Wednesday, April 02, 2008

More Compost

On the weekend when it was raining, I did some potting up in the greenhouse. Naturally, on Monday it was sunny, warm and dry making me almost weep with frustration. In potting things up and pricking out seedlings in the greenhouse, I used up the last of the big bag of multi-purpose compost I purchased a couple of weeks ago. I thought that the 100 liter bag that I bought was going to be plenty. I guess I was mistaken.

Today on the way home from Dundee (where the sky was so blue it made me blink), I stopped in at a garden centre in Cumbernauld just off the dual carriage way (highway) and saw that they had potting compost on sale. Buy three 75 liter bags for £10. A fresh supply of 225 liters will see me through just fine. I looked for some replacement mimulus seed, but this particular garden centre didn't carry it. I think I'll give up on growing that particular annual flower from seed and just BUY the plants when the time comes.

Now I can get those vegetables seeds started. I can increase our short growing season by starting things in the greenhouse. Tomatoes and sweet corn have already been started and now that I have all this lovely new compost, I can get the beans, courgettes (zucchini) and pumpkins started too. I love growing green beans. I prefer pole beans rather than the bush variety. I really enjoy making the bean frames out of garden twine and long bamboo canes. I think I'll start a few lettuce plants while I'm at it. Why not? It will give me a nice head start on summer salads.

It isn't quite warm enough to sow basil or coriander (cilantro) even in the greenhouse but that is on the horizon.

Things I may try in the greenhouse this year:
Aubergine (egg plant)
Chili pepper
cucumber

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