After an incredibly wet start to the day, with most exhibitors (us included!) getting soaked through while getting our stand set up and after a slow start the event was really well attended.
Gardenshare Stirling spoke to lots of people who either had a garden to share or were looking to get the use of someone else’s garden so hopefully more matches will be made soon.
As well as having a community tent with exhibitors such as Forth Environmental Link, RSPB and the Stirling Council Edible Borders Project there was another marquee which housed lots of stands with examples of local produce such as cheese, meats, fish and cupcakes!!
Entertainment was provided by a Highland dancers and a Highland Pipe Band and a good day was had by all.

To see it go to www.gardensharestirling.co.uk

At the moment its just a page but we hope to add more soon. If you have any great garden photos just forward them to me and I’ll post them up.

I harvested the last of our garlic and hung it in the shed to dry and also got to pick enough carrots and parsnips for Sunday lunch.

Our tomatoes seem to have recovered slightly since my last post, not really sure why, but I was able to pick enough of them to make a big batch of roasted tomato pasata which is all now in my freezer.

We bought some winter vegetable plants and I have them all planted in big pots at the moment, just until we get the soil ready.

Lots more to do though!

After a few weeks of cutting off the yellowing branches and removing any unhealthy looking fruits, we decided that we needed to seriously look into what was causing this as our current course of action wasn’t making any difference.

So, after scouring the internet, I have established that it is blossom end rot, a physiological condition (not caused by bugs or diseases) which can be caused by a lack of calcium in the soil or overwatering – which causes the calcium which was in the soil to leach out. I think, after discussing it with my husband, that it’s probably a combination of both things – we bought cheap grow bags from Lidl and also we do tend to water lots and often!

Not sure if it is too late to save this years crop, but we’ve learnt valuable lessons for next year.

First we visited a suburban permaculture garden where we learnt about sustainable land use design while eating lavender shortbread before moving on to see a garden growing lots of medicinal herbs and learnt about their uses. At this garden stop we drank homemade lemonbalm-ade and ate raspberry and white chocolate muffins and scones with homemade plum jam.

After it was a cycle up to the top of Stirlingto see our garden as one of the gardenshare gardens. Andy and I used this opportunity to quiz the more experienced gardeners and gain answers to some of our gardening questions.

The final stop was at a Wallace street tenement where we met Emily and the communal chickens that lived in the garden there.

 A good day out was had by all!

This week we’ve (when I say we, I mean my husband) been having a tidy up in the garden to get it looking spick and span for the Spokes ‘n Spades cycle trail at the weekend which is taking in a handful of Stirling’s gardens (for more info go to http://www.cyclestirling.org.uk/events/spokes-and-spades).

 Other jobs in the garden this week are:

• Earthing up maincrop potatoes to keep light from the newly developing tubers;
• Cutting and drying herbs while they are at their best;
• Weeding round our brassicas and other plants- this seems like an endless task!;
• Checking if our tomato plant has produced 4 or 5 trusses (bunches) of fruit and if it has, need to pinch out the main growing point to stop the plant growing and encourage fruit ripening;
• Harvesting vegetables as soon as they are ready. This makes the vegetables taste better and we can plant another crop in its place, getting more out of the land.

 What are you up to in your garden this week?

 We joined the Gardenshare Stirling scheme last September as we were looking for a garden. We were promptly matched and, in partnership with the garden owner, have set about clearing, digging and planting the garden. We are just beginning to harvest some salad leaves, cucumbers and strawberries with other things ripening fast in this lovely weather.

As we are new to gardening its been a steep learning curve, with lots of mistakes and lessons learnt along the way – with still lots more to learn!

This week our gardening jobs are as follows:

• Tying up the tomatoes which are beginning to break free of their restraints to ensure they are properly supported;
• Thinning the carrots, parsnips, beetroot and turnip seedlings, I’ve read that the best way to do this is to water the seedlings well the day before to make it easier to pull the seedlings from the ground, select the seedling you want to keep and put a finger and thumb either side of it to protect it, while pulling out the seedlings you don’t want to keep. It’s beneficial to water the seedlings straight after thinning as this should help prevent carrot root fly being attracted to them;
• Weeding round the brassicas to ensure they are not competing with weeds;
• Spraying the potatoes with Bordeaux solution which is supposed to protect from blight;
• Watering everything in the greenhouse regularly to encourage fruit growth and to stop tomatoes splitting.

 What are you up to in your garden this week?