Monday 29 September 2014

Seeds and things ...


I have had these sample jiffy pots to try for a while and I decided the other day to give them a go. I have to say that it certainly makes things easy and there is no mess. Yes, I would definitely use them again. 

Isn't spring and watching seeds germinating exciting? And don't bean seeds look like some prehistoric plant emerging from the ground?


I had forgotten how exciting sowing your own seeds can be. I was gifted the bean seeds, they should be butter beans. The other seeds I have sown; peas, corn and sunflower are seeds that had expired beyond their useby date however a lot of them have germinated.

What seeds are you sowing?

Let me know in the comments below.
Donna-Maree

Thursday 25 September 2014

Spring is here...



This is a photo of my bed at the allotment which was taken near the end of August. It was a take stock time, looking to see how things were going and what needs to be done to get ready for spring planting.

I had clearly missed some garlic last season and they are growing well. I had also planted some onions which are doing well too. Since this photo was taken I have tidied up the bed, removing anything that I don't want or need any more and weeded it all. I harvested four cabbages which have been shared with family members and we have been enjoying those.

I then put three wheelbarrows of compost on the bed just going around what is still planted. The compost was made on site in the bins for this purpose. I thank everyone who does the work making the compost for us. As gardeners we just fill the appropriate bin with garden waste, and remove it from the one marked as for use now. There are four bins at different stages of composting and the whole system works well. I then liberally coated my bed with sheep pellets which the rain has broken up and I have to say that the bed is looking very good and the produce growing in there at the moment has seen heaps of growth.

Yesterday I took up some leeks and red onions that I had growing in bunches here at home in the garden at the end of the driveway and planted those. These plants will need checking on today as we have been having beautiful sunny days this week and they might need some water plus I always like to check my babies when they go into the garden.

I have been sowing some seeds but will save telling you about that for the next blog.

Until then happy gardening everyone.
Donna-Maree