A lot happens in 6 weeks!

I feel bad for not updating this sooner as there has been somewhat success on the indoor allotment experiment! So here is an update:

Chives: Grown rather nicely and ready to eat! They look too pretty for me to want to cut them though! I will do, I just want to choose the right recipe.











Rocket: The only issue is that the pot I have grown these in is rather small. I have tasted the leaves and they are perfect. I think this would really pep up a mixed leaf salad. I would do this in one of the little troughs next time though (maybe half rocket and half mixed leaf.









Spring Onion: These actually look like proepr spring onions much to my shock! They still need more time to develop into a better size, but I am really pleased with these. There was a point where I thought I had done this vastly wrong, where they looked like very young spindley chives. I am so happy with these I have sown a window trough of these for in our bedroom today. I am sure my other half will be thrilled with my exciting choice of bedroom decoration!






Coriander: I was told this was one of the hardest things to grow... wrong! It is so easy. I just sowed the seeds and watered daily and it sprouted very quickly. Just be careful not to overcrowd. If you ever think this is happening do not be afraid to pull a few plants out. I have used this in my cooking and have been inspired to try making indian food, which is going very well.






Basil: At first this was my favourite as it sprouted into seedlings so quickly. Unfortunately, a few weeks after, I had to perform an emergency operation. They were far too crowded and fighting for sunlight, room and nutrients. I thinned these out and replanted the best ones using my high tech equipment (a teaspoon - I haven't yet bought proper gardening tools as this is supposed to be a money saving exercise and I have already spent many monies on this). It's looking really good now and I have tried it in pasta dishes. I can't wait to have enough to make home made pesto.




Carrots: These look great in my kitchen window, however I m not convinced they are going to make carrots. I think I have sown them too thickly, so have been thinning them out, and every week I pull another one out to see the development in the root. I can see where the carrot is gonig to be, the root has started to get a orange tinge to it, but I just can't see this working. Looks good though so not a total disaster.



Peppers: These are looking good! By far my favourite overall. Of course there is no peppers to speak of, but I am please they look like proper plants. Because of my apparent success I have sown Jalepeno Peppers and am hoping for these to sprout into seedlings soon. If you are doing peppers, please be patient. I think it took about 3 weeks for me to see any sign of life, but it is worth it.

Mixed Leaf: I have recently sown mixed leaf seeds which I potted today in a trough. These sprouted within 2 days so are definately a good one ot keep your enthusiasm and momentum going. It can be a little disheartening to water your soil every day to find nothing happens for ages.

All in all a great success so far. Pictures to follow soon of the pepper plants, they are in my little boy's room and he is sound asleep - something not to disturb...

More Seeds Sown!

Following the success of my early sprouting basil (turns out I got the chive and basil pots mixed up!) I decided to try more things so I have now sown:

Basil - Sweet Genovese
Chives
Spring Onion - White Lisbon
Carrots - Parmex (These are golf ball shaped so designed to be grown in containers - not sure they are designed for indoors)
Peppers - Sweet Colour Rainbow Mixed
Rocket - Wild
Coriander

Currently they are all in my lounge window, but hopefully if the carrots grow I will move them to the kitchen window along with the spring onions.

I also bought some jalepeno seeds from Ebay today so will plant those in a few weeks. There is enough on my windowsill for now!

Finally ... something happened!

Major update! There is some growth - I believe this is called germination, but it is very likely I could be mistaken.

I awoke this morning and did my usual daily check of whether there was anything more than just compost showing in my window allotment. To my surprise in the chive pot I could see small little shoots. It's not much, but at least I haven't killed them already! I also have photo evidence (I really need to get a life). What you are looking for is the white spots.

How have just amazing and quite clearly drastic results happened?

So I will keep watering them every day and hopefully the others will come through too. FYI I took the cling film off today as I don't think they need it once you see signs of germination. I am also turning them 180 degrees so they get even sun every 2 days.

Inspired!

Well, what an interesting idea I had last night. I decided that it would be good to grow herbs and vegetables indoors! Is that possible? After hours of research on the Internet it would appear so. Finally a use for my blindingly bright window in the lounge. I will explain how I am doing this, but first I feel it is important to let you know why I am doing this.

1. I have never been able to keep a plant alive before, so this seems a bit of a challenge.

2. I had a baby 8 months ago and now I am feeding him fresh veg, but am finding myself buying more than I need and I really can't afford organic foods.

3. Money saving - any of you who are familiar with www.moneysavingexpert.com will know that Martin is always proud of ingenious money saving ideas. It's not just that I won't have to buy the veg, but also I won't be wasting it as I will harvest as I need. (Harvest - I sound so professional!).

4. They will make lovely displays in my flat

5. I live in a flat ... no garden ... I feel I am at a more mature time in my life where I need to fulfill my green fingered instinct (hopefully it is in there somewhere).

How...

Well you will all (all 3 of you that read this probably) get to see step by step my progress - good or bad.


So after hours of research last night, I wrapped Ethan (my baby boy) up in a snow suit this morning and walked into town to go and buy the essentials. I don't drive so would need to carry anything back but I only live 10 - 15 minutes walk from Chelmsford town centre so this shouldn't be too much of an issue. First (and only it transpires) stop is Wilkinson. I forgot how good this store is. I had to tear myself away from the cheap toiletries as I ahd a budget I set myself of £10. I often have money saving/making ideas and usually I spend lots of money setting something up that I never manage to do so I wanted to be a bit more sensible about this. I had a list:

Seeds - Chives, Basil, Spring Onions, Salad leaves, Peppers
Pots
Compost

It transpired that the seeds were on a 3 for 2 offer so I had to buy another one which turned out to be funny golf ball shaped carrots. I bought terracotta pots as part of the reason for doing this is for display purposes, but only bought 3 as I thought I would start small and then try the slightly harder things. I am totally improportionately excited about this so I really hope they do grow. I also bought a bag of compost (15 litres) so on my way to the till I had a basket ful of terracotta pots and saucers, seeds and a big bag of compost ... not the easiest thing to carry while pushing a buggy with an unusually heavy 8 month old in it (he's tall, not fat). All this came to just under £10 so I am very pleased with myself.

Sowing the seeds

Small warning/disclaimer - if you follow what I have done and it doesn't work it is not my fault - it's yours for following the instructions of someone who has never managed to keep a plant alive before!

1. Steal some gravel from the communal drying area (mainly flat stones are best and not too big)

2. Make sure you won't be interrupted by baby.

3. Place a couple of stones (fairly porous ones) over the hole in the bottom of the pot to stop the soil falling out but leave room for water to drain (bumpy stones will do this automatically)

4. Fill pot with compost to within an inch of the top.

5. Sow seeds as per directions on packet. (I put thing a bit closer together as I read somewhere that you can do this in pots, the veg may be a bit smaller but the overall yield will be higher - we shall see!!!)

6. Cover with a thin layer of compost and pack lightly.

7. Water - be gentle (you don't want the little seeds to wash away or drown)

8. Put pot on saucer of stones (this way the pot won't sit in water constantly and the soil won't rot).

9. Cover with cling film and stick in the sunniest window you have!

The seeds I have currently planted are Chives, Basil and Spring Onions. Once these are established I will plant the others I have bought - they seem a little more difficult so I want to do the easier stuff first.

I will keep you all updated with how they are growing (or not) and upload pictures of each super exciting stage of indoor herb and veg growing!


Time to tidy up the flat before Dave (my lovely boyf) gets home and sees stray compost on the floor!

Sylv x