I really hope my tomatoes look like these - image taken at Green and Gorgeous last year…

I was wide awake in the middle of the night last night thinking large, scary thoughts, the sort that stop me going back to sleep and rather paralyse me, you possibly know the sort of thing. Irrational though they clearly are now it’s daytime, at 2.30am they seemed entirely reasonable and, what’s more, very real.

So. at 7am, when my alarm, went off, I was tired. I didn’t even consider getting out of bed so scrolled through Instagram for a bit (probably the worst thing to do but so easy to succumb to) and and then lay there. Quite un-inspired. That is, until, suddenly, I thought of my seeds, and my seedlings. And then, before I actually decided anything I was up and putting on my dressing gown to go see what had happened since….yesterday. I didn’t even wait to get dressed.

Now, I should, at this point, explain that during the week I live on my own whilst my lovely husband works in London. We live just far enough away to make commuting really unpleasant and so, quite reasonably, he doesn’t. Our children are grown up and making their way in the world and so, for the most part, it is just Milly and me mid week and I like to start the day quite slowly as often as possible.

Milly is certainly not demanding. In fact, when I got downstairs at around 7.40 am this morning I found her all curled up in a dachsie ball with her bottom touching the Aga. She almost opened one eye and then closed it again. She wasn’t up for anything at this time in the morning, thank you very much!

Milly, now awake, in typical Milly pose in my studio…

So, alone, I opened the back door and stepped outside and the beauty of the morning showed itself to me. Breezy, sunny, it was beautiful and the single female duck who often comes to be fed was waiting. I suppose I could give her a name but there are so many who come sometimes that I’m not sure I’d recognise her.

Anyway, I digress. I checked through the window of the greenhouse to see if anything had changed and stood for a moment admiring the straight growth of the sweet-peas. I’m growing ‘Matacuna’ - a wonderful combination of deep purples and reds in each flower. They are the first my seeds to really get going and are at the stage of just forming their true leaves. Yesterday they had been leaning slightly towards the south and I’d turned them round so that they could straighten up, and they had, clever that they are. They were as straight as a die - whatever that is.

Nowadays the received wisdom is that sweet-peas should be sown in the autumn and allowed to develop all winter so that the plants are stronger and bigger come spring. That’s what I will do in future but since I’ve only just got my greenhouse obviously it wasn’t possible last autumn. I love the idea though - of seeing seeds develop to hold the promise of spring at that sad time of year when it’s still beautiful outside but we know that, for sure, winter is coming.

Though I don’t like using plastic it’s hard to avoid at the moment. These are my little seedlings as of today…

I sowed my tomato seeds yesterday, three varieties called Sungold (tiny golden cherry tomatoes), ‘Red Grape Sugar Plum’ (thin-skinned cherry tomatoes I had to have those just for the name). and ‘Black Russian’ (an interesting brown tone to skin as they develop) and can’t wait for them to germinate. Since seeing Charles Dowding’s delightful greenhouse, I have moved on to using the module trays that have forty cells rather than twenty. That’s what Charles does and if its good enough for him…

So - I checked for any growth - well you never know - but of course there wasn’t any. I didn’t have bottom heat available yesterday but this afternoon I will have. It’s very exciting that there is an electrician in the garden right now bringing electricity to the greenhouse so I can plug in my hot mat and turn on a light at night if I feel the need!

Anyway you get the idea and what is more, I’m inspired. To take write, take photos and really engage with my spreading the love as well as enjoying the actual process.

My purpose in writing of course is to inspire you to do the same - get out there and grow something, anything if you don’t already, so you too can feel that thrill of pottering around in your dressing gown (if that’s your style) seeing what’s happened overnight and feel yourself ‘grow with your garden’.

And please share. Tell me what you’re enjoying right now and what’s inspiring and exciting you!

Seeds, seeds and more seeds...