So much sowing done today! All the cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins and melons. No more room on the windowsill. This spring is so cold that the tomatoes have not yet started their annual hardening off migration.

#AllotmentChat #GrowYourFood #zone9a

@gecole Thanks the beds are great and I love having ryegrass covering the soil over winter. Other green manures are killed off by the cold but the rye hangs on in there. The soil is all the better for it. #Zone9a #GreenManure #SoilHealth

My #SpringGardening motivation 🌱

I know everyone's got their favs, but for me it's new gardening gloves & new varieties. There's just something so exciting about growing seeds I've never tried before.

Spring is hard work. Clearing out dead winter stuff from freezes; prepping new beds. I'm always looking forward to it, but I swear nothing says "LET'S DO THIS!!!" like new gloves & a handful of seeds. 😂

Those are my motivations. I'd love to hear yours!

#gardening #TexasGarden #Zone9a

I'm learning to practice what I'm calling in my head "mindful social media."

As in, whenever I get frustrated, angry or upset by things I see online, I remind myself to glance over at the little tray of seed packets on my desk.

Which is my shortcut way of keeping track of everything I've recently planted.

It reminds me there's a whole world of real happiness & relaxation right outside my door.

Time to log off for today. 🌱

#gardening #SpringGarden #TexasGarden #Zone9a #MentalHealth

There's something so wonderfully confident about pea seedlings.

Most baby plants are so hesitant. One or two tiny little leaves, as if they're nervous about their new life.

But peas just bust out of the ground w a whole cluster of leaves, like they're unabashedly singing at the top of their lungs. It's glorious.

Planted these snow peas 3wks late due to a freeze, so I'm not expecting to get anything. Just had a bit of space on a trellis & they make me smile. 🌱

#gardening #TexasGarden #Zone9a

They’ve been a long time coming but it’s lovely to see the snowdrops at last. #Allotment #Snowdrops #GrowYourOwn #NearlySpring #Zone9a

@Pollinators Thanks. Never trust a dalek I guess. We’re more fortunate here in #Zone9a for having it milder in winter to keep the compost process ticking over.

My #introduction as I’ve just moved instances. I hate what’s going in the world & UK but this is my refuge. #Allotment holder in the UK #Zone9a since 2005. #NoDig since 2014. #Compost enthusiast, always #PeatFree . I started my #Vermiculture #Bokashi #JohnsonSu #IMO adventures last yr.

Owner of a #BoxerDog who also helps hugely with my #MentalHealth #Anxiety . #DogsOfMastodon Scared about #Climate . #NHS defender. I don’t like governments or billionaires. Like #BazBall can’t wait for #TheAshes

@graftandspur Yes, ryegrass will over winter here. So far mustard has been the next hardiest. I was hoping the oats would over winter with the rye but they haven’t.

I grow a diverse cover crop mix from Sept and let their biomass cover the ground and feed the soil biology.

As it’s too warm for Jan some clover and phacelia may start to come through now. The only plants I have growing at the moment are the perennials, teasel, ryegrass and the bulbs. #Zone9a #Allotment #CoverCrops #GreenManures

@graftandspur Yes the phacelia is a wuss with frost. The green manure mustards are a bit hardier but still shouldn’t last the winter. I had to chop and drop it last Feb/March as we hardly had a hard frost.

I leave the stalks in for the soil life to tuck into until I start prepping the beds.

I normally grow a Chinese or Japanese mustard green for a lovely over winter salad, but didn’t have the seed this year.

The ryegrass as a green manure will reliably survive our winter.#Zone9a #Allotment

@richrollgardener What a great job for a rainy day! I hope you got everything you were after.

We’d call Brandywine a beefsteak variety here in the UK, is it called the same in the states? Nice haul, by the way.

I try to grow something I’ve never grown before every year and this years debut crop is Huauzontle Aztec broccoli.

I won’t sow anything much before March but my seedlings table is already ready and waiting in the greenhouse. #Zone9a #Allotment #Gardening #GrowYourOwn

Seeing all the #winter photos in my timeline reminded me of the big ice storm we had here in TX.

Complete disaster for my #VegetableGarden & #citrus. The ice destroyed almost everything. I'd never dealt w that hard of a freeze (16°). For context, it was 81° yesterday. In December lol.

But the snowy plants were actually really beautiful. Entire leaves frozen solid. It was a painful learning experience for sure, but kinda magical all the same.

#TexasGarden #Zone9a #gardening #VegetableGardening