Mission Creep - Greenhouse Edition...

 I kept standing in that 8ft by 6ft greenhouse and thinking it wasn't really big enough for me. My head touches the top (I know I can raise it up), and I love my bigger greenhouse, the air flow is better and it is the real hub of my veg garden. 

I decided then to have a look at buying a new greenhouse, there's a good range of them out there, but for the size I wanted (12ft by 8ft) they start at about £1,000 for a budget model (with some pretty terrible reviews) and upwards from there. One I'd be happy with was about £2,700, which is so far out of my budget! 

My last one was second hand, so I decided I should look on eBay and other sites. 

Mini Pancakes On Tin Cans

I sometimes help with Scouts as well as Beavers (and Cubs), last week I did a double stint. Helped with Beavers first - we were doing languages and world learning, but all run by the other leaders so I didn't do huge amounts. Then I stayed on to help with the Scouts. 

The Lesson sounded fun anyway - cooking mini pancakes on top of bean cans. 

Sow It Begins

With the bit of sunshine touching the bare earth here in Herefordshire I decided I should begin to put a few seeds in the dirt. 

Now it takes a lot of control not to go crazy here, but a few things do well really early, and I like to make a couple of gambles with some seeds. 

The peppers, chilli and aubergines it's perfect to get them in now (I've been trying to hold off). The mini cucumber is an experiment to see  if I can grow a couple of really early plants on the windowsill in our bedroom. The children love the mini snack cucumbers I sometimes get from the shops so they've convinced me to double down on those (I think I've bought 4 different varieties). 

Greenhouse Clean up & Plans

We've had such a wet few months I've not done hug amounts outside. But with flashes of sunshine it makes me want to be out in it - I even dried a load of washing on the line today! 

I need to get myself organised if I want a good growing year. The big greenhouse has been a dumping ground. Time to get it cleaned up as this is very much the heart of my annual growing here at the smallholding. Old plants out, all the rubbish gone. 

Short Rotation Willow Coppice - Managing 1 & 2 Year Regrowth

 Back in January I cut the next section of willow coppice. When I did this I also decided to tackle the job of managing the regrowth on the other sections I had previously cut. 

The maintenance for the willow doesn't take long, but it is essential it's done every year to keep it growing just how I want it.