One of my friends told me today that she is moving back to Germany. That is only one of many who seem to have left the country recently 😦
On the immediate home front there have also been loses. The okra plant was slowly dying, so I decided it needed to be moved to the compost heap. This could be simply because the house is not quite warm enough (though at approx 20°C I doubt it). It might also be because I replanted the seedling without removing the cardboard egg box it had been growing in previously and the roots could not penetrate it until it was too late.
Other losses include two of the three cauliflower seedlings I transplanted the other day. However, I have sown some more seed, so all being well I will still eventually have a crop of some description….
Now for some good news. First, my daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed one of the two cauliflowers that survived the winter yesterday. The stock from steaming it was then used to make a soup tonight, which included the first of my onions. (NB I learned from some friends that you can use the leaves from the onion, so these went in the soup, too.)
I planted these onions last autumn and had thought they would come to nothing because 1) something seemed to be eating them around Christmas time and 2) the winter was so long. Then over the last week or so, I have noticed them really bulking up, so I am having renewed thoughts of planting overwintering onions this year.
The final piece of good news is that one of colleagues is going to give me a couple of red currant canes, if that is the right word. So, my fruit and flower garden is going to get an unexpected addition.
Better get on with spreading top soil and manure then 😉
© Helen Butt, July 2013.
Growing out of chaos 
Red currants would be pretty exciting – good luck!
Thank you!
A friend of mine left the country with her husband three months ago and that felt like a loss as I am in the UK and they planned to live in Australia…and I don’t really like to fly! They are thinking of returning though so my fingers are crossed. The same people gave us raspberry canes when they sold their house and they survived the transplanting very well. We have quite a lot of green fruits at the moment so I hope your red currants do well too.😀
I hope your friend will return from Australia!
I haven’t received the currant canes yet but hope it will be soon, now that I have worked out where I am going to put them.
Sorry to hear about your okra. I had problems with my rosemary. In fact, I forgot to check on the last plant which I put on the windowsill. It’s probably dead lol.
It is easy to forget to water!
However, the good news is that my new okra plant is doing very well (Cf post ‘Not bolting but flowering’). So, I am sure of getting at least one lady’s finger 🙂