Lets get sowing

There is nothing better to lift your spirits on a dull gloomy day than to sow some seeds in the greenhouse. Although it is still too early to sow most crops there is still lots that could be sown especially if you have the protection of a greenhouse even if it is not heated.

I have not heated my greenhouse for years now and have not had any problems to date yes I have to sow a bit later for some crops. But that dose not matter as the crops always catch up eventually but I have noticed that the harder you grow the plants the better they perform when you plant them out. But at this time of the year there are some crops that once I have sown them I bring them indoors and place them on the window sill to get a bit of heat. Tomatoes, chillies and aubergines all need an early start and a bit of heat to get them off to a good start so they are all put on the window ledge. but brassicas, lettuce, peas are quite happy being sown on the unheated greenhouse if it is going to get really cold I just through a bit of fleece over them for a bit of extra protection. I also start off a few pots of salad leaves, radish and first early potatoes in the greenhouse so we get some early crops before we start cropping outside. It is forecast to rain again tomorrow but hopefully the weather man will get it wrong again and we have a nice dry day so I can do a bit more outside.

Rain rain go away

Well I was completely and utterly rained off today although it was forecast I was hoping the weather man would get it wrong. But it did give me a chance to sort through my seed box and pull out the seeds that need to be sown this month it also reminded me that I still had not cleaned out the greenhouse. It is still stuffed full of pots, seed trays and half rotting pumpkins that I forgot about from last year.

At least it was dry in the greenhouse I put the barrow by the door and chucked everything in it while trying to keep dry. once cleared I gave everything a brush down and even managed to sieve a bag of compost ready for sowing in the morning. Well lets hope the weather is slightly better in the morning than it was today.



Start of the growing year

It's February and there is so much to do in the garden it has been so mild this winter the garden has hardly stopped growing all winter. It is really the start of the growing year as it is the first time I have been able to get in the garden for a wile apart from to feed the chickens and do some gardening. So there has been lots of stuff to do I have never had to mow the grass in January before it was nearly 6" tall in places as it has not stopped growing but the grass is very green for the time of the year.

The compost heaps have become so full over the winter with all the leaves, animal bedding and kitchen waste as well as all the paper and cardboard. So they where desperate for a turn but as I was emptying them out there was lots of dry patches in the middle where the rain has not got all the way into the heap. I decided to leave the contents out on the bed next to the heap so it could get a good soaking from the rain before I put it all back in to the bin this weekend. I will them repeat the same for the other two bins the other problem I have created is all my bins are full when I built the bins the idea was that as one gets full it gets turned into the next one. With the last bin being full of finished compost ready to go on the garden so I will have lots ready all at once. With no where to put all the new waste that needs composting I may need to get a few more pallets and build a fourth compost bin.

 One crop that is doing well that I have not grown for a few years is sprouting broccoli it has been growing well and has only just been discovered by the pigeon's. I have put a net over them now so they can not get to them they will have to eat the neighbours instead. This weekend I will be cleaning out the greenhouse so I can start off a few early crops some brassicas, lettuce etc. I am also going to sow some early carrots in the cold frame I did this last year and they did really well so worth doing again.

Greenhouse is beginning to get full

It is at this time of year it dose not mater how much greenhouse space you have you never seem to have enough room for everything. Especially now that the weather has turned cold again can not even put stuff outside for fear of it getting wind burn during the day.

As we pot all the plants up into bigger pots we get to bursting point where there is just no more room. I can not even sow another seed so weather please hurry up and get a bit wormer so we can get planting outside.

Days out - Eden Project

I have wanted to visit Eden for many since it was built but have never got down to that part of the country until now. Cornwall is a long was to go for us it took nearly 6 hours to get down there but was well worth the drive I should point out that we went for the weekend and not a day trip. As we pulled into the entrance the sun was shining although the wind was a bit chilly. Parked the car jumped on the bendy bus that takes you to the entrance there is still a bit of a walk from where you are dropped off but it is all under cover. I managed to pick up a discount voucher from the holiday park where we stayed giving us 15% off the entrance price bonus. There is a viewing platform as you enter the garden that gives you a full view of the Biomes they are very impressive and sit well in there surroundings following the shape of the surrounding land. Knowing that it was only gong to get hotter during the day we headed straight to the tropical biome. It is like stepping into another country as you enter the biome it's only when you get the occasional clips of the roof that you remember that you are in a great big greenhouse.



It's also bigger than you think inside we where walking around for nearly an hour there are lots of really great plants to look at. Every thing from Bananas to coffee trees as it was Easter there was lots of chocolate displays to keep the children happy. Coco trees and some very helpful staff on hand to answer all your chocolate related questions the only person who was missing was Willy Wonker him self. after a trip round the tropics we decided to go on to the Mediterranean lucky it was only next door and no plane ride needed. I will say that as soon as you walk into the Mediterranean biome you are hit with the lovely small of the cooking coming from the restaurant inside the biome. It's a shame we had just had lunch as the food looked great it was just like being in the Mediterranean. 

There was a great collection of citrus giving off some wonderful scent in the middle of the biome this is where we sat for a while. Listening to the story teller telling the tale of a button and the kings Tylor which the girls enjoyed listening too. There was so much around the garden for children to do especially in the stage area there was a egg hunt, egg shy, hook an egg etc. as well as face painting so we ended up taking home a tiger as well. It was an all round excellent day out for the family that I would recommend to anyone who is visiting that part of the country.

 

for full detail visit there website :- www.edenproject.com