Monday washing day

[Odsox]

It's amazing how many flower pots I use. These have been stacked on the potting shed draining board for the best part of a year. Now with spring looming and a nice sunny couple of days (with an icy wind) I decided I must get stuck in and wash them up, these and 94 plant labels !
These are today's little lot drip drying.

I must point out that I sow everything in pots, nothing at all in the ground, so everything I grow needs at least one, if not two pots. That way I can avoid feeding the slugs and sow just the right amount of seed for the plants that I need, less wasted expensive seed.

Pots.jpg (205.86 KiB) Viewed 6085 times

[Green Aura]

It must have been the day for sorting and preparing - we sorted all our seeds and chucked out a load of old ones. I think we'll still have enough of everything to see us through this year.

We also checked on the contents of the polytunnel and gave everything a drink. Can you believe we've got olives! They're only about half size but bigger than any we've managed up here before. I'm now deliberating whether to try brining them.

Are those brassicas in the hydroponic tube? They look good. Do you grow them to harvest there or start them and then plant them out?

[Flo]

Would someone like to come up and wash some pots for me? Only the large ones left to do up the plot.

[Odsox]

Are those brassicas in the hydroponic tube? They look good. Do you grow them to harvest there or start them and then plant them out?

Yes, there are 3 cauliflowers and the rest are spring cabbage. They will stay there to maturity and should be out long before I need to refill the pipe with cucumbers and melons.

[Odsox]

Would someone like to come up and wash some pots for me? Only the large ones left to do up the plot.

Don't look at me Flo, it's taken me nearly a year to do my own.

[bonniethomas06]

How satisfying, rows on rows of nice clean pots!

I am still in awe of your lovely greenhouse.

I must confess my pots are still festering in the shed, as we have temporarily repurposed my beautiful new, squeaky clean greenhouse as avian-flu proof chicken housing

[ina]

My pots tend to float about in a corner of the garden, and get re-arranged every time a storm brews up... :)

(Yes, I do have a shed - but that's too full with other stuff!)

[Odsox]

Can you believe we've got olives! They're only about half size but bigger than any we've managed up here before.

That's interesting and I'm impressed.
I have looked at olive trees before in catalogues and didn't think it would be possible here. I know they grow outside up in Ulster but I doubt they would survive the salt laden winds here. What I didn't realise was that they produced fruit when still small enough to grow in the polytunnel.
Hmm, neither of us like olives that much, but would be something different if I saw some cheap.

[Green Aura]

I doubt they would survive the salt laden winds here.

We're only half a mile from the beach and I'm sure they grow near the coast in their native countries, don't they?

It has been unseasonably warm here for the last few weeks (relatively). We were in double figures fairly regularly towards the end of December. Even the high winds earlier in the month weren't particularly cold.

[Odsox]

I doubt they would survive the salt laden winds here.

We're only half a mile from the beach and I'm sure they grow near the coast in their native countries, don't they?

Are you growing your olive outside then, I assumed by your post that it was in your polytunnel?

[Green Aura]

The polytunnel has quite big gaps since the storms a couple of years ago so I'm pretty certain the salt winds get in regularly.

[Flo]

I'm disappointed in none of you people from hardier areas want to move down to my slightly softer climate to pot wash!

[Green Aura]

Softer climate be b*ggered - it's a lot warmer here, Flo. I'm stopping where I am.