Friday 6 April 2018

Sowing and Growing

Sunshine yesterday meant I had enthusiasm for working in the conservatory and greenhouse  so I've potted on 21 tomato seedlings, I don't know why, as I only have room for 7 or 8 in the greenhouse! Old habits die hard and I find it difficult to abandon seedlings that have grown. I'm sure some will be put in pots outside,  against the garage wall might be warm enough for some late tomatoes.

3 Cucumber seeds germinated, I'll squeeze them into the greenhouse somehow. Just 3 Aubergine seedlings appeared and 6 Pepper seedlings, all are still tiny.

















 Then it was time for a bit more sowing so into the propagator went  Basil, Parsley and a few more Aubergines from a new packet. Plus Courgette and Climbing French Beans and Nasturtium in the greenhouse.
 The mass of green seedlings in modules are a wild flower mix that Col bought. He has got them going nicely and will then plant the whole clump from each module out onto the meadow. Persuading wild flowers to grow from seed can sometimes be difficult but these are looking good. We'll see what happens when they go out. Also in the picture are some Sunflower seeds which have their two seed leaves and Sweet Pea seeds ......doing nothing as yet. Lettuce seeds are being difficult this year so I picked up a tray of small plants from QD last time I was in Stowmarket.

 We've had one bed covered with black plastic most of the winter and the soil underneath was dry and warm so the first sowing of beetroot is in the ground and now re-covered with a plastic cloche for a few days.

Next door-but-one neighbours brought round an old box pallet to cut up for our wood-burner but Col decided to save the bottom half, line it out and use it for a raised bed........somewhere?


Also growing are the flowers on the cherry-plum in the corner of the garden which were showing up well against yesterday's blue sky.

So good to see sunshine and blue sky even if it is just for one day at a time.

20 comments:

  1. That pallet is the perfect size and shape for a raised bed. What will you grow in it, I wonder?
    Gorgeous photos, thanks.
    J x

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  2. It's so cheering to see lots of seedlings getting going, isn't it? Our lettuce seedlings, in particular, aren't yet showing any signs of life so we too bought a few veg plug plants the other day, just to start us off.

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  3. The pallet looks a good size. The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days and I need to get on with sowing some seeds this week. X

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  4. What I love about your posts is that they show your battling spirits, although I’m sure you have down times too, because of everything that's been thrown at you.
    It's especially good that Col is now able to think of raised beds etc. I hope this means his energy levels are improving.
    I agree with the comments about you calling yourself lazy.
    I cannot imagine a pair less deserving of that title. You are a great example of a hard working pair who get on with what you need to do without grumbling about it. I am often motivated to get off my bottom having read one of your posts. Thanks. Sue

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  5. Ah Sue, the title of your post are three of my fave words. I've just started getting a few things going and the weather made me get outside, too. Very exciting. That pallet is far too good for kindling so good on Col for deciding to put it to good use!

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  6. It's so lovely to see those green shoots appearing through the soil. I can't believe my luck 3 courgette seds have struck. They are normally my Achilles heel!

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  7. We had a day outside, i was dealing with my seedlings, it feels soooooooo good to be outside growing things again, lets hope that's it for winter now.

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  8. Lovely!
    Especially nice are the wild flower seedlings - hope they do well.

    I always find these jobs need the right combination of enthusiasm and energy - one is no good without the other!

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  9. Raised bed for that lovely pallet please. You could use it for all the leftover seedlings and have an allsorts bed. Have a nice weekend-the sun took his hat off again here and ran away-boo.

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  10. Oh yes, that will make a great raised bed! I hope the wildflowers do well. -Jenn

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  11. Nice to see Colin's wildflower seeds doing so well. I hope they continue to do so when planted outside. And I hope you get some consecutive days of sunshine in the coming weeks. It has been a long, dull winter, even over the Pond.

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  12. Lovely to see things growing again, fantastic idea with the pallet.

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  13. Your blossom looks lovely...can't wait to have some out in the garden...a sight to gladden the heart for sure. Really blustery here today...washing billowing on the line, but looking like rain threatening at any moment! (Sigh) x

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  14. I, also, can’t bear throwing away the extra seedlings so I pot them all and give them away. I have planted 36, and will only use eight or ten which are still too many.

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  15. Cherry blossom! I wish. Your green fingers and Cols are enviable.x

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  16. The cherry blossom is beautiful and so lovely to see the seedlings popping through. I always do too many tomatoes but due to a variety of reasons not sown any this year yet.

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  17. Spring is so near, yet it feels so far! Just found a photo of March 2017 of the garden full of blooms!

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  18. I'm so jealous of your Spring photos! Everything here is still so dull (with only a peek or two of beginning flowers). How exciting to be able to plant all those goodies this year. You'll have a lovely bounty come harvest time. There is absolutely nothing like fresh veggies from the garden.

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  19. Danny has been planting seeds with one of his clients, winter veg here though :)

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  20. Good job on germinating your own seeds! We have a tomato and green pepper growing edibles in our kitchen under a grow light. Rather fun! Have a super duper weekend! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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