Saturday 2 March 2013

Oh, it's a good day for singing a song.......

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust" :- Gertrude Jekyll. 


The weather here in the Highlands continues to be bloomin marvellous  (happy faces all round).
Yesterday I managed to get quite a lot of my garden plants divided and/or moved and I have to say working outside in full sunshine lifted the spirits immensely, I still have a lot of bare areas that need planting but until I get my 'garden plant map' out I'm not sure what's under the soil just waiting to pop through in certain areas.
I've also managed to get some seed sowing going. It honestly felt like seed sowing time was never going to come around, although it is still a tad too early with our climate.

I bought a heated propagator off Ebay last month. It's not brilliant as it doesn't have a temperature control but it's a decent size and has meant that I can start off certain veggies much much sooner than I ever have.
So far I've sown (in the heated propagator)
Tomatoes: - Black Russian, Roma, Gardeners Delight & Yellow stuffer.
Pepper:- California Wonder,
Herbs:- Tarragon, Chives, Garlic Chives

(In unheated propagators in the greenhouse)
Sweetcorn:-
Cabbage:- Greyhound.
Broccoli:- Calabrese
Cucumber:- Marketmore 76
Celeriac:- Invitation
Courgette:-
Onion:- Bedfordshire Champion
Swede:- Invitation

Flowers:- Lupins, Hollyhocks, SweetPea & Bouganvilla (bought back from Jamaica)

Next I'll get started with the Turnips, Leeks, Carrots, more Cabbage, Parsnips

It's a good job I've been feeling upbeat of late because I am getting quite sick of this eyesore every time I head to the polytunnel
There was rhyme and reason to making that bloomin awful flower bed at the time - honest! (though the actual reasoning does allude me at this point in time).
I have no idea why (probably because I didn't know Willow back then) but I thought it would be great to plant Willow as specimen trees in there - I know! please don't judge me!
There's also a Mock orange, Olearia, 2 Escallonia, Leycesteria, Montbretia and Hosta all crammed into that area. Yes, it looks hideous! And if you could see the rest of the surrounding area and how out of place the whole thing looks you would piddle yourself laughing.
Guess it's going to be one of the many jobs I have to do this year and I suppose I better add it to the other 42 jobs I listed the other day!
In hindsight that area would have been a better place to site the 2 new raised veggie areas instead of here..................
You'd hope I'd live and learn but I'm going to make loads more of these stupid mistakes as the year goes on.
Guess I better start planning what to do!

8 comments:

  1. Linda, I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling better. Don't overdo! In the endless flow of things, those 42+ garden jobs will somehow all get done -- or if they don't, you'll do them next year :-). Enjoy your marvelous weather; I'm looking forward to some of it showing up where I am sometime soon. -Jean

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    1. I am trying to have that exact frame of mind Jean. It's such a shame because I get so bogged down with the stuff that I haven't done that I don't get to enjoy what is done.
      I hope the weather improves for you soon.

      Linda

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  2. I echo Jean in saying do not overdo it. I have to remember that as I have so much to do and so little time once spring comes...I am also sowing tomatoes and pepers today inside. Just getting revved up for spring.

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    1. It certainly feels like a never ending round of jobs doesn't it Donna.
      Enjoy your seed sowing :)

      Linda

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  3. You are so lucky to already be in your garden. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground so it will be at least 6-8 weeks before I can start planting.

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    1. Wow, so much snow? I'm making the most of this mild weather because I know that we could end up with snow like that by the end of this week. The weather can change drastically here from day to day - summer feeling one day, winter the next.
      I do hope it improves for you soon though to speed up that planting time :)

      Linda

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  4. Like you I have made many planting errors and have lived to rue the day - sometimes trying to move things is nigh on impossible so I just have to live with it. You are way ahead of me with your seed sowing but there are still loads of things to do in preparation - I am just ticking off jobs one at a time.

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    1. Elaine, I guess we're very much alike lol. I've decided that I am going to have to live with some of the eyesores.
      Thank you for stopping by :)

      Linda

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