Are plants saving your life right now?

[Destroyedpeople]

I am so happy that back in Feb my lovely daughter gave me some succulents and 'flavours of mexico' seeds.

Another friend gave me a cactus cutting and a half dead Christmas cactus...

Now from the 'mexico' seeds I have pots of basil, about 20 chilli seedlings, a big pot of coriander that made a lovely gift. ..onions and tomatoes in the garden.

Then after lockdown I couldn't get any more seeds so raided the kitchen cupboard where left over from a winter baking frenzy I found allspice, cardomum and caraway.

They have all come up! If I can't get compost I sneak out to the nearby field and steal molehills. .

In the back of the cupboard I found some sprouted potatoes and onion...so in they went to the raised bed in the garden left by a previous tenant...along with radish seeds and peas and carrots after I finally made it to a shop...

Today I planted a blackcurrant plant and put out some containers of stuff that had gone wild inside..and planted sage and parsley seeds outside. Rosemary thyme and oregano and dill inside.

It's really keeping me sane....and busy...

Anyone else discovered the joy of gardening during lockdown? It's all new for me..

Me! I planted some pumpkin seeds left over from making a pumpkin soup. They grew into little plants! I was totally amazed. Taking care of them is currently my favourite part of the day

You can plant allspice?! I had no idea.

Oh you clever thing, well done! So creative, I didn’t know you could plant some of these things.

Yes you can it makes a lovely house plant

..

At the moment I am working my way through a box of persian dates and trying to germinate the stones...

Can we see your pumpkin seedings..?

i've luckily had access to a garden centre all along

ive rescued many plants from their skip and reduced sections

I recently pulled out a bamboo plant rrp £16 and 2 japanese maples at £14 each....all coming along nicely now

I'll try to take a photo of the pumpkins tomorrow OP. Definitely going to give allspice a try! That plant looks lovely.

Dahlia Day that's brilliant. Lucky you to have the skip nearby and lucky plants

I planted my first ever vegetable patch this spring, I literally rushed over to the local nursery the day before lockdown to get seeds/seedlings!

I'm really quite proud of the results. DH keeps complimenting me on the delicious lettuce, we have plenty of chard and spinach to keep up our iron levels. I'm not quite sure what to do with the cabbages, though. My lot aren't really cabbage fans and I only grabbed the seedlings because I wanted to see what I could grow.

I'm thinking stuffed cabbage leaves perhaps, Eastern European style.

I'm totally into growing veggies now, will definitely be doing it again! I like to go out and see how much they've grown...haven't talked to them yet.

I’ve discovered the joy of gardening thanks to the lockdown. I’m just about to plant out some carrot and chilli seedlings, I planted a clove of garlic and it’s doing really well. I also ordered some plants from the internet and my dd laughs at me as I walk round the garden every morning ooohing and ahhing at each new bit of growth I see !

@Ipadipod I know, I report back to my DH and every time it rains, I say that it's "good for the garden."

@Quillink would love to see them..
@User8563029648123578..it's like plant rescue isn't it.
@AmICrazyorWhat2 eastern euro style cabbage rolls were the only way I ever git the kids to eat cabbage so it could work !!

@Ipadipod I also found some sprouted garlic and it's on the kitchen windowsill. ..this lok down is making us all into frontier women !

I think this is caraway...and my chilli farm. .

I've really rediscovered my passion for gardening during lockdown.Found an amazing three foot pale green conifer ,Abies concolor'Swift Silver, a bargain for a tenner at my local nursery apparently grows to 170 ft eventually should be fun to position if grows quickly😄. Now sits lovely in a large pot next to three bamboos also in pots shading the windows at the front of the house , it all keeps me sane when family too much just watering the garden.

Me I'm am loving being in the garden and looking at my plants is my favourite thing. My garden was all chicken run and trampoline last year, I have reclaimed it and it is beautiful, my very own happy place.

Everyone’s being really resourceful. It’s amazing what will grow from the kitchen.
I just raided the old seed tin and have a greenhouse full of plants. The veg are the usual varieties, but the flowers are a limited mixture.
As they were old seeds I showed them all only expecting a few to germinate. So, of course they all did!

We were so lucky that we had a garden redone in February. It's gone from a boggy grassy mess with no colour, to a grass free, with colourful beds and a 2 nice seating areas.

This time last year we didn't want to go out as it was awful but now we are out there everyday enjoying the space.

My sister is a garden designer and did it for my 50th birthday and is really surprised that I've managed to keep everything alive, as I have no green thumb and chronic hayfever. She was supposed to come and make sure everything lived and the maintenance but because of lockdown she hasn't been able too.

Anyone know how to get rid of spider mites?

I've started growing veg to keep me busy and I'm surprised at how well they are all doing. I've planted potatoes, red onions, tomatoes, chillis, rhubarb and carrots. The carrots haven't made it though as the next door neighbours cats have destroyed them.
I've also created a new border and planted some pots up. I've got my eye on a mini cherry blossom tree but it's currently out of stock.
My dh is currently putting up a fence on my neighbours side as they refused to let us knock down a wall which is quite frankly dangerous so we are hiding it instead.
I love my garden and I'm so thankful for having the space during this time.

I forgot to mention the blueberry and blackberry bush that I've planted as well. I've put them both in large pots and they are doing well.

@Destroyedpeople I really smiled at your ingenuity at finding soil from mole hills! I've was struggling with compost and it never occurred to me to look in the fields around.

I ordered 25 strawberry plants from eBay for £4.99. They looked dead when the arrived as bare roots in wet newspaper.

They are all healthy strong plants and have started to give out side runners already.

I've proudly grown basil and coriander along with french beans, lettuce and tomatoes.

I'm just at the stage of cobbling together a poly shelter so the triffid tomatoes can go In the garden. We now have little natural light in certain rooms due to leaves.

@planningaheadtoday...haha thank you !

The best planting mix seems to be layers of molehill and compost. The molehill earth is always beautifully dug through of course.

I quite like the idea of a Dutch style windowsill that is so full of plants you don't really need curtains...

Ha! Yesterday I said to DH that if I had a CV I'd have to put gardening down as a hobby now!

I've planted blueberry bushes that had been languishing in pots for years and looked half dead, raspberries that I bought cheap because they were half dead, strawberries, chillies and potatoes that people in the village were giving away, and today I'm planning on planting the lettuce, spinach, rocket and spring onion seeds that I bought when the garden centre reopened last week. I've also planted a load of flowers.

DH has been busy painting and repairing outside, and I'm so excited to show off how lovely it all looks with a BBQ once lockdown ends

It’s amazing what will grow from the kitchen. I've got three Jerusalem artichoke plants which I grew from the tips of tubers I bought for cooking. They're 30 inches high already, so I'm hopeful of some sort of a crop this year, and of course, now I've got them, I'll have them forever

Yes, I just look at the garden for ages. Love it

I planted some potato peelings a while ago and am delighted to see they have grown into sturdy little plants, I don’t really care if I don’t get a crop of spuds , I’m just thrilled that they are growing

I love the idea of planting allspice, do you literally just sprinkle it on soil?