Friday 17 April 2009

Sweetcorn and Monsters

Well it's Friday once again and I am looking forward to getting my big shed put up at the allotment over the weekend. ( the little one will go to my daughters plot ) I'm not sure if we can manage it on our own without all out warfare, so we may have to rope some kind friends into helping us put it up and prevent a divorce. I will post a photo when it's up.

We went away to visit the grandchildren on Thursday and got back today (fri) and was surprised to see the Sweetcorn that I put on damp kitchen paper on Wednesday morning had already started to sprout, so that's the sweetcorn and now for the monsters - the courgette plants are HUGE they were diving out of the pots when we returned home, they are truly monstrous, what are the plants going to be like I wonder ?

The red Basil seedlings are getting big enough to pot on, the Lemongrass is taking ages to grow, perhaps it will suddenly surprise me and shoot up really fast one day. Talking of surprises ! I have a naughty habit of taking seed heads off plants that I like the look of (does anyone else do this ? I bet they do !) and so I have a little plant growing that I call "surprise", as I have no idea what it is, but it looks a bit like a Calendula type plant, I will just have to wait and see. I will keep you updated as it grows and flowers. I had about 5 seeds, but this is the only one that grew.

The red basil seedlings

The slow growing Lemongrass

The courgettes on Tuesday


Courgette seedling Friday, Monsters !


Potted on, but they will soon outgrow these pots ! I didn't have bigger ones.


Chitted Sweetcorn, ready to pot up.(above)

The Surprise plant.


I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and that the weather is nice.

14 comments:

Pam said...

Hi Maureen
All your seedlings look to be doing really well. The lottie should look just wonderful when they're all planted out. Does the surprise plant have a smell like calendulas? It's a very distinctive smell, so that may help classify.
Have a good weekend,
P x

Maureen said...

Pam, thanks for that tip about the Calendula smell. I have some growing up in the lottie greenhouse, so I will compare the smell. The surprise plant has slightly rougher, larger leaves than the "Art shades" that are growing. I'm sure I wont be disappointed whatever it is, if I picked it I must have liked it !

Joanne said...

Maureen Thats an interesting tip about germinating sweetcorn although in fact not a surprise because that's how sprouts are germinated. You put me to shame I only just put my courgette seeds in pots this week.

Anna said...

I have never grown sweet corn before Maureen so I was interested to see that you chitted the seed. I have bought plants in the past but this year have seeds so will try your method. Good luck with the shed. We are planning to get a new one for the garden but just can't agree where to site it :)

Maureen said...

JOANNE, believe or not I only planted those courgette seeds last week-end, that's why I'm calling them monsters ! so fear not yours will be up in no time.
ANNA & Joanne, I haven't done the chitting with sweetcorn before, it's another of my experiments, so do try it with me and we can all see how we get on, keep me posted of both your results. I am having trouble deciding which way over my plot to face the door of my shed, decisions, decisions !! Sunday will be final decision time.

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Maureen ! Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving such nice comments girl !
My god you have such patience to start the seeds out like that .. the only seeds I try to take on now are direct sow ones like Cosmos and sunflowers .. less hair pulling and gnashing of teeth ? LOL
I have to respect you gardeners that go through all of this work : ) Hope you have veggies coming out of your "ears" ? : )

Maureen said...

JOY I do believe I will have veggies coming out of my ears. When I hear myself reeling of the list in answer to the question, WHAT ARE YOU GROWING ON YOUR PLOT ?? I do think what the hell am I going to do with all that veg !! but sharing with friends and neighbours and freezing lots of course!is good.

Anonymous said...

Your seedlings brought back gobs of memories. I used to do this a lot when we had 5 kids at home. Now they are all on their own and I am able to buy plants now and sometimes plant seeds by sowing directly in the ground. Did that yesterday. I really enjoyed your blog and am looking forward to some more.

allot of veg said...

Chitting sweetcorn?
It worked for the parsnips so bring it on - thanks for giving me the nudge - I can do this when the little people are in bed...

Prospero said...

Lemongrass! I knew I had forgotten to plant something (I know a chef who loves the stuff). Maureen, you should try Holy Basil along with your other basil. It's really good for you (I drink Holy Basil tea all the time). This weekend I’ll be busy in the garden and I know you will be too.

Unknown said...

Hi Mo,
Looking good, looking good - your plot is going to look fab if your seedlings are anything to go by. It's all getting very exciting now eh? I have just come back from lotty GH (not lotty HQ haha) and potted on some Toms, Aubergines and Sweet Peppers - limiting the final potting on to 6 plants of each MAX or i will run out of space eventually as GH is only 6 x 6. Can't wait to see pictures of your new shed which was a bargain so well done you.
Catch up again soon x

Phoenix C. said...

I like the idea of the 'surprise plant'! I don't buy seeds, but scatter seedheads around the garden and wait for surprises! I've got lovely clouds of blue forget-me-nots at the moment.

Millie said...

Maureen, our Lemon Grass took forever (at least 2 years) to give us anything, but it eventually grew big & strong & is still going along happily. So maybe patience is the best treatment on this occasion!
Millie ^_^

BT said...

Ha ha, I love the surprise plant, what fun!! I haven't tried that yet! Your seedlings are all doing so well. Well doen you. Mind you, you are in Hampshire. Here in soggy old County Clare it's a bit of a struggle sometimes. Last year was a wash out, literally!

PS I don't like the music personally, cos I can't concentrate on your blog! Just me!