Days are getting longer

The clocks went forward last weekend which means the sun is now setting a little later and the afternoons are spreading out into the evenings. It's been fairly warm these last few days and with the lighter evenings there's a definite feel that spring is here. About time too!

So to give you an update since the last post -which was actually in the icy throes of winter - January! The basil, chives and salad leaves on the windowsill are doing well and we've been enjoying some fresh salad leaves with dinner every evening. The basil is still quite young but hopefully we'll be able to use it soon. The chives - well I'm not so sure about the chives. They look a little skinny to me - not like the thick chunky chives I know - our chives are frail little whisps of green. Not sure why? Maybe they need warmer weather and more sunshine before they start to bulk up... let's see what happens.

We've also planted some tomato seedlings in a pot on the windowsill and so far so good. Will need to transplant them into a bigger pot over the weekend. We also have some Maris Piper and King Edward potatoes chitting in some ice trays near the kitchen window. Apparently egg boxes are recommended for chitting but ice trays work just as well!

In another small pot next to the tomato seedlings we have some strawberry seeds. It seems most people don't grow strawberries from seed and instead buy them as young seedlings and plant them out. For some reason we chose the hard way and decided to plant from seed. The packet said to scatter the seeds on the top of moist soil and then cover the pot with cling film, which we duly did. Seemed strange not to cover the seeds with compost but apparently strawberry seeds need light to germinate. Well, after two weeks three of the eight seeds have germinated. It's all starting to happen on the Cowick Garden kitchen window sill!

In the vegetable patches we've planted  beetroot, spring onions, peas and mange tout. We're waiting till mid-April before planting the parsnips.

And the very big news of the day is most of the banana trees have survived! In the end we lost only two - two of the bigger ones, which is a shame. We should have covered them up earlier especially considering we had such a cold  December. Well we know for next year.