Spot the difference

A few months ago, I showed you some of the plants I potted out in my garden and I’m pleased to say that they’ve grown, some more than others but the main thing is I didn’t kill them...yet. One of the tomato plants must be on steroids because it’s reached a colossal height whereas the other two are nowhere near as big. Only the giant tomatoberry plant has started showing signs of tomatoes so I hope that means a nice salad for me any day now :). The sweet peas have also turned out well and add some colour to the garden. As for the Chinese Lanterns, they’ve shown some progress but no sign of anything red on them yet.

The herbs and lettuce leaves are also taking their time so I think I might have done something wrong there since they should have grown pretty fast. I might have to start again with those and I’d also like to plant mint after spending time in Marrakesh this summer and drinking lots of mint tea, yummy! I’ve also heard it grows quite easily so that’s enough encouragement for me.

If you’re still looking for inspiration here’s a nice way to re-use plastic bottles over on Comparte tus ecoideas – a simple way to brighten up your garden or balcony.

How are your plant babies getting on? Any fruits of success yet?

Carla

How does your garden grow?

All of the nice weather we’ve been having in the UK has been encouraging me to go out into the garden and get planting. Last year was the first year I gave gardening a shot, helped by this book which I got from a friend.

It really helped me get an idea of the basics and has lots of hints and tips. I managed to grow some nice herbs and even some tomatoes, leeks and green beans too. I tried growing garlic as well but I think the squirrels might have liked them because they’ve still not appeared a year on. I like watching the squirrels play around outside though so I won’t hold it against them.

This year, I bought some more tomato plants in different varieties.These three are Jamie Oliver plants – green zebra tomatoes, citrina tomatoes, and tomatoberries. I can’t wait to try them once they grow.

I’ve also potted some parsley, basil, sage, oregano and sweet peas. They still have a wee bit to go but I’ll keep you posted on their progress. Here’s what they look like so far:

 

I’d also like to plant some Chinese lanterns so that I can dry them and keep them for ages afterwards. For some reason, the ones I tried growing last year never surfaced...perhaps another favourite of the squirrels.

To brighten up the fence, I made this bunting. I wanted to get a mixture of different patterns but in the end I went for the same colour. I bought this tablecloth material at my local market and cut out triangle shapes that I then sewed onto a piece of string and nailed to the fence.

How have you brightened up your gardens/balconies/window boxes? 

All tips and ideas welcome!

Soon we'll show you the Mediterranean version of the PolkaDotLighthouse kitchen garden.

Carla