This week things seem to be growing particularly well.
First, the chilli and sweet pepper seeds in my propagator are starting to germinate. All varieties have made an appearance, but the most abundant are the Lemon Drop chillies and the Lipstick sweet peppers. I am particularly delighted to report, as well, that there are signs of life from the Australian peppers kindly supplied by Kate (tall tales from chiconia):
Lipstick peppers making an appearance this week
Second, the lovely Sissie, the High Bank baby has outgrown the first pair of mittens that I made for her, so a second larger pair is required. These look very big to me for such a little girl, but at least she won’t outgrow them too quickly:
New mittens for Sissie
And, finally, the hens clearly think that spring has arrived (despite the gale-force winds and driving rain) and Perdy has joined in with the laying bonanza so that today, for the first time in months, I collected three eggs from the laying box. It looks like cake season is here again!
What’s growing well for you this week?
The Snail of Happiness 
Andrea
/ February 8, 2014What’s growing well here this week? Mould primarily. The goats have foot rot from the relentless rain, and I can empathise with them.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 8, 2014I think that outside our mould may have drowned! I’m certainly glad I raised the level of the chicken’s patch two weeks ago otherwise they may be going the same way.
Hope the goats are not too badly affected 😦
LikeLike
revdarkwater
/ February 8, 2014Swiss chard! of the “Rhubarb” cultivar, for our community garden. The donated seed was four years old, and when I sowed it eleven days ago I wondered if I were wasting time and space in the flats, but three of the 90 braved the light yesterday. Since chard and beets put multiple seeds in each capsule, now my hopes are high for the rest. We’ll swim in chard if they nearly all are viable (I filled flats with Bright Lights and Rainbow, too), but it’s so pretty and useful I don’t think I’ll regret it.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 8, 2014Lovely – I really like the beauty of rainbow chard… and the fact that it’s edible at all ages from young leaves in salad to chunky stems in stews etc. Fingers crossed you have an abundance!
LikeLike
sarahfoto
/ February 8, 2014Chillies! I have replanted some in bigger pots already. Happy to see a peanut growing to! My chickens have definitely caught the spring bug as well, making three breaking-out-of-the-hen-yard attempts today…
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 8, 2014We haven’t had any escape attempts recently… probably because they can’t see what’s over the fence because of the driving rain!!
I hope my chillies are as big as your soon 🙂
LikeLike
Nanette
/ February 8, 2014weeds! with rain and hot sunshine alternating, I can’t get mulch on my prepped autumn beds quickly enough, but the chooks like them. I do have some seeds coming along nicely though……..tomatoes, brassicas, greens, that sort of thing. Must be a lovely lift to your wintery spirits to see signs of growing things when you’re cold and wet.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 8, 2014Too true… nice to see the first evidence that there will be crops this year!
LikeLike
Teresa @ The Fat Cactus
/ February 8, 2014My daffodil bulbs have been shooting well in the mild temperatures, and are now almost 6 inches tall. Flower buds are starting to appear on my Almond tree. Other than that, I’m thinking of planting some rice in the paddy field that used to be my front lawn – I keep expecting to see some ducks swimming around on it!!!
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 8, 2014My friend Deano really is going to have a go at growing rice in the UK this year (http://sustainablesmallholding.org/growing-rice-in-the-uk/)… I won’t be surprised if he succeeds!
I am thinking of part-exchanging the hens for some ducks.
LikeLike
katechiconi
/ February 8, 2014What’s growing, let’s see: Mystery Woolly Thing is now quite large. There are large quantities of volunteer purslane in my desert garden. I shall have to exterminate some of them… I have more palm seedlings than I know what to do with, so getting rid of them is an ongoing joy, onion grass, acacia seedlings and various other pests. The Wet is here, and I haven’t done the weeding for a long time! On the other hand, the banana tree, mango tree, avocado tree and lychee tree are all thriving with the extra water. One day, there will be fruit. One day….
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 9, 2014Looking forward to seeing the completed ‘woolly thing’!
LikeLike
Nice piece of workj
/ February 9, 2014Everything in the garden, including weeds! We’ve had a bit of rain this week, inbetween the heat, so the plants go crazy with happiness.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 9, 2014Our weeds are currently drowning! Hope you are getting some flowers and vegetables as well as the weeds 🙂
LikeLike
The Twisted Yarn
/ February 9, 2014Oh poo, is it time to get going with this years crops already? You mean I’m going to have to put the knitting/crochet down for a while. Sigh.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 9, 2014The only things I’ve planted are the chillies and peppers… everything else is going to have to wait a month or two! I haven’t even planted my shallots and garlic outdoors yet as I think they will just rot. Still, at least the world is full of yarn to amuse us!
LikeLike
Karen B
/ February 9, 2014Hooray! It is always SO exciting when the seeds germinate.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 9, 2014It always feels like magic a bit to me and certainly makes me smile.
LikeLike