A productive day....

Today the weather was sunny, no rain. Time to garden!

I've had two tomato plants (one sungold, one moneymaker) which have been in the growhouses fulltime for over a week. They are both really tall and have buds that are pretty big so I decided to risk it and pot them up in the tomato growhouse. I've been itching to do this for ages, just couldn't wait any longer. Once I got started, I got brave and really went for it. So I planted up an aubergine, jalapeno and banana pepper. Three are in the bottomless tomato pots in the wooden planter (not the best of pictures, sorry).

I planted them with a mix of organic manure, compost and a handful of potash. I managed to squeeze some marigolds in between, bit of a squash but hey ho. I am cautiously optimistic that they will be fine and it's not too early. I zipped the door up mostly, but with a gap for ventilation as it was so sunny then closed it completely just as it got the last of the sun so it should be nice and warm in there. That's plan A, plan B is that if they all die (worst case scenario) I still have other plants to replace them.

 In April's issue of Gardener's World magazine, they gave away free Maskotka tomato seeds, they're a tumbling cherry tomato so I planted them in my last free hanging basket.

It's not a big basket, I planted 3 plants and a marigold which I think may well be pushing my luck but we will see. You live and learn. The basket hangs by the back door during sunny days and will live in the growhouse the rest of the time until things warm up a bit.

The seeds I planted just a few days ago are already starting to peak through the soil. I have to admit, one of the first things I do in the morning is nip into the garden to see how things are coming along, it is an exciting time!

Against all the odds, this rhubarb root I planted in February has taken. I hadn't held out much hope that it would do anything, it's a bit of a Godforsaken bit of the garden. For years, this was where a rotten old tree stump resided, this was to the side of the shed that once was and was mostly covered with old pots and junk. It doesn't get much sun so I don't imagine the rhubarb will thrive but I haven't the space to put it anywhere else. So we'll see how it goes for this year. From what I've read, you leave it alone for the first year then hopefully next year we'll have rhubarb!

It's great to see some of the flowers starting to open and attract the wildlife. Even with space at a premium, I have made a point of growing some flowers, I realised from the few veg I grew last year that it really helps to get the bugs in and get things pollinated.

And this was the salad I served at dinner, rocket, lettuce and spinach, which went great with wraps, chicken and cheese. No shop bought salads in this house, this summer!