So here we go...There are many changes to be made to this page. Let's call it work in progress shall we? But at least we're up and running. So excited!



Wednesday 16 June 2010

Up and running

When we moved into our house a year ago, I was beyond excited that there was already a greenhouse on the land.  My head got a little carried away and already I had visions of pineapples and bananas (told you I was new to this!) Alas....my Caribbean fruit emporium wasn't to be when on closer inspection the greenhouse was literally falling to pieces. The people in the house before us had, for some reason, built it on top of flagstones! The whole thing was collapsing into the ground...but not to worry...I found the perfect solution. I went down to my local garden centre and found this...

It's like a mini greenhouse. The beauty of this little cold frame is it really doesn't matter how much space you've got. It's ideal for little plots if you don't have room for the real thing. It was less than £30 too so we're all laughing*

*For the record...NOBODY was laughing when I was trying to erect the thing! All I can say is it's a good job little bear (Nicole) wasn't around. The air was turning a deep shade of blue with the profanities that came from my mouth! The instructions were less than helpful. But hey, it looks good!

When attempting to become a veggie growing extraordinaire, it really does help if you've got amazing neighbours and friends who've been doing it a lot longer than you. Don't feel scared to ask advice. If I hadn't I wouldn't even dare to attempt any of this. Once you've asked for help, I guarantee you will be inundated with freebies passed over the fence.  Our lovely neighbours David and Wendy gave Nicole her first ever tomato plant. She knows that it's her responsibility to look after it, and to make it more fun for her, she chooses to feed it with a water pistol. She must be doing something right because it's flourishing and covered in beautiful flowers.

Talking of friends, I'm going round to see my friend Nick today, (her hubby works with mine). She's got some pumpkin, courgette, tomato and cabbage seedlings for me. I shall stick them in the mini greenhouse and see what happens...fingers crossed! I'm determined to carve my own home grown pumpkin this Halloween!

8 comments:

  1. Hi
    really enjoying your blog. Having only grown rhubarb and blackberries before, we are going all out with tomatoes, courgettes, french beans, blackcurrants, onions and purple sprouting broccoli this year. We only have a smallish garden just North of London, (well OK Watford), but it is still so amazing seeing it grow.

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  2. You are making me think seriously about doing something like this next year. I was given some seeds for green beens a few weeks ago and they are coming along nicely at the minute!

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  3. Hi, go go go grow. As a RHS student nearly qualified, here to help, will follow you on twitter. Growing stuff is amazing.

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  4. I planted some pumpkin seeds in seed trays in mini greenhouse, nothing for two weeks and then I worked away for four days and came back to fairly big leaves in four of the trays. Have put in bigger pots already. Good luck with yours

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  5. Thank you ALL for your support. It means so much. All your help is just amazing and I look forward to hearing all your tips and suggestions. This is just ace!!! x

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  6. I'm a mum of two (6yrs and 3months) and go the 'grow your own' stuff. Love it and especially excited about growing veg for weaning.
    Here are some brilliant and very helpful veg growing blogs by mums -I copy nearly all their stuff!
    http://www.mytinyplot.co.uk/
    http://www.carrotsandkids.com/
    http://littlegreenfingers.typepad.com/
    And this one is also full of brilliant info http://www.fennelandfern.co.uk/blog/
    All but littlegreenfingers seem to be on twitter too :-)
    Am toying with starting a blog too, especially with the weaning stuff but we'll see!
    Good luck!

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  7. Rachel,
    littlegreenfingers is on Twitter. @dawnisaac

    Well done Jayne. Glad you're enjoying the gardening!
    As for kids and fruit and veg, my 6yr old has remained stubbornly anti strawberries for 6 years. 'I hate them', is what I always heard. Yesterday, he picked one from a pot at home, and ate it. He enjoyed it so much that he ate 2 more. Then he delved into the lettuce plants. A few chews, started wretching and spat it out. Well, Rome wasn't built in a day. He did though ask this morning whether any more strawberries were ready for eating yet....

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  8. last year, I got the 'need to grow my own' bug. I started with some tomatoes and cucumber and it all went well. This year, although my garden is not so big, I have all manner of veggies growing - and some of them are from the seeds of the ones I grew last year - bonus - in essence, free food!

    If any of your kindly neighbours give you any tips on how to keep the slugs at bay, please do let us know. The little blighters have eaten a whole row of carrot seedlings in the space of a couple of days (I've tried lots of methods, but none really seem to work).

    Monda
    x

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