The seedling slaughter, or, death by over-ambition

March 21, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

I am known, amongst those of my close acquaintance, for occasionally over-reaching myself. I’ve always felt that if I’m going to hit a brick wall in any of my endeavours, I’ll do it at a run. Some of the time this attitude has served me well but horticulturally it’s becoming something of a problem. My […]

Sowing seeds with a toddler

February 22, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Ever since my oldest son was born, I’ve always tried to interest him in the outdoor world. We go for walks whatever the weather, we look at trees and plants and birds and investigate animal holes and tracks and calls. We also mess about in the garden, and he’s joined me in the garden since […]

Carrots: the second sowing

April 25, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

Setting everything out before we starts ensures the two year old is interested I always feel so brutal when I have to thin out seedlings and I really have to force myself to do it. I spur myself on with memories of the Great Garlic Failure of 2015 and try to remind myself that life […]

It’s a carrot calamity

April 15, 2017.Reading time 1 minute.

A while ago, toddler GarlicBoy and I sowed some carrot and beetroot seeds in one of our shadier raised beds. I have to admit, I have been seriously worried about them. I had to cover the seeds with a cloche tunnel because the cats kept lying on the raised bed but I think that stopped […]

Plugging the gaps in the raised beds

April 11, 2017.Reading time 1 minute.

I sometimes wonder if people with an allotment or vegetable beds in their garden face the same complications that I do when it comes to deciding what to plant where. Even if I’d been growing my own plants from seed rather than cheating and didn’t have to wait for the plug plants to be shipped […]

Carrot cloche vs cats: the grudge match

April 2, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

Hurrah! A new toy! Or is it…? There must be a way in. Plotting. Waiting. Bit more plotting. Imagine, for a moment, that you are a cat. A fluffy cat, one of a pair, confident in your status as adored object in a house largely ruled by the whims and caprices of small creatures. Now […]

Sowing seeds with a toddler: Proper propagators

March 29, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

With the growing space that I used to use pre-baby occupied by a busy toddler who has more personal belongings than many Royals, I’ve been severely limited in how many seeds I can sow from scratch. I did have a very small greenhouse but walls of glass and busy bouncing boys didn’t really seem to […]

Romanesco broccoli: A bad idea in the making

April 22, 2015.Reading time 2 minutes.

Have you ever started something and thought, halfway through, what a bad idea it was (by which time you were too advanced to go back?). This year I decided to plant some winter greens. I’ve got so little space in my tiny urban garden that I usually only grow soft fruits and summer vegetables but […]

Potting on

March 31, 2015.Reading time 2 minutes.

Once the first flurry of joyous seed sowing starts, I find that things quickly settle down to a comfortable rhythm of sowing and potting on. So it was with a big smile on my face that I proceeded to move the first of my tiny sprouts into small pots on the weekend. I think that […]

The first seedlings have sprouted!

March 16, 2015.Reading time 1 minute.

Last week I was in a rush to take the GarlicBaby to the local aquarium. I was putting the babyseat into the taxi when I turned my ankle on an uneven bit of pavement and broke my foot. Apparently I have a Lisfranc injury, which is pretty appallingly bad when you consider that it happened […]