This week we returned from our Easter Break to find the wonderful path that has been built in the garden by BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers). It was funded by a Lottery Grant and means that we can walk into the garden much more easily. 
This also means that we can invite guests to visit in future, and classes can come into the garden without getting muddy or falling on the steep bank!
The weather has been very dry and the soil in this raised bed was baked hard - we couldn't dig it to put in potatoes! Instead we watered it, weeded it and started adding manure to try and soften the soil and help it to retain moisture.
We gave the willow seat a good soaking to encourage it to continue sprouting.
There were some casualties in the greenhouse! The cauliflower seedlings got dried up.
The onions fared better thanks to Catriona and family coming in to water things! We need to plant them out as soon as possible!
This week we also planted several varieties of squash sent to us from America (thanks Charles!). They are: Spaghetti, Sweet Dumpling, Golden Nugget, Butternut, Green Acorn and Delicata Squash!! We planted just four of each as they will be large hungry plants; if they all germinate we'll have our hands full!Despite the Royal Wedding on Friday, we were in school so at lunch time Catriona and Charlotte continued to work on the raised bed for the potatoes - well done girls, keep up the good work!! We'd also like to wish William and Catherine all the best for the future!
Well, I tried this before, but the whole bloomin' thing disappeared on me.
ReplyDeleteDiscouraging, that.
So here I am, trying again.
You are entirely welcome! When I sent those seeds, I thought that perhaps I was sending rather a lot, but each squash produces umpteen seeds, and I no longer have a bit of ground to plant them in (and one must be on guard 'gainst bunnies and such, too), so I split them between you and my son-in-law's Russian wife (that kinship is left for the reader to puzzle out), who has a bit of a yard, and like most Russians of her class, tends to be frugal.
Any road, each of those seeds will produce a vine with several blossoms, each of which becomes a squash. One hopes, anyway.
I understand, but do not know, that many gardeners remove some of the blossoms before seeds are set, to increase the energy for developing the remaining squashes. I know this is the technique for producing very large squashes, of the sort that win prizes at fairs. I know nothing about the eating properties of such squashes, however.
I have cooked and eaten all the squashes from which those seeds have come, and all are palatable, most varying only in their sweetnes, and I do mean sweetness. Some of them taste as though they were cooked in sugar. Those are not my favourites, but chacun à son goût, you know. They might serve best as one of those side-dishes that are unabashedly sugary, like candied yams, or crock-baked beans.
Have fun! It's a great feeling to find oneself on the side of Nature.
——dW