Hello and happy new year to everyone! It's still cold and dark, and set to get colder but I've made a start with sowing seeds in my polytunnel already.
Some plants benefit from being started early however, it's worth noting that you need to make sure that you're growing the right things for this time of year or that you are helping your seedlings by adding heating and lighting, or growing on your windowsill at home. If you don't you could end up with weak, leggy seedlings that won't survive for long.
The plants I've chosen to grow early this year are tomatoes, chillies, peppers and aubergines. To help them I'm using my heated propagators with the new addition of lighting this year. I've never used lighting before so this will be interesting to observe whether it'll make a difference or not.
Not a disco but my new grow lights!
Far too many seeds! I've limited it to three of each variety to make sure I have space for everything.
Reusing old plastic - I never throw out my old plastic trays or inserts unless they're totally useless.
The very small tomato seed.
Admittedly, last year I got carried away with sowing seeds and got far too many plants so this time I'm sowing three of each variety. Last year I found myself running out of room for everything and overcrowding can lead to diseases and pests spreading easily.
Before I got started with sowing, I made sure that everything was clean. Everything was removed from the polytunnel and then I added two garlic candles. I really wasn't sure whether or not this actually helped. The poly did smell of garlic for a month or so but I also then disinfected the place, including the shelves to rid the place of any plant diseases. Last year our garden resident hedgehog actually gave birth and kept her two hoglets in my poly so I made sure that no one was hibernating in there before any form of disinfecting took place, to prevent any harm to any wildlife.
I also washed the trays and inserts that I use - I rarely throw these away unless they are completely worn out and damaged. Where I can I use toilet rolls and other recycled equipment.
Once everything was ready it was just a case of adding compost and a light watering. With the lighting I'm going to extend the daylight by just a couple of hours a day and see if that makes a difference.
Elsewhere in the garden I've been keeping tender plants indoors and have a geranium (pelargonium not wild geranium) that has been flowering non stop for me. It's now residing in my conservatory where walking past its bright red flowers puts a smile on my face every time!
Bright and cheerful geranium.
At Christmas I was lucky enough to get a bird box camera as a present, so I've build that in to my top bird box, where blue tits normally nest each year. Birds can start prospecting for nest sites now and the camera has already caught a blue tit peeking in a few times. My daughter is very excited by the idea of being able to watch any young birds being raised and I think that this is a great way of getting children involved in learning about nature. In order to help make things a little easier for our feathered friends, I've also made use of some old wire and have made a couple of holders for nesting material. I'll put out these out in February. Closer to the time I'll show you how I made these and what I've used to fill them.
But for now, plan your plots and start preparing. I'm hoping that this will be a better year than 2020!
