Growing pains

Well, its been some time since my last post and things in the veg patch are having their ups and downs. The original tomato seeds I planted back in March finally began to germinate, but I made the mistake of moving them into the cold back room for more light, when they obviously needed heat! They seem to be growing again now that its warmer, but I definitely lost some and the initial error of planting seeds into normal (rather than seed) compost doesn't seem to be giving them the best start in life when you compare them to the tomato Roma seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago (you can barely see the little seedlings from the initial sowing in the background behind the towering Roma seedlings...) :

Outside, things are looking a little rosier. I've been sowing additional salad seeds mixed in with some rocket into two wooden buckets, adding additional seeds every weekend for almost a month now. We had quite a bit of rain last week and they've simply sprung up - time to start harvesting soon.

The rest of the pots are sprouting, with the spinach and spring onion combo pot starting to look exciting as well. The herbs are having a mixed reaction to having been transplanted and left outside - poor old basil, which was doing very well on the windowsill inside, has not fared well in last weeks weather, but the marigolds are flourishing and really need potting on.


Altogether, the outside pots are looking quite good and I've only had to remove one snail so far! Later this month I'll sow the courgettes and asparagus peas inside, and next month the beans can go straight outside into their trough. I'm also leaning towards cheating with the toms - my fantastic local farmers market in Reading has a little man with an amazing range (at very reasonable prices) - actual, real, plants already, rather than puny seedlings (the benefits of a heated greenhouse? Or just greener fingers?!). Definitely worth investing in some varieties to ensure we get a crop as toms are one of our favourites and a staple in a range of dishes.

The discerning may also have noticed the irrigation system. Its a Hozelock Auto Aquapod 10 that we invested in before Easter when we realised we were going away for a week and hadn't thought about how to water the plants...... It seems to be doing quite well, although I may need to adjust the settings now that we're in a sunny spell again, as the plants don't seem to be getting quite enough water.

Spingy, oui?

Well, what a lovely weekend's weather! The sun has shone for two straight days and out of the wind it's downright hot. I worked up quite a sheen this morning preparing my latest container. This is a long, thin plastic number that will be the proud home for all my little spring onion and spinach crops. The container needed some drainage holes in its bottom, cue WH swearing vociferously at the hand drill we bought a few months ago as he tried to get a bit in....

Anyway, once the holes were drilled, I filled the bottom of the container with some free polystyrene blocks (from Homebase), then some multi-purpose compost with a handful of organic feed mixed in (NB all the compost referred to in this blog is peat-free). I then created three fairly deep drills, and sowed two with my respective spring onion seeds (shimonita and lilia) and the third with the spinach seed. I then covered it all with a layer of lovely vermiculite (a terror to apply when its windy!) and watered in.

The garlic is shooting up now and the salad crop I started off last week is already producing some tiny leaves. I added another sowing to the container and also shook in some rocket seed - can't remember where this came from, but it could have been free with my Thompson & Morgan seeds at the beginning of the year ...

The seeds I pricked out two weeks ago are looking strong and I'll probably fill some more pots next week with the last of the basil and parsley(?) seedlings. Sadly for the tomatoes, we're at 14 days and still no sign of germination. I've now resorted to giving them a hot water bottle (in lieu of a heat mat) which I'm changing morning and evening - perhaps not a constant supply of heat, but presumably better than nothing and fingers crossed that something starts to happen!

Just a quick one

Just a quick post to note my recent gardening activities. In the last two weeks I have:

• planted my tomato seeds. Legend, Gardeners Delight and Moneymaker have all been sown into single module seed trays. I sprinkled a couple of seeds per unit onto compost mixed with organic feed and then covered with a layer of vermiculite. There hasn't been any sign of germination yet, so I've moved the tray into our upstairs front room, to see if more heat from the radiator helps things along!
• potted up some of the very sturdy looking herb seedlings. I feel a bit more secure that I've got the knack for this now - I did some this afternoon, paying particular attention to some of the seeds that are really leggy, immersing them right down into the compost - apparently their stems will make additional root systems now that I've buried them
• sown my first mixed salad seeds. These went straight outside into a wooden container filled with compost mixed with organic feed and watered. I sowed a couple of drills (furrows) and will add more each week now until the seeds are finished so that we get continual crops (fingers crossed)

The garlic is growing well, with quite a few long shoots now breaking through the top soil. I wonder if this method of growing (straight out into the final container, no messing) might work best for me - its always been how my Dad has gardened.......!

Well watch this space for more news - I'm trying not to worry about those tomato seeds....