Free daff bulbs

This weekend saw the end of our give away of a bag of free daffodil bulbs to our garden reward card holders.
This has been very successful and measuring the volume of bulbs we have given away this part of the south coast should look great next spring. Give away rewards are great for us , we love doing them, but we need more applicants for our reward card, so why not sign up. its free and we just love giving you things.

Sunny weekend

At long last we have had a sunny weekend.
Gardeners have been out in force this weekend and what is encouraging are the number of first time gardeners who want to grow fruit and veg.
We had families coming in who were encouraging their children to try and sow and grow, this is great news as the skills of gardening need to be transferred. It was a pleasure to help advise and encourage these people. Long may this last.

Out comes the sun

Yippee out comes the sun and fortunately out come the customers and gardeners. This is what we have been waiting for. We are having better weather now than we did in August. Even the plants look brighter when the sun shines. At least there is still time to enjoy the garden, rip out that tired old bedding and put in some of the really colourful primroses and polyanthus. Pansies and violas now come in so many colours you can match them to suit any pot or garden position.

GLEE exhibiton

This week the team has been to Glee (Garden, Leisure and Pet industry show) to see whats new and fresh for 2009. The general theme at the show which many of the trade stands were picking up on was ' Grow your Own'. A massive push in the retail trade towards growing your our fruit and vegetables in your own garden on on the patio. There was a distinct feel of the 70's self sufficiency about it but this time with a more than subtle hint of fashion about it.
We identified quite a few unusual and very useful ideas and gizmos so look out for these in our shop in the New Year. One thing that was very prevalent was a significant price increase on the horizon on many of the products we currently take for granted. Fertilisers, compost and wooden furniture look as if they will be increasing significantly in 2009.

Garlic

We currently have Garlic bulbs in stock ready for planting. This year for the first time we can offer the Isle of Wight Garlic ' Solent Wight'. This form has a strong flavour but I can vouch for its storage ability. Of all the garlic that I have grown this one stores by far the best. We also have other varieties available such as Germidour for a mild flavour and Marco for another strong flavoured form

Update from Chris Packham

Ive been working hard to come up with the most appropriate nick name for my pumpkin . The contenders have included ; Titan , Pumpzilla , Bertha ( after the big gun ) , El Massivo and Big Boy . However , weve settled on . . . JUPITER on account of its planetary proportions ! My confidence is swelling in tune with its own girth . Parking has become a bit of a problem and there have been more complaints from the CAA as they claim it is becoming a danger to low flying aircraft .People in Marchwood are saying that it seems to be getting darker earlier than normal as the sun is eclipsed by 'an unatural object in the west' . Its becoming a thing of great beauty , and I shall be marketing postcards soon ' .

Disaster happens

The wet weather we have been experiencing has done its worst and we have lost one of our giant pumpkins. We do not appear to be alone. The Paton boys have lost 4 of their 6 giants.
Our remaining giant is not looking too good either, there is signs of rotting at one end. We need sunshine, urgently.