‘Well I’ve heard of Hotmail, but Cold Mail?’
said our friend Elias, who lives with us here at Hen Corner. Why has the crazy lady put her post in the fridge???
Well it’s obvious, it’s a mail order parcel of Nemaslug from the Green Gardener. It must be kept cool until you use it. Regularly watering Nemaslugs into your veg plot (about once every six weeks) will keep your kitchen garden free from slugs. We’ve been using them for a couple of years now and have been very impressed!
New Chickens, New Courses
Well here are our beautiful new girls who are settling in quite nicely, especially since we extended the Henclosure last weekend. Unfortunately, they are still a bit wary of the older chickens, especially when it comes to roosting together at night, but they are getting bigger by the week and will soon be able to hold their own. We are looking forward to a basket of rainbow eggs from them at Easter and hope that they behave themselves for the new series of Chicken Keeping Courses that we are planning here at Hen Corner. If you are interested in learning how to keep hens in an urban garden, do come along!
Goblets and Globes?
So what’s all this goblet business? Well, as you know we are planning ahead and whilst things are only just coming out of their dormancy in the kitchen garden we are getting ready for some summer fruit. Hence this lovely print of Ascot which is more interesting than the bare branches of fruit trees! The first goblet is how we prune the gooseberries to keep their shape open to allow good pollination, heavy cropping and easy picking. The second goblet, albeit a bit premature, is the new grapevine that we’re planting against a sunny fence, I have dreams of Elderflower Champagne in early summer, Cider in late summer and Wine in autumn… let’s see!
The Globes? well they are the artichokes. Over the last couple of years, we’ve tried nurturing Globe Artichokes from seeds, quite unsuccessfully, but this year we’ve decided to buy a young plant and hope that it takes well…
Other updates:
- Most of the seedlings have been transferred to the cold frame
- Asparagus Watch: 2
- Broad Beans are in flower
- Kitchen herbs (Parsley, Basil & Coriander) are growing nicely in old coffee tins
Jobs for next week:
- Remember to water the baby plants in the cold frame
- Tidy and mulch the soft fruit beds
- Plan the March planting schedule
- Re-seed the lawn after moving the ‘Henclosure’
- Water in those Nemaslugs
- Tidy the herb garden
Have a great week yourself now….
Corners aren’t just for squares!
