The Reluctant Gardener

There are some things that I love having but can't be bothered to put the effort into; yorkshire puddings, shapely eyebrows, clean dishes.  For these things I take short cuts/ cheat, call it what you will.

There are other things that filled me with fear before I tried them,  driving, ice skating, rock climbing.  I put driving off for ages before I tried it and now I don't think twice about it (but to be truthful I'd still have to take a deep breath before rock climbing). 

What I'm getting at is all the reluctant gardeners out there.  I MEAN YOU!!!

Lord Kitchener had his gloves on and was ready to garden

We've all done it, really wanted to try something but are too scared to do it.  Where to start, how long do I wait until I realise the seeds are just not germinating.......

So I'm going to try to help, hold your hand as you get your fingers dirty.  Once a month I'll set a little task, something simple at first, and your plants will grow with you.  

I have two task for this month one for the short cutters and one for the garden nervous

Short cutters

Cheat.  Get some tomato seedlings from your garden centre, choose whether you want beef, plum or cherry toms. Don't buy too many to start with two or three plants should do.  I'd get a 5 litre pot for each of them rather than a long flat tomato bag as these tend to make the plants fall over as they get tall.  As the tomato seeding grows bigger transfer the seedling to the larger pot.  

I'm growing Tomato Principe Borghese, tiny plum tomatoes.

Half fill the new pot with compost and water well then gently take the tomato plant out of the old pot and backfill with new compost.  Firm the compost down around the plant and water well.  Keep in a sheltered but sunny position. 

The secret for good growth is keep it well watered, and liquid seaweed food (follow the instructions on the feed).

For the nervous

Something pretty.  There's still time to plant some nasturtium seeds,  the  flowers and young leaves are great for putting in salads.

Nasturtium 'Empress of India  

Get yourself a cellular seed tray a packet of nasturtiums seeds, my favourite is "Empress of India" ( deep velvety red with deep green almost glaucous leaves) and some seed compost.   Fill up the seed tray with compost, water well, poke your finger into each cell to about the first joint of your finger.  Pop in a seed and cover with compost.  Keep well watered and they should germinate in a few days.  

A cellular seed tray like this would be great.

If you are still in doubt, feeling a bit of a Margo then put on some gloves, and  I don't mean the gardening variety.  A good pair of marigolds, they'll protect your hands while still letting you feel the plants. I get some strange looks when I'm gardening but have lovely soft hands!  I only use gardening gloves for heavy work like digging or pruning/weeding thorny plants.

Holly was camera shy in her gardening gloves.

So It's still the bank holiday, it's not raining so no excuse, get out there!