Friday 8 February 2013

Finding buried treasure



There are many benefits to a tidy greenhouse - fewer slug and pest harbouring pile ups of old pots and detritus, the banishment of plants and cracked plant pots long past their sell by date, the mental stocktake of potting materials it facilitates, and the delight of having short-lived space on your greenhouse staging.

Tidying and insulating the greenhouse was my task yesterday - it was going to be sowing seeds initially, but I thought it wiser to do the more prosaic task first, rather than filling the staging with more seed trays that would just have to be moved when I came to insulate.  And so the job finally got done.

I find myself repeatedly peeping through the door to marvel at my bubblewrapped micro-climate, and at my tidy (by my standards) stash of pots and compost stacked under the bench.

But best of all, I refound these:



which makes me feel like a trip back to my old stomping ground in North London is imminent, just so I can stock up on them again - with a few holes in the bottom they make exceedingly charismatic herb containers.  Imagine that topped with some lush green basil leaves.  Brilliant!

6 comments:

  1. A tidy house is a tidy mind they say - or perhaps it is the other way around? I suppose it applies to greenhouses too! Anyway, it is so much easier to avoid all the slugs and snails if things are tidy – I even tidy up the neighbour’s garden now and then to avoid slugs and snails in my own. Yes, I know –that’s a bit obsessive, but it works so well!

    Never seen the canned tomato paste before, but I live in East Ham and there is unfortunately not much Greek food to get around here, I wish!

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    1. If houses represent state of mind, then mine is a bit messy! When faced with the choice between sorting out the planting space at the front of the house, cleaning and tidying the greenhouse or cleaning and tidying the house, guess which choices win hands down?

      I can always do housework when it's raining (which is pretty frequently).

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  2. I have to say my greenhouse is not so tidy at the moment. Just put bubbleplastic around my Agapanthusses this afternoon, again it's snowing and freezing. I hope your bubbleplastic will do to get a micro climate.

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    1. I'm feeling very smug. We had some snow this morning, so it looks like I insulated at the right time to help my newly sown seed trays very slightly.

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  3. Those tins are great - the kind of find I am always reading about in magazines yet you see them on sale for £££. Now, being Greek tins I am guessing you used to live in Palmers Green???

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  4. Good guess. Nearly - Harringay, Green Lanes. I think you can still get them there. It's good tomato puree too, which is just as well, given the quantity. Also comes with handy plastic lid which now closes my cat food tins!

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