Hey Guys,
Here is the second blog in our Planting Series. It is all about growing courgettes. Courgettes are really easy to grow.. two courgette plants will produce ample courgettes for most families. Courgettes are not frost hardy so they need to be planted out in June when the risk of frost has passed. I prefer to sow my Courgettes inside, I think it is safer.Sow seeds in small pots or seed trays using fine compost. Place each seed about1/2 inch deep in each pot. Gently water and leave indoors by a south facing windowsill. Keep the compost moist but dont over water while the seed is germinating.
Here is my first courgette plant raising its head! The excitment out of the girls was something else!
Potting On
After about 3 weeks the courgette plant will have used up all the compost nutrients. Repot it into a larger pot with fresh compost, this will give it more room to grow its roots.
Hardening Off
Plants that have been raised indoors will need to get used to outdoor tempetures before they can be planted outside in the raisaed bed. This can take about 10 days. When you know the frost has passed move the plants out for longer periods each day.
Planting out Courgette Seedlings
Courgette plants are not hardy. So pick a sheltered sunny spot which is protected from strong winds. Courgette plants take up huge amount of space. The leaves are huge and will shade out anything else growing nearby, take this into account when planting them into your raised bed. Planting distance between palnts is 1 metre apart. It looks like a huge gap, but they will soon fill the gap! Courgette plants need rich soil, I add horse manure each year to my rasied beds. Water around the plants heavily not on them.Watch out for slugs.
One of many courgette and carrot harvest we had last summer;
Harvesting
Pick the courgettes as soon as they get to the aquired size. The courgettes get very big very quickly. Better to harvest when small, they will taste better. It also encoursages more fruit to grow if picked smaller. To harvest cut the fruit at the base with a sharp knife taking care not to damage the plant. Continue to pick fruit to encourage the plant to produce. The courgette flowers can also be eaten and are a lovely garnish for salads.
Here is one of my courgette plants from last year;
I hope our planting series is inspiring you in some way to take to the garden! ;-)
Don't forget you can keep up to date with Countryside Mumsie on our social media accounts facebook and instagram.
Thanks for reading,
Orla & Kerri X
Hello,
Today I am sharing with you my first blog in 'My Planting Series'. I have decided to start with Butternut Squash. I love buying Butternut Squash in the supermarket and making risotto, soup and pasta sauce out of this vegetable. Butternut Squash is rich in Vitamin A. It is a creamy vegatable that little ones love to eat. This vegetable is an interesting and tasty addition to the standard vegetables and it offers many uses in cookery. Butternut Squash is easy to grow, needs no great expertise for success.
See below the full health benifits of the Butternut Squash;
One cup of Butternut squash, cooked, baked, drained with no added salt has 1.84 grams protein and 82 calories.
Butternut Squash are heavy feeding plants. they grow quickly and use large amounts of nutrients from the soil and alot of water. The ideal place to plant your Squash is an area fully open to sunshine with good shelter. The soil should be rich. Every year we get a truck load of horse manure from our neighbouring horse Stud Farm. This really enriches our raised beds, it is great for ensuring good home grown veggies!
You should sow your your Butternut Squash seeds in late April or early May. I had mine inside by a large window that gets alot of sun. If you have a greenhouse even better. These plants cannot tolerate frost. Sow each seed, on its edge, in a good sized pot to avoid potting on. Be careful not to over water, as this can cause the seed to rot. Allow the compost to dry abit before watering, but do not delay watering at the same time.
Planting out your Butternut Squash
Harden off the seedlings towards the end of May or early June and plant outside after a few warm days. The planting site should be well prepared with compost and manure. Set the plant on a slight mound, about 25 centimetres from the plant to allow the watering layer. If the plant is a bit floppy, a light cane can be used to secure it against wind damage.
Aftercare
Allow the plant to settle and do not water until it has hardened and settled fully. Watch out for slug and snails! When the plant begins to grow, it will grow very fast. The Butternut Sqash plant takes up alot of space. Butternut Squash seeds can send out vines up to 15 feet long!! If cultivated and maintained properly each seed could potentially yield 10-20 squashes. Allow the squashes to continue to ripen into October, then they will begin to colour and our ready to be picked.
Enjoy planting amd growing. I love this time of the year, getting all the seeds growing and the great hope for lots of home grown vegetables at the other side. My children love to help maintain the plants by watering everyday. They love nothing more than the excitment of spotting the vegetables arriving!
Don't forget you can keep up to date with Countryside Mumsie on our social media accounts facebook and instagram.
Thanks for reading,
In December I joined my local villages women's run club. I had been told about the club and been invited numerous times over the last six months but I had found an excuse each night not to get into the car and go.
Since my second child was born I just couldn't find the time to return to running. I had been attending strength and conditioning classes directly after work two days a week but the numbers dwindled for the classes and then disappointingly the classes ceased.
Before having children I had gone for a run at least 3 times a week and played other sports on top of that each week like tennis or tag rugby. With two children, finding the time to keep fit is hard, there is always batch cooking, ironing and the laundry basket to be attacked! Another reason I wasn't joining the run club was lack of self esteem, even though I used to be a runner, since having my babies I felt as if I had lost some of my fitness confidence, what if I couldn't keep up!?
So I convinced two of my neighbours who also have young babies to start, we all gave it a shot. We completed a 4k the first Monday night, I felt great. We came back on the Wednesday and did just over the 5k and I really enjoyed it. The ladies are all really nice, we chat and run, its all very easy and I wonder what was I ever worried about.
The bad weather and dark nights were a killer in December and they are the same in January but once you are out there running you don't even notice, honestly!! Most of the ladies have young children so the 8.00pm start time suits families and bedtime.
Look for your local run club, I would highly recommend joining. It is a great way of getting fit for free, making friends in the community and it's nice to see mums motivating mums.
Definitely a new years resolution I plan on keeping!!
Don't forget you can keep up to date with Countryside Mumsie on our social media accounts facebook and instagram.
Are you in a run club? How do other mums keep fit? I'd love to hear Xx
Thanks for reading
Orla & Kerri Xx
