Kitchen Garden Forum

My Mum has an honesty box and it never ceases to amaze me who abuses it…… from rough looking van drivers, to old people and well dressed, posh car owners….

I feel like the season has begun. Filled all the pots for the propagator yesterday and set them to warm up overnight. Today I sowed tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, parsley, spring onions, mangetout, basil and sweet peas. Propagator up and running.

Excellent Geoff, the new growing season is under-way proper now…

Potted on my Onions from seed today, put them in 500 gram old yoghurt pots to free up my propagator. Put some cells in there to warm up the soil to sow chillies, peppers and some sweet peas that I will grow inside the greenhouse for some early blooms for the house.

Like Geof said Lidl had the normal amount out on the shelves. I did not go for the buy the lot option even though there was no limit on amount you could have. I just got my usual 2 toms which lasts the fortnight until I shop again. I did pop into Sainsbury's for my favourite wine which was on offer, (birthday treat) & they had gaps & as is the way I got stuck behind someone who spent more time moaning to the cashier about only little expensive ones left than packing her bags!

When I lived in Iraq, it was 'rice and red stuff' or 'red and wet' every day. When I went to Scotland on leave I said I wouldn't eat a tomato for two whole weeks. Yippee! Luxury. No tomatoes. And decades later friends/relatives still say, "You don't like tomatoes do you?"

I DO like tomatoes, I just don't like having them for every meal every day.

My parents put their excess produce outside their gate (they live in very rural Dorset) and last year got people knocking on the door with jams etc in return, someone even left cash, when they were free to take! Apples, cucmbers etc.

Thought you might like this we received in an email this week. A friend of my wife's had a knee replacement about a week later than her so they have been exchanging progress reports on exercises, mobility, pain and the like; both are doing well. The friend and her husband Peter are both in their eighties and have a beautiful big garden, this will be the first year they haven't been in the Yellow Book of Open Gardens. She was saying she had been on an excursion to do a bit in the greenhouse then she said what amused us:
"Peter is still pruning tree roses. I wish he wouldn’t do it when there is an ambulance strike."

Now that is exactly the sort of comment, Cook would come out with…

Swift potatoes living up to their name, showing through planted in polytunnel on February 1st.

PS : Lettuce from Wednesday sowing germinating but just realised I haven't sown any turnips.

Managed to get down today & although time limited I made some progress & can say Plot 1 left hand side is now ready! This years leek beds weeded, dug, fed & covered until needed. Only 1 bed to be prepped on the right side. Plot 2 is moving along nicely as pigeons or rats made it easier as totally decimated my PSB despite the barrier. (Some ranting involved)! Kind of caught up on the prep stuff enough to move onto painting the shed & finishing replacing some of the paths & sowing & potting on etc.

I'm rather pleased as it seemed so daunting getting such bad weather halting all progress for so long!

Gosh Westi, I’m exhausted just reading all that!

Westi, I don't suppose you'd like a free holiday (or holidays!) in the Medway area of Kent? We'd welcome you with open arms!

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I think this is going to be a bit of a gardening weekend for us as well (in a kind of limited way). We can get some of the big outdoor pots planted up.

Most of the supermarket bought potted herbs are now on their last legs. And even the little hydroponic pots aren't doing great but they saw us through the winter.

Well the digging bit was pretty easy as if I even get the fork out the dog goes mad & when it goes into the soil she goes into overdrive helping. Not altogether helpful but I do encourage it as her digging turns the clods I fork up & breaks down the soil brilliantly & creates beautiful little piles of soil that looks like it has been sieved. Just a rake over, a bit of a fight with the black plastic cover & some bricks & done without my back complaining!

Still a work in progress trying to teach her how to dig the spud trenches though!

OH - your guise of starting late winter bits & bobs making it seem spring is a little closer - big fail my friend!

You didn't register Spring on the site so she didn't get your post! Bloody freezing again & moving into March next week so you best register & PM her asap to remind her that she doesn't need to try to outdo her mate Summer for creating havoc; in fact she could just take Summer out for a beer & pork scratchings & discuss ways of getting Autumn & Winter in control! It worked before didn't it? Both us & the insects, birds & general wildlife understood it.

If any issues arise then they could all focus on the bad, greedy big guys who are still polluting the planet, not us small growers who may have done wee naughty things in the past but in all innocence!