Recycling the garden
21.08.2023 - 11:48
/ theunconventionalgardener.com
/ Emma Doughty
I was out in the potting shed yesterday morning and sowed the first seeds of my 2019 gardening season – sweet peppers, leeks, purple sprouting broccoli and some salads. They’ll all be inside for the next few weeks, as although the weather is unseasonably warm, it cannot be relied upon.
Working on the sowing list. Step 1: look at kitchen garden plan, and write down what needs to be grown from seed. Step 2: rifle through the seed box to find the right packets and appropriate sowing dates.
The next March batch of seed sowing will involve spinach, parsley and chard, but I will wait a week or so before I do those. And I have scheduled sweetcorn, carrots, French beans & courgettes for April. It’s hard not to keep adding things to the list, but it’s important to remember I have a finite amount of space!
Step 3: find all kinds of interesting seeds in the seed box, and add those to the list, too. Step 4: schedule in a series of mini breakdowns through the season, as I try and juggle looking after far too many seedlings, & am then faced with the harsh truth that there is no space.
Although sowing the first seeds of spring is a lovely thing, it was a bit bittersweet for me. My lovely lavender potting shed is soon to be dismantled and sent off to a new home, in order to make way for a considerable garden transformation. We’re having a new fence, which will encompass the extra strip of garden to the front of the garage block, which has always been a bit problematic to look after as it could only be reached from the road.
Once the fence is replaced, Ryan is going to fill that space with a big workshop, and my lavender shed will make way for a patio area in front of the workshop. This summer we should have somewhere to sit in the shade,