Ethical dilemma

Do you remember me talking about how stunning my coriander was looking? No? Here is a picture to refresh your memory.
Beautiful, if I do say so myself. But look at it now! It's practically bald. And the culprit is not my own culinary adventures but the bunny! She even looks evil. I guess all I can say is oh well.

Coriander

Progress pictures. Fabulous isn't it? I sewed the coriander seeds on the 28th May. The day I started this blog. The picture on the left is from a week ago, the picture on the right is from a few seconds ago. As I mentioned earlier the seed packet said to put them all in densely to encourage competitive growth. It's grown alright. I've got to admit, when I first threw in the seeds I was quite surprised that they looked like coriander seeds. You know, like the ones you can get from the supermarket. Possibly shouldn't have been that shocked.

The first time I ever food shopped for myself I bought ground coriander. The ground stuff, the seeds and the leaves are a necessary part of my store cupboard. I've heard that you can't store the leaves, that they wilt almost immediately and can't be dried or frozen. Well I freeze them all the time without a problem. I just take the bunch and start chopping. Leaves, stems and all. Chopity, chop, chop. Then off the go to freezerland. I pull them out when required and they will defrost to the touch.

But while I still have fresh coriander floating around I often toss it together with some finely chopped chili, tomato and onion. Squeeze a bit of lime on the top and my Dad has some fresh salsa. It's too tart for me to eat and the day after it's almost too hot for my dad. I prefer my coriander in curries, on (vegetarian) keema, or baked onto bread.

An almost instant rain forest

About the time I started the URBIS sunflower I planted up some coriander and basil. The basil has been around for a few days and the coriander has just poked up. The seed packet said to densely sew the seeds to encourage growth. So I tipped the entire packet into a little dip. I've never been one for subtlety.

Now they are coming up they look like a tiny rain forest and everyday another millimeter or three is added onto their hight. I'm hoping to persuade someone for a lift to the garden center this weekend for a larger container so I can make a little herb garden with the coriander and basils. Until then they are in the recycled supermarket pot.

While outside I checked on the baby mixed wild flowers. They are already bunny nibbled! And most of them bunny sat on too. Naughty bunny.

The Utter Pointlessness of Browsing Bulbs

I'm going to have to talk to the garden powers-that-be before I make any orders but I want:

Alliums are insane, pretty and purple. I aspire to be all these things. Dad's garden would benefit from a couple of grapefruit sized gigantium or, if I was to be sensible, firmament would do well too. I'd like to see hollandicum in the guerrilla garden eventually (native no but purple yes) but shall have to talk to my partner in crime. I also adore cristopii.

Narcissus are almost guaranteed, I am English after all. They are also just for me as I can grow them in a container in my as-yet-unmaterialised living space. I may illicitly pop some in planters around Manchester too. Spread the love. My gardening note book has "daffodils - spellbinder" scribbled down but I don't know where I came up with that. Or why my dyslexia turned it into dandelions first. (I can tell the difference, I swear) I do lean towards the red and the white. Take romance or Doctor Hugh for example (or a shopping list)

I'm also hoping to plant up some snowdrops indoors so I can experience the seasons without leaving the computer.

Welcome home

I spent the weekend by the sea and by my boyfriend. I drooled over his Dad's strawberry patch, a local organic garden, mocked his gardening efforts, saw penguins and went in a hot air balloon.

At 9am on Sunday morning I woke my Dad with watering instructions.

I came home to see stuff in the pots doing well. Everything is pretty much how it was. The lavender and dahlias have grown a little. The chives have grown a lot. I'm really, really, really pleased with them. The seeds haven't popped up yet; no sunflower, basil or coriander.

Out in the back some of the wildflowers are starting to poke up and the pink is getting stronger. The bunny has nibbled a few leaves. She also tried to tunnel to next door. The daft rabbit.

Impulse Buying

I was planning on spending the day packing but something I can't quite explain happened. There where no UFOs and I'm not protecting the identity of anyone involved it's just plain old confusion. The confusing events led to a trip to the supermarket.

I came back with things to make sandwiches, a nice vegetarian tea (as in the meal, not the drink) and a red pink. Dianthus Cheryl according to the tag. I'd just turned over the hard soil in my little patch of my Dad's garden and wanted to put something there. I planted it in it's pot which google tells me will only give a couple of years good growth but that's fair enough. The buds haven't opened yet. Fingers crossed and I'll post a picture when they do.

I also bought a packet of wild flower seeds and tossed them over my wet, loose patch of dirt. I want to see what happens with them. Any good and I can use them to scatter over patches of dull pointless grass. And for some reason the local council likes dull pointless grass.

And last but not least some Marigold seeds have been planted where the daffodils used to be. Don't know why.

Geography

There is a lot of drama involved in saying where I garden now. Lets just say that I garden in pots. That way I can leave out the depression and living at my mums boyfriends house and them splitting up resulting in me having to move.

Now I'm living in my Dad's house and the pots are doing well. I'm staying here for a whopping one month though. I'm moving down to Torquay for the summer to be with my boyfriend (and earn money) So I guess Dad will have to babysit the pots.

So how can I garden? Well I plan on adding to my pot family even if I have to leave them in the hands of other people for a couple of months. I imagine my boyfriends windowsill can hold a few. I also have permission to mess with a bit of my Dad's garden so he and my Gran will have something to look at. And I don't have permission to garden in Torquay but I will anyway. The boyfriend and I hope to start Guerrilla Gardening down there.

I'm also collecting ideas together for when I have somewhere to live all of my own (or rented). That is my Dream Garden and I hope you don't mind me ranting about it.