Coronavirus lockdown diary week 8

This was a very busy week, I spent a lot of time in the garden trying to get through my long to-do list and I have been able to get most of it done, so I should only need to spend a couple of days in the garden this week and I shall be having a break from it the other days!

On Monday I made a banana loaf and I spent one evening making a birthday list for my dad's birthday in July. My mum and I were hoping to book a weekend away for him this year but that was before coronavirus, so I've been trying to think of some other nice ideas. I've had a couple of eBay sales which I posted out and listed a couple more items, but it's still quite slow. I've also done a little yoga too. Other than that, I really have spent most of this week in the garden, so it's mainly just a garden update hereafter.

We finished weeding the borders and I've started to plant some of the sweet peas I've been growing in pots. I've put three bunches around an obelisk one border with two more pots further along, both supported with bamboo canes. I have some more to go out next week but I'm staggering them in case they don't take in their new homes or if the slugs get them. So far though they're all looking ok.

I also planted some miracle gro border flower seeds. The tub apparently contains everything you need, seeds, coir and feed, so you just put it in the border, water it and flowers should grow. The reviews were mixed online, but I had it in my cupboard from a garden shop clearance last year so I thought it was worth trying. I haven't been able to go out to buy plants like I normally would this time of year so if even any flowers come up, it will help fill out the border.

I planted my second batch of pea seedlings into a window box and added more seeds in the gaps of the two boxes. The pea plants in the first window box are looking strong and have just started to flower.

One of the cucumber plants has grown much faster than the rest, so today it went in its final pot, though I'm keeping it indoors for a short while longer whilst it gets warmer. It's crazy how when you move a cucumber plant from its small pot, it smells so strongly of fresh cucumber! Two more went into bigger pots, but not their final ones and the remaining three are still in their seed trays whilst they catch up.

I also moved five of the courgettes in big plant pots. Three look reasonably happy, though the remaining two look a bit weak as they were very leggy. Hopefully they'll strengthen up soon.

The other big task this week was potting up all of my first lot of tomatoes into their final pots, as a few had started to flower. This took a couple of days as there were fifteen plants and then I had to move my second lot of tomatoes from their seedling pots into the now vacant medium pots. There were another 17 or so to plant so this took another couple of afternoons.

Next week I'm planning to do something more fun, maybe some baking and making more plans for my dad's birthday, plus some tidying and perhaps more eBay listing.