Undercover gardening
It has not been that cold so far this autumn but the time has come to get anything tender into the greenhouse so I was busy today clearing up any scraps of debris and putting up the bubble plastic in the greenhouse. I always hate this job and the main reason is that no matter where I store it in summer it is always full of rubbish or covered in bird poo or crawling with spiders when I put it up again and, wrestling with the big sheets I always get covered in horrible debris. But the job is done, the heater is plugged in and set on blow-only for now and I have started getting the plants in. I covered most of the border soil with windbreak material to try to keep the place clean and prevent worms and slugs getting on the plants (so easily).
Autumn-sown salads for Christmas, sown in early October as soon as the first of the tomatoes were pulled up are coming along fairly well. The pea shoots look especially tasty and I will sow more soon so there is a good supply.
Now there is a bit more room in the heated bench I have moved some trays and pots of ‘Paperwhite’ and ‘Soleil d’Or’ in for a bit of a boost. I want these in flower for Christmas. The pots will be taken in the house as they are but the deep (mushroom) trays are for cut flowers. Both varieties are easy to force for early flowers and you can speed up flowering with more warmth or slow them down by putting them in a cooler place.
Macro Monday answer
And well done all of you that knew it was Nerine bowdenii !
SO envious of your greenhouse, my plastic covered cold frame was blown away by storm ‘Barney’ yesterday.
Oh dear. it was bad here yesterday too
This has been on my ‘to do’ list for a couple of weeks now. Like you it’s a job I hate but it has to be done or I will lose so much….Never thought about putting bulbs in trays for cutting, brilliant idea….
Great salad crops to look forward too. I love pea shoots. Must try some in my conservatory, if I can find a space between my other plants, as sadly I have no greenhouse.