Hello Gardeners

Will this winter ever finish?  It’s the 3rd May and with frost at night I am mighty glad that I did not plant my runnerbeans out!  We are enjoying plenty of spring cabbage, spring onion sown in  the autumn in the polly -tunnel so surviving the winter snow etc. Our carrots lasted right through to the end of January.  I have started sowing, again for the summer.  New for this year, for myself, is sweetcorn. I have not grown this before so lets see how it does! 

Reporting  back on last year’s potatoes, we had a large crop of potatoes from the left-over chits from the veg rack.  The quantitiy of potatoes from the bought seed-grown potatoes was disappointing compared with the chits/small left-over potatoes, so this year all my potatoes are from left-overs.  Hopefully they will do as well as last year.  I will let you know.

Landscape News

The recession is still having an effect on our landscape and design works.  Just enough work to keep us out of trouble.  One of the schemes we are working on is a wildlife garden in London, set around an office complex and we hope to get wildlife and work-persons to share their  space, for all to enjoy.

I will let you now have the progress report on the two projects that I spoke about on my last update.  I am now in a position to show you some photos of the East London project.  We are very pleased with the outcome.  The other projects photos will follow.  We have also started a project, late December/January 2010 on a totally new landscape. The house is under construction and we will have limited access so we have identified siting and types of trees and planted them into position prior to commencement of building works. These trees are semi-mature in size.  We have also installed water storage tanks which at a later date will be connected to the gutters of the house and this water will be used for irrigation and internal plumbing within the house for the toilets and washing machines. 

The main landscape works will proceed once the builder can give us access after the removal of his scaffolding. The house building is projected to take approximately two years. Again, I will keep you informed on this as it all proceeds.

Staff Report 

No changes if our staff. Our new member on our last report, Peter, is settling in well and has just completed a chain saw course.  For the next two weeks Peter will have to run a landscape team as his mentor, Craig is taking two weeks paternity leave.  So good luck on that Peter or should that be Craig!. 

Speak soon

Colin