. “Let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start”....

This time last week we decided to give 'grow your own' a go, and as with most things we decide to do, it was a spur of the moment kind of decision so we didnt want to spend a fortune - especially when we were not quite sure how sucessful we would be! We searched all our options on the net, and decided on what we thought seemed like a thrifty option - a plastic sheeting style greenhouse from Argos. It was reduced from £55 down to £35 so suited our budget nicely. We also bought several packets of seeds, pots and some seedlings from B&Q. Amongst our purchases we also bought three 'grow your own' starter kits. One a tomato selection, one with herbs and another which was chilli peppers.
The erection of our greenhouse didn't take long at all, in fact it took us less than hour from start to finish - despite online reviews saying that the instructions were impossible!

So there it is, our humble greenhouse! Although it has only been a week, we have pretty much decided that when the finances are right we will be opting for a 'real' greenhouse. The seedlings that we planted up into our 'anchor' growbags have really seemed to come along, they seem much stonger and the tomato plant has definatley nearly doubled in size. The 'grow your own' kits have also really suprised us, the herbs seem to be the front runners at the moment, the rocket is almost ready to be potted up into larger pots, and im sure the sweet basil won't be too far behind!

The starter kits left us with loads of seeds leftover so we have palnted those up in trays, we were not to sure this was going to work, but sure enough, yet again the rocket has sprouted already. Is this usually the case with rocket? Is it really that easy? or have we just been lucky? The other kits, seem a little slower off the mark, but i have to keep reminding myself it has only been a week!

 We also bought pumpkin and sunflower seeds to plant, i love sunflowers, and our three lovebirds will love the seeds when they are done, we have planted the giant variety in growbags, but also planted another few varieties in pots.  The giant ones have started to sprout already...again, i just can't beleive how quickly this is all happening!

We have ten pumpkins potted up so far, there is no sign of them sprouting as yet, but as long as they are here and ready for Halloween it doesnt really matter, i was just intrigued how easy it would be to grow something that big!

So, all in all i think we have had quite a productive week, i can truly say that we have both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves too, which of course is what its all about - aswell as giving us a taster of what a 'real' greenhouse would be like.

The next topic to research will be space saving ideas...as we have already discovered, space is at a premium so any way in which we can save a space or two will be needed sooner rather than later!