28th February

I went to the garden centre after work and bought some red and yellow bell peppers – 4 plug plants of each for £1.89 and also some plug plants of fuchsias – 2 bush type and one trailing, as well as some blue trailing lobelia (75p each). My idea is to have some hanging baskets on the fence posts going for colours that we don’t already have. Another purchase was 7m of 2m wide clear plastic sheeting for £8.40. I went straight round to the allotment and laid it out over the section I am going to plant the onions sets in. The sheeting will let in the sunlight and raise the temperature of the soil by a few degrees, making the ground more agreeable to the onions sets. After I have planted the onions, I will warm the ground of another section – probably the one for carrots.

 

What I’m supposed to be doing in the garden according to the books is nobody’s business. I’m supposed to be planting all sorts of legumes which I dislike eating so I’m not using up the ground on them when I can be growing more brassicas and squashes! The books say I should be sowing seeds of this and that, and I haven’t started on anything yet. We are having quite sunny days at present but the nights are cold and there is a fairly decent frost every morning, so I am somewhat reticent to be sowing anything outdoors. For indoor sowing I need to get a little more organised. I have been cutting up plastic containers to make pot labels on which I can write the details in those fancy pens you get for writing on CD and DVDs. Our council will not accept plastic food pots although they will accept plastic bottles. They claim there are no facilities in the UK to recycle them. I have a friend, however, who visits Canterbury fairly often and he takes his food pots there where they are warmly welcomed for recycling!

Next post: 2nd March