Everything went smoothly yesterday for youngest son and daughter with all the children they look after back at school. Although youngest daughter did comment that she found all the crowds of people at the school almost overwhelming after all this time of it being so quiet. It did make me realise that life is going to be quite hard for lots of people as we gradually get back to normal. In many ways maybe it is just as well that it is gradual and not an overnight letting out.
I have been sorting out plants in my greenhouse that are growing from seeds I collected last autumn. Monty Don on Gardeners World said to plant perennial seeds in the autumn and although they won't do much over the winter it will give you a good start for the spring. I think he may be right as lots of them are doing quite well although it is mixed.
My sister gave me some Hollyhock seeds and they have done ever so well. I am promising hollyhocks to everyone!
Sadly quite a few of my perennial poppy plants died when I repotted them but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the remaining ones. The echinops I collected from seeds in my Dad's garden have done well and I'm going to repot them in the next few days, so I hope I don't finish them off too!
The Meadowsweet I collected the seeds from last autumn when we were out walking the dogs through local woods have just started to appear.
One of the trays of seed growing I'm very pleased with are the perennial salad leaves Red Veined Sorrel. We had some growing in our garden when we moved in and I have really become a fan. The plants regrow every year if you cut them back low at the beginning of the winter, and last autumn I left some to go to seed so I could grow some more. I treat them like spinach and cut the baby leaves as they grow to eat in salads and leave some plants to get bigger and use those leaves for cooking adding them to stir fries or in the vegetable bakes I make. They are packed with nutrients and have quite a distinctive tangy taste which I really like but best of all they are so hardy. I have grown them for years without managing to kill them and slugs and snails seem to just ignore them.
Today seems to be the last nice day before a few days of wet and windy weather so I think I will get out and try to do a bit more repotting in the fresh air. I hope everyone has a lovely day and the sun shines on you for a while at least! xx
