A (Not So) Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday the weather was horrid, in fact it hasn't been so great for the past week or so, very cold which has set back the growing of vegetables and makes me doubly grateful to the greenhouse for protecting my little seedings.

Today the weather was slighty warmer and most importantly it wasn't raining. I decided that the potatos had to go in and so three tubs of four potatos are now happily getting started outside under the pergola where they are sheltered from the worse of the cold. The compost had been out all winter and was very wet so I left it in the sunshine and will abstain from watering until I am happier that the potatos have started to grow and haven't rotted.

I also planted out 20 or so peas which germinated indoors on the damp paper, it amazed me how many turned mouldy or simply didn't do anything. Goes some way to explain why my pea growing efforts in the garden have been so poor.

I then set about (with assistance) to empty all the pots which had last years dead plants in and get them ready for planting up my flowers which i have grown from seeds. This was a fairly nice job which i could do from the deckchair and I got 4 of the Irish Eyes sunflowers planted up. I hadn't hardened them off so I will see how they do, hopefully there won't be a frost for a few nights. I also sowed some Chinese Forget-Me-Nots in the rose tub (which has aphids again), and added tall cornfowers and quaking grass to the pot which had grasses in last year.

I weeded the herb bed and all of the pots, the mints are slowly coming back to life - the apple mint is very slow but terribly pretty.  I rescued a rose seedling from the gravel at the back of the garden, it couldn't stay where it was and so i thought i would try putting it in a pot and seeing how it gets on, together with the dogroses from the school last week I have three varieties in my garden. Only the nursery grown rose has aphids!

I decided to come in and sort out dinner (slow cooked beef and mustard cassrole) and by the time that was done it had started to rain.

Again.

Germination Part II

Well, where to start!

Firstly the majority of seeds although much slower than their original expected timescales they have actually germinated. I have a butternut squash and a gourd as well as 3 out of 4 courgette plants. I have 9 out of 10 runner beans and all bar one of the Harlequins, the maskotska have a 50% germination rate and I will have to resow to get the 6 i need for the hanging baskets.

The peas have again been abysmal, i planted 50 Meteor and i have had 4 grow up, closer investigation has discovered the others rotted in the tub. I have started some Kelvedon Wonder on paper towels indoors which have now germinated, i am leaving them another day and will then try to transplant them.

Flower wise I have been quite successful, the sunflowers really need transplanting on tomorrow into larger tubs, they are dwarfs so I am going to plant some on in the greenhouse and the rest out in pots with some protection. I also have harebells, marigolds, lemon balm (slightly sickly but 1 is there), parsley (yippee!), and teh sweet peas are coming on in leaps and bounds looking really strong. I have also has some success with teh ones i planted directly outside around the old willow. Those ones are slower growing but with the weather we have had over teh last few days i am confident they'll be ok.

The crab apple is doingbrilliantly, a million and one blossoms, the vine, elstar eating apple and acer are also doing very well, as is the rose. The herbs are doing well and the honesty is bringing lots of bees.

Onto the other thing which has been brewing a while - I had my first Magic Garden placement this afternoon at a local primary school - here is the aim of the project which has been running since 1997.

"The aim of the Magic Gardens Project (MGP) is to promote the appreciation of quality food by providing knowledge of production. Our aim is to encourage the notion that to grow food yourself is surely one of the best things which can be introduced to children and adults alike. Staff at the Magic Gardens Project teach these values in primary schools and Sure Start centres through environmental education and practical gardening classes."

Today I did spend most of my time weeding, and then assisting with the after school gardening club, the vegetable patch they have is really 'magic' and they have lots of different spaces to use such as the wildlife garden, the pond (with tadpoles), the bird hide and the open spaces. As I have mentioned before I am interested in Forest Schools and although the time isn;t right for me to go further down that path I think the Magic Gardens project will go some way to letting me learn about children and the way they learn in an outdoor environment.

Germination

Last week was a bit manic, we had the house painted (will load pictures soon) and the house looks a million dollars. In addition I had rather a lot of freelance work arrive towards the en of the week so my lunches in the garden became lunches at my desk looking at my garden. The temperature dropped to 1.3*C but so far we have avoided any frost in the greenhouse, which given the slow rate of germination is a good thing.

Satuday I went walking for a hen party along part of the Norfolk Coast using the coasthopper, lovely weather but maybe a smidge warm! We had a picnic at Burnham Ovary Staithe and then walked back towards Holkham, not the longest of walks but a good one.

Tonight I escaped out to the garden to discover I have the following germinated;
1 Runner Bean
2 Marigolds
3 Courgettes (Midnight & Black Forest)
4 Harlequin Tomatos
6 Cos Lettuces,
And a million sunflowers, zinnias, mesembryantheums! ALso sweet peas are coming up and normal peas, although very patchy, given they were all sown at eth same depth at the same time it seems a little odd.