A seed sort-through

So after a couple of peeks into the garden - one in January and then another one last week, my gardening bug is starting to kick in again. So instead of racing into it and doing everything in our North-facing garden too early I thought I'd dig out my seed box and have a sort through. I keep all my seeds in this metal re-purposed Crabtree & Evelyn box, which was a present a while back containing a hand trowel and fork, various pink gardening gloves and some post-gardening hand cream - a fab present.

It's pretty crammed with seeds though and ...erm, just a little bit disorganised *hangs head in shame and looks around for someone else to blame but finds no one*  Ideally it'd be sorted by the month in which the seeds should be planted, so accepting my challenge I emptied the box...

...and this is what I found:

1, Lettuce: 7 varieties - last year I grew lots of Cos Freckles and had plenty, but looking in the packet there's still lots of seeds left.  I've also got some American Landcress which I'm planning to try this year.
2. Chillies & peppers: just 5 varieties - I've had limited success with chillies grown from seed in the couple years and last year resorted to buying some plants. The first year I grew them they went bonkers, so I bought more seeds and since then nothing much. Typical. I'm going to try again as it'd be great to grow some Padron Peppers of my own.

3. Tomatoes: 7 varieties - my favourite is Tigerella, but the most reliable are Gardener's Delight. Last year the snails got to my seedlings, twice so I gave in and bought some plants when I bought some chillies. I still haven't got the hang of discarding the weaker seedling, it seems such a shame when it's made all that effort to grow... That means I usually end up with more tomato plants than I expect and have my own tomato farm. But it's good to fill the freezer up with pasta sauce!

4. Herbs:  a full range, including three different types of basil: "plain" basil, sweet basil and lemon basil and the more unusual summer savoury, vervain and sorrel. My problem here is once the plants grow they stay growing and there's so many seeds left in the packets. My lemon balm has overwintered twice now and the sorrel perks up just as I think it won't make it. 

Oh and that nibbled Vervain packet - that was attacked by the snails too, that's why I now keep my seeds in a metal tin, indoors. Just to be doubly safe!

But by far and away the biggest piles were for the vegetables, not bad as I only have one smallish vegetable bed... but lots of pots! Although I have discovered that I am now number 3 on the allotment waiting list, it's been a long wait to get this far I can tell you. One day, maybe.

5. Vegetables: split into piles here of
- pumpkins and squashes: 10 varieties - which is shocking really as I have very little room to grow these;
- root crops: 9 varieties, including 4 types of beetroot - 2 traditional, 1 golden and 1 white. And guess what, yep I've only grown the traditional sort;
- brassicas: 9 varieties, some of these aspirational too like the Red Rubine Brussels Sprouts (they grew, but sprouts didn't form so we had a lot of Brussels tops that year) and
- legumes: 6 varieties including two large packets of Blue Lake French beans - in my defence I do like beans...

6. Flowers: 21 different packets - and I thought I didn't really grow flowers. Hmmm.. maybe that's why there's so many unopened packets in this pile. It looks like I'll be trying some flowers too then...

And one of my favourite discoveries, was this one.  Carefully labelled as "Lucky Dip Pumpkin"

I also discovered that many of my seeds are out of date - oops! - that's another thing about having so many seeds in one packet - I suspect some will be fine and grow happily, but there's others I want to test to make sure they'll germinate. I mean, if I've going to nurture and tend those seedlings, I want them to deliver the goods don't I? This test on You Grow Girl looks to be a quick and easy germination test and I think I could be doing that this year.  Well, as well as buying some more seed just in case - that's what you do right?!

Assuming you also have out of date seeds, do you test them to see if they'll germinate or do you just sow them and hope for the best?  And if you don't have out of date seeds, what do you do with them all?  Answers needed please below! 

Love this 55: Ikea zipped storage boxes

Remember our new wardrobes?  Last October we had floor to ceiling wardrobes fitted and the interior was designed around our needs by Bluefield Wardrobes. At the planning session we talked through what worked in our old wardrobes, what didn't and what we hoped for with the new wardrobes. The outside of our wardrobes look like this:

And the inside like this:

Initially we thought there wasn't enough room, but as we started unpacking our clothes it became clear that we had plenty of storage.  I was keen to get some storage boxes for the top shelf as neither of us can reach it without a stool, so anything stored up there without organisation could be lost up there forever!  And it's the ideal place to store our summer clothes in winter, and winter clothes in summer. 

These Garnityr zipped storage boxes from Ikea are ideal. At £10 each they're provide cost effective storage too, and I can fit five of these on the top shelf. Each zipped box measures 44cm x 55cm x 19cm and they're part of a wider range of storage solutions. 

As with the wardrobe space, I've shared these with MOH. I have two for summer clothes...

And maybe I have another two for... sssshh! ...handbags. 

Leaving MOH with one, which he seems to be struggling to fill!

But either way, they really complete our wardrobe storage in a practical and effective way. 

5 Handbag essentials for DIY projects

So for the past year or so as we redecorate our entire house my handbag has contained many decorating items from sample pots of paint to "screws we mustn't lose" and other random decorating paraphenalia. I've found though there's five things I wouldn't be without and these are my five handbag essentials:

1. At least one tape measure!

I prefer to use a pocket tape measure as it's much easier to measure something on your own and you can lock the it to any length, so you can measure things against the space you have. Also it says you mean business, especially in builders merchants and the likes, they aren't always ready for you to pull a builder's tape measure from your bag.

However they can be bulky so I usually have a more compact dressmakers tape measure in my bag too for the times when I don't want to carry the larger version. For me that's likely to be a quick pop into Oxford Street ahead of meeting MOH for dinner.  Believe me, rummaging through your handbag in a restaurant and pulling out the larger tape measure does illicit strange looks! 

Handy tip: if you have tradesmen working in your house make sure they don't mistakenly go off with your larger tape measure. I find a blob of pinky-red nail varnish on the back helps me identify which is mine!  Washi tape would also work. 

2. Your measurements  

Well not your measurements exactly, the ones of the room you're decorating. Get the most out of your tape measure and measure everything and note it down. Measure the room dimensions obviously, the window size and so on but also measure spaces between things. For example, how much room do you have between the bed and the wall?  How long, deep, tall is your sofa?  How big is the rug in your living room, and what's the largest or smallest it could be?

You'd be surprised at how often you'll refer to your measurements when you're shopping. Or how often you re-measure things because you didn't note them down. And if you're going to note them down then you might as well have them with you, it takes the guesswork out of shopping as you never know when inspiration may strike...

3. Your swatches and paint charts  

Keep them in a plastic wallet or a zip-lock plastic bag in your handbag. I use a small sandwich bag, the sort that you take liquids through security in. That means if you pop to the shops in your lunch break or get a chance to unexpectedly browse round the shops, if you see the perfect thing for your room, you'll know if it's perfect or not and you'll save having to make a return trip (either to buy it or return it!).  And the plastic bags helps protect them from everyday handbag life!

4. A smartphone 

Sometimes it's just easier to snap a picture of the thing you want and aren't sure about - or want to find cheaper elsewhere. As they say a picture speaks a thousand words...

5. A notepad and a pen that works

Yes I know you've got your smartphone but there's times where you'll be able to write faster than you can tap it into your phone -  even if you have your phone unlocked and your note app open.  Plus, it's much easier to read your own scribbled handwriting than a hastily and incorrectly typed note (spellcheck often gets in the way too), it's even more handy when your pen actually works!  Plus it means you'll have found a use for one of those lovely notebooks you've got... 

So there's my five handbag essentials during DIY projects, what's yours?