Friday 28 March

Well of course we're a few days behind already - probably due to DD3 being full of cold and keeping me up lots in the night, ho hum. Anyway, an update. We got the seeds planted on Wednesday 19th - carrots, spring onion, pumpkin, tomatoes, sunflowers, parsley and mint. Girls helped plant enthusiastically, but since then have been more interested in the flowers and herbs we already have growing - must be more rewarding than looking at a pot of earth. And a week later the first shoots appeared - sunflowers closely followed by tomatoes. Girls were very impressed by how quickly they grew in the course of a day - checked them first thing and so first shoot peeking out, and by teatime there were lots and some had leaves opening out.

We also put some sunflower seeds in a jar on the windowsill, with kitchen towel wrapped round in jar. Within 2 days we had signs of growth with these seeds. We tried this so we could see what happened when the seeds first started growing - all the stuff that normally happens under the soil.

Now got to think about getting some grobags so we can plant seedlings out. Just bought some lettuce seeds so will probably sow some of these at the weekend. And need to think about sowing the sweet peas and nasturtiums. I'm hoping to dig up the border in the front garden and sow some of these directly in to garden.

Tuesday 18 March 2003

I don't think I realised just how much 'help' the girls were going to be in the garden. Today they decided that the plants needed a sleep and so laid the pots on their sides and covered them with blankets!! They've been enjoying watering them and are determined to move them out of the mini greenhouse and to various locations in the garden every day. We still haven't planted any seeds so set off to get some more compost then we could do that. Anyway came home with compost plus some more seeds - the girls picked a Suttons collection with tomatoes, baby corn, spring onions, carrots and mung beans - and a new watering can. By the time we finally made it home we only had chance to water the plants before we had to get ready for our weekly music group. So looks like it will be tomorrow before we finally get the seeds planted.

Thursday 13 March 2003

Well we decided we'd better get underway seeing that we had a nice fine day. At moment we don't have an awful lot of garden space so are going to be restricted to containers mainly. Having moved in mid-2002 we only had a couple of pots of flowers last year so decided it was about time they were replanted with some new flowers. And the pots of herbs we planted last year are still going well - with the exception of the mint which I thought was meant to be pretty resilient, so don't know how I managed to finish that off! Talked to the girls about what they wanted to grow and they came up with the following: strawberries, strawberries, apple tree, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, flowers. So looks like we'll be growing some strawberries. There is no way we can fit an apple tree in, though it would be nice. I think I'll wimp out and buy some tomatoe plants later in the season. Not sure about growing carrots in containers - guess it's a case of finding something that is deep enough. And personally I would like to have a go at growing potatoes in a bucket. Oh, and expanding the herb garden.

Anyway, had a root round in the shed and found the seed trays, various pots, tools, and compost, so set off to buy some plants and seeds to get us going. The girls picked some pumpkin seeds (think it was the picky on the front of a pumpkin lantern that helped there), and I got some parsley and sweet pea seeds. I'm hoping to grow the sweet peas in the front garden (this is mainly a small lawn with a border which currently has some bulbs in but needs a major overhaul). Also picked up some violas to go in our pots. Of course mum had to do all the mucky work, though Becca did fill a pot up with compost, but only if she could use the trowel. Both of them look at a worm, though insisted I didn't put it too close to them - what wimps have I produced?

I'm not sure how well our garden will survive the investigation of Lottie - she is now 12 months old and likes to explore. She was the only one who was happy to put her hands in the compost today, so perhaps she'll take after me? I must check to make sure that nothing has poisonous leaves/berries etc. as everything is likely to find its way in to her mouth.

Fingers crossed we'll be off to get some more seeds tomorrow.