The greenhouse extension is done, all that remains is to sort out shelving and staging. It won't last but at the moment it actually feels spacious. Building has meant that apart from watering, all other gardening has been neglected, so I'm keen to wrap it up and get back to weeding, planting, pricking off, potting…
Author: Jim Stephens
Six on Saturday – 17/4/2021
Most mornings this week there has just been a touch of ground frost and in desperation to get some space, a few risks have been taken. I planted tomatoes in my tunnel and have been putting things out by day then back in at night, or not if I'm feeling lucky. Planted a Begonia out…
The end of an Acer.
It seems that this is the year it must happen. The oldest plant in our garden is an Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’ that was a young plant just a couple of feet tall when we moved in over thirty years ago. I know it’s the oldest because it is the only plant still left that was…
Six on Saturday – 10/4/2021
All week the forecast has been for overnight frost or pretty close and so far it hasn't materialised. I want to start moving things out from the greenhouse to make room for veg being grown for the allotment. It looks like this weekend sees the back of it for a while. It being pretty cold,…
Six on Saturday – 3/4/2021
This has to be my favourite season, so much is happening or starting to happen. You get to see what has survived the winter, whether the apple grafts done in January have taken, which seeds have finally germinated. On the down side battle is joined again with the hordes of slugs and every dip in…
Six on Saturday – 27/3/2021
Way back in November I ordered the parts to extend Sue's cactus house. It all turned up yesterday. 18 weeks is, I think, a little shorter than was predicted but it's still a long time to wait in these days of instant gratification. Most of that time has not been suitable for putting it up…
Six on Saturday – 20/3/2021
The frost and gales of last week are a distant memory and the camellias that were trashed have mostly made a good recovery, with others just getting under way. It's Camellias all the way down this week; if you don't like pink, look away now. Or you could go back to the running man's link…
Six on Saturday – 13/3/2021
The weather has had it in for us this week. We hit -4°C earlier in the week then the wind set in. I don't like wind, it makes me tetchy. Another week has passed without me even getting into the garden much, far less doing anything useful out there. This morning it's doing that old…
Brrrr, baby, it’s cold outside.
The temperature dropped to -2°C overnight, -3.5°C the night before and -4°C the night before that. That's pretty cold for Cornwall and is what happens when you get a an easterly or north easterly air flow, low wind speeds and clear skies at this time of year. From all other directions the wind would be…
Six on Saturday – 6/3/2021
Very early on I realised that I couldn't remember what I'd posted in these sixes even a couple of weeks ago, so I started keeping a list of what I included week by week. Otherwise it becomes a diary in which it is hard to find anything. At some point I started putting in the…








