Red onions - starting off indoors

I can't remember where I read it, but something/someone inspired me to start off red onion sets indoors for an early harvest. And it seems to have worked.

3 February - planted half of the sets in seed compost/ half in
seed compost mixed with quality potting compost.

17 March - growing nicely, time to find them a new
home - the currently idle greenhouse perhaps...

12 May - time for the chillies and tomatoes to move into the greenhouse,
half of the onions have been relocated (again, poor things) into the kitchen garden.

16 May - all in their final resting place and settling in nicely.

Waking up the kitchen garden

Here are some progress photos of how it's slowly coming back to life.

10th January 

 16th April

 27th April

28th April

 29th April

 12th May

Starting to feel a spring in my wellies...

Wow, it finally feels like the gardening season is here! At last! :D

The past few months have not only been excruciatingly cold and gardening-unfriendly, but I have also been completely snowed under with work. And it doesn't look like it's going to ease up any time soon either.

Nevertheless, I did manage to steal a few hours over the weekend to make the most of the weather and get the kitchen garden, greenhouse, mojito bed and flowerbeds up to speed. Here are a couple of today's happy snaps...

All looking so very promising. Please please please weather gods & nemaslug,
let me have a productive kitchen garden this year....!

My first ever fritillaria, so ridiculously pretty & delicate.

Promising garlic

With the temperature reaching a whopping 14oC today, it was time to take the mini poly tunnel off the garlic bed.

As my garlic was a complete wash out last year, due to a mild winter and a very wet summer, I didn't have particularly high expectations this year. But things are looking very promising... Fingers crossed!

Bit 'o fresh air

The temperature is slowly rising and, although it was -3oC again last night after a week without frost, daytime temperatures are now pretty much staying above 5oC.

And despite an evil wind whipping them about a bit, I couldn't resist giving my chillies a bit of proper sunshine and fresh air.

Giving Nemaslug a go...

This year I've decided to finally give Nemaslug a go, after having lost what little harvest there was last year to slugs (as well as mice, deer, pigs and hares but they're a bit harder to deter).

I tried everywhere to find the stuff, having seen Monty Don splashing it about in his kitchen garden, but no-one will deliver to Sweden.

Then I found this guy:

Nematoder.se

What a hero!

Beautiful Purple Serrano flower

As predicted, the Purple Serrano was next to flower. So purdy too. :)

And the winner is....

...Lombardo!

Ok, so it's not exactly fruition, but it's looking that way.

:)

Chilli chaos again...

Oops.

The house has turned into a chilli jungle again. I guess I should have realised that 35 little seedlings would turn into monster plants and take over the place.

These are the survivors:

Lombardo 6
Aji Colorado 6
Trinidad Scorpion 5
Hot Lemon 4
Early Jalapeno 4
Jalastar 3
Purple Serrano 3
Padron 2
Bailey Piquin 2

So... I have to 'get rid' of a few. I want to keep at least two of each, just in case.... But any takers on any of the others?

Ski trips + tiny chilli plants

This time of year is slightly problematic for chilli growers that ski; two things that aren't exactly compatible, unless you have a heated greenhouse and live near a ski resort.

Each spring, every inch of space under the grow lamps is jam packed with beautiful, flourishing green, albeit very small, chilli plants. Plants that I haven't left alone for more than a few hours (an advantage of working from home).

How then am I supposed to just up and leave for a week? Completely forget about them as I whizz about on the ski slopes, laze around in the spring sunshine with a yummy glass of wine and lounge around by the fire with a good book?

Actually it was quite easy once I got there. :D

But the week before I left was filled with anxiety. I was going to have to leave all of my teeny tiny hopefuls in their teeny tiny pots for a WHOLE WEEK! :O With no-one to water them, feed them, re-pot them, talk to them or squish any little nasties that might take a fancy to them. :'(

I have an extra grow lamp this year, so they weren't quite as squashed up, i.e. light wasn't a problem. But watering was worrying me.

I eventually decided on the re-pot and drown-them tactic. And it worked! :) Yay.

2 March

17 March

I have juggled them about, so it is difficult to compare plant by plant, and the first photo was taken 6 days before we left, i.e. there is a 15 day time difference, but still....

2 March

17 March

I was expecting half of them to be exceedingly unhappy. They were thirsty, sure. And I did have to spend an hour or so squishing little green nasties. Which, of course, I did before I'd even taken my coat off, ruthlessly leaving the hubby to unpack the car, etc. :D

But look at the size of them! :) The healthy chap in the middle is a Purple Serrano and the lanky one is an Aji Colorado. Two favourites in our kitchen.

Right. Off now to buy some quality compost for them...