my gardening DIARY

MONDAY

One of two cyclamen planted in a stone trough on the terrace was beautiful earlier but then seemed to almost disappear, even though it’s quite a large, old corm. It’s surrounded by tiny seedlings, so they’re being lifted carefully and each given a module space to itself, topped with grit.

TUESDAY

Harvesting our first cabbage; the very popular ‘Greyhound’, which has the reputation of being fast, reliable and, most importantly, good to eat.

WEDNESDAY

We’ve gathered several sorts of berries and fruits, both from the garden here and from various venues. A small patch of one of the brick-edged beds close to the kitchen has been designated our berry nursery. They’ll all be sown in little rows and we’ll see what happens.

THURSDAY

Checking compost heaps. It’s easy to forget about them, and most of the time they just get on with the job on their own. Our oldest heap has been turned several times to help oxygenate it and assist all those busy micro-organisms.

FRIDAY

I’d forgotten that part of my bulb order was for a few lilies. They’re posted later than my main bulb order and have just arrived. Only one variety, Lilium leichtlinii, a tall species from Japan with dark stems and bright yellow flowers with dark spots.

SATURDAY

From just one pod of my favourite sweet pea we have eight young plants. Since they won’t be planted out until spring, each will be potted on regularly and grown as cold as possible in a bright place to stop them getting leggy.

SUNDAY

This year for our Channel 5 programme, Summer Gardening with Carol Klein, we planted an espalier pear to grow across the eastern edge of one of our veg plots. It’s a ‘Conference’ – it stores well and tastes delicious. We’re replacing its bamboo cane supports with a permanent structure on which we can train it for years to come.