It's been a while since I last posted but the garden is stirring with life. Spring has sprung, as they say. The days are getting warmer and longer, the daffodils are showing off, the birds are more rambunctious, and lucky for me: seeds are germinating.
The lack of blog entries is mainly because all I have been doing is potting seeds and this doesn't look particularly glamorous in photos until the seeds start growing. Its just pots with compost in them. Thankfully there is lots to show now as the boring brown pots have seedlings in them.
I have had huge success with my peas (Snow and Irish Pea). They're magnificently green and I love coming into the polytunnel to see them as they seem to grow whenever I look away.
Around the same time I planted the peas I also had sown tomatoes and beans. The 3 varieties of tomatoes (Broad Ripple, Polen, Gardener's Delight) are doing great too as I have them growing inside the house so they are cosy and well tended.
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| Peas please! |
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| Tomatoes are coming on well. Nearly ready to put in to their own pots? |
Unfortunately some sad news: the beans aren't doing so well. The broad beans I collected from last years crop were a little damaged by mildew and the french and dwarf aren't very successful either. It was only in the last few days that a few of each type have germinated. I suspect this may be because of two possible factors: either the temperature in the polytunnel wasn't warm enough for them until recently or because the beans were damaged due to imperfect storing conditions.
I have bought new beans from Tamar organics which I hope will be arriving soon. I can't remember the name of the variety right now but I'll say when I get them. I also did a bit more internet shopping for flowers. They aren't organic but they are cheap and pretty. I bought Cornflowers, Lupins, Cosmos, Corn Marigold, and normal Marigolds.
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| Lettuce see you germinate |
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| The gooseberry bush. I put some sheeting over the soil because it seemed like a good idea. |
Other seeds I have planted include beetroot (still can't see any seedlings yet though), chard, giant spinach, lettuces including little gem, and a couple of Irish Seedsaver types, sweet pea (also no sign yet), basil and mint (both of which are inside) and early purple sprouting broccoli.
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| The legume support structure |
I also managed to nab a raspberry, loganberry and gooseberry bush from Aldi last weekend which I am very, very happy about. I really hope they produce fruit this year as berries are so delicious.
As my peas are growing so quickly I erected a frame made of hazel poles in the bed I plan to put the peas in. The frame is really tall so this might change to the bean bed (if any grow!) and the peas might have to be planted somewhere else.
More news sooner next time, I promise. I wanted to put more pictures of my germinating seeds and of the springtime and the lovely daffodils in this blog entry but the internet is so slow here that I had to limit myself to five pictures.
