Gemma’s vegetable beds are amazing and full of lush green produce. When the days are sunny Gemma gets Chloe to help water them.
Vegetable Beds
All Growing Lush
Gemma loves Pac Choi and hers have grown really well. Once they start to flower, which is called bolting, the seeds grow for Gemma to collect for sowing next year!
Gemma’s radishes are amazing, they are as big as a large marbles.
Unfortunately my radishes have not turned out so well! Mine are as big as a grape, but not so juicy.
Phyllis has been working very hard in her garden over the last few months and it’s all just starting to pay off. Below are just a few of her amazing flowers, they come in all sizes, shapes and amazing colours.
Rose
Clematis
Pansy
Honeysuckle
Beautiful Blue
Shocking Pink
In the edible part of the garden, Phyllis’s fruit and vegetables are growing strong.
Watch out for your cherries Phyllis, I saw a cheeky blackbird flying around, eyeing them up for lunch!
The tomato vines are growing tall and strong, Phyllis is having to use canes to support the stems and cuts the side shots off to ensure the goodness goes into the growing delicious tomatoes.
Cherries
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Tomatoes and Coffee
First Earlies
Sunday Roast
Cabbage
Phylis has made a delicious Sunday roast using the potatoes and cabbage from her garden. They taste so much better than the ones you buy in the shops. What I want to know is where’s mine!!
This is Phyllis’ Christmas Dinner bed! She has made it in her front garden and all the vegetables will be used on Christmas day! I cant wait to see it all dished up, I had better get an invite!!!
Phyllis has been working hard in her Garden and all the plants are growing well.
Salad Crops
The nets Phyllis has had to put up isn’t to stop the birds and pests, its to protect the crops from Hebe the cat!
King of the Castle
Oops How Do I Get Down?
Hiding in the Lawn Mower Bin
Come Find Me
What a pickle Hebe is! Everywhere Phyllis is, Hebe’s not far away causing mayhem!
All looking Lush and Green
All the vegetables are looking lush and growing big and strong. Phyllis has to keep mowing the grass to make it look nice and tidy.
Raspberry
Strawberry Planter
The fruit is coming along too! There will be lovely ripe strawberries to pick and eat, they will go well with scones and cream in June! Something for us to look forward too!
Mind you that’s if they actually get to the kitchen! I know a few Treasures who like to pick and eat them before Phyllis gets a chance!!
Frank has made a Tomato planter in the greenhouse, Phyllis has planted the tomato plants the seedlings have grown for her, there are cucumbers growing too! All you need is onions and you have a salad!
Lemon Basil
Phyllis has also got lots of lovely colourful flowers around her garden to encourage the bees and butterflies. She has sent me pictures of them, below are my favourite ones. I bet they smell amazing.
At the beginning of May, Gemma sent us some pictures of her garden vegetable raised beds that she had made. They have come on so well and are all starting to grow nice and strong.
Its mid-May now and only two weeks since the above pictures and the raised beds have grown so much! Gemma and the children are doing so well, they must all have green fingers!!
Chloe has been helping Gemma after school with watering and trying to keep Cooper their dog from jumping on them! All our pets want to join in with gardening!
The Seedlings have been so busy this month in the garden. We have enjoyed the lovely bright days even though its been cold.
Sophie helped Tracie to plant a cherry tomato plant. We have been watching it grow from a tiny seed that we sowed last month. We have put a tall cane next to the plant so when it grows tall we can use it for support.
Fearne made sure the tomato plant had plenty of water to help it grow. Fearne asked Tracie for a drink as she wants to grow up bigger!
While we were weeding and tidying up the front garden, Georgia noticed that the potatoes had started growing. Fearne said “they’re not potatoes!” Tracie explained they are potatoes and that the plant grows big and strong, feeding the potatoes growing underneath.
Georgia Watering
Alfie Watched Us Working
Beans
Tomato Plant
Cherry Tree
Who Made this Hole?
Alfie didn’t want to help plant the vegetables he just wanted to sit and watch! The cheeky monkey! We planted our beans around a wigwam made out of canes, we then added netting around it to support the plants to climb up.
We have decided to plant our vegetables in between the flowers this year as we have so many strong plants. We cant wait to see them grow and make some cauliflower cheese nom, nom!
Phyllis has definitely been working hard in her garden since we last visited her.
Bird Homes
Haven for Birds and Insects
Front Garden
The little pool Phyllis made out of an old wheelbarrow for the birds and insects is now a haven for them. She has planted pond flowers, plants and a frog which is a fun addition.
Phyllis has worked hard in the front garden to provide the birds with quiet areas to feed and nest safely. There have been loads of bumble bees seen getting the nectar from the flowers.
In the greenhouse there are loads of seeds growing well. Phyllis has taken lots of cuttings from different plants in her garden to make more for free! Everything will need to be planted out soon.
This is Tracie’s favourite picture of Phyllis’ garden. Everything is lush and growing well and it’s all proof Spring is definitely here.
This Easter holidays have flown by so fast. The Seedlings, Wanderers and Rangers have all been so busy in the garden and their efforts are paying off with an abundance of seedlings growing strong.
On the first shelf in our greenhouse we have Marigolds growing, we will be planting them between the tomatoes, Chillies and Cucumbers to help fight away the aphids, this is called companion planting. We do this instead of using pesticides which is better for the environment. The Wanderers are growing Pak Choi, radish, cauliflower and sweetpeas.
On the second shelf we have used toilet rolls as pots, filled them with peat-free compost and sown peas, swede, beetroot and spring onions.
The Little Seedlings helped Tracie to sow the Phlox seeds, Alfie tried so hard to pick a seed up from Tracie’s hand using his pincer grip, but the seeds were just too small. Tracie gave Alfie the packet to sprinkle over the toilet roll pots. I’m sure they will set seed soon and we will thin them out individually if over crowded.
The middle shelf has tomatoes and pansies growing well. We made sure they all have plenty of water and tomato feed to help produce strong stems.
The top shelf is bursting with Chillies, sweet peppers, chives and lavender. Jacy from the Rangers has the strongest tomato plant growing, the Bisto pot is still going strong!!
Last week, Georgia helped to sow the onion sets. This week she noticed they had grown, she asked if she could sow some more. Tracie asked Georgia to help prepare the soil for the seeds, Georgia got stuck in by raking the soil.
Jack came over and asked if he could help, Tracie gave Jack baby sweetcorn and carrots to sow. He then helped to cover the raised bed with mesh, this is because the birds keep attacking the onion sets and seeds.
Tracie has a lot of nooks and crannies where she grows in her garden and she has decided to use the back end of the garden (where she gets the most sun!) for her growing challenge.
We are three generations of gardeners starting a gardening challenge to see the difference in the ways we garden and grow!
Phyllis (Grandma)
Tracie (Mum)
Gemma (Daughter)
We will all have the same seeds and grow them in our own ways. We will give regular updates and are looking forward to sharing the results. Follow the Garden Challenge with our hashtag GardenChallenge2021!
This year the theme in our ever-changing garden will be a rainbow explosion of colours to represent our hard-working Key Workers. So far we have looked through gardening magazines to find various plants we could use. All the children have chosen their favourite colours and plants, which we will incorporate within the two gardens.
Our BIG project will be to extend our pond area for all our wildlife. Our main pond is in a raised bed but the wildlife need more space so we’re looking to extend it across the bed. The children have asked for a water feature so this might make an appearance.
Over the last couple of years we have had so much success with our raised beds, however we need to make these changes. We are always finding new and exciting ways to garden. We’ll also be putting up the new greenhouse and VegTrugs.
We will keep you posted on the projects, so keep returning to our website to find out how its all gone throughout the seasons.
Tracie's Treasures 