More seed sowing today
I am using up opened packets before breaking to new ones
I have sown some spring onions in a tray indoors
also two lots of onions, I usually grow my onions from sets,
I want to have a growing them from seed, it will be cheaper than buying in onion sets also I could let some go to seed and collect seed from them for future sowing's.
I had a read up last night about growing them from seed and it seems this is the best month to get them started with some bottom heat from a propagator, then come the spring the will be ready to go out into the ground.
Chilies are next on the list, I have a part used mixed pack and I still have some of Dani's Piquant peppers, they are in the propagator as well, I want to grow some in the hot bed and some just in the ground in the poly tunnel to see if there is any difference.
Anything we grow here is a challenge
This photo I took today is a cut away along the driveway, it shows the structure of the ground beneath our feet up here, rock bed topped with shale then a small amount of soil a few inches if we are lucky,
It drains well after rain everything has to be grown in raised beds filled with top soil, I also collect soil from mole hills, moles can be good sometimes, trees do alright as there roots can work down in the shale. The other challenge we have is the soil is acid, great for all those acid loving plants, but for everything else I need to add lime.
I popped into the garden centre yesterday to pick some up, I want to start adding it to the poly tunnel when I am digging over and preparing the beds for planting,
While I was there I spotted they had there fruit bushes 50% off, nothing wrong with them, they are just clearing out ready for new stock arriving.
I picked up a redcurrant, I have plenty of blackcurrants and raspberries but only one redcurrant,
I toyed with a white currant but put it back, I had a £4 off voucher to use before the end of the month, so the bush was only pennies, I am still using the garden centre gift card I got last year for my birthday so I didn't have to part with any cash.
In the greenhouse one of the oranges is ripening up nicely not ready yet but not far off.
The geranium cuttings I took last year are doing really well.
And one of the lemon trees has plenty of fruit
The other citrus trees are in various stages of flowering and young fruits.
There is no heating in the greenhouse, it is insulated with bubble wrap
everything in there is doing well.
The weather today has been lovely, the morning mist lifted, the sun shone and there was blue sky,
no wind makes it a very pleasant day.
Time for bed for me now, Martin went back to work today we are back to our normal routine again,
I even got down in the cabin for a few hours.
Are you sowing yet ?
I always heard onion seeds go bad fast like within a year or so.
ReplyDeleteWe have the opposite problem with our soil here. Not a rock to be found and I have witnessed the holes dug for when we buried a horse or something and it goes down 15 feet or more as just dirt. Mostly clay and it don't hardly drain for nothing.
Makes root type crops like potatoes and onions hard to grow as any heavy rains usually rot em out.
lots of added matter will help improve the soil, yes onion seeds have a short shelf life
DeleteI think I will insulate the greenhouse with bubble wrap next winter its a great idea. Your lucky with the orange. Our lemon died it got scale. I'm getting itchy fingers wanting to start seeds off. Grandaughters birthday do we will go to Ipswich. I'll call in wilko and get dome compost and see what else they've got.
ReplyDeleteI had a scale problem last year, it was easy to treat, I hope its not coming back this year
DeleteOh I wish I were sowing. I don't garden anymore and I sure miss it. My daughter and I would turn our whole yard into vegetable and flower gardens - I started almost all my own plants - from seed or propagation. Now I shall enjoy your reports and watch your progress and remember the times when I could garden. What little I do is in pots on the deck - I do love to putter about in the flowers.
ReplyDeleteI use to enjoy growing lots of pots but now I have to get them into the ground to many time restraints with watering
DeleteBubble wrap in the green house you have just given me an idea.
ReplyDeleteglad to be of use :-)
DeleteWe tried onions from seed last year and sadly nothing at all has come from them :( we had great success with sets a couple of years ago so not sure what went wrong with the seeds
ReplyDeletedid you germinate them with bottom heat and were the seeds still in date
DeleteIt's so exciting to follow your progress. I'll have to refer back to this next year so I can get a good start on my growing season after we have moved (fingers crossed!). It's like having a 'how to' guide :)
ReplyDeleteI hope your move goes smoothly without any problems :-)
DeleteDawn, I am so very impressed you are growing lemons and oranges! I am hoping to pick up a greenhouse on Freecycle but nothing yet.
ReplyDeleteI love growing the unusual or challenging :-)
DeleteAre you sowing yet? Oh Dawn that made me chuckle. There are thirty fingers in this house and not a bloomin' green one to be seen. Well my daughter does have green fingers for her job as a garden supervisor in a prison but I think she leaves them at the gate when she comes out. We have tried honestly but we are just no good at it.
ReplyDeleteperhaps buy those that are half grown most of the work has been done then :-)
DeleteWe've tried that as well Dawn but don't seem to have any luck with them either.
ReplyDelete