Good morning and welcome to another Six on Saturday. As ever, The Propagator will be hosting a variety of other Six on Saturday posts, so do pop over and have a look. For myself, today marks a return to working on Saturdays, so if I don’t seem very responsive don’t worry: I’ll catch up later on! This week I thought I’d take a look at how a few fruits and veg plants are getting on, so let’s begin:
1. Tomatoes
I wasn’t going to grow tomatoes from seed this year – I usually end up receiving some plants from someone or other, and three or four plants is enough for our modest tomato requirements. However, Plant World Seeds sent me some free seeds with an order. It’s a mix of different cultivars, so it should be interesting to see what crops up. As you can see, I have more than three or four, so quite where we go from here I’m not sure.
2. Peppers
I have a few peppers coming along too. As you can see, these needed pricking out several weeks ago, but the problem is one of space. I can’t move these (or the tomatoes) into the greenhouse yet as it’s not heated and it’s still a bit too cold at night. I don’t have enough room on the windowsills to have anymore pots inside; the pricking out will have to wait!
3. Brocolli
Technically Calabrese, but Broccoli will do for now. This is ‘Marathon’: it does so well for me that I’ve never got around to trying any other varieties: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I generally get heads in June, then lots of side shoots until October or November, depending on the weather. Every year I start them off a little bit earlier to try and extend the season a little.
4. Poor Old Oliver!
Next door is having a bit of work done on their house. It appears that they asked the builders to have a go at a spot of tree surgery while they were at it. They sent a chap up a ladder to have a hack at Oliver the Oak Tree with a chain saw (the jury is out, but we think he had to stop and look at YouTube on his phone to work out how to refuel it). He cheerfully offered to cut some off on our side but I politely declined, as I didn’t want him chopping his own arm off on my property. Personally, I feel Oliver deserved the attentions of an experienced and qualified tree surgeon, but it’s not in our garden so I suppose it’s none of my business!
5. and 6. Corydalis Things
I’ve mostly focussed elsewhere this week, but there are lots of Corydalis and Dicentra related things happening. To finish off here are a couple of Corydalis Things that caught my interest:
Corydalis x allenii 
Corydalis glaucescens ‘Early Beauty’
On the left we have the emerging Corydalis x allenii. It’s a cross between C. solida and C. bracteata, and it’s a good ‘un. However, the thing that caught my eye was the bronze hinted foliage. I’m sure it wasn’t like that last year – either I didn’t notice, or it’s the effect of a few sharp frosts. I’ve noticed the shoots of many of the Corydalis turn a little bit red after frost, almost like they’ve been scorched. On the right is Corydalis glaucescens ‘Early Beauty’. I’ve shown it on a previous Six on Saturday, but this is a slightly better photo. I’m really enjoying it this year. It popped out a few early flowers, but now it’s sent up a proper flower spike and seems to have settled down slightly.
That’s all for this week, thanks for popping by. For more Six on Saturday posts, have a look here. Enjoy your weekend!
Space for plants is a problem…but I am a firm believer that you can’t have too many 🙂
Too right! It’s sometimes best to have a do now, deal with the consequences later kind of attitude!
That did make me smile, there is never enough room at this time of year! Always lovely to see the corydalis emerging
It’s becoming a serious problem (The lack of space and the Corydalis addiction)!!
I know, if only windowsills were expandable at this time of year! I’m in the same situation with my tomatoes and peppers, and you’ve reminded me to sow some Calabrese soon, I tried it last year and was very happy with it, like you say, something to harvest in June and then the bonus of the side shoots, great plant. Yes poor Oliver, he looks a bit skew-wiff!
To be honest, the photo doesn’t quite do it justice in terms of how rough it looks!
You’ve been busy. I have the same problem with window sill space and seedlings, especially when it comes to potting on. Poor Oliver.
I have yet to hit the spot of lack of window sills, but we shall have to be careful moving around the conservatory in a couple of week’s time.
Part of the problem is I’ve tried to get a few things going as early as possible. It’ll be good in the long run, but it creates space problems now!
My tomatoes and chilies are about the same stage as yours. I will prick them out this afternoon (the last tomatoes because others are already potted). I can’t wait to see the first flowers !
I know, the prospect is tantalising!
What a toxic mix neighbours, builders and oak trees make. If it didn’t need a competent tree surgeon before, it surely does now. All too familiar tale.
You are so right. It’s got a bit of a history of maltreatment – it was cut just before we moved in several years ago, but not particularly well. As a result it has lots of dense wood at the centre, a lot of which is now dead. In my opinion it just needs the dead wood cutting out and some thinning, but what do I know!
Poor old Oliver indeed. I’m sure he will look more balanced once his leaves come out.
Tomato seeds are such reliable things that I always end up with more plants than I intend, but there is always someone willing to take them off my hands. Mine are well overdue being pricked out though.
I hope so! Only time will tell.
I’m trying to germinate some tomatoes from a very tasty one I kept from the supermarket last year. I’m not sure whether it will be successful. The Gardener’s Delight last year were so disappointing – they didn’t taste as nice as usual. Your peppers look really healthy too.
I know a few people who always use seed from tomatoes they’ve bought. They get quite good results.
What a beautiful oak. I can understand your dismay at having it chopped at. It looks like you are growing your vegetable seedlings in windows of your house and they seem healthy. Why do I keep reading that light from a window is insufficient to germinate healthy seedlings? The foliage of allenii is indeed a fascinating color.
In theory I suppose the double glazing limits the light to a certain extend, but not enough to be a problem. I get them in the greenhouse, where the light is better, as soon as I can.
Me and two teenagers pricked out 70 tomato seedlings this afternoon and I only need 8. We carried on as someone in my gardening club is having a sale in May and I know these will sell. However, the greenhouse (which has a heated section). The two teens were pricking out whilst I rearranged everything to fit the trays in like a giant game of tetris! That tree surgery really scares me. It’s a specialist job and when you see proper tree surgeons you see how many safety precautions they take. That goodness no harm was done (except to the tree!)
Good effort! It’s only for a few weeks, but your comparison to Tetris is bang on.
I didn’t actually see the ‘tree surgery’ in action, but my better half was surprised there wasn’t a serious accident!
Tomato glut? Looks like you’ll have a bumper crop! I too can resist everything except temptation.