So much for photos...

I had originally planned to keep a photographic record of the various plants I own as they develop. I do have some disjointed photos on my phone, however that's about as far as I've committed thus far. I *will* upload them, at some point. Unfortunately a combination of work and Uni have gotten in the way (I'm gearing up to dissertation time so that is preoccupying a lot of my mind at the moment).

I did note one day last week when I left for work and noticed the strawberry plants were strangely flat, as if someone had dropped something on them. I was quite annoyed (bloody upstairs neighbours, I thought) and that evening watered them in a vain attempt to resuscitate them. Well, the next morning I peered outside and was shocked to see them bolt upright! My first thought was 'viagra' which I then felt disgusted with myself for thinking. Anyway, they're thriving once again and all I can think of is that I had probably forgotten to water them for a couple of days and the lack of rain (but also lack of sunshine) meant they were feeling a bit...droopy, I suppose.

In fact there's over twenty-something flowers either budding, opening or turning into strawberries at the moment, which is exciting. Around three or four are definitely well on their way and even the tomato plant, which seemed to do nothing but grow and grow and grow all over the place, has gained some little yellow flowers. Fresh, sweet tomatoes are one of my vices and so I know that for all the hard work growing them, they will last all of two seconds.

Patio Gardening

One annoying thing about living in London is that there aren't many flats to rent with a garden; or at least a garden you can actually garden in. I am one of those many unlucky ones. However recently I began to read about patio gardening and realised that I didn't need that much space in which to grow a few choice plants and produce.

To date I have the following, at various stages of growth:

*Herb trough with mature fennel fronds, mint, flat leaf parsley and mint; a pot with mature mint (though it needs rescuing, seems dormant and deteriorating); parsley pot (grown from seed - one has just sprouted its very first (very miniscule) parsley leaf!; tomatoes (from seed - no visible germination as of yet); pot of red peppers (also from seed, also no visible germination yet - mostly Chris's domain); salad leaf (from seed, currently sprouting first true leaves); strawberry plants (cheated and bought young plants - currently sprouting...something or other. Look promising...I think).

I will post photos after dinner. Who knee being an adult was so frigging stressful. I have hardly relaxed (except napping) since work, and I was up at 4.30am this morning.

1. Hello

I created this blog to share some of my favourite healthy recipes (and a couple of my own...'mixtures'), post photographs of London (maybe some of Scotland also) and some links to events and opportunities in SE London that I think are worth exploring. So it's a bit of a mixture really...but I hope you find at least *something* useful.

NB: All views on here are my own and not necessarily those of any organisations/individuals mentioned.