Busy, busy.

Its all go in the garden now, with sowing of seeds and clearing the ground for the new crop. The greenhouse is full of garlic (now sprouting), onion sets, potatoes in large pots, peas, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, beetroot, salad and more. Carrots have been sown outside. Potatoes have been planted in big pots outside.

Daffodils and tulips have started to flower. Only two tulips have matured to flower with more developing at a much slower pace. The bright yellow violas shine brightly on these chilly days.

New greenhouse

My now older and wiser head will tell you all to never buy cheap as it costs more in the long run. This comes from my experience of buying a cheap Wilkinson mini greenhouse last spring and expecting it to last more than a season.

It was a very nice greenhouse, only 15 quid, with 3 shelves and just enough space for my first year of vegetable cultivation. However, the clear plastic cover started to develop weaknesses at the corners or where it was once folded. The weak areas developed into holes, and once the strong winds blew in February it soon became a mass of shreds.

I can only presume that the plastic cover could not withstand the extremes of temperature change.

My greenhouse wows are over now as I have bought a 4 tier variety from Homebase, and luckily for me I happened to buy it on a sale day so got it for £20 instead of £30. Well done me. Its cover is made from a much stronger plastic with mesh running through it and also a fabric zip. I would expect this one to last a good few years.

Perfect gardening weather - lets run 10km!

This weekends weather was perfect to make a start on the first gardening jobs of the year. However, I had different plans. Instead I ran in the St Davids Day 10km run around Bute Park. I'm suffering a bit now - everything from the hips down aches - but the aches and pains are worth it. This was my first run for about 3 years and with a time of 1hour and 2 minutes I now have something to beat when I come to run again later this year. The big plan is to run in the Cardiff half marathon in October. Before that I hope to run in 2 or 3 more 10km events.