Sewing and Sowing

I feel for prisoners of old who had to sew sacks. I've been trying it out recently- sewing hessian sacks using old fashioned garden twine and it's shredded my fingers. The reason for doing it was not because I was doing time, but rather to make up the Scarecrow Kit from Hen and Hammock we were given as a Christmas present. As we're currently seeding a new area of lawn, we put 'Jeff' (for some reason P decided to name him after his Godfather) to use straight away, keeping the birds away, we hope, and holding the hosepipe as we gave the seeds a good soak.



While Jeff was doing his job outside, I was clearing out the greenhouse. This is a job I've been meaning to do since we moved here last year, as I was so excited about having a greenhouse. Things (usually child-related!) got in the way and I've only just found the time to get in there. I filled two rubbish sacks with old trays and pots made brittle by UV exposure, discarded packets and weedkiller botttles, saving what was worth using again. I love the 'make do and mend'-ness of gardening.
As outdoor growing space is still only 'on the list' rather than a reality this years sowing has been mainly stuff that will stay in the greenhouse: a selection of tomatoes which have gone in late but hopefully will do okay; strawberries, which I cheated and bought as plantlings; herbs including basil, oregano, sage, parsley, coriander and sage; butternut squash which will end up outside (somewhere!); borlotti beans that P sewed with my mum when we visited her and which will also need a home outside and sunflowers to squeeze in somewhere, grown from seeds sent to P and M by my sister.