just like magic

It never fails to amaze me when those little seeds you sow burst into life. Look what I-spied on the window sill today.

Started sowing

I can hold off no longer, I just have to start sowing. Indoors of course. The window sill is about to be put back into use (still a little too early to get the grow house up and running, wait till next month I keep reminding myself). I have some sweet peas in big pots hoping to kick them off for a good early display.

Owen helped me to sow some tomatos (gartenperle & striped) and some cabbage (hispi).

The new growing season has started.

When I get a moment and the weather is with me I have parsnip, spinach and broad beans to sow in the ground this month. Today is a dank, grey and foggy day not really encouraging for allotment visits. So I'm off to think about potatoes and the Guardian has an article about growing them today. I'm waiting for the potato order to come in to the allotment association ( I know I ordered international kidney and something else but what else?). I also made a spontaneous purchase of edzell blue potatoes, like a magpie I just home into the shiny things displayed on the shop shelves.

feeding the birds

In the school gardening club one of our winter activities has been making bird feeders. We strung empty yogurt pots filled with lard and seeds up around the school grounds. It is not my favourite activity as lard and my vegi tendency are not a good mix. I get stuck in but the grease, the smell, its a general yuck for me!

Feeding birds is a big activity in garden at this time of the year and I tend to buy my bird feed. As I am not up to mixing yucky stuff at home. The poor birds are also aware of my slightly sporadic attempts to keep them fed. I'm best at keeping the window feeder topped up. My mum tells the tale that the birds in her garden actually line up waiting for her to fill the feeders at about 7am each day, needless to say she gets a lot of visitors.

For the last few weeks I have tried to be better at keeping them fed, especially as next weekend is the RSPB big garden birdwatch. We loved counting the birds last year and want to do it again this year. So I have set about ensuring that we do at least get a couple of visitors to count. My feeders are full for the moment.

seedy sunday

This was my haul from this years seedy Sunday event I was very restrained. Now just to put the date in my diary for next year!

Nothing can be done

All that can be done for the allotment at the moment is to pay the rent for the year. Snow is all around.

I have plenty that I should be doing, such as tidying & sorting both the allotment and garden. I need to be able to keep sensation in my fingers and toes to do that.

As you can see forgotten grow bags look so sad in the snow but they will have to stay there for now.

Happy New Year

I can't believe how fast we have arrived at 2010, time just seems to whiz by as I get older. Also being lashed to the unfaltering programme of school terms makes the seasons change with pace. So its a Happy New Year to everyone from green patch hope the year changes to give great growing seasons to you all.

I failed with some of last years resolutions I wanted to go to Harlow Carr & to the Malvern Show, I managed neither. I though I could reuse them for this year, how cheeky but I would like to recycle more.

Mostly for this year I want to plant more flowers, get my spuds in earlier and take more photographs.

I can't wait to see what the new year and decade brings.

( A little bit of 'spooks' ending in case anyone is conducting surveillance on whether I sort out the storage box)

Merry Christmas

Seasons greetings to all