25 February - Expansion

Looking forward to the new season with plenty of vegetable and flowers seeds purchased ready and waiting. Last year I grew a few flowers for picking and although on a very small scale it was enjoyable and rewarding, having bunches of flowers for the house. I have decided to do the same again this year, but this time I am planning to make better use of the kitchen garden.



Whilst the seed box is full to busting, I have also purchased this year a light box. basically a setup to grow plants indoors with the light they need to prevent them from getting too leggy. It came with capillary matting and seed trays so fingers crossed this will help ensure I grow better plants.



Also, as I am going to need as much space in the greenhouse as I can get for all these plants I am going to be growing, so have also purchased some extra staging. This is different to that already across the back of the greenhouse in  that it is suspended from the wall and roof of the greenhouse and does not take up floor space. This is ideal for me as it maximises space whilst I can still make use of the borders in the greenhouse.

21 February - Tomatoes potted on

Well its been a couple of weeks now since the first tomato seeds were sown and they are coming on a treat. Granted they were getting a little bit leggy, but when potting them on into individual pots I planted them deep! By planting them up to their seedling leaves it encourages the plant to produce more roots up the stem and hopefully produces a stronger root system. They are now growing on in slightly cooler conditions, but it is too early yet for them to be put out in the unheated greenhouse.

19 February - Bees

For the last few  years I have ordered bees for the garden. Sounds a little  weird I know. However, our native bee population is declining and I feel that I am giving nature a helping hand. 

I initially purchased a small hive with bees and each year purchase a new nest. These are not honey bees, will not swarm or stay with the best indefinitely. They are purely pollinators and at the end of the life of the nest the queens produced will go their own separate ways and hopefully produce bees for the following year.

I am upgrading my hive to one which is larger, will produce a bigger colony of bees and hopefully the adaptions made to the larger hive will keep the bees happy.

Roll on May for their arrival.

19 February - Frosty weather


Another frosty morning with clear skies, and where the frost covered flat surfaces it was glistening like diamonds in the sun.

Thankfully any plants that may have succumbed to the cold were tucked away either in the greenhouse or under protective cloches. Whilst I am keen to get the gardening season underway I am still wary of the frosts that can continue until at least May.

The ground is still too cold for direct sowing, but I have been keeping areas covered with black sheeting to keep the soil that little bit warmer and dryer for when the time is right. In the meantime I will just have to make do with a window sill or two indoors.