Showing posts with label carrot fly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carrot fly. Show all posts

Monday, 14 May 2012

Holidays & gardening

...aren't particularly compatible.

I hate leaving my flowerbeds, kitchen garden and greenhouse at this time of year. Not only do I miss out on the wonder of seeing the garden change by the day, but everything's so tiny and fragile, the slightest drought/drench/heatwave/chill can really mess with my plans.

Luckily though everything survived, thanks to a few milder days and a very helpful friend.

The south-facing flowerbed was completely transformed into a vibrant jungle of tulips & perennials.

Lots of colour! Note the lime & calmondin trees out for a much-
needed dose of sunshine after almost two weeks of shady living.
Growth in the kitchen garden wasn't quite as overwhelming, probably due to the warm, dry weather. But it was all in need of a jolly good drink!

My lettuce babies have survived the slugs, but are looking a little parched!
The peas are looking nice and solid.
The yellow onions are doing really well... as are the weeds! Can you spot any
carrots in there??! Carrot fly has been a major problem, so this year I've planted
onions AND marigolds around them.
Potatoes! :D But still no sign of life in the asparagus bed.
I thought they would show first...?
There was a problem with the watering system in the greenhouse, but thanks to our friend Johan's determination (and stupidity - he stuck the v. v. grimy hose in his mouth to get the flow going again... bläääää!) it's all looking fabulous.

Beautiful blue (?) parrot tulips living in harmony with Jalastar capsicum annums.
It's time to plant the toms into the ground, but there's too much
going on, so they'll have to wait just a little longer.
First harvest! :D
Chicken salad (with shop-bought toms, of course).












Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Marigold mania!

I read somewhere that marigolds (tagetes) are great partner plants for the kitchen garden, helping prevent things like carrot fly and greenfly. :D As I've decided to have a little more colour around me greens this year, they sounded ideal.

After emptying the best part of a packet into a seed tray, I usually only expect half of them to germinate.

That was not the case this time!!

Blimey what a lot of marigolds we're going to have this year...

Getting individual homes, which took aaaaaaages...

Typical spring windowsill in our house.