One of these things is not like the others...

Hello readers.

It's still way too cold to be doing much in the way of planting, but I have got my leeks and a tray of salad leaves ticking away on my fairly sunny dining room. I'm itching to get something planted now, but this coming week promises yet more freezing temperatures. So annoying!

Anyway, here are a few images of my early seedlings. See if you can spot the odd one out...

Salad Leaves - Mixed

Can you see it, peeping over the edge at the front right? What is that? Let me know, please!!

The odd one out!

And here are my leeks - looking a bit leggy, perhaps, but I think they're doing ok...

Leggy Leeks

Well, that's about all I've got to report at the moment. Hoping that things will busy up soon so I can share more!

The Great Potato Plan

Last year, I did an experiment with some Charlotte potatoes I had left over in the fridge, by chitting and planting 4 of them into an old recycling bin. Now most seasoned gardeners will say not to do this, as they are apparently treated to stop them from sprouting and will not give off a very good yield. I’m here to tell you you’re wrong, and I know this because last year, from those 4 seeds, I got 54 potatoes. That’s a yield of 13.5 potatoes per seed. If that’s not proof that potatoes will grow from shop bought potatoes, then I don’t know what is.

So this year, I will be doing the same again, and have selected 2 varieties of early potato to chit and plant. I have 3 of each variety, so 6 in total, and I will be planting them in bins again, using just ordinary compost.

I have done a bit of research on this, and I can promise you it’s not a fluke – I came across a gent on Youtube who has grown shop bought potatoes of many different varieties over the years, with success. And I’m sure there are others.

Away from potatoes, I have also been planning the rest of my garden for the year ahead. I want to spend as little as possible because the aim is to grow at least a little bit of my own food and to save some money. So I have raided the box of seeds that I managed to collect last year, and with a few exceptions will be growing most of it for free.

Here is a list, by bed, of what will be growing in my garden this year:

Lettuce - Little Gem

Spring Onion - White Lisbon & Shimonita

Garlic - Spanish (experiment from shop bought cloves)

Cabbage - Savoy

Beetroot - Boltardy & Bolder

Radish - Sparkler

French Beans - Dwarf Variety

Chilli - Cayenne

Sweet Peppers - Unknown

Leeks - Musselborough

Cape Gooseberries

In containers:

Potatoes

Carrots

Strawberries

Basil

Mint

Chives

As well as saving some cash, the idea is for us to eat more healthily as a family, and I’m hoping that having them available outside our back door will encourage us to do this.

I hope that you will visit me here and join my journey over the coming months, and perhaps even be inspired to try growing your own veg. And I hope that I’ll prove to you that no matter how small a space you have, you can grow something.

A very snowy update

It's been a few years since we've had this much snow, and despite living in a town on a densely populated estate, we are pretty much stranded today. For your entertainment, here is a view of my garden today...

My Naivety

Well. If you remember, a few weeks ago I sowed a little pot of salad leaves, which I had hoped would sprout on my kitchen windowsill. I thought that even though it was getting cooler, there would be just enough heat and light on my kitchen windowsill to allow this small amount of plants to survive. How silly do I feel now - the too-short days are taking their toll, and the plants have all stretched and are beginning to flop over and fail.

I have placed them on my counetrtop, whcih has spotlights along it, in the hope it will help them, but I fear they're beyond that. Sadly.

Better luck nect time...

***Edit*** The packet that these seeds came in says that they can be planted all year round on a windowsill....perhaps light isn't the problem? Research needed!

A pre-frost update...

As you'd expect at this time of year, things in the garden are pretty quiet. But I did manage to get my garlic out into the raised bed this week, and so far they are setlling in to their new home well. I'm so excited to see how they turn out, since they were only shop-bought bulbs.

Annoyingly, the pot which holds the salad leaves was knocked over by a clumsy workman, which flattened 2 of the fragile plants, but they still seem to be growing, so we'll see whether they end up being useable or not.

I will keep you updated on both, and anything else that happens in the garden.

We have garlic!

Look what's arrived! The jury is still out on whether I will get any actual garlic, but my fridge garlic cloves have sprung to life...

Final plantings of the year...?

While it’s still warm enough for me to want to be out in the garden, I have in the past week planted some garlic into pots, and sown a pot of salad leaves to keep on the kitchen windowsill. Small beginnings maybe, but it’s always nice to have something on the go during the autumn and winter months.

I haven’t tried growing garlic before, so this is a bit of an experiment, using an unused shop-bought garlic. Some people say this doesn’t work, and some people have had some success with it. I didn’t see the harm in giving it a go, as the garlic would more than likely have ended up being thrown away in any case. In just a short space of time, there is evidence that the cloves are taking root! How exciting! I actually thought that the recent rain we’d had might have drowned them, but so far so good. I’m waiting to see whether or not they sprout.

A sprinkling of salad seeds has so far produced 12 tiny little sprouts. I wanted these to keep on my kitchen windowsill so that I can pick at them for little salads and sandwich fillings.

I think that’s probably about all I am going to plant until the beginning of the year. Plans are in motion, so watch this space!