Help 4 Heros Event

There will be a Help 4 Heros family fun day taking place on Saturday 11th June 2011 at  Sandbach Boys School , Sandbach Cheshire UK. from 10 am until 4pm.
All our very welcome to attend adn The Back Garden Nursery will be there ....
So I do hope that you will be able to come along and join us for a hour or so and help us raise funds for a great course...There will be a childrens fair and lots of different stalls including ours...We might be getting a helicopter to fly in this year and there will be a few tanks and army vecihles there too...

So come along and have a fun day out ...
Many thanks to you all...Lady Sarah Thompson.

Home Grown Mushrooms

Just over 3 weeks ago I started off a box of mushrooms growing...
I haven't grown them before and it's so easy.

All you have to do is mix the compost with small warm water but not to make it too wet....Then you put the cover back on for 3-5 day then lift up the cover and leave for up to 3 weeks check every few days for if they need watering....you just use a small sprayer and just moisten the compost if it looks as if it has dried out...

Well yesterday after 3 weeks and 3 days I have 3 little button mushrooms and 1 very tiny one...so far..I had to spray them with water again tonight....So I may have a few more tomorrow...

I'm wondering now of what to make with them...I think it may be an omlete or I could get John to make my favorite dish "petit pots au fungi"....little pots of mushrooms....It's made with cream and bacon and lots of button mushrooms and gruyere cheese on top...best severed with a good chuck of french bread...

I'll have to wait a few days so I'll have enough mushrooms to make that....

I was very excited last night and was very surprised that they had actually grown....

I'm going to take a few photographs of the mushrooms now ...So here they are my very first mushrooms I'm looking forward to trying them later this week........Lady Sarah.

Getting Rid of Pests, Weeds and Diseases the Friendly Way.

Tuesday15th March.

I do not like to use and form of chemicals in my garden or vegetable boxes.

So I get rid of all my pests, weeds and diseases the organic way or by hand and with the help of friendly bugs...Like ladybirds and hoverflies....

I do all my weeding by hand or with a hoe to remove there tops when it's hot and sunny as the weeds will then wilt and then you can pick them up and get rid of them. I always have a hand fork to hand when out in the garden or working in the vegetable boxes as I always managed to find the odd weeds lurking under a lettuce leaf or growing to near other vegetable plants so it's best to remove the weed as soon as you spot it..
Remember not to put perrenial weeds in the compost bin as they will grow again when you spread out your fresh compost.
I will put a list of perrenial weeds up on the main page for you to look at...
You can compost annual weeds although I personally never put and weeds in the compost bin..I put them in a bag and take then away to the locol recyling centre and out them in there green waste skip...
You must also rememember that you can't get rid of every last weed it's imposible...I've tried for years...still not managed it even going out every day and looking for them...

So on the pests...aphids bugs etc...there are many thousands of bugs both bad and good....
so lets see what there is you will probably get one or more pests during the growing season of your vegetables.. Here is a few to look out for...whitefly, blackfly, red spider mite, cabbage white caterpillars, slugs and snails are just afew of the common ones. I will tell you how to sort out each one of the above on the comments pages...

You can grow lots of plants that will attract friendly bugs, such as lady birds and hoverflies who eat the bad ones...this is comes under companion planting....
Which I have explained before......Lady Sarah

My Homemade Compost Recipes

Making A Good Compost.
It is very easy and straight forward to make your own potting compost.
 I only use my potting compost on the nursery and in my garden....So what will you need...Firstly you can make this compost in small or large amounts.

 I will give you the recipe for a small ammount on here as it will be easy for you to make bigger quantities by doubling up the amount of each item for the amount of compost which you want to make.

INGREDENTS

1. 10 Litres of general Multi-purpose compost.
2. 1/2 Litre of Horticultural Sand
3. 1/2 Litre of Fine Horticultural Grit
4. 1 Litres of Perlite
5. 1 sachet of Water Retaing Gel ready mixed
6. A 10 litre pot and a 1 Litre pot a watering can with 2litres of water (warm)
7. Large Black Bucket.
8. Trowel for mixing.

METHOD

• Place the bucket somewhere flat and at a height where you can mix the compost well.
• Make up the Water retaining gel in a seperate bucket..
• Measeure out the Multi-purpose compost  put in the bucket.
• Measure out the Sand and Grit place in the bucket.
• Measure out the Perlite and place in the bucket.
• Mix all ingredients well with the trowel then add then water retaining gel and mix that in very well.

You can use this compost for potting up and re-potting your plants it's very good in hanging baskets too.
The compost is also good for growing your vegetable in but you will need to add some slow realease fertiliser to the mix for growing your vegetable in it...

For sowing seeds I just use the compost and perlite and sand mix these well together and use it to fill up your seed trays or pots and remember to water before you place the seeds in the pot....

I will post a few more compost recipes on here at a later date...Lady Sarah.

Why Grow Plants in Containers ?

Saturday 12th March.

I am often asked "Why grow plants in containers ?"

well my answer is quite simple it is a lot easier to most type of plants in containers especially if you have a small garden or find it difficult to get down to the ground....

Vegetables grow very well in containers, I use them for courgettes, lettuce, tomato's and potato's, carrots, Apple trees and mint and horse raddish and many other herbs ....

I use large 75 litre or 100 litre pots for my apple trees and 20-40 litre pots.

I find it much easier to grow all this plants in pots and I can have them where I want around the garden and nursery...I grow some of my fruit bushes in pots too...It's nice to walk around in the summer munching frehly picked fruit and vegetables .....

I also  mix my own potting compost for my pots and make sure I also put in water retaining granules to help out in the summer with watering as pots / containers do tend to dry out faster than the vegetable boxes. And the granules certainly do help with keeping some moisture in the soil...

I will give you a good recipe for compost on another page...

Hopefully as last year I will have a good crop of vegetables and fruits which I grew in pots....

All you have to remember is to water them in the morning and in the evening and check regularly for the fruit and vegetable that have ripened and pick them as soon as they are ready...

Lady Sarah.

How to Grow Vegetables and Plants The Easy Way.

Wednesday 9th March.

Good morning or evening all. On this page I will be trying to tell you about how to grow all different types of plants from summer bedding, vegetable, trees, fruit bushes and much more...

There are many different ways to grow plants one of the best ways is from seeds or cuttings which are each to do once you've had a few goes....

So lets start with something really easy...The Runner Bean... You will need 10 x 10cm plastic pots a smallbag of multi-purpose compost some water and perlite...

1. Fill the pots 3/4 full of compost 
2. Then water until moist and leave for 5 minutes.
3. Then place 2 beans 1 inch apart  about 2 inche deep in each pot.
4. Cover each pot with 1/2 inch of Pelrlite
5. Place on a warm shelf in the greenhouse or if you have space on a sunny (but not direct sunlight) window sill.
6. Check every 2-3 days for watering, keep them moist but not to wet..
7. The beans should greminate within 1 week.
8. You will need to pot them on after 1-2 weeks into 1 litre pots.
9. You can then after 3-4 weeks start to place then outside during the day but remember to bring themin at night..
10. Plant out after 4 weeks  plant them  6-8 inches apart and place a 6 foot cane in the middle of each pair.Water in well.
11. Tie them up as they grow, this will be quite quickly so keep an eye on them every couple of days.
12. Check that they do not dry out in warm / hot weather, best to water first thing in the morning of late evening..
13. Once to beans start to appear keep an eye on them, when they get to around 8-10inches long and look plump it's time to pick them..
14. Remember to pull up the plant after they have finished producing beans you can compost the bean stalks.
15. You could leave a few beans on the stalk to save for next year take them off just before removing the stalks from your vegetable patch and store in a  dry frost free place...

So I know it looks like a lot to do but it's very straight forward and very easy to do...

So I hope you manage to get some runner beans growing this year just folow my tips and see how you go...
Lady Sarah.

The Vegetable Plot 2011.

Monday 7th March.

On this page I will be keeping a brief dairy of what's going on in the vegetable beds and fruit beds too....

Up until now I haven't been abale to do much to the vegetable beds as it's been far to cold but now it's starting to warm up during the day I can get things going...

So I've already planted some potato's king edwards there easy to grow....
I sowed yesterday some peas,carrots and beetroot and a few calendula seeds to grow as a companion plant these will help to keep down the nasty bugs ,but attract the friendly ones which I want to come in to the garden...

I have several different types of lettuce growing in  the greenhouse,as well as some long red onions, courgette and pumpkins, I have also grown some pepper plants this year and later this week I will so my purple chilli seeds which I collected off a small plant I grew last year...they're quite firey....

I'm also growing a few different types of tomato, garten perle, gardener's delight and bourgese plum from Italy....There great to grow and at the end of the season if you pull up the whole plant and store them in a greenhouse you can havest them right up until christmas....
They are a very good all rounder they taste very sweet and make great ragu sauces.

So on to the fruit I have red curents, gooseberies and blackcurrents and rhubarb and my favorite fruit bush sloe berry...great for going in gin (sloe gin) recipe ( 1Lb sloe berries to 2 litres of gin + 1Lb caster sugar) in October place all these ingredients in a demijon leave in a light,but not direct sunlight, frost free place ) on the side in the kitchen is a good place) until end of November then strain and bottle just in time for Christmas...it;s best left for a couple of years in the bottles to mature...delicious
You can make loads of sloe gin year after year..I do...same it doesn't last to long as I do like it rather alot...A small glass just before dinner is quite nice...Lady Sarah.

The Back Garden Nursery Dairy 2011.

Monday 7th March.

I would of started this earlier...well I have on my other blog,but thought I'd have a blog just for the nursery instead....

So far I've been very busy sowing seeds for the vegetable plot and flower bed as I try to grow all my own vegetables  throughtout the year and have all my own cut flowers throughout the summer...

So today out on the nursery haas been busy for me, I've sowed a few more seeds and potted up 30 tiny aquiliegia plants that I found growing in a large pot, they are seeds from one of my well grown aquilegias the only things is I will not know what colour flowers they'll be possily not until next year as I don't think they will grow quick enough to flower this year  although I may just be wrong...I'll have to wait and see anyway I've called the "Townfields Mix" after a road near where the nursery is...I like finding plants like that...

I've re-taken some cuttings today that will be going inthe new greenhouse on Thursday when I get it built up...

I had to do quite a bit of watering too, I didn't quite early on as I had a feeling it would freeze tonight and it has...If you water to late the water droplets don't have time to soak into the root and soil then freeze on the plant and this can kill it, which is not what I wont to happen...As I do put rather alot of time in to growing all these plants...

Tomorrow I a taking a trip to one of my favorite nurseries in Cheshire called Bridgemere garden world it's about 15 miles away from where we live so we'll make a day of it....

John is very good at making me items for the nursery we built the greenhouses that are already up and he's busy making me a few coldframes at the moment Which I do need very soon, for getting the vegetable plants ready for growing out side....

I'm very lucky that I have had such a great time learning how to grow plants I have a vast range of knowledge of how to grow so mant different types of plants...

Anyway I will let you know how we get on tomorrow no doubt I'll come back with yet more plants to grow and propagte from..I usually do when I've been out to most garden centres and other nurseries...epecially if it's something new or if I haven't tried them before....

Lady Sarah.

Growing My Favorite Plant.

Monday 7th March.

My most favorite plant has to be the Hydrangea.

I have been growing these plants for almost 25 years now...I worked for 6 months at a hydrangea nursery and collect quite a few rare and unusual varities...I have quite a good collection of them now and I propagate from all of them during the spring and summer..

My farvorite varity is called "quadricolor" and is very rare I usualy only take around 4 cutting a year from the plant which I have I grow that  a large pot and repot it every 3-4 years as it is very slow growing and even now after 20 years the parent plant is only 3 ft tall with a 2ft spread, it only grow about 2 or 3 inches per year, it will grow taller in the ground, but if we have a hard frost I do like to be able to move it in to one of my greenhouses....

I have 2 greenhouses and a small polytunnel to propagate in...and a potting shed, I couldn't work with out that...tomorrow I'm am going to get another small green house just for growing cuttings in, as I've managed to out grow the other two...

I grow hollys and lots of herbaceous plants and I grow 35 diferent types of tree all from seeds some of which are microscopic some are quite large too...

I also like a challenge so I grow a few rare and unusual plants this year I have just germinated a dessert rose and a pumpkin tree which comes from Austrailia I also have a few tooth ache plants growing but I'm not sure where they orginate from probably Australian or African, as it says that if you rub the wierd flower on an aching tooth it relives the pain...I will have to try that next time I get tooth ache....

I also have several conifers which I grew from seed last year I have a 2 inch tall Picea abies growing in one greenhouse and I checked it today it's set up another layer of trunk and leaves so it might get to 3 or 4 inches by autumn this year I hope...

I find propagation a fasinating subject I could talk about it for hours but I wont tonight.....

I must remember to take some more photos tomorrow of the nursery to put on here I'm sure you'd like to see it...I really enjoy being out there with all the fresh air and plants and at long last some warm sunshine...

Lady Sarah.

Welcome to The Back Garden Nursery Blog.

This where I will tell you all about what is happening on my small private nursery that I have run for 5 years in Sandbach, Cheshire UK.
I grow 96% of all the plants that we have at the nusery, from either seeds, cuttings, division.

I  grow all my own vegetables and fruit thoughout the year. And I thought I'd like to keep a dairy of how things are going  on, on the small nursery that I run.

I am Lady Sarah Thompson I have been a keen gardener since I was 8 years old. I'm now almost 41 yrs. old.

I trained at Arley Hall Gardens in Cheshire and High Legh garden centre and ran a Hydrangea nusery and agrden centre in Marbury Park,Cheshire and  have a degree in Horticulture of which I'm extremly proud of.

I'm married to John Thompson and we have a beautiful son called Edward who is 2yrs and 3months old at the moment, we have a parsons terrier called Benji who is nuts he spends most days out with me on the nursery.

I grow a lot of rare and unusual plants as well as all types of vegetable and fruit..I am NOT a vegetarian  although I eat plenty of my home grown vegetables and fruit...

The nursery is run private, we open several times of year to the public and we attend lots of events throughout Cheshire during the year.

I am also helping out at the local allotment society as they have just aquired a new plot of land..and have quite a few novices who need help with what to do and grow on there new allotments..So that will keep me busy for most of this year.

We are hoping that in the next year or so that we will be opening up the nursery full time...but at the moment I want to keep it how it is and it does rather well...

Here are a few pictures of what I have grown.

Carex aurea

     Festuca glauca




     Thuja Golden Globe






These a just 3 of the many plants which I grow and propagate
each year.

Happy Gardening to you all. Lady Sarah.