Busy Bee!

I managed to get a lot done yesterday, but by 'eck am I paying for it today. Decorating, building furniture, housework and gardening all squeezed into a few days is not recommended and I very much doubt I'll be doing it again. I don't even think my legs would allow it!

My greenhouse still isn't here. I'm hoping it'll come today, that way if it's nice (I know it won't be) over the weekend, or even some dry spells, we can get out the back and start turning the ground over. I received some advice from a gardening forum a few weeks ago, but I didn't take it on board and I really should have. It would have made turning the soil so much easier. Ah well, we all learn by our mistakes eh?!

Called into Mums yesterday afternoon for a quick coffee and some update pics on what I'm storing in her greenhouse. I shall leave you all with these:

Things are still moving

Here is a small list of things that are moving into my Mums greenhouse - and the things you might not hear me witter on about for a while:

Tomato
Radish
Spinach
Onion
Spring Onion
Pea
Runner Bean

I think thats about all for now. Although I'm thinking the cauliflower and broccolli might have to move too.... Thats if they'll fit!

Pea, Spinach & Tomatoes

I collected about 40 flower pots today, some guy offered them on Freecycle and I managed to snap them up. And because I now have a plentiful supply of pots I've re-potted the Peas, Spinach and Tomatoes and they are now sitting quite happily on my kitchen windowsill.

Pea

8 days old

Spinach

8 days old

Tomatoes

14 days old

Mum has taken 2 pots of tomatoes, leaving me with about 10 pots overall and my sister has taken 2 sunflowers.... I just need to find homes for the other 8+ now....


Jessica's Flower Mix

7 days old

These seem to be doing really well, considering I keep forgetting to water them. Still not too sure what the flowers are and I think Jessica is going to be quite miffed if they're not all pink. Eek!

Anyway, potted up some free seeds today. Pretty Primula's. Never grown flowers from seed before, so this will be quite interesting.

Should hopefully get round to ordering my greenhouse tomorrow. Oooh it's so exciting!

Cut update: Skin still flappy, not bleeding. Very swollen and sore. Not sure if butterfly stitches are in order.... Or a trip to A&E for a bit of glue! :(

I have new babies!

I've spent pretty much the whole weekend either in the greenhouse, re-potting, watching, waiting and daydreaming or sitting infront of the laptop reading, updating and learning.

The seedlings are really starting to take shape now....

Turnip

5 days old

Tomatoes

12 days old

I'm gonna have to re-pot these soon!

Sunflowers

12 days old

Newly aquired Strawberries!

Age: Approx 1 year

Really not sure what I should be doing with these at this time of the year. Should really get round to reading up on them. Mum said she didn't get much fruit off them last year. So she's given me a whole pot to see how we both compare this year.... This is an ultimate test for me! Haha

Spinach

6 days old

These have only been like this since putting in the greenhouse yesterday. As when I fetched them outside from the comfort of my windowsill, it just looked like a paper pot full of compost with a lolly stick label.

Rocket Salad

7 days old

Re-potted and looking very healthy, quite proud of the herbs.

Radish

6 days old

The label says 10 seeds. This is overall. There are only two seedlings in this pop bottle. Self watering too, thought I'd throw my crafty side into gardening.... Saves me more pennies too!

It would appear that the carrots are LOVING it in the greenhouse! Just a shame the frame isn't gonna hold. We had some pretty gusty winds this morning and a few more joints have cracked :(

Carrots

7 days old

Broccoli

CabbageWhilst browsing lastnight I stumbled across another Swap Seed site and thought I'd give it a go and I already have my first swap going! I'm trading my Basil (Dark Opal) for some Cornflower Blue Balls. Not too hopeful about growing flowers from seeds, but I was talking to hubby lastnight about our front garden and we have decided to work with a blue/purple/white theme and we think (or should I say, I think) that these will work with our theme.


Thats about it for today. Looking forward to a lovely Sunday Roast tomorrow, so might not grab a minute to update. This should keep you going for a few days :)

New additions

Today I have become the proud owner of two beautiful pumpkin plants. Lovingly grown by Lucy, via the fantastic Swap Seeds Yahoo! Group.

And here they are, sunning themselves in my greenhouse:


I'm not sure if you can tell in this pic or not, but last night I spent a few hours re-potting. Everything seems to have gone a little mad. Naturally green fingered I wonder? Obviously don't get it from my Mother as she usually kills everything!
In the pic above it show Tomatoes, Rocket Salad, Leaf Mix, Pumpkin, Jessica's flower mix, a few waify Sunflowers and Mustard Greens. I've managed to do paper pots of Rocket Salad, Leaf Mix and Mustard Greens for both my Mum and hubbys and I'm sure as and when the other herbs are ready for splitting and re-potting there will be plenty more to go around.

Also had to re-pot the Sunflowers and by 'eck are they doing well now that they're got their own little grow beds....
I thought at one point I was going to lose a few, but looks like they're really enjoying the sun and warmth in the greenhouse today and have started sprouting massive second leaves.

It's all going on in my pots!

Okay, a few more pics:

Radish

2 days old

Turnip

2 days old

You can't really make much out in this pic. But it's there, up by the label stick.... Just starting to poke through!

Sunflowers

9 days old

Looks like I might be re-potting these shortly. They've gone a little mad!

Basil

4 days old

Cabbage (left) and Cauliflower (right)

4 days old

Tomato

9 days old

Wow, not doing so bad now are they?

Mustard Greens (left) and Leaf Mix (right)

4 days old

Rocket Salad

4 days old

I think I'll have to start grouping them together to snap pic updates. As uploading them all to blogger and labelling them all properly seems a lengthy process and sometimes a little confusing, especially since all the herbs and things are quite similar.

Still no progress on the carrots, hopefully something will come up soon!

I must be doing something right?!

Quick update on my gardening activities.

Sunflowers

7 days old

I've managed to get some new batteries for my digital camera, so these pictures will probably look a lot clearer now. Not bad for 7 days eh?

Lavender

7 days old

Tomatoes

7 days old

I'm really, really pleased with how these are progressing. They obviously like their new home and Jessica loves checking up on them every morning.

Freshly planted from seeds:

26th April '09

Chilli Pepper
Sweet Pepper
Coriander
Mustard Greens
Leaf Mix (Oriental Spicy)
Onion
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Rocket Salad (Which has started germinating!! :D)

Rocket Salad - 2 days old

Oregano
Basil Genovese
Parsley
Dill
Mint
Chives
Thyme
Carrots

27th April '09

Pea
Radish
Runner Bean
Spinach
Spring Onion

28th April '09

Turnip
Parsnip
Broccoli

I've not snapped any pics of the recently potted stuff because it just looks like a mound of compost in pots at the moment, but as soon as they start popping up, be sure I will be there with my trusty camera.

Last night I also had a go at making my very own paper pots. Even more Eco-friendly and saving me plenty of pennies on purchasing pots and seed trays. They worked out great and heres a pic.

Jessica also planted up a little basic flower mix and has her own watering can. I shall snap pics of these if they come up.... Thats if she hasn't flooded them by then!

Just checked on the whereabouts of my compost bin too and according to this it's on it's way to the delivery depot. Which means I should have it by tomorrow!!

I am the proud owner of a greenhouse!!

Yesterday we did a bit of garden shopping and I managed to pick up a cheap 4 tier plastic greenhouse for £10!! I also picked up some more seeds. I've definitely got the gardening bug.

So heres some progress on my seedlings:

Sunflowers


They're really getting on now. So much so, that I've had to take the lid off them and they're quite happily sitting on the bedroom windowsill. I'm gonna give them another week or so indoors and then move them to the greenhouse.

Lavender
The lavender have taken a little while longer to come through.... But they're definitely there alright! :D

Tomatoes



To be honest, I didn't think these would come through at all. I'm not sure they liked so much sun in the bedroom, so I've moved them to the back bedroom windowsill and they seem to be doing okay there.

I also managed to pot up some carrots;



Also did some herbs and things, but haven't got round to snapping pics of them yet. Or the greenhouse. Just waiting for a clear, sunny day now to get out in the backgarden and get it all rolling. Not long, not long.

The great seed race!

They've been planted a whole 3 days and already the Sunflowers are off to a great start. I inspected them yesterday morning to find that they are sprouting. Woo hoo!!

I know the pic isn't all that clear, but you can see what I'm talking about.

Still waiting for the lavender and tomatoes to start popping through. But at least I know they like the warmth on the window sill.

Lavender, Sunflowers & Tomatoes

So I've finally made a start on my attempt at being all green fingered. Not sure how long it'll last, but I'm so excited to see if I can indeed actually grow anything.

My seeds have been potted up and now sit comfortably on my bedroom window sill, keeping warm.
Here are some pics of when I potted them:

I'm gonna see how I get on with these three first, before I go out of my way to purchase anymore seeds. But eventually I'm hoping to turn over a bit of soil in my back garden and turn it into a little veggie patch. I understand that the soil might not be all that great here, but it's worth a try. Also going to get hold of a decent sized greenhouse and hopefully get all of my seedlings (if I manage to grow any) outside and used to the climate.

Here's hoping!

Anyway, this blog isn't really one to pull in visitors or hits, it's mainly just my diary of my progress, but any visitors/followers are more than welcome to follow me along the way!