Seeds emerging...

I'm beginning to see rewards for all the sowing I did in the greenhouse back in March.  Broad beans which started off like the one below are now 8-10 inches tall in the vegetable patch and doing really well. The journey for the courgettes has been more rocky - one shop-bought courgette plant survived and one of my ones planted from seed too; both are doing well.  I have also had donations from my Step-Dad to my collection of courgettes, sunflowers and herbs which is great!

Our broad been seeds beginning to sprout - more photos to follow soon!

Snails have been doing their best to spoil my fun in the greenhouse which is very disheartening.  They destroyed a courgette, most of the dahlias and were also slowly working through the cucumbers!  So, the kitchen window-sill has now become an extension to the greenhouse. I'm also using space in the conservatory as a haven for plants - I will not be defeated by snails!

The weather was so wet in April - and also very mixed this month in May - that the appeal of the garden has lessened: I do like it warm and sunny if I am going to work out in the garden!  Anyway, regardless of a few missed days of watering here and there, everything is still doing fine and I'm now moving on to the next stage of thinning out the seeds and planting out.  I have to remember that in a few months time I will be eating my own produce and then all the trials and tribulations will look to have been worth it!

Dreaming of strawberries to come!

Spring is here

So last month was focus on food which I learn a lot from and am finding reducing my weekly food bill very rewarding.  I still have more that I would like to comment on relating to food, so will re-visit this topic from time to time.

The weather has been much more mild for the last week or so here and creates a real sense of spring coming now.  Snowdrops are out in force and I have some crocus flowers in our garden too.  Time to get inspired about gardening again, this time without spending too much.  We love our garden and spend a lot of time and money on it.  So this year will be a bit different!   Usually about now, we are beginning to collect seedlings from garden centres as they appear for both vegetables and ready grown bulbs - such as tulips and daffodils.  I managed to plant some tulips and daffodils last November, so that is a help and will have to make do with that this year.  No buying ready planted up flowers!!  One of my favourites is Sweet Peas, so I filled up a tray with 6 pots full of little sweet pea plants at the garden centre on Sunday - then I put them all back again!  I then went to the seed selection and picked up two packets of Sweet Pea seeds - so I am beginning to get the hang of gardening on a shoestring!

We have bought seed potatoes but other than that I am trying to convince my husband that we should use seeds for the other vegetables - so I will keep you posted on that one.  I am determined to have a really good year with fruit and veg as it will obviously save us money on shop bought fresh produce. Most seeds need to go in this month - March - so I will report back on what I have planted in little seed trays soon.

Our first job is to tidy up the garden, especially after Nuri (our Labrador puppy) has been creating mischief there all winter!  So no money needed for that, just lots of little helpers, wellies, garden bags and enthusiasm.

Bye for now