Today's mystery object is...

A real autumn mist pervaded our neighbourhood for most of yesterday morning, the first day on which the clocks had gone back. The days are cracking on now and even I am starting to think of Christmas, have previously slated the shops for starting the season too early. I've succumbed already to buying some bottles of Christmas ale, an offer at the Co-op being too good to refuse. They are sitting there on the shelf now. Will I resist temptation, I wonder?

Among the presents I got last year from my daughter was what I described at the time as a teabag full of herb seeds, bought at the Imperial War Museum North. You had to place it in a bowl of water for a day, then plant under a thin layer of soil.

The label said the bag was embedded with a mix of herbs including parsley, chives and basil. I don't know what has happened to the mixture, but I have succeeded in getting one herb only after about four months of growing very slowly in the pot. But what is it?

Susan suspects it's parsley. In truth, so do I. But I'm not totally sure. I am a dunce, aren't I?

Getting stuck in

Spring is just around the corner, with the equinox this Saturday (17.32, to be precise) and the clocks going forward the following weekend. I am matching the seasonal change with a burst of activity in the garden.

Susan drove me to Kershaw's Garden Centre in Brighouse this morning to get the bags of manure I spotted the other day when I took a walk there. Five bags of J Arthur Bower's Blended Farm Manure, a snip at £20 the lot. As Susan says, this makes it the most expensive vegetables ever.

Two of the bags were dug in as soon as we returned and the remaining three are awaiting the plots being fully prepared. We later went to Wilkinson's in Brighouse to get two tubs of poultry manure which I shall use in the near future and five bags of potting compost.

I noticed with delight while digging in the manure that the white onions I planted last year are at last beginning to come through. There was no sign of shoots just a couple of days ago, but the sun really seems to have done them good. Hope they maintain their progress.

I started off some tomato and herb seeds in propagating trays - three filled with tomatoes and three with oregano, dill and English thyme. It was with some alarm that I noticed the tomatoes are called lightfruit, harbinger and yellow pear-shaped, hardly names to fill you with confidence. The lightfruit packet was from the Dig for Victory set which Dorothy gave me for Christmas and the other two were Thomas Etty packets I got for the knockdown price of 20p each at Oxfam in Ilkley last year. Looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

Santa visits our house

Christmas Day arrives and Dorothy has bought me the welcome present of three packets of seeds and a herb mix from the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester (all right, all right, Salford).

The seeds are tomatoes, onions and nasturtiums and I can't wait to get them in the ground next year around June time, tomatoes a bit earlier. 

The herb mix is very intriguing, being a mix of parsley, chives and basil in what resembles a tea bag. Indeed, you do have to soak it in a bowl of water for a day before planting.

Whatever will they think of next.

 

Oo, I am awful!

Today I have mostly been pricking out. What state is my brain in that all the time it's trying to think of a good bit of innuendo to go with this? Where is Kenneth Williams when you need him?

With initial guidance from Susan, I transplanted herbs from the seed trays into pots. It's a pleasant and relaxing activity, as is all this vegetable and herb lark. The only anxiety is when you're waiting for the buggers to pop their heads above the soil.

Still, the herbs seem to have come on nicely so far. Except, and there's always an except, for the cress and mint. The cress doesn't seem to have taken at all and neither does the mint, which was in a slightly smaller container. No idea why, but they don't get a second chance. Everything has now either been potted up or ditched on to the garden outside. 

Suppose I'll have to think about taking up cooking now. 

Now that's what I like - it's cheap

My friend Steve has been in contact today and has sent me an article from the Guardian about gardening on the cheap. It's fascinating reading and gives some useful and practical tips. Well done to writer Alys Fowler for inspiring me.

Obviously, no sign of the Phacelia tanacetifolia coming through yet. Steve says they're tough buggers and will probably see out any frost. 

Herbs are coming on nicely, though, and it seems highly likely to me that I will have to do something about them soon. Apparently, it's a process called pricking out. No comment.

Not good news

I reckon the seeds I planted on the vegetable plot must have had it after the heavy rain.

It was always going to be a chance planting at this time of the year, but I thought that would have been because of a long and sultry August. Little did I realise that it would be torrential downpours for most of the time. The result, I think, is that all growing has been scuppered.

I'll do a definite check over the weekend (when I have three days off work - hooray!). But I feel there's no hope. All part of a learning curve. I'll just utilise the hiatus by preparing the ground a bit more for when I plant again.

Better news on the herbs I'm nurturing in the conservatory. They all seem to be sprouting, with the chervil ahead of the parsley and cress. Must look up what I can do with them when I take up cooking.

Ooh err! Something's growing

Can you see what it is yet, as Rolf Harris might say.

It's something growing in the seed trays in the conservatory. I never thought the day would come, but here it is. Something nurtured by me.

The herb is chervil. All I've got to do now is find out what chervil is and what I do with it. I'm not going to mention the foolish thought that the word sounds like gerbil.

Looking good.

The man is back (he never went away)

I'm back after too long away from the blog. I know the thing with blogging is to do it and do it regularly, no matter how small the entry. The truth is I've been a bit distracted by having to return to work and do other things in the evening when I get home.

Still, the vegetable patch is still there, although looking a little sorry for itself. I fear the seeds might not come up because it's just been pouring with rain almost the whole time since I planted them. Ah well, that's the nature of the game - I'm not despondent.

There's been a bit of conservatory action, though. I've planted some herbs in seed trays and I'm hoping they'll be successful. I've got (or should have) mint, cress, chervil and organic parsley.

Outside, I've covered the two lines of seed I planted with sticks to keep animals off and dug over the unused part again. Also, I've dug out a huge plant to increase the space available.

I'm happy. Patience is the name of the game.