growingstrong's Blog

Since the Midlands was officially stated as being in a drought there has been little else BUT rain. With the occasional hale, thunder & snow storm thrown in for good measure.

The weather of late has effected the growth of just about everything, small leaves of lettuce are about 3 inches high. Peas seem to be loving the rain, still only about 8-10 inches in height but really bushy plants from them so far. No being able to get out side much the slugs had a feats on what little Radishes had managed to fight through the elements.

Purple Broccoli, Kale, Onions, Spring onions (fingers crossed) are holding out & managing to keep growing, slowly.

Nothing has come through from the Cauliflower or Cucumber seeds.

Hoping the last few days of windy sold sunshine & no rain continues so I can get out & start some fresh sowing. Also need to cut the grass in the back garden, the only thing that is growing lately . . . .

Just playing a bit of a waiting game now, Greenhouse pretty much full to the rafters.

Everything outside is growing nicely, although it just seems like forever sometimes between the sprouting & actually being big enough to pick, or is that just me being impatient?

Some of the taller flowers seem to be suffering under the weight of the wind in the last few days but I can hopefully remedy that with some small canes etc. Everything else seems to be coping & with today’s hail & rain & sunshine & hail & rain & sunshine It’s extremely unlikely I will need to water today at all.

Happy digging x

I spent a little time on Sunday checking things over, even had a little help from my cousin. Gave her some sowing jobs to do, but with the amount of seed she dropped onto the garden who knows what will be growing & where it will be growing.

Didn’t have as much Snow here in the Midlands as was forecast. But I was prepared just in case, covered everything over with plastic & fleece. Didn’t want all the hard work going to waste. The mini Poly Tunnel has been a great asset, might get another one. The Snow came & went all in one day (yesterday) I have left everything covered today, just in case, doesn’t really need it as today is quiet nice just a little chilly. Hope it continues to improve so I can get stuck in at the weekend.

GOJI BERRY SEEDS: Great news as the Goji Berry seeds I sowed a couple of weeks ago have started to sprout (about 10 so far). Fingers crossed they have’t been too affected by the weather.

Over the weekend I have found a couple of Sprouts in the planting areas that have grown a significant amount of roots, Is it worth leaving them & see what happens or just put them in the compost?

Thanks so much to all at www.vegetableseeds.net for the £10 voucher, it is very much appreciated & will no doubt come in handy soon.

So, I finish work in a couple of hours (yes I am writing this while at my desk) and I want to get stuck in with those weeds, got a few more things that need sowing & some seedlings to move outside.

I also brought a mini poly tunnel for the pound shop so I want to have a play with that too.

I seriously can not believe the changes in weather we have had in the last few days. From Thunder on Friday, Sun, Rain & Hail on Saturday, Snow & Rain on Sunday. Even this morning we had Frost.

On a better note I finally found my Illusive Onions sets. Managed to get a few in the ground between the rain & hail.

Until next time . . . keep digging.

Managed to fit so much in to Sunday, it was great. First, the Sprouts, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Radish & Spring Onion seedlings are all putting in an appearance. Nothing from the Peas or Leeks yet though. (Can’t have everything)

I brought these Oranges & Lemons in cans to give ago. Only 59p each. So they are currently on the windowsill & I’m hoping that they start to grow.

Sowed a load of flowers including Poppy ~ Marigold ~ Dianthus ~ Freesia ~ Hollyhock ~ Godetia ~ Primrose ~ Sunflower Teddies ~ Chinese Lanterns ~ Peacock Orchids

On the food, veg & fruit side of sowing I also went to town by sowing Turnip ~ Celery ~ Parsnip ~ Beetroot ~ Pumpkins ~ Purple Broccoli ~ Greyhound Cabbage ~ Peppers
A few herbs: Chives ~ Basil ~ Coriander & tidied up my mint plant.
A few all year round seeds: Cress ~ Mung Beans ~ Mustard

I don’t know if these will work but once I get an idea in to my head I have to give it a go. So after painstakingly extracting seeds from Strawberries & Goji berries, leaving them to dry for weeks, I have put these in dirt too.

Well, I think I’ve got off to a great start anyway. got a bit more planted out last weekend. Redberry bush & Blue Berry bush potted, Cranberry bushes in place too.

Got Cucumber, Spring Onion & Radish seeds sowed. Even managed to plant a few potatoes.

But going on the weather report for the next week that could all change & I’ll have to start from scratch, lets hope they have it wrong.

Flowers are starting to peak through the dirt now & the 4 Giant’s are starting to open up which is great too. I can’t wait to see these in bloom.

On another note I still can’t find the Onion sets anywhere . . . Dreading when I do find them, they will no doubt be full of shoots & roots

The last 3 mornings I have been outside at 7am sowing seeds before work. Neighbours will think I have gone barmy if they notice.

On Wednesday I planted, Peas ~ Cauliflower ~ Lettuce ~ Carrots
On Thursday I planted Tomatoes ~ Leeks ~ Sprouts ~ Red Berry bush
This morning (Friday) I planted Radish ~ Spring Onions

Hoping the weather holds so I can get some more done over the weekend. Really want to get the Cranberry & Blueberry bushes in the ground. Potatoes are nearly ready to be set too & I have to find my Onion bulbs because I can’t remeber where I have put them.

Right need to get back to work for now, until next time, Have Fun

Well, as the title suggests nothing really to update. Haven’t been able to get outside with the amount of frost, freezing fog & last week all the snow that appeared on Saturday night.

I have managed to clear out the greenhouse & get a new diary filled when I want to plant things & when I want to do them (need to be a bit realistic here as probably loose it after a few weeks anyway)

Hoping get get out this week sometime just to give things a once over before the weather turns nasty again but as with most ‘best laid plans’ everything has so far gone straight out of the window.

I have now got a Blueberry, Cranberry & Red berry bushes all ready to plant (again just need to wait for the weather to subside a little first)

I do seem to be getting a few spam comments on my posts, is anyone else having the same problems? any ideas on how to stop them would be appreciated. Thanks