Oh the excitement

Well its been the longest winter in history here. The sun has started to make regular appearances and almost all the way through the night but its still so cold, averaging 3-6 degrees C. Yuk.
Luckily my new garden is in the sun all day long, the joy of south facing and is remarkably sheltered from the wind. I have been out potting and repotting plants and seeds until ten at night at least a few times per week.

Potting is indeed the term as I am currently 100% container gardener now. This weekend however I will use some areas of the garden my landlady pointed out and attempt to grow my beloved parsnips and use up the remaining of my seed potatoes. The number of containers is reaching ridiculous but I have to say after damaging my back, the lack of digging and the lack of weeding I will need to do is greatly appreciated.

Many of the pots are beginning to sprout life and every morning I wander around poking the soil and nosing around to see whats appearing. This makes me feel incredibly centred and excited and skittish all at once.

Currently sprouting on the scene are potatoes, peas, radishes, beetroots, corriander, purple sprouting and mustard. Then I have my plastic greenhouse. This is rammed to the rafters with tender plants that have marched through minus degrees with remarkable strength, only the plastic sheeting between them and frost.

The paprika plants I overwintered are bearing fruits which are only a few days away from picking ripe. I bought 2 tomato plants back in early march which have made it through despite being outdoors in a cold frame through all of the snow we had. These are fruiting as well.

In addition I had around 150 seedlings - including 8 varieties of tomatoes, 2 peppers, 4 chili types, aubergine and multiple types of squash and pumpkins. I have rehoused many of these to friends since the move as I simply do not have the space but have still kept around 40 tomato plants to see which do well where. Some are on a windowsill, some in a tomato greenhouse on the balcony, others outside but well sheltered and many in the greenhouse.

The squash and pumpkins are a true challenge now that I don't have a real greenhouse anymore. I am not entirely persuaded I can pull this harvest off, but lets see if the Icelandic summer is decent before I make my mind up on that.