The seedlings are doing really well, the cucumbers so well infact that they have had to be put into their very own little 3 inch pots already. The rest of the seedlings have been watered and next week either given some feed or will be moved into individual pots and placed in the cold frame.

Progress

The seedlings on the whole are doing well. Some of the pots are now showing growth and we are looking good apart from one area! the herbs. I struggled last year with them and this year its proving even harder as they are all doing really badly, just dying so much. The spring onions are following suite pretty quickly so I hope the ones I plant straight into the soil outside do the business for me! The cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies and courgettes are all doing really well and last years speedy growers the sweetcorn are having a slow start this year. We wont panic as I planted them quite early so we still have time to use the heated propagators with a new batch if any thing really struggles!

TOP tip

After looking around on the net I found a few good little tips that will save you some money and get you some good guides at the same time. After looking around I found a magazine subscription that gives you free seeds and a book worth £25. Its called GROW YOUR OWN and is really cheap, its £17.50 for 6 months so with the book, mag and free seeds and vouchers you will be quids in!

Tip 2, go to allotment.org.uk and buy either or both “Veg Growing Month by Month” and “Essential Allotment Guide UK” you get about £10’s of Sutton’s seeds and also the books! they are £7.49 each including delivery so you get two books and £20’s of seeds for £15! perfect way to start your green fingering future.

Tip 3, want to get cheap seeds and fruit / veg feed? well go to the 99p store and you get 4 packets of seeds with the longest dates I could find with 2/3 years and they grow well. The feed is really good, it works as good as anything else you can buy from places like BnQ. Obviously the more expensive stuff is alot better but for the first timer or semi-pro gardener you wont need the posh stuff any how.

Today’s pictures

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So enough of the chit chat, remember to water them all really well but not over the top! plus the pots are not featured in these images as there is no growth yet but week two images might just have a few little gems to show!

1 Week and this is what we have got to show for it.

** Use picture lense to view photos as its better than clicking on them! its a nice little slide-show / viewer

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The first thing to remember is that if you water, feed and look after the soil, plants and seedlings you will get plenty of crops! Last year was my first year and I had way too much. During the summer and warm days you must water every day! if in the ground it does not matter if the ground is soaked. The plants, weeds and everything in the surrounding areas will suck it up before the next mornings sun was fully risen.

BTW the week that I started planting I also weeded and prepare the ground outside for this years crop. Will place compost and feed in the ground a couple of week before sowing seeds and seedlings outside.

My top tips:

1. Weed all the time, make sure the plants are not fight for water, nutrition and most importantly sun. If you leave them they will win and its alot hard to get rid of them when they are big with huge roots.
2. Make sure you water every day during the summer and every other day on the mild days where you can get away with doing it a little less.
3. Always use plant food. Not too much but every three weeks will keep the plants growing and happy. Its not expensive and if you go to the 99p store you can get it for a £1 a bottle. A small plot will only need one of two for the summer so you will not spend alot of money on that! but remember that if you grow toms that they love tomato food so buy some of that too in the 99p store.
4. Always harvest the fruit and veg as soon as you can, beans, tomatoes and cucumbers all grow lots of products and the more you pick the more the bush / plant can grow.
5. Look out for pests and insects, they are usually slow to move on in but when they do they can really mess up your crop so make sure you have treatment at home or can get it quick to stop the little buggers taking over.
6. Plant the crops inside in heated propagators or non-heated for slower results but make sure you plant them with plenty of time to get them established for the summer and stagger them going outside to get crops week after week and not in one go.
7. Enjoy it, its really easy and not every thing will work but if you follow my tips and step on time and in good time you will have a love crop and will get them “Green fingers” I cant shift!

So what did I do in week one (20th of Feb 2010)

1. Got my heated and non-heated propagators and 3/4inch pots ready in my spare room. I then filled them all up with compost (must be John Innes).
2. Read each packet of seeds to make sure you give them the right spacing and depth.
3. Plant them a little deeper and firm the soil! Gemma did not do some rows to deep and did not firm the soil making some seedlings die as they did not have enough root in the soil before they grew out the top soil.
4. Firm firm and top up soil where needed.
5. Water them very lightly and place in warm, bright and safe areas away from pets and children!
6. Keep them warm and at a constant temperature!
7. Tidy up the mess thats if you are like me.
8. Oh and label the seedlings!

Lets see what I did

** Use picture lense to view photos as its better than clicking on them! its a nice little slide-show / viewer

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Well tonight or tomorrow I will write my beginner’s guide to gardening! trust me, it will be great for beginner’s as this is my second year so I am the blind leading the blind with my advice

Not really, I got it right last year and had an amazing crop. So I hope with the experiences of last years season and this years improvements I can help more people get it right in their first year.

No one really has looked at my blog yet so might be talking to myself but hey, I have not actually posted much interesting stuff any how!