Tag: Seeds

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers4 Comments

Freezing

Reclaiming Paradise

On this first day of British Summer Time, we have had hail but also some sunshine and it’s still light! At last we’ve made it through the dark months and have long spring and summer evenings to look forward to. Meanwhile my freezer is looking rather bare, having used the last of the frozen rhubarb for breakfast this morning and the last of the frozen apple in a chocolate apple cake – recipe here – for a family birthday. However this year’s rhubarb is now in full production so I’ll be able to start filling the freezer again! The spring … Continue reading Freezing

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers5 Comments

Daffodils in the snow

Reclaiming Paradise

We’ve had a bit of snow and ice here but nothing lying for long. Here are the tete a tete daffodils appearing with still some snow lying. The garden is looking a little battered but the spring bulbs provide cheer. There’s still lots of snowdrops, daffodils coming in waves, crocuses in odd places and even some hyacinths planted out from last year, looking as if they’re going to flower I forgot to take any photos of the large daffodils apart from the fallen over ones which I brought into the house. I was pleased to be able to take some … Continue reading Daffodils in the snow

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden4 Comments

Reclaiming Paradise Awards 2022

Reclaiming Paradise

As we approach the end of 2022 and venture into the wilds of 2023, this post celebrates all that has been joyful, exciting or downright disappointing in my garden and allotment this year. This year my main achievement was my challenge to harvest sixty different vegetables, fruit, herbs, or edible flowers or weeds in the garden and allotment. In fact, my list reached sixty nine. This was an interesting challenge for me and I didn’t do anything very different from usual other than try some new varieties of veg that I’d grown before and make sure I recorded every new … Continue reading Reclaiming Paradise Awards 2022

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers10 Comments

A seedy Six on Saturday

Reclaiming Paradise

I was out in the garden checking on what’s happening for #SixOnSaturday and was struck by all the seeding going on, among the vegetables, herbs, flowers and wild things. The noble teasel, which has had seed heads for weeks or possibly months but is looking rather good just now. These self seed all round the garden and I allow one or two to grow to full height each year. It’s all a bit random where they end up. This one is growing by the fence in the front garden. 2. Foxgloves, like the teasels, these decide where they want to … Continue reading A seedy Six on Saturday

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers, Why I garden2 Comments

Falling behind

Reclaiming Paradise

Apologies that I’ve fallen behind on blogging – life has got in the way a bit – but exciting things are happening in the garden. Here’s a snapshot from last week’s glorious sunshine. Plum blossom, crocuses, a tiny self-sown nasturtium in beside the tulips, the wild primroses all coming up. Now it’s all rainy and cold and nasty, but my cucumbers have germinated, so life is good: Continue reading Falling behind

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers7 Comments

Seed sowing at last

Reclaiming Paradise

After what seems like a very long winter, I’ve made a start on this year’s seed sowing. Back at Christmas time we had some home made crackers which I cunningly filled with chilli and and tomato seeds (and chocolate) to encourage my green fingered family to grow their own veg. Most of them (possibly all of them) chose the ‘pass on to someone who will’ option, leaving me with the joyous task of sowing the tiny seeds today. Here they are in relatively well labelled pots and off to their home in my heated propagator for a couple of weeks. … Continue reading Seed sowing at last

Why I garden5 Comments

Autumn flowers and fruits

Reclaiming Paradise

What with being away last weekend and a very busy time at work just now, along with the usual family stuff, I’m falling behind a lot in the garden and allotment. Still, I got out for a wee while on Saturday morning to do a bit of tidying up and snap some pictures for Six on Saturday (but not enough time to actual do a SoS post). I was struck by all the flowers still in bloom and so collected up a bunch of miscellaneous beauties to stick in a vase and take over on my weekly visit to my … Continue reading Autumn flowers and fruits

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers6 Comments

Seeds and seedlings

Reclaiming Paradise

After a week of rain and hail and overnight temperatures of 1 degree Celsius in the seed palace, is it possible that we have turned the corner into slightly warmer days? My tomato plants certainly hope so. These have gone out to the seed palace because I’ve run out of space on the windowsill. The reason I’ve run out of space is that the Costoluto Fiorentino seeds have continued germinating, multiplying all over the windowsill and needing little pots of their own. I think I now have ten of these little beauties. All being well, they will grow into monsters … Continue reading Seeds and seedlings

Growing vegetables, fruit and flowers10 Comments

Six on the first day of May

Reclaiming Paradise

After a long hard winter, suddenly it’s the first of May and it’s still a bit nippy outside. However, today is also Saturday so in this post I’ll try and summarise what I found on this May morning in six themes for #SixOnSaturday Seedlings on my windowsill – green cucumbers doing rather well, all sorts of tomatoes growing nicely and, in the photo on the right, four new seedlings of the giant tomato Costuluto Fiorentino, which I thought had failed to germinate this year. Actually, make that five, I’ve just noticed a tiny seedling in the pot behind as well. … Continue reading Six on the first day of May

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Snakes in the grass

Reclaiming Paradise

This time last year I brought my ‘Great Piece of Turf‘ reusable coffee mug home from my office. I don’t suppose many people have weeds on their coffee mugs but there you go. I’m a great fan of Dürer and I bought this mug when I had the chance to visit the original painting in Vienna a few years ago. It hasn’t been used much this year as even when local coffee shops have been open they’ve been very reluctant to accept reusable cups. So today I took it for a little outing to the allotment, complete with coffee. It … Continue reading Snakes in the grass