I’m running really late with my work in progress post this week, mainly because I keep forgetting that it’s Wednesday (bank holidays often confuse me!).
I’ve been quite busy today, catching up with the gardening that I normally do in early March. It’s been ridiculously cold, unseasonably so (colder, in fact, than what were technically the winter months), and therefore I’ve been putting off any seed sowing until there was at least the prospect of warmer weather.
It’s still freezing cold, but it’s now APRIL and I’m going to have to trust the weather forecast, which reckons it’ll finally be getting milder from next week onwards. It wouldn’t be so bad if I just had my own seeds to worry about, but I’m also going to be bringing on seedlings for a client so I really need to get a move on!
There are very few things duller than washing out seed trays, but it has to be done if you want to avoid fungal diseases (and I did have some damping off last year). These seed trays are cheap and cheerful, and have already seen two summers – they’re cracked and I think will have to be binned after this year so I popped down to Poundland and picked up these:
I’m not interested in the seeds that came with them, but the kits contain a wee propagator which is the perfect size for sitting on a windowsill (I can get three along most of my windowsills). More cheap and cheerful tat, but they’ll do the job and I do prefer the smaller size. So, lots of seeds sown in the old and new propagators (no photos as I was too busy to remember), and also some herbs sown in the new planter (first photo) which I bought on a whim in Sainsburys this morning (£7.99, and that’s not bad considering it comes with seeds and compost too).
My next job was to sort out the little cold frames I bought last year. They hadn’t wintered very well, and were filthy and the paint had started to wear off. Not attractive, and also not very hygienic. So I took out the glass (it’s only held in with clips) and washed all the panes, gave the frames a good scrub and then a spray with some disinfectant, then let them dry out in front of the radiator before repainting them with Cuprinol Country Cream (a wee tester pot reduced by 50% to £1.75 – bargain!).
Those are both the same colour, but the one on the left hasn’t fully dried yet! They look nice and pretty once more, and are ready to house some seedlings later this month (I hope!).
If you came here looking for a craft-related post, don’t despair…
I have been busy knitting in the evenings and am alternating between hats for The Big Knit, and more hexipuffs. That quilt will be finished by the summer, oh yes.
More from me next week, but now I’m off to knit a hat or two before bed!
