Slowly but surely putting one foot in front of the other, the garden has been planted out. It came as a bit of a surprise as I was just doing the next job on the list without looking beyond it for fear of being overwhelmed. So, when I stood up, stretched, and looked around I was pleasantly surprised to find I’d made it to the end of all the plantings. There were no more blank slots that my carefully created plans required plants to be put. This unexpected arrival was masked by the sheer number of plants still in the greenhouse and in the hardening off corner. I had hedged my bets back in the spring and sown far more than I needed and then in my impatience waiting for them to germinate, I sowed even more.
You think after all these years I would trust the fresh seed, and the quality seed raising mix and my well taught and experienced techniques and my frequent visits to the greenhouse that kept the soil warm and moist. But seeds of mistrust where also sown ‘what if they don’t come up….’ So, I sowed more. In a couple of cases it was necessary, but if I’d waited a few days longer I wouldn’t have needed to have sown so many spares and saved myself a lot of unnecessary work caring for seedlings I didn’t need.
Having said that if was nice to have spares, although the ones from my original sowing session would have been enough. I always sow the one I want, and a spare, just in case and then a back up to each of these. This should really be enough to cover any mishaps and eventualities and be able to bless friends with spares. But then the frenzied panicked wild abandon sowing occurs, and I end up with far too many.
Those spares did come in handy, due to the inclement weather I had to dip into the extra plants in waiting and get them to take the place of their predecessors who succumbed to conditions no pampered seedlings should need to endure. Sadly, a couple of these brave plants also fell to the undesirable situation this spring has wreaked upon us. With summer just a week and a half away, I feel nervous to find homes for the remaining seedlings, however it is time for them to leave the nest.
All that remains to be done now is a good deep tidy up, the pots and bags and items that were cast aside at the end of a task, much to my shame, need to be gathered up and disposed of appropriately or washed and put away. The dome needs a sort and a clean as it is no longer as well ordered as it was at the start of the season.
The garden itself, while now planted, still needs care and attention, with regular weeding, feeding, watering and tending to tendrils and laterals and doing a spot of training to urge wayward pumpkins in the places I have prepared for them. And a light sowing of successional seeds to ensure a continual supply. This can all be done from the slower pace of only caring for the plants in the Monday row on a Monday and the Tuesdays on a Tuesday and so on. I look forward to this brief season of slow calm before the harvest gets going and I’m in the kitchen processing the harvest in earnest across the summer months.
Spring is never an easy season in the garden as there is a lot of hard work to be done, but compound this with cruel and crazy weather and a multitude of life issues, I for one will be pleased to put this season behind me.
Come again soon – summer is nearly here.
Sarah the Gardener : o)
What crisp little seedlings! Long may they flourish.
I seem to have the opposite problem to yours: I plant seeds and tell myself not to get carried away, because I need to wait a good long time before deciding they’re not going to come up and then planting more. So I wait… and I’m still waiting for some of them, most notably the coriander. I’ll sow some more this week!
When all else fails, you can always buy seedlings. I think I may need to buy some basil seedlings as it is now just a little too late if I want to have some lovely fragrant leaves for my summer cooking. I tried from seed and they didn’t come to much and then I resowed them and then I tried direct sowing in the garden and then I bought some seedlings and planted them a day before the hail and that nailed them. I need to buy more. : o)
I am on the other side of the world and leaning on my fork pulling up the last plants and waiting for the snow! There is always so much to do and only limited energy to do it, but it is still so worth doing! 🌱🌱
It is hard to push through low energy levels, but sometimes I find by putting one foot in front of the other and doing what needs to be done next, at a slow and gentle pace, you can achieve a great deal more than if you were rushing around trying to get things done quickly. I hope the snow holds off long enough for you to get things done. : o)
It is not only amusing to read about spring and summer in our autumn and winter, but to read that it is such a busy time. I know that it is, but it is amusing to be reminded of it. For us, we have been waiting through summer for autumn, when we do all the dormant pruning. We need to finish through winter, which is the busiest season in that regard. All the pruning and planting and division . . . It is a great climate, but could use a bit more winter.
I never give winter enough credit. I always think it is a slow season and that I always have time to get loads of things done, but I dilly dally too much and run out of winter before the craziness of spring!
It does not help that the days are shorter . . . or longer . . . or something like that. Days are short here now, so must be long there. All that daytime that is missing from here must be going somewhere.