Adventures (and misadventures) in gardening
I wouldn't exactly say we've totally nailed it as snails had a feast on all our marigold seedlings, the zinnias collapsed and died leaving just one and the cosmos are a bit spindly but we have had some success with other plants.
Our M&S beetroot are being extremely sluggish but the radishes are ready, all five of them, of which we have solemnly sampled two.
This mess of pots on our patio includes some chilli plants I bought and tomatoes, courgettes and beans grown from seed. The courgettes don't like high winds so as soon as we put them out gale force winds blew, a tomato has been attacked by a squirrel and the beans have now gone in the ground where they will be prey to pigeons, foxes and anything else that cares to knock them over or eat them but we do feel quite chuffed that we managed to grow them at all.
An actual courgette. They are round ones so we have to be careful they don't turn into marrows but it is now ready to be picked I think.
We also have some peas growing in the ground which are supposed to reach 6ft tall but have so far managed 6 inches. My sweet peas look as if they might be about to flower though and the poppies that I just avoided pulling up as weeds in April are flowering daily. As they have spread to parts of the garden where they aren't supposed to be I suppose you could say they are acting as weeds but I love them so I don't care. My gardening exploits might have been helped if I had remembered where I planted things but I have failed to do that so am now not sure whether some of what is shooting up in the garden is a plant or a weed. Experience tells me they are probably weeds. All this inept gardening has kept us amused and exercised during lockdown and we have enjoyed ourselves enormously watching things grow. Now to research whether that shoot really is a nasturtium as I'm sure that's where I sowed one...
I nearly forgot to mention the fact that the chillis are growing profusely. Unfortunately, due to a certain amount of inattention when ordering, I failed to note they are really hot ones, which neither of us can eat.
Our M&S beetroot are being extremely sluggish but the radishes are ready, all five of them, of which we have solemnly sampled two.
This mess of pots on our patio includes some chilli plants I bought and tomatoes, courgettes and beans grown from seed. The courgettes don't like high winds so as soon as we put them out gale force winds blew, a tomato has been attacked by a squirrel and the beans have now gone in the ground where they will be prey to pigeons, foxes and anything else that cares to knock them over or eat them but we do feel quite chuffed that we managed to grow them at all.
An actual courgette. They are round ones so we have to be careful they don't turn into marrows but it is now ready to be picked I think.
We also have some peas growing in the ground which are supposed to reach 6ft tall but have so far managed 6 inches. My sweet peas look as if they might be about to flower though and the poppies that I just avoided pulling up as weeds in April are flowering daily. As they have spread to parts of the garden where they aren't supposed to be I suppose you could say they are acting as weeds but I love them so I don't care. My gardening exploits might have been helped if I had remembered where I planted things but I have failed to do that so am now not sure whether some of what is shooting up in the garden is a plant or a weed. Experience tells me they are probably weeds. All this inept gardening has kept us amused and exercised during lockdown and we have enjoyed ourselves enormously watching things grow. Now to research whether that shoot really is a nasturtium as I'm sure that's where I sowed one...
I nearly forgot to mention the fact that the chillis are growing profusely. Unfortunately, due to a certain amount of inattention when ordering, I failed to note they are really hot ones, which neither of us can eat.