Inside on my windowsills, safe from the arctic blasts and sudden vicious hail showers is all the promise of the summer garden. As I write I can see cucumbers, courgettes, achocha, tomatoes and larkspur. Other rooms have different assortments. Beans, peas, squashes, kale, salad leaves, sprouts, leeks, foxgloves and nicotiana. Before too long they'll be ready to venture out into the big wide world. Right now the life of a seedling is peachy. Shelter, warmth, water and no pests. They'll need to toughen up though, the real world can be a pretty harsh place when you're green and juicy.
I've always loved to grow things on the windowsill. When I was little I'd plant anything I could get my hands on. Lemon and grapefruit pips were a favourite. My friend and I had fantastic great big citrus plants. Acorns were good too. I had a windowsill full of plants then as well. I think I must have some inbuilt urge to grow things.
I love that moment when the first seed pops its head up. The bigger seeds sometimes have the husk of the seed stuck to them. I'm always tempted to pull them off. The seeds that are as small as a speck of dust are incredible. The tiniest vibrant speck of green can turn into the most glorious plant.
There's always a hint of the final plant in the seedling. The golden colour of the yellow courgette that has just germinated. The verdant green of an achocha with its tiny tendrils reaching out searching for support. The deep maroon of a frilly mustard plant. Delicate red veins on the leaves of a radish. I love this time of year when they're all small and perfect, unblemished and full of potential. Occasionally I catch sight of a snail with his nose pressed against the window or a slug pushing against the door. They're waiting.
To visit the other Colour Collaborative blogs for more of this
month's posts, just click on the links below:
What
is The Colour Collaborative?
All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and
share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of
them work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its
parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own
monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our
ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.
I love this time of year with the seedlings taking over the house and the little bursts of green start poking though, Mother Nature at her finest.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great flow to this post, CJ. Absolutely natural; it really shows how much you enjoy growing things. A joy to read :) Jill
ReplyDeleteOoh, okra! I've never tried growing any but I do love them - despite what Gordon Ramsey says about them being slimy. I had to Google achocha, such is my ignorance. I was thinking about slugs and snails this morning whilst I was looking at the hostas just starting to grow - I may as well bang a dinner gong. Lovely post. xx
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the days when I sowed everything in pots and trays indoors. I used to set up the children's paddling pool in front of the glass doors leading from the sitting room into the garden and fill it with seedlings creating almost a mini Eden project. The paddling pool made for easy watering and observation by the children, although I had to limit ball games in the sitting room to marbles and miniature golf. On a sunny day everything would get shifted outdoors for fresh air and wind-buffeting. I don't do this anymore; I treat my seeds mean to keep them keen although I totally understand the pleasure of watching a seed germinate and grow. Now the first lot of seedlings are through at the allotment I made a second sowing of salads just before a hailstorm struck the other day.
ReplyDeleteThe vision of a snail with his nose pressed against the window brought a rare smile to my grumpy countenance, a lovely post and a sign that Winter is losing her icicled fingered grasp on the garden.
ReplyDeleteSo you've got colourful seedlings! I think we do actually have a packet of radish seeds in the box, ready for planting. I've missed a few things too. We've been having hail showers and woke up to a blanket of snow this morning. Just as the year felt like it was starting...
ReplyDeleteSo any more planting can wait until the sun's out again. And yes, we suffer from snail and slug overload. I just hate the thought of those bright blue pellets everywhere.
S x
Such lovely photos. I love to plant on windowsills too ( I don't have a greenhouse) and get very excited by those first little green shoots. Bit behind this year due to a broken ankle!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful thought, a hint of the future plant in each seedling. This made me smile. I love the moment when you can tell apart the zinnia from the cosmos and the courgette. Have lovely day. x
ReplyDeleteIt's always a thrill when a tiny shoot emerges from the soil. I too have beans and squashes on the windowsill. I do wish the weather would warm up though, so that we can get planting out. Some of my bean plants are reaching for the ceiling!
ReplyDeleteGood post and lovely pictures. Much as I like growing seeds on the windowsill I do find it all a bit of a faff at times especially when it comes to repotting and hardening off. Flighty xx
ReplyDeleteEvery year we await the first of a batch of seedlings appearing - the sense of achievevement never fades.
ReplyDeleteWhat is an Achocha? I've never heard of it. I also love growing things but must have missed the gene for starting from seed. Although I did grow an avocado plant from a seed. I enjoyed the image of the snail and slug trying to get to your pretty little seedlings. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteAside from some planting of seeds in school, and a pine sapling when I was in kindergarten, I had no experience with gardening or planting until I was an adult. I was so afraid of it when I first started! I found it really daunting at first. I've learned to enjoy it more in the past few years, though. Right now, we're nursing baby lettuces, squash, tomatoes and cucumbers that we grew from seed. I don't know what will happen, but so far it has been exciting!
ReplyDeleteI just love that you grew stuff on your windowsill as a child, CJ - why doesn't that surprise me? I wish I loved to grow more, but buying plugs from the garden centre is more my style if I'm honest. I wonder if I'm just too impatient to be a really good gardener? You seem to have the knack. I wish your seedling babies luck when they eventually make it out into the big wide world. x
ReplyDeleteI hope that all of your seedlings do great things for you this year!
ReplyDeleteI used to love to help my Dad planting seeds. We had loads of them in trays in clear bags under our beds for the ones that need more darkness to germinate! There is a definite lack of window sill space here for seeds to germinate. Thankfully I've been so busy (read lazy) I've not gotten around to doing them outside either...which is handy as we're forecast 4cm snow!!!! xx
ReplyDeleteLovely sight. Another husk puller here :)
ReplyDeleteWhile I have not seen any snails yet, we are already battling slugs. I still can't believe they think the leaves of our Hydrangea bush are delicious! I do hope that you are are able to defend your colorful seedlings, and am so impressed that you have success in getting seeds to seedling stage in planters on your windowsill. [I don't.] Bravo, CJ! xx
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. You can't beat the thrill of germination and that first sight of green poking out. I'm very protective of my seedlings and woe betide any mollusc that comes near. Sam x
ReplyDeleteYour seedlings look much stronger than mine, but then it looks like you have a fantastic sunny spot. The evergreen trees around our house that I love don't let much sunshine in. Luckily we only have another 2 weeks until our frost free date, then the outside fun begins!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the mental image of the snail with it's nose pressed against the window, but I won't laugh because I know you're right!
ReplyDeleteI love a window sill full of seedlings. my husband doesn't feel the same way. he can't understand why I have to bring soil in the house when he built me a greenhouse, he refuses to believe it's too cold out there for my tomato babies........
ReplyDeleteI love seedlings and propagation is my favourite thing about gardening - the little seedling leaves pushing through, their first true leaves, young green shoots. Happy gardening, it's sunny outside at the moment, hope it stays for the weekend. Jane xx
ReplyDelete