In the Garden - February 2014

This is the earliest month I've ever done one of these posts. That's mainly because I do very little in the garden around this time of year and partly because we don't have many plants that are putting on a display this early in the year!

However, this year I've done a couple of things, including bought seeds! Any good gardening year begins with the selecting of seed of the coming season. We bought our from The Works and Aldi this year. Our courgette was really productive last year, so we're going to grow another this year - and scout around for some good recipes to add them too! Of course, sweet peas are must! But along with those I'm going to try cornflowers and nigella, growing them as cut flowers; both of which are new to me.

I've already been sowing the sweet peas! I decided to sow them in two batches in an attempt to prolong their flowering season and to try to prevent the glut that we had last year. I sowed the first lot a couple of weeks ago, followed by the second lot yesterday. I've even brewed up some chamomile tea spray to ward of damping off - which I'll cover in a future post.

There's not a lot going on outside, but Lucy did plant some crocus bulbs last year and they've started to make a much appreciated appearance. I also found some ivy-leaved speedwell (Veronica hederifolia) with such dainty flowers covering ground near our plum tree. When the crocuses are finished for the year we need to give the bed a hoeing to remove the weeds that have already gotten a good start. We'll then cover the bed with a good layer of the soil conditioner from our local recycling centre, ready for the sowing of the cornflowers and nigella seeds in a few months.

While I was doing this Poppy, one of Lucy's rabbits took an interest with her 'So what are you up to' face or it could have been 'Stop messing about taking photos and bring me my treat'; I never quite know for sure! And it's with Poppy I'll close off this post. Thanks for reading.

Have you been in the garden or planning to be? Let me know in the comments :)