Remember a few weeks ago I did a viability test on some old seeds? 3 of my artichoke seeds eventually sprouted and I wondered if I could transplant them into wee pots. Well, I did it and 2 of them are looking ok so far. Fingers crossed!
I bought a couple of gravel trays (£4 each) to make moving/watering my hotchpotch collection of pots easier. I also got the last windowsill greenhouse for £1. I suspect it was from last year but it's in perfect condition so bargain!
My seed potatoes arrived and I've got my first earlies chitting on my windowsill. Epicure are famous as Ayrshire potatoes (I'm an Ayrshire girl!) and usually one of the first new potatoes to hit the shops. There's a bid to get their identity protected as there is a long history of commercial growing. Some more info here. My dad reckons they're the best potatoes in the world! Closely followed by Jersey Royals that already have EU protection. He knows his tatties!
It's still too early to plant seeds here so I'm restricting myself to getting things ready for the Easter break in 4 weeks. I do hope the weather is dry so I can spend most of it outside in my garden. My planting philosophy from this year on will be 'Have nothing in your garden that you do not know to be useful or believe to be edible' With apologies to William Morris!! Any flowers must be useful for insects or be edible themselves.
I also bought a book called Free Range Chicken Gardens as I'm interested to learn more about how I can grow stuff in the back garden without it getting trashed by my hooligan hens! They're not happy at all just now as they're not free ranging thanks to DEFRA rules regarding avian flu. I'm in a very low risk area but I'm still being cautious. They do have a decent enclosure but they try to escape every single time I open the gate!!
In other news, I've been out running a few times and so far haven't suffered any ill effects. OH has changed my gym routine a bit so I'm pushing my body in different ways. And I'm still trying to get into a yoga routine as well. I do hope all this work on staying healthy pays off as I get older.
I bought another Icebreaker merino top in black. I love the purple one I bought last year so when I saw it reduced again I splashed out. I'm trying to keep to my green principles on clothing and thought a black top like this one would be an investment.
I've been steadily adding more sock yarn leftovers squares to my blanket. 17 in this picture. I got a few donations from my lovely mum's knitting group so lots of new colours are being added. Once I've done 3 more I'll stitch them on and post a picture.
Work has been good (long may that continue!!) with my efforts on raising attainment in writing being recognised by management and commented on in a staff meeting. It's these small moments that make the job worthwhile. Although I was brought back down to earth when I had 3 of my kids' parents brought in by the Headteacher because of their playground behaviour!! 😒
Just 4 more weeks until I get a 2 week break from school 😊
Your school population sounds challenging...Good luck with the knitting and growing!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love this time of year when the days are starting to lengthen and seem full of promise :-)
DeleteWell done with your achievements being recognised in school, can you use it to push up the pay scale? I can't wait until the Easter holidays, even though this is a fairly short half term. That will be the time that I really get stuck in to the allotment, I am itching to get going xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks Fran. Pay scales in Scotland are set according to length of service and I'm already at the top of the non promoted scale. I definitely don't want a promoted post!!
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