Taking a chance

My indoor runner beans are showing signs of.....something. And it doesn't seem to be a good something either.

The leaves are drooping inwards. There are no critters on them and they don't need water so I think it's the delay in getting them outside.

So I'm going to take the chance (as it's such a lovely day) and put them outside for an hour or so a bit later once the sun is out and it warms up a bit, in the hope that they will realise there are better things to come for them once the weather perks up permanently.

I'll try giving them a talking to as well.

Leggy plants

My indoor sown plants have been a little too successful. They are romping away with many having sprouted their first true leaves. Problem is with the weather having turned quite cold, I am concerned that I won't be able to start putting them outside to harden them off for a while, which might make them go weak and straggly. Having said that, although the forecast isn't looking good, it is lovely and sunny here today and not too cold.

In the meantime, I've started warming up the soil where the runner beans are going to be planted against the fence. I'm using some old double glazing panes which I found in the garden when I moved in and have just leant them against the fence in the hope that the little sun I'm getting will warm up the soil a bit.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm going to plant out the indoor raised beans once it gets warmer and at the same time, sow some seed direct in the soil so hopefully, my warming attempt will help those to germinate more quickly.

As you can see from the picture, the indoor sown beans are going mad and are already over 30cm/12" tall.

Come on Spring!

Too wet for gardening

We've had heavy bouts of rain from Friday - not that I'm complaining. In any event, there's not much to do in my tiny plot at the moment and it stops me going out every 5 minutes to see if any of the seed I've sown has germinated.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've designated a strip against the fence to grow some climbing green beans. I decided to give half of them a head start by sowing some in pots indoors. My plan is to plant them out after all risk of frost and, at the same time, sow some extra seeds direct in the ground so hopefully, I'll get an extended cropping season with the outdoor ones producing beans a little later than the indoor sown ones.

I am delighted that the beans I sowed in pots a week or so ago have started germinating.



I also sowed some pumpkin (shown in the picture below) courgettes, coriander, parsley and cherry tomatoes which have all started germinating too.



Am now looking forward to the weather getting warmer and sunnier although it will take a number of days to harden the indoor seedlings off before planting out in their final positions.

Sowing seeds

Yesterday I finally got to sow some veg seeds in my newly dug garden bed.


Having not had a proper garden for many years, I found myself automatically creating small beds which worked out quite well as I'm not sure about the condition of the soil much further down than 30cm/12 inches, so the creation of the mini beds has meant I've increased the workable soil depth by about 15cm/6 inches.

As I mentioned before, most of the bed is in shade for much of the day and as planned, I sowed a few short rows each of parsnips and carrots in the shadiest part (on the right towards the back). In front of that bed, I've sown some green and red cabbage and some tenderstem broccoli in a makeshift seed bed. Once they have grown to 10cm/4 inches, I'll transplant them to their final spacings.

To the left in the picture, I've sown Swiss chard seeds and the space I've left between that bed and the fence on the left is for some climbing runner beans which, I am pleased to report, have already started germinating in pots indoors.

Although I've sown "in rows" the rows are short and close together so that once the seed have germinated, I can space them in such a way as to grow all the veg in blocks rather than rows. More about what I'm going to grown in the remaining space in a later post.

The picture below is of some of the pots I brought with me - in particular the lilies seem to be doing well.

Good job I watered everything - as usual the Met's forecast for rain was wrong.

All dug and ready to rrock

On Sunday I really thought the weather was going to get the better of me, but it only rained lightly in the morning and held off long enough in the afternoon to get the final digging done. Must be honest here, my old man did most of it.

It's the sort of garden bed which one could keep digging from now until next year and still keep finding roots and stones, so rather than delay any longer, we got some of the offending articles out and I'm going to take the chance and sow some seeds in the next couple of days. Still, a vast improvement on what was there (see last post).

As I mentioned in my last post, it's a very shady patch. I had some potatoes which started to sprout so I've put those in the furthest corner as an experiment.

The picture(s) above show the basic layout. All the pots and containers were brought from my last place - including the plum tree which, incidentally, has had a very few blossoms on it which I'm pleased about - and there is room for more containers, in particular the two large pots which will hold a pumpkin and a courgette plant.

I'll have to wing it a bit when it comes to sowing seeds but I've decided to try the root crops (carrots and parsnips) towards the back of the garden bed which gets the least sun, and other goodies towards the front. Haven't decided exactly where yet, but I must get my skates on now the weather has warmed up.

Oh, just in case you are wondering, that strange upright structure in the 1st picture is a "built-in" BBQ - don't know what twit put it there but it's a total waste of space.

New beginnings

Returning visitors may be wondering what on earth I've been doing as I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks. The answer is that I've moved.

I am still an urban girl with no car, but I now have a postage stamp garden. There's still a patio area for my containers but there's also a "proper" garden bed with "proper" soil.


As with many things in life, it's not by any means perfect.

Firstly it doesn't get the sun for much of the day at the moment. I'm guessing that as the days get longer, so will the amount sun on my little patch, however I think it is going to take quite a lot of experimenting to find exactly the right spots to grow the various fruit and veggies I have in mind.

Secondly, the garden bed is not only full of weeds and tough grasses at the moment, as can be seen in the picture, but there is a huge confifer in one of the adjacent properties - possibly +100ft - whose roots have invaded my little patch with a vengence.

Hoping to get that all dug over and relatively root free this weekend ready for some serious seed sowing next week.

In the meantime, I have sown some pumpkin, courgette and tomatoes indoors this week and also some lettuce and peas in troughs outside on the patio.

More soon.

What's going on with the weather forecast?

I know they say they can't accurately predict the weather more than 3 days ahead but really...even up until yesterday the Met's website was showing that it would be sunny today, tomorrow and Friday so I had planned to do some serious stuff on my terrace today. It's been raining ..... practically ALL DAY. So, nothing doing. Most disappointing.

On the TV earlier this afternoon, they have said it will be sunny tomorrow. We shall see.