Newspaper pots in action

Here are the pots all full of compost, with a seed or two in each one, and watered in.
(See previous post in case you missed the significance of newspaper pots to my life!)

They are sitting in the greenhouse catching warm rays and missing out on the incessant wind that is whipping away the cobwebs of winter in literal and metaphorical fashion!

Today I planted courgette (zucchini) patty pan squash, marrow, artichoke, basil, coleus (decorative not edible!) and a few sunflower seeds from last year's sunflowers.

I am trying my hand at a Mendelian experiment.
Last year I had white sunflower seeds from a sunflower I had grown the previuos year.
I planted only a small number of seeds, and the result was one white and one  black - seeded sunflower head.
I assume this means the black seeds are a recessive gene.
So, this year I am planting equal amounts of black and white seeds (4 pots of three seeds each) in pots to see if the ratio of black to white resulting confirms my theory.
Should have half black and hlaf white form the white seeds and only black from the black ones if my hypothesis is correct.
Watch this space!

Lots of Pots

If you know me at all well, you will understand that the following pictures represent deep excitement and fulfillment to me!

Lovely aren't they?
What's that?
Just a bunch of folded newspaper?
Well of course its a bunch of folded newspaper....
but I plan to use them instead of peat pots for planting seeds and cuttings!
Free, eco-friendly, don't need washing and sterilizing...
How cool is that?


I saw a natty little wooden - er - thing - to help you make these in a National Trust shop once.  It cost a lot of money, so I had a little fiddle about today, and this is how I did it:

 

 Step one: cut some roughly 10" square bits of scrap paper. Newspaper is ideal because it is nice and thin, but does not tear up too easily.
Place the sheets on top of one another, but with their corners not lined up - as if you were making a star.

 Step two: find a good sturdy plastic cup or plant pot.
Sit it in the centre of the paper (when in Britain, spell center like a Brit. Especially if you are a Brit.)

 Step three: fold up either side of the paper around the cup. Crease the folds and squash them flat against the cup.

 Step four: fold the excess newspaper into pleats until they are tucked snugly against the cup.  Press the creases firmly all the way up to the tips of the paper corners.

 Step five: carefully shake the cup out of the paper, holding the creases in place with one hand.  Now fit the base of the paper into the cup. This should hold your creases in place for step six.

 Step six: Fold the pointy corners down into the inside of the paper pot. Take a little bit of the pleated part of the pot too as you fold. This will make the pot more rigid and stronger.

 Here is mine all folded down, ready to take out of the cup....

 Step seven: and just because I am pedantic, I pushed the paper pot back onto the outside of the cup to make the creases firmer on the inside.

Here is the finished product, all ready to fill with compost and plant seeds.

I used the "i" newspaper - not too bad on the black finger front!

It has been such a long, long, dark and dismal winter that the current rush of sunshine, wind and the odd shower has meant that I can't wait to get planting!  I hope there will soon be more pics of things growing. 

My Budding Bard

Anna has taken to writing recently. She writes stories - some by herself, some with a friend.  She often won't let me read her writing because she seems to think it is embarrassing
"It's got too much violence in it Mum," says she. Hmmm!
Maybe she is more worried that I will correct the spelling or something - I won't, honest!

Two days ago , she brought me a poem she had written. I melted.
Here is it:

"My Mother" by Anna (Aged 12)

My Mother likes to do things like gardening in the sun,

But stops when the kettle boils; she likes her tea does Mum.

She also takes great delight in growing fruit and veg,

And one of her great qualities is she likes to tease and jest.

One thing I love about my Mother is that she makes life fun,

And I have to admit that if it weren't for her I'd never get anything done!

Here is another one she has written:

"I've Got Your Back" by Anna

You've been my friend for goodness knows how long,

You've stuck with me through whatever's gone wrong.

If I could repay you in any small way,

Give back some of the kindness you've given away,

Then I would do it...you need only ask,

Even the longest most arduous tasks.

If you need someone to listen, someone to tell,

Just come and find me and I'll listen well,

I'm here to listen and to give advice,

But if its not wanted then I won't think twice.

I will stick with you through thick and thin,

It seems a small price to pay for the comfort you give.

Through arguments, fights or our enemies attack,

You don't need to worry... I've got your back.

Anna being a Cairn gopher

We are floored

Flawed and floored....

This past weekend Mark had a seroius case of getting the DIY bit between his teeth, and our last bastion of major house chaos was tackled.
The Study.
No lead piping, no Professor Plum, just...
The Study.
Here is a picture of it before we had building work last year....study is this side of the arch, Anna's bedroom on the other side.

This is the 'After' picture showing the same view, but with a new dividing wall and doorway...

And looking from the hall through that new doorway, you get the full impact of what we found under the pink stripey wallpaper....

Lovely, isn't it?  Sadly there is no 'Before' picture showing the accumulated junk that was in there - it took us 1/2 a day to rehouse it all before we started to fill and skim the walls....sand (cough cough), refill, skim and sand again (cough again)...paint, refill the bits we missed....etc.etc. etc.

Then we began flooring with the leftovers from the hall and kitchen. Here is the very last hole to be floored:

after 500 sq m of flooring that gap was very significant to us!!! 

Here is Mark ceremonially placing the final board...(We are left with just 8 boards - not bad efficiency!)

  

Does he look pleased with himself,?

Here lies Pharoah Crowbar...

It was an exhausting weekend, but we now have a functional study....which I am sitting in to type this. It is serene and clean, and we love it.
Next job is to make endless book shelves so all our boxes of school books etc. can come down from the attic. Ah! The anticipation of being able to find things again after a year of being flummoxed!

"There'll be snow in August..."

Imelda Staunton in Nanny McPhee. Was that ever a good movie?!
Snow in  August had better be impossible, but snow in April may be on the cards it seems.
For those not living in the UK, the thing that was wrong from the past post was the photo of snow in the garden.....when there should be nice spring sunshine. 
How is a would-be self-sufficiency freak to get self-sufficient if she can't bear to go outside to plant veggie seeds???
 Still, Mark and I took some very nice spring-flowers-in-the-snow pics:

Plum Blossom....not sure there will be many plums this year...

Poor little daffodils - their faces were right on the ground, buried.  

Not exactly a flower, but it does have a stalk growing out of the ground...

Spot the problem picture...

Thought I would put a few pretty pics on the blog showing some scenes taken in and around our garden.
One of them is not how it should be....any guesses which one?

Taratatataratata!

Here is Anna singing her heart out with her choir, Sine Nomine, during 'Carmen' (Sung version)

They were asked to make a guest appearance by Choir 2000 (Cambridge adult choir), as a bunch of street urchins and raggamuffins. They did so well - only 12 of them against a HUGE adult choir and orchestra. They made themselves heard very well, and sounded lovely to boot!


A friend of Anna's came to hear the performance, and, having read the synopsis earlier, commented:
"Such a heart-warming tale!"
 I suppose even Aesop might have been a little taken aback by its forthright message!