Gardening: what else?

The ‘nursery’ has had a bit more attention than usual this year, and the warm weather has given things a boost.  Potting up the penstemon cuttings has paid dividends in particular.  It also helps that we aren’t buggering off to Lagrasse all the time and neglecting the garden, of course.  As I write, the seedlings are getting rained on and blown around out on the table on the terrace.  I cavalierly planted out some cosmos the other day, and they too are looking a bit bedraggled.  There’s another dozen or so in the cold frames, however, so we can fill in if necessary.

As for the veggies, the spuds are looking fit, and are just about ready for another earthing up.  I got three bags of compost from Fortnums on my weekly shopping trip on Monday, so they’re catered for. All six tomato seeds have germinated and are potted up, and some are looking ready for further promotion.  The runner beans too, sown it seems like minutes ago, are already coming through the bottoms of their pots, with the ones I harvested from our own beans last year doing rather better than the past-date seed I got cheap from the HAHA stores.  I have sown a first batch of French beans, both from ancient Lidl-sourced seed and from the stores: my plan is successional sowing, and I'll be influenced by the relative success rates of the two sources.  Last year, French bean seeds I bought from a big name were a complete washout: I sowed them all outdoors, but the Fortnums seed thrived.  We'll see what indoor sowing achieves this year.  The heavy rains of the past couple of days will have helped to settle down the enriched soil of the raised bed, so next week’s shopping list includes bean poles.

I gather that the Rt Hon The First Lord of the Treasury has managed to sire yet another sprog out of wedlock.  They should live and be well.  If his competence matched his fertility, I’d be a bit happier.