WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE GARDEN TODAY 2023

Not been able to do anything either indoors or on the balcony today in part because of the snow & very low temps with a very cold NE wind &, mostly, because we weren't at home for a few hours during the morning. We had to go to another town, 30 minutes away by car, so that I could have microsuction done on my ears to remove a lot of wax that had been building up for a long time. They no longer remove wax with warm water at our surgery. (I've had it done several times before.) Seems ridiculous to have to travel nearly 30 miles to have microsuction performed especially as where my wife has had it done a couple of times is only half an hour away by bus!

 

Yesterday had an order of bulbs and plant divisions arrive; so off up to greenhouse to pot up a carrier bag full of things many are hardy and intended for the new planting area once they grow away.

 

Yesterday I sowed some more onions, sorrel and caraway. Was going to hoe off any early weeds from the beds but the ground was frozen solid.

Today put the seedlings outside to sunbathe, nice and warm in the sun. Still more frosts forecast

 

One more day without being able to do anything on the balcony. This time due to blizzard-like conditions during the morning!

 

Sowed tomato seeds today lots as well one or 2 of the neighbours and mum usually want some. Ran out of cucumber seeds but for 1 so order some more yesterday and realised I've ran out of Tomato Sungold today its one of my favourites but I'll do without this year fed up of paying postage cost for seeds now. Nice and warm in the GH to warm and thats with snow on the roof.

 

Up to the greenhouse to sow seeds of things that need gentle heat to get going, then pots to propagator.

 

Spent an hour and a half in The Courtyard trimming various shrubs and climbers, weeding pots. sowing seeds to underplant (Dianthus under Avocado, Creeping Verbena under Thevetia and Verbena under Westringia. Sowed Ruffled Red Ipomoea in two pots and Cherry Tomtaoes (red/black/yellow) in two pots. Found five seeds of Gloriosa rothschildiana (Gloriosa Lily) a couple of years out of date so stuck them in a trough by a trellis.

 

Managed to find some small individual size pots to pot on some of the Cleome , 40 were done this afternoon. Tomorrow I will have to search around for about another 100 pots of varying descriptions....yoghurt mostly but I think I also have quite a few plastic flower pots too that will be OK.

I am nervously leaving the newly potted up ones in the greenhouse tonight...their first step out into the big wide world. I have wrapped them in fleece and a thin foam-like wrap ( came with a delivery I think) and placed them inside the bubble wrap enclosure ......so fingers are all tightly crossed.

 

What else?



Played Tetris with seedlings, pricking previous round out and sowing next round. Musk Strawberries are waiting to start daily outings, the temperatures are around 5-10 degrees over the day so they should be fine during the day in the blowaway greenhouse.

That liberated some room in the Halfway House aka shelving by the kitchen French doors, where temperatures are around 15 degrees and grow lights help the youngsters.

It's proper science to juggle light and temperature when I only have windowsills to play with. Grow lights are great, they allow a staged approach and extend the growing on- area and time.

The blowaway greenhouse is surprisingly good, the temperature was noticeably higher than outdoors in spite of the various broken seams and other unplanned ventilation.

Otherwise just watched birds liking each other very much in a grown up manner and taking refreshing baths in between.

 

I managed to find a fairly cheap big pot today @£land. I was needing a big pot to repot my 'Bird of Paradise' seedling. At 4 years of age it was getting too big for its pot. When I got it out of its pot I found it had roots as thick as my fingers all coiled around the base!
.

 

Sown some agretti and sage. Not grown either from seed before. I'll visit some garden centres today, will start with the b&m one and work my way up from there