First greenhouse cucumber, my dad would be so proud

Today, 20 July 2016 is an auspicious day. I cut my very first cucumber from the greenhouse. I was very late sowing them (end of February) so I imagine people who have been cutting cucumbers for weeks now are thinking "what's the big deal?!"

In fact, the first cucumber from my dad's greenhouse was cut on 22 May so I'm almost exactly two months behind him. Anyway, I'm exceedingly proud of it, my very first indoor cucumber! The variety is Socrates F1 (in case anyone was interested!)

There are lots more on the way further up the plant, tons of tiny ones just developing which I'm super excited to see.

I put it to good use in some cheese and salad cream sandwiches for lunch.

I have only managed to grow outdoor varieties in the past. The last time I had a greenhouse was when we lived in Saxilby in the 1980s; every year I tried to grow cucumbers in it, something killed the plants before they even flowered ... much to the amusement of my dad, whose cucumbers won prizes at the local gardeners' show every year.

I just wish dad was still with us to see my success this year, I like to think wherever he is now, he's smiling and saying "well, it's about time!"

I miss you every day, dad.

Another building weekend

The greenhouse is really coming along! Here's MTM adding the finishing touches to the frame.

We got the glazing, vents and door finished in the early part of the week. MTM went back to work on Wednesday, I continued with some bubblewrap insulation and fitted some shelving and staging (photos of the interior to follow soon).

More materials were delivered on Friday for a weekend of building work.

We've been paving inside the greenhouse yesterday and will hopefully finish today. I couldn't resist taking this picture when I saw the conjunction of the sticker and a particularly wonderful builder's bum! (Click the pic to see a larger version so you can read the sticker ....)

Two totally unrelated matters

First, this is a picture of my latest crochet WIP, a tablecloth for my patio table. I'm using Frank O'Randle's Rings of Change pattern which is on Ravelry. Every row is different on it so it's quite a challenge. I'm using two strands of Scheepjesw Maxi crochet cotton and I'm really enjoying making it.

I've adapted it slightly. I needed a hole in the middle for the parasol to go through so I omitted some earlier rounds and started later on with a twenty chain hole. I've also missed out some rounds later on where there were 3-D dragon scales going on because a tablecloth really needs to lie totally flat. The scales would've been right in the red wine glass region. The thought of spilling wine that I could so easily drink is slightly shocking, so I've repeated some of the earlier flat rounds and then gone back to the pattern for the later rounds. It's a little ruffled around the edges as you can see in the second pic but I will be stretch blocking it so it'll lie flat when it's finished.

I don't think it's going to be completed before colder weather arrives with a vengeance but you never know. At least I'll be ready for next year and maybe with some matching cushions!

Another thing that is late and the totally unrelated matter mentioned in the title to this bloggage is that my greenhouse is finally arriving next Wednesday. We didn't realise when we ordered it that it was on a four week delivery .... we have ordered three greenhouses in the past and none of them took this long. It's a bog standard size and finish so I would've thought a stock item but unfortunately not. I have been impatiently ticking off the days and putting all my tender cuttings in the house at night.  MTM is taking some time off to help me put it up - another reason to hope this fine weather lasts!

Garden progresses ... really close to getting that greenhouse!

It finally feels like I'm doing some real gardening instead of just working on the structure of the garden. Vegetable seedlings have been popping up but I noticed they were getting pulled out by the birds (pigeons I think) and so I've had to put some makeshift netting over them and the second lot of seeds are doing much better without the birds over-thinning!

However, there's still a little way to go before the greenhouse can be put up. Last weekend I was sealing two garden walls and then painting them with masonry paint. The colour was supposed to be sea green but looks more turquoise; it's much bluer than I imagined from the shade card but I've decided it can stay as it looks so nice with the brown of the sleepers.

MTM has put up some trellis against the wall. The wall actually goes all the way up to the top of the trellis but I decided not to paint it all, too much ladder work! The top will be covered with climbers I'm going to put in the raised bit under the trellis. 

Once the greenhouse is put up, the raised bed won't have much space around it for maintenance so I shall have an incentive to keep trim! The soil was some that got displaced when MTM built the base and has since got contaminated with chunks of limestone and rubble in it which needs to be picked out (job for me!) Bloody builders! ;-) Luckily the soil is quite good, not too clayey or too sandy. Dig in some compost and it'll be good to go. 

The scabby fence at the top is going to be replaced. Although the retaining wall is really quite high on the garden side, it's only three or four feet tall where it fronts the road and sometimes people peer over which I find disconcerting (and they're usually embarrassed when I spot them!) So that's going to be replaced with something taller. We did discuss putting the greenhouse up before the fence but you just know that a hammer or nail gun will get dropped onto it if we do it that way round so there's still a little time to wait! 

As long as it's up before the first frosts so I can overwinter cuttings, I shall be a happy little gardener! 

Last weekend and next weekend

This tidy pile of materials arrived on our driveway on Friday morning.

We live on a bit of a thoroughfare through the village so they couldn't stay there, worried they might go walkies so the weekend's priority was getting them shifted round the back. I'm still on my "nothing too strenuous" orders so Geoff did most of it on his own but those big 9x3 "sleepers" were a bit too bulky for him on his own. Slow and steady it wasn't too tiring for me to grab one end and MTM on the other, we got them round without any retinal incidence.

Those will be used to form two more terraces for growing vegetables underneath the block retaining wall which is where the greenhouse is going. After the terraces are formed .... that's the bank holiday weekend's job ... there will be a delivery of topsoil directly onto the greenhouse base, over the top like the limestone last Autumn, that can then be shovelled into the new beds and then .... then .... we can put up the greenhouse. 

So, after a bit of a lay off over winter to allow finances to recover and the weather to improve, we're back to work on renovating the house and garden. Hoping for good bank holiday weather!