Indoor gardening

The continuing harsh weather has put any thoughts of gardening outside on hold.  The ground is just too cold to even consider putting seeds in.  N has put some mulch on the raised beds but that's all.  However, we're having great success germinating bean seeds indoors.

This was how our beans looks exactly a week ago - little rootlets  and tiny green shoots.  Well, just look at them now!

We have proper runner bean plants :-)   We've started a new batch of seeds off in the boiler cupboard and hopefully they'll flourish as well.  Now we're at home, we can harvest the beans when they are young and tender.  We found in the past that we left them on the plants too long and some were tough and stringy.  No excuse for that to happen this year.

This time last year the temperature was nearly 20 degrees C.  Now it's barely above freezing.  It snowed here this afternoon, a ten minute flurry so nothing like the awful conditions that have hit the country further north, but snow nevertheless.  Add in the wind-chill factor and it's bitter.  What with the weather, nil interest in the flat, and one or two 'family' concerns, we feel a little down at the moment.  The weather and selling the flat are out of our hands, we have no control over those things.  The family concerns - well, to be honest, we can't make people behave in a way that we might feel they ought to.  The only things we have any control over is how we react to their words and actions, and hopefully let them know that we are thinking of them, and care about them.  If our help is asked for, we will give it readily, but if not, then we also need to acknowledge that's their right, and accept their decisions.  We are here if needed.  Sometimes stepping back is quite hard.

I've been sewing away today, trying to finish a patchwork project in time for the weekend.  It's looking great, and hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow and get some photos taken.