First up, I wanted to say, to my fibre and yarn friends and followers, please don’t feel you need to read and comment on my gardening posts. It’s easier for me to have everything in one blog but if you aren’t interested in gardening then just skip the Garden Diary posts. They’ll be clearly signposted and have no crafting/fibre news as that will remain in my YOP updates on a Sunday. 🙂
Spring is (sometimes) in the air and its time to get planting! We are getting some mixed weather with warmer days and then very cold winds and rainy days and a snow warning. This morning there was frost on the greenhouse, but that’s Spring in the Highlands.
I’m a little worried about the conifers I turned into Minions last year..some aren’t looking too good so I’m hoping I haven’t killed them!
Greenhouse
At this time of year the greenhouse also means our sunroom too, as it’s too cold for some seeds to germinate in there.
On Monday I planted:
- Courgette*
- Cucumber*
- Pak Choi
- Kale baby leaf^
- Lettuce^
- Spinach
- Beetroot
- Broccoli
- Cosmos flowers
- After flowers
- Sweetpeas
* in my heated propagator. The cucumbers were sprouting mid-week and the courgettes are now coming up!
^ in the greenhouse in their final position. These are hardier so I am hoping will be fine but probably a little slow to get going.
Raised beds
We are still in the process of replacing the beds which is easier as a 2 person job and we are only up for doing one a day. So we haven’t replaced them all yet.
Pots and containers
When I cleared out the flower raised beds in autumn most of our pots had a columbine or lupin plants shoved in for keeping. So I have limited pots for doing much with this year unless we make a flower border for all the flowers to go in.
My husband doesn’t want another border that needs weeding…its me that does 99% of the weeding. I’m still considering doing a no dig flower border where you put some cardboard down to smother the grass, pop some soil or compost on top, water it and wait for the cardboard to break down and its ready for planting. Where it should go is the next question.
Garden Gallery
What’s next
- Finish replacing the raised beds and start planting in them.
- Trim remaining conifers.
- Put some tree stump killer on the eucalyptus.
- Final decision about a new flower border.
- Plant more veg seeds.
- Plant the bare bit of fence before the plants grow too much and hide it!
These Garden Diary posts will be ad hoc, not on a particular day.
Isn’t it wonderful to sow some seeds? I generally start seed-sowing on 5 April, so next week will see me starting off beans and peas in the “greenhouse” (actually one of those plastic efforts). Not having anywhere warm, I buy small courgettes, cucumbers and tomatoes and that works.
I bet your lupins could go into the ground if they’ve been outside in pots all winter. My lupins are looking very happy in the ground, so anything in a pot should be ok.
Best of all, at least some of my fuchsias have survived in the cold frames! I am very chuffed. Plus a few of the dahlias that I just left in the ground might have made it, too. So exciting.
I have to do something drastic about a couple of my larger beds, too. Old age is creeping up!
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The lupins I’m sure would survive in the ground, we just don’t have a space in a border for them to go. I think I probably have 30 plants, I should give some away as my husband is still against a new border for them to go in. Weird when our grass is such a horrendous mess. Ah well. Yep planting seeds is fun, it’s like a little magic.
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Your garden is off to a great start! Can’t wait to see how it all progresses 🙂
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You have quite a garden planted. It will be so nice to be able to eat what you grow and know there are no pesticides being used.
The minions do not look very happy. I hope they perk back up soon
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On the plus side if I have killed them off I have sorted a place for the flowers to go lol
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We moved into a house with our first garden – so very interested to see what you do in your garden 🙂 Do you line your raised beds with anything?
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I stained the wood inside and out and then line the walls with the cut up compost bags. This worked before and the pallet collars are a very cost effective way of doing raised borders/beds. The previous ones did 10 summers.
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I’m glad I get to read your garden updates.
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Love this time of year too!
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I love reading about your garden adventures. Did you transplant the conifers too? I am concerned because they do have ‘that look’. 😦
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Not moved but they don’t look healthy, suspect I may have killed some of them oops! At least I have lots of lupin flowers that could replace them
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