February, full of promise.

Finally January is gone for another 12 months and the arrival of February means the promise of spring. Having been trapped in the house for what seems like months, I have started February as I mean to go on. Outdoors. 

The beds are all still far to wet to dig but that hasn't stopped progress. Things are coming back to life. 

The chilli's I planted on the 1st of January are growing with mixed results. Amazingly the ones that were supposed to be the hardest to grow, the Chiletepin, which you were supposed to feed to birds first!, are romping ahead. The Habanero are also growing very well. 

The remainder are struggling.  This hasnt stopped me planting more. I was discussing Chillis with gardening friends on twitter a couple of weeks ago and amid much virtual sniggering, was told about a variety of Chilli called "Peters Penis" known as the Chilli Willy. I think you can see for yourself why it has this name. 

I bought the seeds on ebay so I have no idea of their quality. I planted them straight away, apparently each plant should produce between 50 -100 chilli so lets see what happens. 

Potato's are also starting their journey to my raised beds. I bought a bag of Duke of York's at the local garden centre last week and have laid them out to chit. They were delicious last year and because they are early potato's they didn't get blighted.  So I decided to give them another go this year. 

They are sprouting nicely. As the rest of my varieties did poorly last summer, I decided to try Sarpo blight resistant varieties this time. I ordered a while back from Thompson and Morgan . On Friday the postie ( Still in shorts!) delivered them . They look wonderful. I am going to have to find something large to lay them out on . 

They also sent a £10 Gift voucher, as one of the varieties in the collection had to be substituted. Can't complain about that. I shall enjoy choosing something from the site later. 

SeedyPenpals Spring round started last week as well. I was matched with two ladies, Rebecca is sending seeds to me, and Sarah is receiving seeds from me. We have exchanged emails to work out who likes what. This encouraged me to actually go out and see how many seeds I have. All winter, whenever anything has taken my fancy, or someone has mentioned something, I have been buying the seeds. I found I had rather a lot. 

I have already posted my parcel to Sarah, but wont blog about it yet until I know she has received them. I would like it to be a surprise when she opens the packet. 

Finally, in the garden. I have been inspecting the stream bank regularly to see if any of the Yellow Rattle I planted last autumn is growing. The grass sadly is, at a rapid rate but I have to hang on and see if the Rattle grows and does its job. there are a few seedlings on the bank I don't recognise so maybe, everything crossed, its growing. 

Out and about, its been difficult to go on any long walks as its been so wet and muddy, but with the promise of a bit of sunshine yesterday, we headed off to the Keyhaven Nature Reserve.  It was lovely, Gibson had his first swim of the year. 

And the sun was glistening on the Isle of Wight and on all the beautiful shells washed up on the paths and beaches. 

Hope you all have had a great weekend like us.