Looking back

When are the warm sunny days going to arrive? It has been another dull day here in Ipswich, I suppose I should be grateful that it is dry but on the other hand we could do with the rain, there is never a happy medium for the humble gardener. We are told to get water-butts yet there is no rain to fill them. Last year I had the bright idea of using waste water from the shower also know as grey water. I done some research beforehand to make sure it was safe to use it on the vegetable garden. I found that it was safe to use on plants that the produce is not a root type vegetable, but was fine to use on beans, tomatoes, courgettes and things like that which grew above the ground. Everything grew well and tasted good, I changed my cleaning products to eco-friendly brands. However I found I had much more water than I needed and the water-butt would overflow. So I attached a small piece of hose that reached the drain and would leave the tap open so the water could drain away. It was a complicated process of making sure the tap was open or shut and ended up becoming a problem as there is six members in our household so you can imagine the amount of grey water we have. It was not the bright idea I thought it would be! So it's back to the thinking board on the water issue
I have been busy updating and adding photo's to my web pages, I came across some photo's of the garden last year

This is the vegetable patch at the end of June 2011, I can't wait for it to be like that again, the anticipation of what will grow and produce great vegetables.

These are the runner beans and broad beans that I grew in pots. It was my first time for growing these we had a bumper crop. In the green bags were my tomatoes which I unfortunately lost to blight. We had such a wet summer that most of the neighbors lost theirs too. This year I am going to grow some in the greenhouse as well as out in the open and hope I don't lose them again. I am growing three different types this year, Alicante, Roma and gardener's delight. Gardener's delight is my new variety for this year, it is a heavy cropper of small bite sized tomatoes, so I'll look forward to munching on them whilst pottering about in the greenhouse!
The girls have been rather quiet today as I have not been out and about in the garden. They had left over rice today, we always end up cooking far to much rice for our needs, but at least the girls get to enjoy it. Another three eggs again today, so we shall have plenty for poached eggs on toast at the weekend!
And finally..... I am re-posting the link for for gift ideas for mother's day as I realized a majority of the links on the page were not working. My apologies to anyone who visited the web page. http://www.squidoo.com/green-with-envy-the-perfect-gifts-for-the-female-gardener