Good news - Turmeric

The summer of 2012 is salvaged...by two shoots of turmeric.

I got these from a chum who got them from another chum who got them from Morrison's in South Wales. A traditional hubbub of exotic-ness don't you know.

Anyway - they were put into these pots probably around April time. Nothing happened - they were even in a heated prop and I lost interest around I'd reckon May at the latest. The heated prop went off and I just left them there. No watering - not even opening the lid. The soil as you can see is shriveled up and bone dry. 

And yesterday - I thought I spotted a shoot. Thinking it was probably just a weed seed I didn't look. it was late, it was dark and I was tired.

But this morning after a coffee [natch] I decided to take a peek and lo and behold - two shoots!!!

And on Samhain as well. 

The end of the harvest season - beginning of winter. 

Let the new growth emerge.

Dwarf Mr Snow's Tomato

Sigh.

After all the rubbish year, looking after these flippin tomatoes and only having a few that produced...one of the most successful was Dwarf Mr Snow's - which I was expecting to be yellow and beefy - is beefy alright but has a black shoulder and has ripened to red.

Can I cry now?

I give up.

See you in 2013!

Grö

A little plug for one of my projects

I've been working with the SEND project in Nottingham to get therapy gardening up and running with 14-19 yr old teenagers and have been helping with prepping not just finding a suitable site [it took a year] but also once we found one, clearing it to use it.

Their new website is below.

http://www.grogarden.org.uk/

So a shameless plug really - if anyone is interested in volunteering to help out on any environmental stuff [organic gardening, sustainability, making clay ovens or rocket stoves etc] then please feel free to get in touch with them.

And as we like photos - remember when you are clearing your gardens this autumn...the more you chop up your foliage and twigs and compost-able material - the quicker you will have useable compost. So chop, chop and chop some more.  This is a wheelbarrow of prunings in the middle of being chopped by one of my students.

Bean a while since I posted

Gosh, what a busy month.

I've been working on getting a new garden prepared and cleared in readiness for more teaching action - this one is in Nottingham so nearer home but it's been hard work to say the least.

A month doing one work day a week, and a few extra days at weekends. Phew.

So meanwhile, I have been busy just sorting out my saved seed, just finished the beans that I grew at the allotment last year. A mix of a few, to be sorted out later this week. Still ploughing through the beetroot seed mountain - it takes a while to dry and a while longer to clean each stalk. So in the meantime, a photo of my beans.