gardening – Page 3 – In the Greek Garden

Setting off the seeds

In an effort to give the garden a chance to come into its own this summer, without having to rely on buying in too many annuals, I am starting off some flowers from seed earlier this year. I also like to complement the flowers with the challenge of growing herbs and veg from seed too. I’m learning lessons along the way – but here is an update on my first seedlings of the year:

Herbs
The first action I took in January was to sow sage, rosemary and oregano for the windowsill – last years oregano and parsley has just finished. So it’s a good investment to start them off now and have plentiful fresh herbs to enjoy throughout the year. Supermarket pots of herbs are disastrous – they are overfilled seedlings in tiny pots which the only way to make them last longer than a week or is to separate them out into 5 or 6 pots and give them extra soil and space. Once I realised how rewarding it was to grow my own herbs I promised never to buy supermarket herbs again…(I’ve relinquished on this on occasion when a whole batch of coriander was needed for a recipe, but as a rule..) I will start off basil, coriander, parsley and thyme in the coming few weeks. But space is a premium in the propagation station (aka kitchen windowsill) this all needs a careful rotation plan.

12096477_10153742299316273_6016309414499980558_n — Sweetpea – from seedling…..

12744045_10153742298911273_5843653038285855485_n — to 12cm tall in 14 days

Flowers
The first seed (and my favourite) flowers to get sowing in the 3rd week in January were the heady scented Lathyrus odoratus (sweet peas!). This year I’m trialling a couple of varieties; ‘singing the blues’ ‘skylark’ and ‘cupani’ which is one of the oldest heritage varieties found in the wild Italian hedgerows apparently. All will liven up the fence space and walls from May onwards. But I also plan to sow perennial ‘everlasting’ varieties later in the year which should flower next year.

The first week in February I started with some more traditional sowings of summer annuals that are new to me. Sweet Williams should work well as gap fillers in baskets and borders, (to add to my self seeding ones springing up over the winter), likewise the fluffy flowers of ageratum will work well for cutting in borders and I’m trying out Aster duchess for late season colour and height. To add some structure I’m adding some verbena bonariensis for added purple colour and spiky height which should be hardy enough to stay through to autumn. Im also trying out some heliotrope dwarf marine, which is a half hardy perennial and given its nickname as ‘cherry pie’ it’s a scented attractor for bees. Most have set off quite well the ageratum seems to be struggling in the propagators so I’ve given its tray the special treatment (a sealed sandwich bag!)

12742259_10153742299206273_3647982147197424948_n — Broad beans – reliable germinators

Veg
The broad beans went in pairs into each pot without a cover and all 8 sprouted within a week. In my experience (from last year!) they are the easy wins of the veg plot. I’ve started off a couple of pots of heirloom tomatoes ‘tigerella’ and ‘red pear’ – less is more this year and will concentrate my efforts on quality tomatoes rather than an over abundance! I’ve also started aubergines from seed. It’s a new one for me so I’m looking forward to see how challenging and fruitful they are in containers. In the next few weeks I will start to plan out the veg beds in detail – looking at best places for carrots and parsnips, runner beans and sweetcorn.

Until the weather improves I am only admiring the garden from afar but the daffodils are cheering everything up. It seems like the 2016 season starting off rather well. Long may it continue.

Is this Spring?

I asked myself this as I walk around the garden on the last weekend in January. The cherry tree has burst open the first pink pops of blossom and there are more signs of the season changing on the way.

A few daffodils are out, this seems to be fairly universal across London. On my new route through St James’s Park, the immediate horizon of the path changed this week from grey and green green, to a sea of waving yellow heads bobbing in the wind and rain.

Although disappointed by the lack of expected order, even if it is unpredictable, I can never be disappointed to see flowers at this time of year. I expect a hierarchy with snowdrops and crocus being the early stars, followed by blue iris and grape muscari , then the attention grabbing daffodils and narcissus, with the proud tulips closing the Spring season. This spell seems to have been broken in my garden this year at least, with daffodils in January and blue iris flowering 2 months earlier than last year. But these days are so short and dark- I always feel thankful to see anything burst into flower – reminding us that winter is fleeting, soon warmer days and clearer skies will return.

12654383_10153718067321273_3417385395597866227_n

There has been much in the garden out of sync – the anttirrium still haven’t died back. The fuschia have started new growth shoots and clematis are starting to bud. There is a bleeding heart flowering from the central clump of its woody form.

12644946_10153718067671273_1117899139504920765_n — Bleeding heart persists in the winter gloom

12642627_10153718067601273_2062542419990823524_n

There is also basil and chives re-sprouting in the pots I left in the mini greenhouse. In there are the sweet william that has managed to self seed into the container we grew beetroot in last September. Nature finds a way to root through and satiate itself in strange conditions, its reassuring and reminds us about adaptation to new environments – a state we all face.

12651208_10153718070751273_1254160453718321678_n 12669505_10153718067751273_9170070349905002919_n

To respond to the seasonal shift, I’m ignoring caution and setting off some sweet peas, broad beans and chitting some swift early-crop potatoes. Let’s hope it pays to follow the lead of the early spring…

Rooted in the soil

Gardening for me has been a way of grounding myself in the world. It has been a way of understanding my history, my family and the necessity of the natural world.

My gardening CV isn’t up to much – it wouldn’t win me any awards in a village fete and I certainly wouldn’t feel confident in sharing wisdom to strangers. But it’s a journey and I am taking my time. Like the Greeks say ‘siga siga’ (slowly, slowly) you can’t rush nature, whether it’s waiting for a seed to germinate or the season to change, all happens in its own time. It has taught be me to be patient, slow down, savour the effort you put in, there will be frustrations, but the rewards are bountiful.

Last year I had many failures, seeds and tubers that just disappeared into the earth, no shoots, a sad nothing. I had tender seedlings that died in April, they were out too early and the weather was unpredictable cold. These things happen and you learn from them, The weather is simultaneously your best friend and enemy, I’ve learn to go with it. Take risks and know that the rules of garden wisdom are meant to be heeded!

We all have personal memories of a childhood garden, my own are probably no different. Growing up in market town, cul de sac house, quite a big garden to run around and play in, But I loved the mud, getting dirty up to my elbows in the soil and making piles, collecting worms, ripping petals from my dad’s roses and making ‘perfume’. Summer was heaven, long days of sunshine stretched before me – a 7 year old has no sense of time – just the endless hours to fill with play.

Although childhood feels like forever, its really a short part of your formative years and as a young adult those student shared houses were no places to be green fingered. But when I moved to Oxford to take up my first ‘proper job’ that changed. I lived in a house with a mature garden that the landlord wanted us to look after, so I took on that challenge, spending hours after work and at weekends cutting back the overgrown jungle!

I have always had an interest in cooking and food, the mechanic of food production never fails to scare me. Although I like nothing more than stalking round a supermarket,picking up ingredients and comparing the vast array of produce on offer, I do worry about the monster of food production on a global scale, the sustainable impact of what we eat and where it comes from. I don’t want tomatoes from a poly tunnel in the driest habitat in Morocco. I want them grown in a wet hot landscape so they make sense to me and the environment. Food should be in season, unadulterated and not always available. Every child should learn about food. I did. It roots us in the simplest human instinct to provide.

Nothing gave me more joy last year than growing vegetables for the first time. 18 months after moving in, we had finally got the garden to a state where this was possible. From the small scale like beetroots, radishes and lettuce leaves. To the garden staples like broadbeans, tomatoes and onions. But surprises cam in strange shapes. Like the cucumbers which were such a curveball, late sown, free seeds from a magazine and boy did those ‘Market Mores’ live up to their name! We had a glut that kept on giving! I learnt so much last year about planning and seedling management. I couldn’t bear to dump any of the viable courgette seedlings last year so we had 5 very fruitful courgette plants. At least 4 courgettes a week in August was way too many or a household of two!

So this year, its taking all the learning from last and building on it…onwards and like the sunflower, always upwards!

IMAG3987 (1)