Roots and Shoots

It's been a while since my last post – three weeks, in fact – and a lot has happened in the kitchen garden since then. My tomato, pepper, courgette and pumpkin seeds have germinated and are well on their way to becoming good strong plants. They have produced their second true leaves, except for the peppers, which are slower to germinate and have only just popped out of the soil over the last couple of days.

As you can see from the photos, the plants are going so well that they're nearly ready to be potted up and put outside for a few hours each day to harden them off.

Two weeks ago, I also sowed some beetroot, carrot, radish, chive and spring onion seeds, directly into large containers outside. Nothing has happened yet, but the weather has been cold so I shall have to be patient.

We've also been to the garden centre and bought some thyme plants, which hubby and I put into some attractive galvanised metal troughs. I used to have some thyme in the garden, but it slowly disappeared – not due to any over zealous clipping on my part – I think it just got worn out of its own accord!

We also purchased some additional sage plants – not only are they useful for cooking but they make lovely fragrant shrubs.