As you know, I constantly go on and on about how I feel that everyone should grow their own veg if they can, even if it is just one tub of salad on their patio, or some herbs in their windowbox.
Since we want to have chickens as soon as possible, (allotment site rules say we can’t have them until we have been on the site for a year) we thought it was time to start clearing the space where they are going to live.
I always get a little annoyed that after a few weeks watering, the labels for all my chillies have either faded or smudged, although thankfully I can still tell which one is which.
The chillies and tomatoes were loving the weather today, but it was too hot to do much at the allotment, and it was touching 50 degrees in the greenhouse at times today!
I potted on all my chillies, and sowed lots, including some Papalo seeds, which is used in Mexican cooking.
I still need to dig over the other half of my plot, but that will have to wait until next weekend!
I decided to bite the bullet this weekend and plant up the rest of the broad bean and sweetcorn plants that were growing too big for the greenhouse.
It did seem that it was a very short weekend, even leaving aside that an hour of my sleep was stolen on Sunday morning!
Saturday was spent potting on the huge amount of seedlings that had sprouted, so the greenhouse is now full. I also got a refill for the greenhouse heater, just in case the predicted snow/sleet that is forecast for later in the week arrives.
Well it turned out that the weatherman was wrong, and the bad weather missed us. I realise from speaking to other people on here and on Twitter that we were the lucky ones, especially considering the amount of flood warnings around at the moment.
We finally managed to dig over the rest of the beds, so that all the spuds and onions can be transferred from the house next week to the lottie. Good job as well, because I had the rest of the seeds delivered this week, so there are plenty of seeds to take their place in the dining room and greenhouse!
Currently my house is filled with chitting potatoes, and seedlings which desperately need another home.
Last week the Heritage Seed Library catalogue for 2010 arrived. As a member of the HSL I am allowed to make 6 choices from this list of non-commercial vegetable varieties, and can choose whether to receive a 7th ‘Lucky Dip’ packet as well.
Like a lot of HSL members I’m concerned by the control big business has over the food chain and the resulting loss of biodiversity. The Heritage Seed Library work to safeguard rare vegetable varieties, that were once the mainstay of British gardens.
What a very frustrating weekend. I woke up on Saturday and Sunday to find out that the frost had returned with a vengence, so absolutely no chance of doing any digging.
Consoled myself with a very nice dinner and another look through the seed catalogues to plan what I will grow once the Arctic weather passes. There’s so much I want to grow, but not enough space to grow it on!
Achiltibuie Garden – Hydroponic Growing Kits
Dartmoor Chilli Farm
Greenhouse Sensation
