greenhouse temperature and seeds

 

Here is the  new temperature guage for the greenhouse, it looks like its mild but we've a harsh wind coming from the east which is making it feel much colder... and of course its always a bit warmer in the greenhouse. 

My seeds have been ordered from MoreVeg Seeds , although any packets from last year that remain are  unsorted .... that is a plan from another day. Last years poor germination makes me think to start again with fresh seeds rather than use up the old. 

Two cats in the house now means there are frequent fights, they don't hurt each other but make a lot of noise. Hopefully they will settle down and I  do not need to keep improving my aim with the water spray bottle... its an old cleaning spray borrle labeled  'water for bad cats'. .......

I've not long finished reading the Larkin Family series, H E Bates,  and now am reading the complete works of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle,  on  my kindle, its so far been easy reading. it doesn't get too gorey or violent which are things I try to avoid. The Larkin books were purchased recently with an amazon token I recieved as a gift.... and surprised at how much it costs to have them electronically... the Sherlock one was a free download that I found in my content from 2000 and not read yet... don't know why it hadn't been read yet .

time to start seeds

Beans exhausted after supervising my splitting clumps of snowdrops to share some with a friend. they were dug up this morning, bulbs washed and put into damp paper. then transplanted into their new garden in the afternoon. hopefully they will put on a good show next spring

very mild temperatures and a mostly dry day, later in the week its to get back to freezing, and its to be wet most day, hopefully not too windy. 

time to start seeds , a tray of Onion Tosca

and a tray of Leek Blue Solaise

in the greenhouse with plastic propagator lids over the top. these veggies can cope with the cold

I've had seeds from MoreVeg before, they always do well, they are in smaller packets which are perfect for the home garden grower, and very economical to buy. 

the light was fading and those last photos have a funny tint to them. the streetlamps weren't on yet but it was starting to get dark. the days are noticably longer which pleased me very much. I use a SAD lamp in the mornings to try and combat the winter blues. 
 

todays garden

Nice weather all week which lasted into the weekend,  I got  lots of laundry outside yesterday to dry, which keeps me happy.  Seeded in the greenhouse in two medium pots are Carrot Little Fingers and Carrot Royal Chantenay. I tried to space the seeds out but its difficult.. I will thin/eat them as they grow.

Seeded directly into the middle bed, under the pallet collar/shower door ''cloche''. Carrot Ideal, Yellow Beetroot Boldor, Red Beetroot Detroit, Parsnip Hollow Crown and Turnip Sweetbell.( have marked these as 25^th because I guessed the date... lol) . 

The beetroot and parsnips are more or less 'station sown' , but the carrot and turnip seeds get more of a ''row'' thing going on because they are so small and run away from me, which means they need careful checking and thinning if necessary. ... 

Beetroot , parsnip and turnip are in small blocks about 16 inches square, and the carrots are 16 inches one way, three feet across... ish... because the wooden frame is a bit smaller than three feet. . And I must try to remember to draw plans this year because it really does not stay in my head from year to year, never has.....

Thinly scattered rock dust before the seeding and I marked out my 'squares' with calcified seaweed. I think these things do well as long term/slow release additives. The bed is dug over with horse poop so thats where most of the ''oomph'' will come from. 

In the bottom right corner of that photo is a lot of white horse hair.. I've been putting bags and bags of it into the garden which all the neighborhood birds. large and small, have been taking for their nests. its amazing watching them but have failed to get any photos. point the camera and they fly away...  

 

does gardening save you money ? ...... does it have to ?

 

this post from Lifehacker suggests you can be saving money with your vegetable garden, buts its not all sweetness and light .

I wonder sometimes too, with bargain stores selling vegetables cheaper than big supermarkets, speciality vegetable shops are few and far between and those have high prices, but always very good quality. 

one thing the article did not 'quantify' , or price?.. no words for it... is the feeling of satisfaction that you get when adding your own vegetables to a meal. even if you haven't grown enough for a whole meal.... a few winter months I was more than happy to make a small omlette one day at the weekend with a few little bits of broccoli, some chard and kale that has survived and grown a little through the winter. at this precise moment I could probably pick about three leaves of chard and some chives... perfect for an omlette.. but I have no eggs... lol. 

so my question is ''does gardening have to save you money?''

and my answer is... no it doesn't have to because it will provide enjoyment and health in itself, I think overall that it does save money and provide good fresh vegetables, the expense of potting compost and equipment is considerable, it can take years to build things up. the last couple of years I've purchased a few new seed trays and propagator lids each spring, I now have just about enough and wont' have to look about for alternative.. the kitchen washing up bowl or a plastic storage contaier, these are useful things too. lol.. 

 yesterday I seeded the little trays with a mix of lettuce seeds, greens for small leaves, some peas just for the leaves,,, fashionably these things are call 'micro-greens' now. 

seeds planted include,...Peas Ambassador, Endives, Mustard, Pak Choi, Cabbage, Beetroot, Collards, Turnips, Oriental Spicy Mix and a lettuce mix that is varous left over seeds that I've mixed into a plastic container.only the peas are new seeds. all the others are from last year and older which is sometimes a hit or a miss, but its all in the fun... have fun.

a couple of pics from Saturday

in the greenhouse with the sun on his back.

 filling up the shelves with seed trays.

April

 

todays pickings of purple sprouting broccolli and chives, about to be made into an omlette and eaten for dinner. 

I'm tired out from work, weary of the changing weather. 

following are temperatures and what's been sown in the greenhouse, as typed into my garden diary adn copied and pasted to here.

22/3/21                18.7        11.8        3.8

27/3/21                19.1        9.9          2.2          sown  ===some more Cipolla Rossa Di Tropea Onion as they just don’t look like germinating, Blumen Sapore Italiano. === Pepper Largo De Reus Pairal, More Veg.=== Pepper Quadrato  Asti Rosso, Blumen Sapore Italiano===Carrot Ideal, baby type.. for little first carrots.Suttons===Courgette Black Beauty===Pumpkin Small Sugar===Cucumber Lemon===Leaf Beet Perpetual Spinach, More Veg===Spinach Giant Nobel===

31/3/21                21.2        9.7          4.2

2/4/21                   21.9        2.1          0.3

3/4/21                   27.3        21.9        2.1

4/4/21                   20.1        12.8        1.5          sown === Cauliflower Romanesco, Suttons === Cauliflower Snowball Y Improved, Sow n Grow===  Broccolli Continuity,Suttons === Broccoli Walthan, Sow n Grow=== Kale Vates Blue Scotch Curled, Sow n Grow=== Cabbage or Kale Cavalo Nero di Toscana,  Blumen Sapore Italiano  === Cabbage Winter Jewel, Suttons === Cabbage Savoy Perfection, Sow n Grow=== Green Pepper Pepperone Friggitello, Blumen Sapore Italiano=== Chard Ruby Red, Sow n Grow === Chard Lucullus, Sow n Grow=== Collards Vates, Sow n Grow=== Brussells Sprouts Long Island Improved, Sow n Grow === Arugula, Sow n Grow===  Anise, Sow n Grow===Fennel, Sow n Grow===

Sundays gardening

greenhouse temperatures. max 23 c   current 18.5   min 2.5c    seeding herbs and wild flower mix into new seed tray/propagator; coriander, sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley and re-sown onion seeds, Cipolla Rossa Di Tropea.

old propagator lids on the left.. look how yellow they are compared to the nice new clear ones. will use the old ones till they fall apart, they've given good years of use.

 bookmark from Wildside, keeping place

favourite gardening book. I reccomended this to a friend who unfortunately bought the 'new edition' which I've looked at and don't like at all.. the author has changed his views and ways of doing things over time.. so I'll only recommend the old edition, not the new one... what suits some people doesn't suit others.

I've been piling horse poop on top of this bed for a couple of weeks, bringing home a couple of bags at a time in the car.

that's it dug in now, weeds removed, stones removed. I know its not been tended well for a number of years but the soil seems such poor quality.. like its never been dug over before... oh well, it can only improve with work and time.

these are snakeshead fritillary which were coming up underneath the twisted hazel... its the right time to move snowdrops.. but not these... but, being on my knees removing the snowdrops from under there, I just thought well move them while I'm there... as not likely to want to crawl under again.... hope they survive. snowdrops and fritts now in a place where they can be better seen when they come up next year.

rain on a Saturday

 Empire Biscuit from a local bakery, my favourite. 

not taken record of temperature every day, max 21.9, current 11.5, min 3.9.    Not been the nicest weather though its not freezing,  typical of my days off .. its raining and cold.         

seeds planted today,  7 of Aubergine de Barbentane (More Veg)  and 6 of Pepper Quadrato Asti Rosso (Blumen Sapore Italiano).. these are in a wee mini plastic propagator from B&Q on the windosill in spare room.

garden update

 

I forget if I've posted this photo ...  must really make a seed list. And I really can't keep garden notes on the lap top, I never update it.

there are some snowdrops showing,  but not in flower yet, and can see some cyclamen green leaves in a couple of places.

 can still  pick some broccoli, some leeks and some spinach, so those are things that need 'more of' for this year. 

in the greenhouse today – using seed trays and old high dome propagators.....

Onions sown.... Walla Walla and Cipolla Rossa Di Tropea

Leeks sown..... Blue Solaise and Large American Flag

the best christmas present, a digital Maximum Minimum thermometer.... todays readings are...  max  9.9c (49.8f), min -3.9c (25f), temperature as I was planting about 2.30pm was  5.2c dropping to 3.9c by the time I was done. Casper kept running between the house and the greenhouse telling me that he's not a gardening cat at the best of times, and it was too cold!!

waiting on the rain

 leeks and onions , ready to be planted out, and a covered tray of just sown peas and beans, I feel I'm a bit late getting round to doing things.

 broccoli, chives and spinach, ready to be planted out, they were potted on from seed trays into a poor mixture of tomato grow bag mixed with topsoil. garden centers still closed due to coronavirus

these two beds have been covered with plastic over the winter to stop weeds growing and keep the cats out, I've been dumping bags of horse manure onto them for the last few weekends, so they've now been turned over with it , not deeply - just the one forks depth. as its forecast rain (last night as well) I've left the plastic off and will put it back on later today or tomorrow. Now they're ready for stuff to get planted into them.
will try to upload a video view of the garden too.

From the MetOffice
Strathclyde weather forecast:
Today:

Cloudy start across the south with patchy rain, but drier conditions with sunny spells across Argyll soon spreading south. The rest of the day then looks dry and, although much cooler than recently, long spells of sunshine. Northeasterly breeze easing. Maximum temperature 13 °C.

Tonight:

A fine end to the day with some late sunshine then a dry night with long clear spells. With winds continuing to ease a widespread frost is expected. Minimum temperature -3 °C.

Monday:

A cold start to a sunny and dry morning. A little more in the way of cloud for the afternoon but remaining dry with sunny spells. Mainly light northerly winds. Maximum temperature 14 °C.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday: Risk of a few light showers across Argyll, but mainly dry through the coming days with clear or sunny spells. Temperatures rising but still risk of overnight frosts.

in the greenhouse

 lettuce, just before picking off leaves to have a nice plateful with my pizza and chips. and have started another tray off to keep the 'cut and come again' lettuce going... though thats all those seeds used up, I'll have to try to get some more. the plastic lids on these are years old, they've scrubbed up quite well but they are so brittle they are cracking and breaking bits off as you move them.

 various things, possibly beetroot and broccoli that can be planted out in a week or so, some herbs that will need potting on, the two little white pots are the tomatoes from Wildside, and I think there might be one or two more from the second planting of seeds that are just germinating.

just visible... Casper being Mr Grumpy of the Greenhouse, its warm, its out of the wind.... but not comfortable enough for his liking.

greenhouse problems

 part of the greenhousem south facing,  has been 'fixed' with some plastic 'wetwall' , possibly left over from the bathroom? or it might be bath siding? so the interior of the greenhouse is half shaded . it seems light enough so I am hoping things will still grow ok.

it looks very messy from this side and I don't like it at all. it will have to do till funds are available for either buying clear plastic that I can cut to size, or finding somewhere that cuts glass to size as both places I used before have closed.

broccoli and  spinach have germinated, the herbs have not yet shown anything. two tomatoes germinated out of the eight seeds planted.. so i've popped them into little baby pots, and have sown the rest of the seeds I have of those - a neighbour said he was unable to buy any tomato seeds and had I any spare..the answer to that is  no as I didnt' buy any, wanting to have these ones if they germinated and if they didn't I thought I could easily buy more. BUT as the nation goes garden crazy , because they've nothing else to do in lockdown while all this SHIT is going on .... toilet paper and veggy seeds.. seems you can't get them. hey ho.
will they continue to garden out of lockdown? who knows. I'm not bored at all, I'm still working at the hospital and its twice as much work for the same money. TIRED.

recycling and reusing in the greenhouse

reorganised the greenhouse  so its tidy.. ish.. seeds sown last weekend -  Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Chives Middleman and Perpetual Spinach, Wildside Pepper Mix Anaheim/Jalpeno, Pepper Largo de Reus Pairal, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Mint Pennyroyal, Coriander Green Aroma..   

 Lettuce and baby leaves are showing, leeks and onions are just starting to be seen. Tomatoes in the house are not showing yet.

Casper is not a gardening cat. Lol.I offered a new bed for him, but he didn't seem to be too impressed.

There's a  good mix and match of trays being old( and very brittle !), new ones  and rescued/re-used ones from a friend planting out her shop bought primroses. The primrose trays also had a plastic carry handle which I have cut up and used for some plant lables for today, also using sticks from Ice Creams and consider that a good reason to eat more.
I've had a bit of bother trying to get onto blogger , not sure why. hey ho.