Snow Soil

Six plant pots currently sit in our airing cupboard, warming up to allow the seeds to germinate. They are wrapped in plastic bags for additional warmth and will stay there for a day or so just to make sure the soil and seeds are fully warm before we move them into a sunny indoor position. Eventually, when they are growing well, we will move them all into the greenhouse and hope for the best, as when Christmas arrives in our house there will not be space for all the plant pots!

We planted basil, curly and flat leaf parsley, coriander, mustard cress and cress. Other than the cresses, I have not grown any of these at this time of year before so I have no idea if they will grow or not, but it would be nice to have some home-grown herbs for Christmas salads. The decision to put all the pots in the airing cupboard for a few days came when Garden Girl, quite rightly, suggested that the soil we were putting in the pots felt as cold as snow. It was so cold that not even Garden Boy could bring himself to pick up a handful to throw over his head. I'm hoping the extra warmth will just give the plants a better start.

And with the herbs all cosy in their pots it is time to start some sprouting again. We gave this a go earlier in the year with mixed results, but getting distracted with all the things growing outdoors we neglected to try again. Following protestations that 'snow soil' is too cold to use, sprouting seems like a good option for maintaining our Little Garden Helpers interest as well as adding something a bit different to our Christmas salads. I'll let you know how it goes this time.