Time for some organic gardening

Hi all,

The luxury of time & the growing shortage of certain foods has reminded me that I need to plant some salad greens earlier than I usually would.  I have 3 covered Elho planters at my kitchen door where I plant organic leaves, greens etc in. I am very pleased with the planters because they are waist height & the covers raise the temperature & protect the greens from birds & insects. They only have organic compost in them & I use no chemical which makes it healthier. Being close to the door, they are used all the time.  I fortunately had a selection of seeds & nasturtium leaves & flowers are edible & always used in Spring salads so it is time to get planting.

I eat salad most days & so an assortment of leaves is always needed. I picked salad leaves in January from these Elho covered planters by our kitchen door.

Fortunately, I still had some seeds so even though it was a brisk 5c this morning, I cleaned up the planters which still have celery, spring onions & some nasturtiums in them, then topped up with additional organic soil.

The celery is enjoying the heat cover - I grow celery from crowns when I cut it for salads & cooking (we use a lot of celery at home). It is easy to grow - cut the stalks off leaving the base which is put in a shallow glass dish for a few days to root, then it is transferred to the herb containers or these ones by the door.

I use the newly growing stalks & leaves in food or as salad greens (the leaves are quite peppery but very healthy). The base / crown really keeps giving & it is an excellent way to use the part you would otherwise throw away.

I have these celery crowns / bases in several pots at home, especially the raised ones with herbs & soft fruits.

The spring onions have done well in the covered containers - they are all watered with rain water from the water butts ...

The containers are protected against the house wall, flanking the kitchen door so they are ready to be used. The green fleece covered pot contains my sweat peas; they are not frost hardy so they are always covered up to give them a head start before our warmer weather ... 

I find that the seeds take longer than the 25-30 days the packets said but at least I will have some leaves for spring salads & I feel that I am doing something to help too ... 

Who else loves the peppery leaves of nasturtiums? Mine are grown alongside the salad leaves so they are protected & have no chemicals. They always brighten up a bowl of salads with their bright colour.

I feel that I am at least doing something useful, hopefully the cooler weather will not effect the early leaves.  It is too early for outdoor tomatoes but I feel happy to have started my planting. Do you grow anything at home? Tell all ...

Thank you for stopping by, I look forward to your company & comments, 

Dee ~💕~