works in progress 3: planting

In the house of pesky illness, the kitchen has been rather underutilized of late. Oh local takeaways let me count the ways - tom yum, curry laksa, bean curd and vegetables....

Fortunately raising seedlings only requires a warm spot and a bit of water every couple of days. The perfect hobby for a convalescent.



In a sunny spot in the shed the second lot of spring onion seedlings are coming along and the coriander is sprouting. Haven't given up on the parsley yet, I've been told it takes a while to burst into life.

Once the seedlings have got a little growth pop directly into the earth, cardboard and all.



Have bought some cos lettuce, black cabbage and rainbow chard seedlings ready to be planted. Just need a wee lie down first.

works in progress

How can you not love autumn? After a sodden summer, we're being treated to balmy days with sun aplenty. Even after nightfall the warmth has pervaded, into golden evenings.

Yesterday we ordered a couple of cubic metres of compost to build up the garden bed, as it's dropped a good 30 cm since we first built in. In preparation for the arrival it meant an afternoon of pulling out the disappointing tomato crop and transplanting any surviving herbs and strawberry plants. Awful timing all round. The strawberries had just begun shooting off runners and the lovely hot chili plant was in full production. Who knows if they'll survive the disruption.

A quick pruning landed a bowl of (mostly) green chilies, to either be preserved in vinegar or whipped into a green harissa paste.



I also started raising some seedlings. Will see if this summer's seed saving experiment worked. With luck these toilet rolls will sprout spring onions, parsley and coriander...if I remember to water them.



How does your garden grow?