On my day off this week it was really windy and rainy, so I stayed inside for the afternoon. I can't believe how windy it keeps getting! Tonight has turned all rainy too, so I thought I'd do a quick seedling update.
My corn was starting to get a bit yellowy, presumably as the nutrients in the compost were running out, so I really wanted to plant these out on Wednesday despite the weather.
Some of the yellowy corn
So I did nip out first thing whilst it was dry to plant it out in blocks. I planted out the best 24 plants in the end (out of 26). To protect them from the elements I use large clear yogurt pots with the bottoms cut off. I just cut the end off with a pen knife. It makes a little microclimate around the individual plant.
Because the plastic is quite thin, it's difficult to cut through if you just have one pot on its own (the pot collapses when you put pressure on it), so I keep them in a stack whilst cutting the bottoms off. When you get down to the last couple you can slip them on the end of your new bottomless stack for stability when cutting.
(You should be impressed. I took this photo with my nose!)
The rest of my seedlings are doing ok so far - Lots of curcurbits (courgette, winter squash, patty pan squshes, cucumbers etc)
The toms are coming along well, I still have some bubble wrap under them for insulation
The tumbler variety are even starting to get flowers (middle of photo). This means I'll have to sort my garden compost out soon, to pot them on.
I recently potted-on my basil seedlings, there were quite a lot (more than this pic). I'll use most of them to plant at the base of each tom plant, they're meant to grow well together and I've done this the last few years.
Some dill (left) and purple basil (right)
Chamomile to fill in our patchy lawn
A different view of the lean-to
On Wednesday at my work they'd organised a plant swap. I thought this might be a good opportunity to get some things I hadn't sown yet, so decided to take some plants along even though it was my day off (it's quite near to where I live anyway). I took: two 3x2 packs of basil, two squashes, two tomatoes and two cucumbers. I was hoping for some salad or brassicas.
Well, sadly, perhaps because of the weather putting people off, my additions almost doubled the plants available. And I didn't really need any of the plants that were up for grabs, so I came away with just this slightly sorry looking little strip of 3 pea modules (my basil in the background).
The event was good though, promoting composting etc, it's just a shame more people didn't bring plants to swap. There were nice cakes available too, featuring Wonder Worm the composting mascot (I should've taken a picture!), and quizzes like guess the weight of the compost cake.
I left the rest of my plants for people to help themselves to, I hope they found a good home.
I was hoping to finish off with a pretty photo of the forget-me-nots in the back garden but it's been too rainy to get a piccie. So instead, here's a photo of my seedlings hardening off outside last week, when the weather was a bit better.
See you on Monday!
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Everything is looking very healthy! I'm ready to put some plants into the garden and have totally forgotten to harden them ... ugh! My pumpkins that I planted last night look awfully wilted as a result. Chamomile to fill in the lawn, great idea, I'll have to look into that.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susie.i don't like the hardening off process (as I'm not a fan of faff) but it's defintintely worth it. But can you protect your plants some way to help ease them into outdoor life? A coup,e of people from my allotment site always rig up a plastic bag around each squash plant. I think they cut along the bottom of the bag and then kind of open it out, put it over the plant (so it forms protection on all sides but is open at the top, and keep it upright with canes or sticks. It seems quite effective and is cheap and easy if you don't have anything else. Good luck!
DeleteWith the chamomile, it's a bit of an experiment, as I thought the birds would just eat any grass seed sown out direct. I think the only thing that might not work that well is the height you're meant to cut it at, which could be a bit long for a small back garden and provide hidey places for slugs. I'll give it a go anyway, the packet of seeds was cheap. A couple of years ago I did see a wild lawn mix (that included clover etc) which I thought would be nice but couldn't find it this year when I eventually got round to trying to do something.
My lawn looks pretty awful these days, so I'm willing to experiment with different lawn "mixes" ... can''t be any worse than I have now. :)
DeleteLovely seedlings, you're looking after everything beautifully. I've failed dismally this year with lots of things, the bad weather has done nasty things to my little plants. Time to re-sow I think. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteThanks CJ, yeh some of my things haven't worked, which I forgot to mention. At the allotment I direct sowed brassica but I think slugs n snails have been nipping off the tops of the seedlings, so I'm going to resow those. A small pot of salad didn't work either so I've resown a tray this week.
DeleteIt's still pretty early in the year though so I reckon we'll be alright, still plenty of time to get things going.
It's so windy again today and torrential rain last night, I think when I start Planting more things out I'll need to individually protect them all, what a pain.
Our corn is still in the packet and the squash and cucumbers etc have just been sown and are indoors so you are in front of us, Taking photos with your nose whatever next typing with your toes?
ReplyDeleteDo you direct sow your corn sue? I tried it once but they didn't do very well. I'm not rushing to plant out the squashes, though I don't particularly want to pot them all on. I might have to put some out soon in that case.
DeleteHa ha, yep I might try that sometime, I tend to go barefoot (no socks) around the house in the summer. It would help my RSI too.
We sow corn in modules. I like to go barefoot too also on the lawn.
DeletePlanting-out is always a gamble in our climate. Sod's Law says the minute you plant them a gale kicks off, followed by frost and a drought! I find my plastic mini-greenhouses indispensable at this time of year. They protect my seedlings from the wind whilst allowing them to get enough light. I was hoping to pot-up some tomato plants this weekend, but I think I may have to re-think the plan because it is dull and windy again.
ReplyDeleteThe weather's been so changeable recently hasnt it Mark! These strong winds are a nightmare.
DeleteHmm, I've got some old net curtains in my shed, I wonder if I could rig something up with them. I don't mind using things like that on the plot but try not to let the back garden look too allotmenty!
I had been wondering about investing in some kind of cover for the back garden, the mini-greenhouses could be tempting.
That is a smart way to cut the bottoms off of the cups. I hope the weather improves for you. Here I could use some rain. Sadly nothing much in the forecast.
ReplyDeleteThanks Daphne, the cups only last a year or so because they're thin plastic (don't know if you have them same over there, but a lot of yogurt pots over here are thin plastic with a cardboard outer, so they use less plastic). I save them all up throughout the year.
DeleteTomorrow's meant to be nicer so I'll hopefully head down the plot then :) Hope you get some rain!
Look at those tomato seedlings! I have a couple that haven't even sprouted yet. I started them 2 weeks later than I had planned but it seems as if some of them are more like a month behind. I tried growing basil with my tomatoes a couple of years ago and it didn't do very well - mind you it was being chomped on by rabbits for the first few weeks, so that likely had a lot to do with it. I have several extra basil plants so I think I'll be giving that combination another go this year.
ReplyDeleteAnd very impressed with the nose photo - it can be quite the contortionist act trying to get a good photo when you're on your own!
Thanks Margaret, I'm lucky to have the lean-to, it means I don't need to grow the tomatoes outside. They've really come on recently now the temperatures have started improving (though we've still had some late frosts).
DeleteYes, I imagine the basil doesn't like being munched by rabbits!
Thank you, ha ha, I was holding the iPad thinking, 'how am I going to take this with my other hand in the photo?'!