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‘Home Grown’ diary project – update 8 … Veggie McVeg Patch…

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Each week I wonder if I will have enough to tell you…

Well I shouldn’t worry, for those of you who are following this and get a smidgeon as excited as I do over the progress… there’s always something to tell 🙂

I did mention in the early days, that I would comment on the photography aspect of recording this project with my iPhone, I am after all a photographer! I’ve decided it will be best to devote a particular blog just to that side of things. That way those of you interested in the growing can read those blogs and anyone interested in the photography challenge can just read that.

A quick update on the carrots and beetroot… its easier for you to see from under the protective wire mesh than above it, as you can see from the following two images. However, since these two images, I have removed the mesh. I think the risk from birds is now over and I’ve developed other ways to keep my feline assistant off! However, suffice to say they both are growing well 🙂

Carrots, grow your own, vegetables,
I hope as much is going on underground as I can see above ground!
beetroot, vegetables, grow your own
I hope as much is going on underground as it is above ground!

The rest of the courgette plants have gone out – three more into large pots, two into the garden, but two I’ve potted on, but kept them in the greenhouse. Why, well as you can see the stem has split? I don’t think it was because of the wire splint, because the others are ok. So we will see if they survive as they get bigger, but for the meantime they stay inside for their protection.

courgette, stem, vegetables, split
I really didn’t expect this one to survive.
courgette, vegetables, grow your own
Hope there is enough room in here for two!

Because I had re-arranged the planting of the dwarf beans, had some spare space for two of the courgette plants to out into the main garden … yes I have a total of nine plants … what was I thinking!!!

courgette, vegetables, grow your own,
Found room for these two in the main bed!

The tomato seedlings have gone beyond their two little seedling leaves and sprouted more growth. I can happily report this is continuing at quite a rate … but like the courgettes, I’ve got a lot of seedlings that have survived. More on that next week.

tomato, seedlings, vegetables, grow your own,
… they’re all growing!
tomato, seedlings, vegetables, grow your own,
… they’re all growing!

So all in all, happy how things are progressing and will report more on the raspberry and blueberry plants next week. However, at the same time as building the wigwam of stakes for the beans, also put stakes in two (the biggest) of the raspberry plants pots, so as they grow taller, will place string round to help support their growth.

vegetables, fruit, greenhouse, grow your own, pots
My nursery of pots is increasing significantly.

Next week – more seeds, more triffids, more flowers … more growth!

‘Home Grown’ diary project – update 7… Veggie McVeg Patch…

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Everything is growing so well… I’m astonished!

Yes quite a milestone reached as have been able to harvest the first salad leaves. The cloche cover had to come of for this… otherwise it’s like playing ‘Twister’ trying to get in to pick the leaves… not a pretty site!

… and they just keep on growing, so I’m cropping some every other day. These will never be allowed to grow to a proper lettuce and hoping I will get a few weeks of harvesting before they are finished. So soon, I will be sowing some ‘proper’ lettuces with the hope I’ve staggered planting correctly to keep a supply coming later in the year.

lettuce, salad, leaves, harvest, grow your own, veg patch,

A milestone reached… the first harvest.

During a session of weeding the main veg bed, I spotted a few of these and discovered they weren’t weeds at all. These were the result of our local squirrel using the soft soil to bury last years nut supply! (We do have a hazelnut tree not far away that fruits well) – So while on a high about everything that’s growing, thought I’d give these two a fighting chance and stuck them in their own pots…

Does anyone want a hazelnut tree, I won’t have room for any more?

squirrel, hazelnut, tree, bush, nuts,

I’ve benefited from the squirrel burying last years nuts!

The courgettes were very ready for going out into their own pots, so I’ve put two out initially and then the others will follow soon – (part of the ‘staggering technique I’m trying). They were loving the greenhouse and getting decidedly tall – and do you remember I splinted them for support early on, well it was a very tricky task to carefully remove the wire and stake, without damaging the stalks. Me thinks that has to change if I do this next year..

Just a point here, the two large pots you see are a nifty ‘self watering’ idea I bought into. They have a false bottom, that enables it to retain water without water-logging the soil and roots.

courgettes, veg patch, vegetables, potted out,

I have a lot of courgette plants…

Bit of a re-think in the main veg bed for the beans  to go out, by building a type of wigwam of stakes. This has maximised the available space and much easier to move the mesh to keep our unwanted visitors off the garden.

french, dwarf, beans, vegetables,

Such an easier arrangement to build and maintain.

But then it got windy just after I’d put them out! They didn’t stand much chance until they’d become a bit more established. So I found some garden mesh in the back of the shed (amazing what you find you’ve got stored) that I wrapped over the wire mesh and has worked perfectly. 🙂

beans, stakes, dwarf, mesh, protection

Then it got windy!

I will be needing more stakes at some point, to support the growing fruit plants… and of course I have a ready supply already growing in the garden 🙂 – so I am feeling quite resourceful this week.

bamboo, canes, stakes, garden,

Grow your own cane supply…

Next week… something odd has happened to a couple of courgettes.

 

 

‘Home Grown’ diary project – update 6… Veggie McVeg Patch…

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Lots to report on this week…

The greenhouse got christened and the plants moved in. This is going to be so helpful, as I wouldn’t have the room indoors for all the babies. The courgettes and beans have had a growth spurt and think they’re loving their new home. This job was both quite easy and very satisfying 🙂

greenhouse, courgettes, beans, grow your own,

The courgettes and beans are loving their new home.

… and I had a bit of assistance… who needed to do a quality control check in the new greenhouse…

greenhouse, vegetables, courgettes, beans, grow your own,

Yes, I’m propagating a cat!

The salad leaves have also responded to the warmer weather and are just about ready to start harvesting. So I will soon need to decide when to sow more, for proper lettuces later in the year.

salad leaves, lettuce, vegetables, harvest

How many recipes can I think of for salad leaves?

The trickiest job by far this week has been transferring the tomato seedlings to individual pots… slowly, gently, there was no hurrying this task. But I wasted very few, re-potted lots(!) in the hope that some might survive. If I’m lucky enough for several to grow on and more than I have space for here, will consider selling/giving away or exchanging my surplus 🙂

tomatoes, seedlings, transferring, vegetables, grow your own,

How many will survive moving?

Ok, not particularly tidy looking, but give them a chance…

tomatoes, seedlings, transferring, vegetables, grow your own,

How many will survive moving?

Last by not least for this week – the fruit plants continue to grow and we have the first flower buds showing!

raspberry, buds, fruit, grow your own

Yes! We have flower bud!

Next week… the first harvest (yay) and the courgettes and beans go out!

 

‘Home Grown’ diary project – update 5… Veggie McVeg Patch…

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Technical issues sorted, you can now sign up to the email list 🙂 

Do you recall in Update 3, I’d added to my vegetable list…

Not able to get any baby plants, I decided to attempt to grow tomatoes from seed, in addition to my existing vegetables. Well they’ve all sprouted nicely – I carefully took the tray outside to get a decent shot and then returned them to the warmth of indoors for now.

tomato, seedlings, growing, vegetables,

Tomato seedlings growing nicely

I have been carefully considering what I’ve so far spent on various bits and pieces and what I’ve been fortunate enough to already have to hand. However, with so many seedlings and limited ideal room indoors, decided this next purchase would be very worthwhile.

I did mention in the last update about a new purchase… and after some delay, yes my small greenhouse finally arrived! … I was a little excited 🙂

greenhouse, vegetables, plants, fruit, growing, growyourown

It arrived – eventually!

Last Saturday in the very warm sunshine, I followed the assembly instructions carefully, but not before laying all the pieces out to show you the task I had ahead of me…

greenhouse, assemble, how to, new skills,

This lot has to be assembled…!

… the assembled greenhouse… yes it stands up all on its own and there were no bits left over at the end! This has been placed at the back of the sheltered sunny spot, where it will get some protection from the elements.

greenhouse, assembled, growing, grow your own, vegetables, plants, fruit

Think I surprised myself that it went together without incident!

greenhouse, assembled, growing, grow your own, vegetables, plants, fruit

… and again with the door closed.

To date, I’ve purchased the initial seeds for all the vegetables, two large pots for courgettes, Tomorite and this greenhouse. Everything else – soil, compost, wire mesh, various size pots, labels, trays, old cloche, wooden tray, stakes, potato grow bags (will be used for the tomato plants) and trusty watering can! – it’s quite surprising what you can find.

A quick update on the raspberry and blueberry plants – they continue to grow well in their sunny spot. The middle pot with two new blueberry plants, may take a while to spring to life, but I’m hopeful.

raspberry, blueberry, plants, fruit, grow your own,

They continue to grow nicely.

Next update… the greenhouse gets christened, the salad leaves are nearly ready to eat and more delicate surgery for the tomato seedlings.

 

‘Home Grown’ diary project – update 4… Veggie McVeg Patch…

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Next hurdle… and would they survive…?

It’s all well and good to happily watch your planted seeds appear as seedlings… first success – but now I have to thin them! A delicate looking task for the salad leaves and the beetroot… and I read the packets carefully, plus dived into the main reference book I’ve got to hand – The Vegetable & Herb Expert, by Dr D.G. Hessayon. I’ve decided to leave the carrots for now, as they need to get a little bigger. For those who are remotely interested, this main bed measures just about 13ft by 4ft, with permanent Rosemary and Bay shrubs at the far end. The lettuce tray is 4ft square.

vegetables, fruit, grow your own, new skills,

The protected veggie patch.

Armed with all sorts of tools… (including tweezers!), I set about thinning. I had to remove the cloche frame from the lettuce tray for this and hadn’t got the heart to throw away lots of seedlings, so created two new rows. While it took sometime, was very satisfying.

You will notice I’ve also put the tray of courgette and dwarf bean plants in with the lettuce for the time being, so they get used to being outside, but are protected from the elements. I think they need a bit more growth before going out properly and I don’t want any late frosts getting them.

lettuce, salad leaves, grow your own,

Underneath the cloche, survival of the fittest!

Having completed the salad leaves, set about the same task with the beetroot. With both these, I’m not sure if I’ve thinned enough, so may have to remove a few more in time. The good news is, the seedlings recovered from the operation and have continued to grow :). In future, (assuming this continues next year) I’m going to try and devise a way of spreading the seeds out more, when first sowing to hopefully help the thinning process.

beetroot, seedlings, thinning, rows,

Didn’t have the heart to throw away the thinnings, so created another row!

Quick close up of the courgette and dwarf bean plants, they continue to do ok outside with the salad leaf babies for now…. but….

courgette, dwarf beans, young plants,

The triffids continue to like their new home in with the lettuce… for now.

I did have one fatality… I must have just weakened the stem when putting the splint wire round… my bad 🙁

courgette plant

The first fatality.

Apart from moving them forward so they get a bit more sunlight, the raspberry and blueberry plants continue to do well and show growth. The pile of bricks to the right hand side is another task to move and make more room and you can see the piles of pots at the back that have been washed, sized and will be re-used as necessary :).

raspberry, blueberry, plants, pots, growing, fruit

The raspberry and blueberry plants continue to grow well.

Next blog… while I’m using everything available to hand, have invested in something new … 🙂

‘Home Grown’ diary project – update 3… Veggie McVeg Patch…

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Things are progressing well…. so far… 

I have a few more images to share with you, but firstly, there was the naming of the veg patch… with salad leaves, carrots, beetroot, courgettes and dwarf beans seeds all sown… and a little spare time on my hands in the sunshine, was suddenly inspired to create a nameplate.

Veggie McVeg Patch

It had to be named!

The salad leaves all started to appear and grow reasonably quickly and happy under their mini greenhouse cloche.

salad leaves, seedlings, sown,

Salad leaves seedlings starting to appear.

The Beetroot appeared reasonably quickly and then the carrots started to show exactly as the packet said.

beetroot, seedlings, sown, appearing,

Beetroot seedlings came through quite quickly.

carrots, seedlings, sown, appearing,

Carrot seedlings made an appearance exactly as the packet said!

The courgette and dwarf beans also came through nicely (courgettes at the back and dwarf beans at the front), although I did have three seeds that made a ‘no show’. There were also a couple of ‘breach’ births and with some careful surgery, managed to save them and they continued to grow.

They were started off indoors in the corner of a room, so they wouldn’t get knocked, where the light wasn’t the best for photographs. I had strong sunlight coming through on the left and a dark corner on the right, but rather than carting the tray outside and risk damaging the baby plants, did my best where they were. You will also notice, I had to create little splints for the courgette plants as they shot up quickly and then proceeded to fall over – a delicate procedure, but it seemed to work.

courgette, dwarf beans, seedlings

Courgette and dwarf beans coming through.

… and continue to grow they did… had I planted triffids?? The dwarf beans proved a little stronger and no splints were needed.

courgette, dwarf beans, seedlings, plants

I felt like I was growing triffids!

Somewhere in my brain I decided to expand the vegetable growing and find room outside to try tomatoes. Not able to purchase little plants, I spent a whole £1 on two packets of seeds… who doesn’t love a home grown tomato. Again these have been started off in small individual pots in a tray indoors.

tomatoes, seeds, planting,

I decided to add to the vegetable list.

Quick update on the raspberry and blueberry plants – they continue to grow nicely in their outdoor pots. I might mention here, that with so many raspberry plants available, a couple of them were planted out in the general garden amongst other flowers and shrubs. If they flower and fruit, I’m giving these up to the birds and whatever wildlife fancies a nibble… on the understanding they leave the other potted plants alone!

Next blog diary will be covering the thinning of the seedlings!

‘Home Grown’ diary project… update 2 – Veggie McVeg Patch…

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You may have read the first diary post last week, which basically showed the pre and post preparation of the main veg patch area and my challenges to get it protected from the local garden wildlife… including birds, squirrels, pheasants and cats!

My vegetables of choice to learn with and try growing from seed, started out as lettuce, carrots, beetroot, courgettes and dwarf beans. Plus, I had purchased two raspberry plants and two blueberry plants last year. One of the blueberry plants unfortunately died, but the other is doing well. We were also lucky enough to be given several more raspberry plants that were surplus from our neighbour.

I took the time to mark out the main veg patch into labelled rows. The first two for carrots, the next two, for carrots again… to sow in a months time. The next row for beetroot and again another for beetroot in a months time and the rest well spaced out for the dwarf beans. That was the whole main bed accounted for. As you can see from the following two images, the first lots of carrots and beetroot have been planted (yay).

carrots, planted, seeds, vegetables,

Labelled rows of seeds that have been planted.

beetroot, planted, seeds, vegetables,

Labelled rows of seeds that have been planted.

The lettuce have their very own mini greenhouse, as you will have seen in the opening diary blog. The first two rows of salad leaves have also been planted and again, have marked out subsequent rows for ‘spaced out’ planting.

The courgette plants (assuming the seeds come up ok), will be planted in fairly large individual pots. I’ve started the courgettes and dwarf beans in smaller pots and these will be stored for a week or two indoors. I photographed this tray outside simply to get an even light on it… and you can see the courgette seeds have already started to show (result!).

beans, courgettes, pots, vegetables,

Starter pots for Courgettes and Dwarf beans.

At the moment, I’m making use of everything I already have to hand… i.e. old pots, old cloche, handy tray, label stakes, wire.

raspberries, blueberries, courgettes, containers, fruit, vegetables,

Raspberries and blueberries.

The above area is a particularly sunny spot in the garden to organise and store the fruit containers. I have three blueberry plants and what appears to be numerous raspberry plants spread across six containers. To date… all the plants are alive and sprouting. How the heck I’m going to get these protected when they fruit is a challenge yet to be covered… watch this space.

Join me for progress in diary update 3 next week 🙂

 

‘Home Grown’ diary project… Veggie McVeg Patch…

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This really is a first for me and I suspect several other people too, in these weeks of staying at home. 

I’ve grown potatoes for a couple of years, because they seemed reasonably easy and not too time consuming. But this year is something different and I felt inspired to blog my diary of failures and successes as I find my way with growing fruit and veg. Also decided to not get too adventurous, so more chance of some success!

As a professional photographer, I also thought it would  be an interesting exercise to record the diary completely on my phone and not using my pro camera… so here goes.

First off, this is what the veg patch looked like before I started… I was trying to capture our resident squirrel and is the only shot I have of a ‘pre-prepared’ veg bed:

Garden vegetable patch

Before we started…

So I dug the bed over, removed all the weeds, added some extra soil and compost and levelled it all out. However, here came the first challenge… how to keep off not only the birds, but one of our cats!

The first efforts of criss crossing string really didn’t work (sorry I don’t have an image)… ever seen a cat negotiating such a puzzle, it was like watching Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible!

So next effort nailed it! A roll of wire mesh cut into strips and made into a series of hoops to cover the bed in sections:

Prepared vegetable patch

Keeping the cat off!

As I had another large wooden tray and an old cloche, decided to add a separate mini green house that would be for lettuce and salads leaves only:

cloche, lettuce, plants, greenhouse

A little lettuce house…

In the hope you will follow my journey (and learning curve) I’ll finish this diary entry here, but would add that the preparation all happened last month and lots more progress has been made since then. Not only will there be a selection of vegetables, there is also some fruit plants… and… the naming of the veg patch!

All that will come in the next diary blog… so do join me on this journey and I will include comments of the photography as we go along.

Quick tips to consider when taking part in online meetings…

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As we are all plunged into a situation never experienced before and not wishing to go on about what we can’t do, I’m trying (like many of us) to focus on what we can do.

I’ve listed a few quick tips for you to consider when engaging in online meetings, so you can be seen and heard clearly, communicate effectively, be professional, but also be yourself:

As with any meeting, make sure you are ready beforehand – This might mean making sure you have any relevant notes and/or writing materials to hand. Know who is going to initiate contact with who and that you have the right software on your device/computer. Make sure your video and audio are switched on and working and is at a reasonable audio sound level.

Face the best source of available light in your room – to avoid your face being in almost darkness, make sure you are well lit, even if its just natural light in front of you and avoid bright daylight streaming through a window behind you. This should help reduce the camera on your device from constantly trying to adjust the exposure as you move around in front of it.

Consider what distractions there may be and try to minimise – many of us will be holding our conversations from a home office and its your choice if you wish to roll up to your meeting in your PJ’s… but, its a good idea to close doors and windows to minimise people and pets walking in, outside traffic noise or roadworks and perhaps remove that stand of washing that’s behind your chair!

Have the camera on your computer at eye level – if your camera level is too low, others will have a lovely view straight up your nose, it’s a very unflattering angle for you and is not the level we communicate with people when we are face to face. A simple pile of books, or a small box might just be sufficient to raise your device. Have your monitor as close to vertical as possible.

Try to hold eye contact with the camera lens in your device – its more tempting to watch the other persons face on the monitor, but, that means you are unlikely to be holding eye contact. Maintaining good eye contact shows the other person you are giving them your full attention.

Allow for a small time delay when responding to speak online – always speak clearly and try not to talk over someone, or jump into the conversation too quickly. Allow an extra moment before responding to speak, that way you minimise having to ask the other person to repeat what they said.

Happy and productive meetings everyone – please get in touch should you need further advise.

https://archive.pennymorgan.co.uk/contact

communicating, online, meetings, Online Meetings
Image copyright – Penny Morgan Photography

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When children are a bit quiet… what’s really going on?

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As a child and in the middle of a brood of five, we had to learn to entertain ourselves much of the time. We were lucky to live in a rambling old farmhouse that my father renovated and had our own ‘playroom’, where nothing had to be tidy… as long as there was a pathway through the middle to get to some of it!

It’s often assumed that when children are a bit too quiet, someone is up to no good! But from a child’s point of view, it’s probably quite different. Reliving elements of a much younger person, I can recall things that brought me much amusement … just because you could. Out walking, you had to jump into puddles… on the beach, digging holes in the sand trying to reach Australia. Collecting things and keeping secrets. Spending hours in the playroom making stables for my toy horses out of shoe boxes (we were allowed scissors in those days). Re-painting my bike frame with ‘tiger stripes’ (???). Creating cardboard guitars, so we (my brothers and sisters) could be a pretend band… and numerous board games.

All this mischief happened and I’m sure along the way we were told off for few things that went ‘too far’… someone got a bit rough and someone ended up crying. 

But I also remember it being a very creative time, lost in my own world of doing something, or, playing with my siblings and always enjoyed Christmas with them.

Relate that to a business world

I’ve been rather quiet lately, with no time to post as much on social media or get newsletters and blogs out. I could say ‘I’ve just been busy’, which is true, however as well as much photography, this has included several other projects, both on a personal and business front, and new work to arrange for 2020… 

My ‘photography mischief’ has included, weddings, families, horses, personal branding, headshots, modelling knitwear, food (a new one!) and Christmas parties.

In addition to photography, I’ve stepped up my involvement with the FSB, hosting their Connect networking meeting in Bury and also becoming an Area Lead for Norfolk and Suffolk, taking me out and about across both counties.

So I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your support this year and wish you and yours a very happy Christmas and festive break. May your 2020 will be as creative and fruitful as I’m ‘quietly’ planning mine to be.

photography, Christmas, 2019, children, creative,

When children are quiet… what’s really going on?