If You Need Me, I’ll Be In The Garden! #SixOnSaturday @cavershamjj

This week has seen fluctuating temperatures in my Hampshire garden with morning frosts one day followed by a +10 degree difference the next morning. The birds are singing, the buds are…well budding and I’ve had itchy fingers to get planting.

First photo is about my gardening learning curve. Much of my gardening is experimental because I don’t know a lot yet. Last August I took a gamble on some Brussel Sprout plug plants when wondering through the garden centre. I nurtured them on a windowsill as they looked a bit delicate, then planted them out in September, I think. My farming relatives came to visit and shook their heads at my small plants, predicting that they would never produce any sprouts. Well this week I spotted tiny sprouts on the plants which made me very excited. You get to see them too!

Second photo is my Wiggly Wigglers composter. I rotate two buckets for non-meat kitchen scraps which I layer with Bokashi Active Bran. A mixture of microscopic bacteria, yeasts and fungi that work together to speed-up composting. I have been using this system for years, the liquid it produces is a concentrated plant feed, while the vegetable mix gets dug into my kitchen garden.

Photo three is my first set of potatoes set to chit. This year I am trying King Edwards, I do struggle to find a versatile potato which all the family like. I will sow some into felt potato grow bags and some into the veg patch. Last year in my experiment stage, I used supermarket potatoes which chitted while in my cupboard. I don’t know what variety any of them were, but they still gave me some potatoes.

Photo four goes to Red Campion (split into three after buying) and an Ox-Eye Daisy, bought at the garden centre in the ‘wild plant’ section. I like the idea of introducing more wild plant varieties which the pollinators will enjoy to my plot. They are in the new cold frame at the moment.

Picture five shows a couple of the mini propagators filled with Laurentia, a free pack of seeds from the front of my gardening magazine. I have them sat on bubble wrap and they are on the windowsill. I have a heat mat on my wish list to help start off other seedlings.

Final photo is of my Anemone corms. I read an article last evening which suggested soaking them overnight to soften the corms, then planting them in pots to get them going early before planting out after the frosts. So soaked they are! It’s all an experiment😉

Thank you for joining me for this #SixOnSaturday post. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you would like to know more about this hashtag, read founder Mr Propagator’s post here also find him on Twitter here.

Happy gardening

Rosie