Pumpkins, sweet corn and winter squash

Middle Mudlet had a fair few corn to plant out.

Group by group, the greenhouse plants are being moved outside and planted into their final positions, filling the garden with the promise of things to come. Not that you can tell by looking into the greenhouses because most of the recently vacated space has been filled with yet more newly potted on seedlings. Friday, it was the turn of the sweet corns, pumpkins and winter squashes to migrate outside and once again I had the help of the Mudlets for the planting.

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Garden therapy

My Mothers Day seedlings have done well so far.

By Thursday last week, I was feeling much improved and spent the morning catching up with the housework. Both girls had running club after school which meant that I had a whole hour extra in the afternoon which, as it happens, was another beautifully warm and sunny affair and so I decided to set up my potting station on the garden table, under the shade of the parasol and pot on the seedlings which I had grown from my Mothers Day seeds.

Seedlings, seeds and a bug.

Grown from seed last year, this giant pansy was well worth the effort.

The continued cold nights are really beginning to get to me now, as I really do think it’s high time that 4C and below no longer featured so heavily, thereby negating the need for me to spend time carefully trying to ensure that all my seedlings are snug and warm, tucked up under fleece. With some of the tomato seedlings now relying on the support of short plant sticks to remain upright, the job of ensuring that my meager supply of fleece reaches all corners of the seedling rows, without huge gags appearing between sections, has got that little bit more difficult. No, all things considered, I think it’s time for night time temperatures to start getting their act together and remaining above the 5C mark, at least for the majority of the time.

Out and about with the Mudlets (part 2)

I thought that the top of this tree looked like an open hand.

With the good weather continuing, Mud and I decided to make the most of it and take the girls somewhere more local for a trip out. We settled on another favourite haunt, The Pink Pig which is a local farm shop and which we knew from previous visits, had a  farm trail and outdoors play area, the latter two items being accessible on payment of a small charge of £2.50 per person. In addition, there was a nice little cafe attached to the shop in which we would be able to get a coffee and something to eat.

A spike of green

Tomato Maskotka

Several actually. Cosmos was the first of the seeds to show it’s face, with tomato Maskotka nipping at their heels. Within a few hours Gardeners Delight tomato seedlings were starting to peep through and then, to my delight, I spotted signs of life in two of the “out of date” Marigold seed modules.

And so it begins…..

The very useful windowsill propagators

… the process of growing our food that is. With the propagators, seed trays and labels washed and ready for use, a nice new bag of seed compost ready and waiting for the sowing process to begin, all that remained for me to do was to sort out my seeds, set out a potting area on the kitchen floor where there is plenty of space and any spillages can be easily dealt with, and get on with it. Unfortunately and in the best tradition of “the best laid plans…..”, sowing seeds had to be temporarily placed on hold when I was struck down by a dreadful cold which knocked me sideways for a few days.

I’ll just have a coffee first, then I’ll start …..

Waiting for dinner, one very scruffy looking robin.

Every day for the past three or four weeks, I have walked past the flower bed outside the back door and thought to myself “Really need to get that weeded and the flowers planted out” and then almost immediately followed that thought with “I’ll just have a coffee first.”

So the weeds got left and each time I looked at the bed I knew that it was going to be that bit harder to clear it. Part of the problem was that I knew the grass, creeping ivy, ground elder and other such tenacious bullies were going to put up a bit of a fight and by the end of the day I would be sore, so very sore and I really, really don’t like pain and don’t relish the thought of inflicting it upon myself.

Red, pink and purple

A striking show against the cream of the wall.

Certain areas of the garden are already starting to look more than a little faded and the signs that summer is drawing to a close, are everywhere. Yet looking back from the vegetable patch to the house, one or two areas of brilliant colour stand out and deserve a mention.

On the wall one of the strawberry hanging baskets is providing an unexpected but welcome burst of deep purple (it looks blue in the picture but it really is a vibrant purple), against the cream of the walls and green strawberry plant foliage. The reason behind this striking show of colour,  is the mass of Lobelias which have taken hold and flourished, since my original planting of them some three or four years ago. Originally grown from seed, these plants only put in a minimal show that first year and I haven’t noticed them in great numbers between times and so to see them in such abundance this season has been a real bonus. Hidden from view, there is also a clump of white lobelia, making a striking contrast against the rich purple of the majority of the blooms but where that particular plant has come from is anyones’ guess, as I certainly didn’t grow them intentionally.

Bargains for the garden

See, it’s not just vegetables I grow from seed: mixed flowers.

I’ve had a busy few days across three garden, what with potting on dozens of flower seedlings on Sunday, the shrub clearance on Monday and hours of watering in our garden, watering and picking vegetables in the school garden and watering a friends patch whilst she was away. I also popped over to the garden centre on Sunday, to pick up some plant food and whilst I was there I had a mooch about which is always easier to do and a much more relaxed experience, when I haven’t got Mud and the Mudlets with me, either wanting to get done asap (Mud) or wanting to see ALL the fish and ALL the dinosaurs AGAIN (the Mudlets). Yes, you really can find moving and noisy dinosaurs in our local garden centre ……. well why wouldn’t you?

Flowers in my garden

It goes without saying that growing vegetables is a bit of a hobby of mine but I do also like to see flowers around the garden, not only for their pollinator attraction qualities but simply because I love flowers. This year for some reason my butterfly mix hasn’t taken but there are still some flowers putting in an appearance and so this post is especially for them. I will state at this point that I don’t know a whole lot about flowers, I tend to plant/sow what I like or what appeals to me and so if I make any errors then please do feel free to correct me and so without further ado, here are some of the flowers currently brightening up the garden: