Growing veg, stage 2 - community, chillies, beets, science and seaweed

Beetroots planted!

Feeling like part of the local community after joining and buying seeds from the Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses Seed & Produce Growing Club last weekend. We even got some advice from a fellow urban food grower!

Chillies, coriander and beetroots hopefully on their way...

I've been checking up on our 5 varieties of chillies (probably too regularly), but no sign of germination yet. Based on the best chilli-growing advice available, we're moving them to the bathroom cupboard where they should get the optimum conditions - warm (should be 25 degrees celsius+) and humid. I really hope they work.

Beets planted out in the garden yesterday, along with Miracle Gro slow-release plant food. We're using science!

Hopefully going to buy tomato plantlings and scatter some seaweed on the patch today, which according to science contains plant nutrients and hormones that boost plant growth in only the most awesome ways.

Growing veg, stage 1

Tulse Hill, 11 Jan 2009

We dug the vegetable patch this weekend.

On the shortlist is currently potatoes, kale, chillies, peppers and tomatoes (for which we will fashion something out of glass).

The 6th annual Potato Fair and Seed Exchange will provide further inspiration and hopefully yield some weird and wonderful things to add to our list.

It feels good to be on the road to being less of a slave to Tesco, and the prospect of delicious home-grown veg for our summer parties is a fine one indeed!