Green life

In an ideal world, I would sit back and wait patiently for the water to drain away the the soil to stop making that sucking noise as it absorbs as much water as it can to store away for the long dry months to come.   But I’m impatient and this season isn’t going to wait with me.  Maybe if I just ever so gently pull a few weeds.  I’m not going to walk on the beds or anything and I won’t be doing any heavy digging.  It’ll be fine.

If it wasn’t for the seedlings in the greenhouse that I can tinker with, I’d be lost.  They are coming along so well, I fear I’ll run out of space.  I still  have all my cucumbers, zucchinis and pumpkins to plant, as these grow too fast to start too early.  Having them hang about in pots longer than necessary will give no favours.

The tomatoes I once feared had died in the frying before they’d even emerged, have put the overheating setback behind them and risen from the soil as strong seedlings.  The thing is – so have the ones I planted to cover any potential losses.  I now have twice as many as I actually need.  The funny thing (I can laugh about it now) is I carefully planned the garden this season an attempt to be organised and efficient and so everything in the the garden has it’s place and all temptation to over plant removed.   Now it will take all my self control not to think “oh one more won’t hurt” and I shall be very generous giving away all my excess this year.

Honey you are going to have to let go of that seed soon if you want to grow big and strong.

I can’t say i was happy to seem him here and can tell you he wasn’t there for much longer.

In an effort to defeat pest at the end of the season stealing my drying corn, I’ve started them off indoors earlier. This reminds me of how fast the do grow and why I don’t normally start corn off indoors. They’ll have cobs on them before its warm enough to put them out!

Leek seedlings emerge from the soil in such a creative way

It is almost like peanut seedlings emerge from the soil preformed as they are so robust immediately after emerging

How delicate are the true leaves on this cherry tomato seedling. I can’t wait to watch this one turn into a full grown plant.

It is hard to comprehend, if all goes well this tiny plant will grow a watermelon bigger than my head!

Sunflowers emerging remind me of some kind of post apocalyptic zombie uprising!

Some seeds emerge with their personality firmly established like the soft spikes on the seed leaves of this night scented stock.

The same but different. These rainbow beet (aka chard) seedlings are such vibrant colours.

The unmistakable ‘eyes peeping through the seed leaves” of a basil

Hope not lost lies buried in these seed trays. It may have been longer than some, but we will wait. (and probably sow some more – just in case)

Some days, as the rain beats down on the panes of glass in the greenhouse, I like to just sit there and observe.  I like to notice all the nuances of each seedling and how even within the same species the varieties can be so different. It is so hard to imagine how these tiny fragile seedlings will grow on to be such robust plants holding a great weight in fruit.   There is such wonder and awe to be gained from taking the time to watch a garden grow.

Come again soon – soggy spring will soon give way to sunny spring and we will all rejoice!

Sarah the Gardener  : o)