Another Green Afternoon

Sunday afternoon I was back at Sarah and Jon's for part two of our exciting gardening adventure (part one is here).  It was a glorious afternoon, and the seeds we planted two weeks ago have all begun to sprout. This made me feel happy.

Sarah was disappointed with the progress of the mustard seeds, but I think they're doing fine. I don't think they're necessarily a 'grow bag' sort of plant though. I think they'll sprout just as well in shallower soil, and might not even need as much sun as they've been getting.



The spinach is a little thin, but this allows them room to expand into healthy and productive plants. This is what we want.  Spinach is a good thing to grow because you can eat baby leaves, which you don't have to wait for as long.  Spinach rewards impatient gardeners, is the lesson here.


The onions and the beetroot have all marked their territory.  Sarah pointed out we had forgotten to label which type of beetroot we had planted where.  We sowed three varieties.  We'll have to wait and see what comes up.

I brought along some onions Sarah gave me to start on my windowsills in individual pots, since we ran out of compost last time.  These were added to the collection.  I forgot to take a picture of these, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Back inside, our jalapenos and coriander have each announced their presence in the propagators.  I don't think I've ever seen a jalapeno plant before, so this will be educational.  I didn't even know you could grow such things in England.  Perhaps you can't.  Learn by doing.

Later we took ourselves off to Bradley Fold Garden Centre, where Sarah chose some indoor plants  and pots for her newly decorated bathroom, and I almost bought a succulent cactus, but didn't.  Instead I bought two large clay pots from which I intend to make a 'pot in pot' zeke fridge as soon as I can get myself some sand.  Sand only seems to be available to buy in bags of 20kg or more.  I don't need that much.

Bradley Fold Garden Centre really is excellent.  They aren't paying me to say that or anything; it's just true.

We invested in a trough, in which I sowed four rows of peas.  I've been having quite a bit of success with pea growing at home, so I feel confident about this.

Peas on earth.

Finally, Sarah and Jon just had their bathroom decorated a glorious shade of 1970s orange, and Sarah carefully selected some houseplants to associate with this.  These are also not pictured, which is a real shame actually, because one of them in particular was fascinating.  Oh, and we repotted her basil and marjoram. 

A good afternoon's greening, methinks.