now getting too big and root bound I have had to move them now. I will keep you up dated on how my plug plants get on!
My top tips for this week is about sowing seeds is making sure you have all the things you need to sow seeds :
* Trays
* Seeds
* Pen and labels
* a Watering can
* Space to (somewhere to keep your seedlings)
* Make sure you always label the seed tray so you know what is growing.
* Don't over water if it looks dry then water but if it looks like the soil is very wet DO NOT water them!
This is a True leave on a Courgette.
The Nursery Plot:
Audrey Rose (@MrsARose1 on Twitter)
I am Audrey from Carmarthenshire in Wales. Four years ago I swapped shoes and bags for seeds and bulbs and became obsessed with gardening. When I moved into my new house the garden was a blank canvas ready to breathe or plant life in to it! I now have transformed it into my sanctuary.
What I have been up to this week in the Garden:
This week in the garden I have been busy tending to my Borders, I have been in the Greenhouses looking after all the pots .Here are some tops tips about watering in the garden and in the greenhouse:
Watering is the most important thing to do,
we have a huge border so to keep it watered all Summer is a mammoth task.
We bought a few soaker hoses for all our borders, Wilko have a 15ft one perfect for our smaller borders, I had to buy the larger one on line as it’s so big.
Measure out the area you want to water leaving enough room to snake the hose around the ground to ensure all plants benefit. You need a tap and a hose to connect it to. After laying the soaker hose make sure the connection end is nearest to your tap so that your hose can reach. That’s it you are ready to turn on the tap and water your border while you go and do some gardening. It really is a time saver and well worth putting in.
Until next week you will find me in the garden enjoying the sunshine !
Armadillio Blue( on Twitter)
So I am Armadillo Blue and I am a former West Country boy :–
I have had my full size allotment now for just over 3 years and my rescue hens for 6 months – never had so many eggs. I work in sales, so I am stuck at my desk looking out of the window wishing I had a job that was outside, one day maybe?.....
What I have been getting up to at the plot this week:
So I spent the last Saturday of April on my plot, I swapped the woodchip in the chicken run over ( using the old stuff to mulch the fruit bushes), weeded the onion and garlic beds (first attempt at garlic), planted the 3rd row of potatoes and then tried a rain dance as I don’t know if its just me but it seems that we have had no rain. I am waiting patiently for the frosts to stop but I believe that the average for this is around the 15th May, not sure if this is correct or an old farmers tale that I have remembered. I walk away in the afternoon with a clear head and a happy heart.
Michelle ( So_i_started_a_garden on Instagram)
Hi I am Michelle, I am from Atlanta Georgia (United states)
I am loving being able to create my own garden in my first backyard. It has been quite a journey , but I am up for the challenge. So far, its a pollinators garden full of Flowers ,Herbs and Fruits.
Here are some photographs of my garden I wanted to share with you all and I will be sharing you what I get up to and my progress in the garden throughout the season.👩🏻🌾🌸
The Nottinghamshire Gardener
Hi I'm Sam, I'm turning half of our garden into a kitchen garden at our home in Nottinghamshire.
This is my garden and my Greenhouse:
Laura - Laura_at_plot10a
Hey! I'm Laura and I discovered my love of gardening and growing my own veg at the start of 2020. I bought my first home, a little Victorian terrace, in December 2019 and the garden was grey and unloved. Come April 2020 it was starting to come back to life, and at the end of summer it was full of colourful blooms and as much veg as I could squeeze in! I was a total novice, so made lots of mistakes, but it was a very proud moment for me to present my partner with potatoes, broccoli and sprouts from the raised beds and a few "naughty" looking carrots grown in an old bucket to cook for dinner. I think it was the best Sunday roast ever! Fast forward to this week, and I have just taken on my first allotment plot! 10a is a mammoth (to me) 25 x 80 (ish) ft plot and I am looking forward to bringing 'her' on.
My Garden before I began my gardening journey:
My garden now :
My new Allotment Plot
Kelly - kelz_veggies_plot9a
Hi! My name is Kelly and I am from the outskirts of Bristol. I am 36, have two children and am a secondary teacher.
I have grown up with family members gardening around me, but I will be honest - I did not pay much attention! It wasn't 'cool!'
I got the gardening bug when I moved into our new home and had a big garden that was bare! I thought I would 'just add one flower border'... well, that wasn't the case! I now have a border that goes all around the garden, numerous flower pots and a dedicated flower bed! I also have an allotment plot which I love! I grow a mixture of flowers and veggies there - this is the first proper year of having it so I really am hoping for some good produce!
I find that gardening for me is my little piece of relaxation! Being a single mum, full time teacher and a sufferer of anxiety it just gives me time to relax/chill out/have some calmness. I really do recommend gardening as a way to help with mental health. It works!!!
Misa - Misa_plot
So I’m Misa. I get the growing bug from my Dad, though I’d forgotten about it for the longest time. I got back into it after an impulse purchase of a propagator when I was grieving a very dear friend (I still am, but growing is a good distraction) I took on my allotment 30 April, so it’s all very new. Looking forward to the journey!
We hope that you all enjoyed meeting us all and seeing our garden or allotments. We are all looking forward to sharing our progress and hints and tips with you all.
Until our next instalment of our Gardener‘s Diaries you will definitely find us in our gardens! 👩🏻🌾🧑🏼🌾🌸🌻