Hi guys,

I thought I might give you an update on what’s growing on (did you see what I did there?).

It’s been 7 days since I sowed the majority of my early seeds, with the exception of some broad beans and strawberry plants a day later.

The first to emerge were the mixed lettuce seedlings which were planted on Monday 7th and were peeping out on Thursday 10th. How fast is that!?

On Saturday morning, I could also see, Onion, Roma Tomatoes and Lambs lettuce, with the mixed salad leaf seedlings already about an inch tall.

This morning at 8.00am, giving everything a cursory glance on the way to make a cup of tea, I couldn’t see anything new, but by lunchtime, there was all sorts going on. Two types of sweet pea (bouquet mix and giant wave) and a whisper of chives and coriander, I swear all appeared this morning.

I built the compost bin this week, managed to hack into my finger with my pen-knife chopping through the green plastic lugs. Must remember that just because it’s very pretty, with the Creusoise bee on the handle and flowers on the back, does not make it any less razor sharp! I am covered in little cuts and bramble scratches and bruises, what a lily-white city girl spreadsheet botherer I am. I’m one tiny fairy step closer to being the 95 year old headscarf wearing old lady, bringing in her goats when it’s -12 out. It’s a weird aspiration to have but hey, I work with the cards I’ve been dealt.

My beautiful vivid green shoots from the early October sown onions, have taken a turn for the worst at the hands of “Queen Lateefa” who’s razor sharp teefs have been delicately nibbling at them. Said dainty Spanish Podenco appeared proudly in the living room last night with a beard full of soil and and slightly savoury breath. I feared the worst. Yep, she’d dug up the majority of the Onion bulbs and nibbled the green shoots. I have replanted them in the hopes that they’ll recover and built Onion Prison. Good luck getting those teefs into there again my friend.

The sooner I’ve managed to turn over some soil round the back and we have space for the poly tunnel (greenhouses are so damn expensive) the better.

Until then, I’m taking enormous pleasure from hoarding egg-shells and teabags, banana peel and apple cores to take to the compost bin in a carte D’or ice-cream tub.

Yep, we’re those people. We compost now.

I live in hope that I haven’t purely created some sort of rat Butlins. I guess I could book Bananarama for them in the 6 week holidays?

TTFN xx