Purple Chilli seedlings

Seedlings of purple chilli on my windowsill

These purple chilli seedlings are barely one month old. I started them in the heated propagator and moved them to the windowsill as soon as they were out, to get more sunlight. It is mid-late February now, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these will turn into plants and give me chillis this summer! I'm quite proud of these: I saved the seed from one chilli that I got last summer from one plant that I bought from the garden eentre (and yes, it was dark purple, like an aubergine!). Almost all of the seed that I sowed has germinated, and I have a few more left that I will sow this weekend - just in case I lose some. And if I don't lose them, they'll make nice presents I'm sure!

Estas plantitas de chillis (guindillas) morados tienen apenas un mes. Puse la maceta primero en el semillero electrico, pero tan pronto salieron las plantitas movi la maceta a la ventana, donde tienen mas luz solar. Estas plantas son espeiales: guarde la semilla de una guindilla que consegui el ano pasado de una planta que compre en el vivero (y si, el pimiento era morado como una berenjena), y casi todas las semillas que sembre han germinado! Me queda un poco mas de semilla, que la voy a sembrar este fin de semana por si acaso se me pierden estas plantas. Y si no se me pierden, siempre puedo regalar las que me sobren, pues seguro que tienen exito!

Cauliflower seedlings / semilla de coliflor

These weird-looking seedlings are my purple cauliflowers. It's the first time I sow caulis and the seeds have surprised me. The instructions on the packet said "do not cover with compost", and as a result you can see the little white tendrils of the roots snaking on the surface before they find their way underground... Some of them where a bit floppy, so I did cover them with a bit of compost just today; it may make it worse, but my plan is that the roots will grow better by being held in place by the compost. The ones floating on top of it really looked ready to be blown away! I sprouted them inside a clear plastic bag in the kitchen floor, and as soon as they got this big I took them out of the bag and put them by the window - so now the plants have more light and less humidity to grow.

Estos tallos extranos son mis coliflores moradas. Yo segui las instructions y puse las semillas encima del compost sin cubrirlas. Si os fijais veis unos hilillos blancos: son las raices que han salido horizontales. Algunas me parecieron tan endebles que las cubri con un poco de compost, para que no se vuelen. Las sembre dentro de una bolsa de plastico transparente, pero en cuanto nacieron las saque de la bolsa para que no se pudran por de humedad, y estan en la ventana de la cocina donde hay luz.

Garlic and compost are in / Ajos y compost

This year's garlic crop. Los ajos de este año.

I planted my garlic today. Garlic needs to be planted now to give best results next year (according to my grandmother, by St Martin's day on the 11th November. I think I got close enough...), so the nasturtiums and the remains of the runner beans that were in the raised bed had to go. The nasturtium flowers were still looking pretty, it was a bit sad having to pull them up; but gardening can be ruthless sometimes :-).

Last year's garlic didn't do too well (the heads were so small they didn't even split into cloves), but we're still eating it! So this season I'm planting some again, and hopefully with improved soil we'll get an improved crop next summer.

I went for garlic 'Illico', a hardneck variety from the Dobies catalogue which I chose because it says it's very early-maturing - so hopefully I will have space for planting more summer crops after I pick the garlic in June! (when space is at a premium, you become sensitive to this sort of thing). Also, on a trip to my local garden centre last week I found two cloves of elephant garlic, so I'm giving it a go this year for the first time! I haven't even tried the taste (we may hate it!) so it's a totally blind experiment, but it's well worth the space in the soil if only because trying new things is fun...

The soil in this bed is quite appalling (heavy clay, and after a year of producing vegetables probably not many nutrients left), so I added some homemade compost from earlier in the year. I had a moral dilemma, though, as all sort of garden creatures are supposed to be hibernating in compost heaps and I felt bad about vandalising their refuge; but in the end the garlic won.


Hoy plante los ajos. Como decia mi abuela, "ajo: por que naciste ruin? porque no me plantaste en San Martin", asi que los mios los he plantado lo mas cerca posible del 11 de noviembre. La jardinera donde los he puesto tenia todavia los restos de unas judias y unos nasturtiums, que son anuales y ya estan en el compost, y unas acelgas que alli siguen (en teoria aguantan el invierno). Los ajos del año pasado fueron bastante raquiticos, pero creo que fue por culpa del suelo (que no por la fecha de plantacion. Obviamente.) Pero aun los estamos comiendo, asi que tengo esperanza en los de este año.

Elegi una variedad de ajo temprana, 'Illico', que con suerte estara madura a finales de junio asi que me quedara el espacio libre para plantar mas cosas el resto del verano, cuando coseche los ajos en junio (cuando no tienes mucho espacio, tienes que fijarte en estos detalles). Y, aunque no es propiamente ajo, he plantado tambien dos dientes de Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum que segun Wikipedia se llama "ajo elefante" en español pero yo no lo habia oido nunca! Solo he plantado dos dientes, asi que tampoco ocupan demasiado espacio; es un experimento total porque ni siquiera se si nos gustara el sabor, pero siempre es divertido probar cosas nuevas!

El suelo no es muy bueno, es arcilloso y muy compactado y ademas seguro que esta empobrecido despues de un año seguido dando fruto, asi que le añadi compost casero. Tuve un dilema moral con el compost: por un lado, sabia que el terreno lo necesitaba, pero por otro hay muchos bichos beneficiosos que hibernan en las montones de compost y me daba pena vandalizarles el refugio. Pero al final el ajo gano la batalla.

I have entered the world of green manure / un cereal para terreno de barbecho?

I planted up one of my the two (small) raised beds at the end of my garden last weekend and it's now all ready for the winter. I doesn't look much at the moment, but I'm very proud: last year the soil was so bad that I couldn't put anything in in time before the cold! But some months and buckets of compost later... This winter I'm experimenting with: overwintering onions (I bought sets), peas and broad beans (sowed directly in the ground for the first time!), and the piece de resistance: a patch of green manure! I went for Italian Ryegrass in the end, after much deciding among my brand new 4 packets of seed... And I even remembered to put some fleece in my newly sowed bed BEFORE the forecast cold last night. I feel like a proper gardener! These are my green manure seeds: (you can tell I'm proud :-)

 Estas semillas las compre para plantar durante el invierno y hacer compost en primavera. Son plantas "especiales" que almacenan nutrientes, y en primavera las entierras y asi devuelven los nutrientes al suelo - y el suelo tampoco se empobrece y erosiona durante las lluvias del invierno. Yo compre cuatro: un tipo de habas, un trebol, un tipo de brasicacea (como una lechuga) y una hierba que en fotos parece un cereal. Esta, Italian Ryegrass en ingles, es la que plante el fin de semana pasado en una esquina de mi huerta. Tengo dos jardineras dedicadas a huerta, y una de ellas la sembre y prepare para el invierno durante el fin de semana. He sembrado: el cereal este para enriquecer el suelo en primavera, guisantes, unas habas (para comer en primavera) y unas cebollas.

The onion sets are supposed to be easier to grow than onions planted from seed (I guess it's like growing flowers from bulbs), and I really hope they fare better than my sowing of spring onions last month - which got decimated by the slugs and snails. I am hoping that by the time these onions sprout leaves it'lls be too cold the s & s! I don't have much space so I find these sets very convenient: mine are occupying the space recently vacated by some tomatoes, and by the time the onions are ripe in May (or so they promise on the label!) they'll leave the space for some more summer crops. Neat, but this is only going to be the first year I'm organised enough to do this properly so I keep my fingers cross it all goes according to plan!

La “semilla” de las cebollas viene en forma de mini-cebolla que plantas directamente en el suelo; en teoria es mas facil criarlas asi que de semilla (lo mismo que plantar bulbos para flores). Para mi, la mayor ventaja es que los bulbos los puedo plantar ahora que me ha quedado espacio libre despues de las plantas del verano (las cebollas han ido donde antes estaban unos tomates). Estas cebollas deberian de madurar hacia mayo, justo a tiempo de dejar el sitio a otra cosecha veraniega. Con suerte cuando empiecen a dar hojas ya sera demasiado frio para los caracoles y babosas, que asolaron mi plantacion de cebolletas (de semilla) el mes pasado.

Sowcial Media

I read this post on Emma Cooper's blog this morning and I think it's a cool idea. In a nutshell, it's a seed share organised by means of social media - she explains it much better in her own post!

I've requested the Nicotiana seeds that she listed, as it's a plant that was already on my mental wishlist (it's fragrant! and it doesn't mind a bit of shade! I definitely want to give it a go next year), but to be honest just participating is very exciting! It is the first time that I post on anybody's blog, and the first time that I try a seed swap with anyone outside my family, so please allow me the overexcitement...

OK, so here is my humble list of spare seeds. Yes, not very exotic and not very rare (and the biggest and easisest seed in the vegetable world to be saved), but if you're a novice gardener like me then they're guaranteed to be easy to grow - I have successfully done it myself! :-) And they're free - let me know if you want any and I'll post them!:

• Cineraria maritima dwarf silver - unopened packet from Dobies (I ordered two packets by mistake)
• Chives - unopened packet from Dobies
• Parsley - half a packet of seed I brought from Spain, I simply can't use that much seed myself
• Sprouting broccoli - half a packet I bought at the Chelsea Flower Show (see 'parsley'...)
• Beetroot Perfect 3 - opened Johnsons packet; I bought it because it's red and pretty, then realised that neither Nick nor myself actually like the taste of beetroot
• Marigold bonita mixed - opened random packet from Wilkinsons; I only used half of it last spring, and now I have enough saved seed for myself for next year so i'm happy to share the rest
• Calendula - same story as the marigold
• Runner beans - saved seed of unknown variety; it's got red flowers and the beans themselves have purple spots when dried (I got it originally from my mother in law two years ago)
• Foxglove - saved seed, also unknown variety; the flowers are pink and quite tall
• Matthiola Incana, aka purple stock, aka alheli morado (in Spanish) - saved seed, originally from my auntie's garden
• Yellow & white jalapa mirabilis - saved seed from last year, should be OK to plant next spring

The rules of Sowcial Media
The first rule is that you DO speak about Sowcial Media. If you can blog/twit/facebook about it, the better. These are the rules as per the original post:

When you offer seeds
There are no rules as to what you can offer, but do remember to mention whether the seeds you’re offering are home-saved or commercial, opened packets, F1 hybrids or whatever, so that people can make their own informed choices about what they would like to grow. If you’ve written a blog post about that variety in the past, then it might be helpful to link to it.
Explain your postage rules – where you’re happy to post to and whether you’re asking for postage contributions or swaps.
Add a copy of these Sowcial Medial rules, so your seed recipients can join in if they want to.

When you request seeds
There’s only one rule – that you link back to the site where you got the seeds. Maybe you’ll write a blog post about them once they’re grown, maybe you’ll just Tweet about how great Sowcial Media is, maybe you’ll shout about it to all your Facebook friends. How you do it doesn’t matter, but show your gratitude for your freebies with a link!
The idea here is that people involved in social media will be able to get free seeds to trial without having to sell their souls to commercial organizations. When you review your seeds you can be completely honest about how well they grew for you and whether you would bother to grow them again. Above all, you can have a garden for free next year, and support your social media friends into the bargain.