A Hackney garden in summer – part 5

In August the runner beans were ready for harvesting:

and had developed what I didn’t expect: pink beans 

 

 By September the sunflowers were more than 2 metres high:

 

A Hackney garden in summer – part 1

It has been a long time since I last updated you on my garden here in Hackney in London. The last you probably know, is that in April I decided to take part in the National Gardening Week. I cleared out the entire shared garden and started to plant seeds.
I can now tell you that the whole project was a success! Over the course of the summer the garden has gone through several stages , which I have recorded whenever I had a moment to take a picture. Observing the different plants develop was very fulfilling. Here is the first of a few updates : )

Step one, seedlings growing in a propagator:

 

My home-grown runner bean seedlings ready to be planted outside:

 

 

 

Three rows of freshly planted sunflower seedlings:

At the back, runner beans and marigold; at the front, dwarf godetia and five spot nemophila;
at the centre, nectar rich wild flowers to attract butterflies:

  A few weeks later: 

Lavender:

 Lavender, herbs and the flowerbed in the background:

 

National Gardening Week update – Seedlings in pots

As part of my £50 gardening project, started during National Gardening Week, I prepared the soil and unfortunately had to resort to snail killer (I chose an organic one which is safe for pets as our neighbour has a cat).
Over the last ten days I have been propagating flower seeds indoors. The seedlings are coming along nicely. There are Sunflowers, Marigold, Hollyhock and runner beans.
In year three of my urban gardening efforts, I am no longer nervously waiting for the seeds to sprout. I know, it is a matter of letting them be and watering them regularly  – they won’t grow faster just because I look !

I have to say, time has passed quickly and I am rather pleased with the progress:

Sunflowers: 

 Marigold:

Hollyhock:

 Runner beans:

 

 

Indian Cress:

 Updates coming soon

 

The life cycle of seeds

Hello!
New photos have been added to the post ‘update on the seedlings’ from earlier this year. The photos from this summer and autumn show why indian cress and sunflowers are satisfying to grow. Take a look.

[Image courtesy of  The Graphics Fairy]

My low cost flower bed

Hello! Today I woke up early and worked on a small flower bed that was overgrowing with weeds.

The great thing is that before I started to add potted plants, almost nothing had been planted on purpose in our garden. The only plants that grow in the ground have deposited themselves in this flower bed. So today I removed the weeds that did not look good, and left the weeds that did. I also added some fresh soil, to create the impression that the flower bed was ‘planned’.

In reality I simply removed the weeds that looked conspicuous, and left the ones that looked pretty. At the very end I added a few sunflower seedlings and tada! my low-cost no frills flower bed was ready.

To conclude the whole experience our neighbours’ dog ‘Bruno’ came into the garden and inspected everything I’d done with interest. I hope Bruno does not step on the sunflowers, but hey, he lives here too.

Growing plants from seeds

Today is the day I am planting the seedlings I have grown on my window ledge, onto the terrace!

But let’s start from the beginning.

You need to know that I bumped into this whole seed-growing experience a bit by accident. It would be true to say I almost sleep-walked into it, as I maundered into the  local corner shop and, on a whim bought a small plant propagator and some seeds.

My mum has a big garden at home in Italy and she truly has green fingers, so I grew up surrounded by stunning flowers and plants all my life, but I was never really ‘responsible’ for them – besides for a week or two when my parents went on holiday and put me in charge of watering the garden (always equipped with detailed instructions on what to water and how).

BUT this time it will be different.

I want to grow plants with almost no budget and make my room and the garden I share with my flatmates, nicer than it is now.

So, as I said, I bought this propagator and planted Indian cress, sunflower, lupines, pansy, and rosemary seeds into biodegradable pots.

Then there was the BIG WAIT and for ten days NOTHING HAPPENED.

You must imagine me coming home from work every evening, looking for a glimpse of a plant, but Noothing had changed!!

My excitement waned quickly over the course of a week and I started to think that the £7 I’d spent, had been a waste of money.

So, when I had already given up, I sat down next to the window sill and looked at the propagator, thinking “this isn’t going to work, is it?”

and THAT’s when I found myself jumping up on my feet and making a high-pitched noise of JOY!!

BECAUSE THERE IT WAS: the first seedling had just appeared!

 [Seedling Nr.1]

A week later, more seedlings developed and started to look like friendly creatures, turning which-ever way the sun was shining at them:

[Indian cress, with sunflowers and lupines in the background]

The plants are now bigger and my boyfriend has started to look at them, saying “when are they ready to get out?” – out of the room, I guess he means…

Well, follow my next post and you will see what a nice new home these little ruckers are getting.

** Update to follow soon**

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