Gardening in isolation - what to do in the garden when isolating with Coronavirus

It had to happen sooner or later I suppose, I have failed a Covid test and find myself somewhat under the weather and stuck at home for a few days. If that in itself isn't annoying enough it was lovely down my neck of the woods on Monday and looks to be set fair for the rest of the week; perfect weather for getting on with all those jobs in the garden, if only I could! 

Luckily, I am not suffering anywhere near as much as others I have known and though I am not about to get out on the plot and dig over the veg beds, climbing the stairs wore me out yesterday, there are a few little jobs I can, and will, be getting on with.

As room in the conservatory is at a premium I have moved the Runner Bean seedlings down to the greenhouse where they are sheltered, will get plenty of sun during the day, and acclimatise to the colder evenings and harden off somewhat at the same time. The Leek seedlings have been moved to the woodstore, somewhat more open to the elements but still under cover from above and experience tells me they will be fine - hardly little things that they are. The Black Cherry Tomato seeds and Limoncito Tomato seeds sown earlier this month have germinated and have made their way now into the conservatory from the back bedroom windowsill and they are growing nicely. The Buffalosteak Tomato, Gigantomo Tomato and Courgette seedlings still reside in the conservatory and are all growing strong I am happy to report. 

The Begonia corm is sprouting in countless places and needs really to be potted on into the pot in which it will reside this summer and this is one of the little jobs I will be undertaking over the next couple of days all being well. I will still keep it under cover indoors for a week or two yet as despite the lovely temperatures during the day there is a distinct nip in the air at night still. 

As I have freed up space on the back bedroom windowsill I will be sowing more seeds that can then sit thereon until germination over the next few days. More Runner Bean seeds will definitively be sown, as before into fibre pots, and I want to start off the Pea Bingo that I have for this year, a new variety to me. An early maincrop variety they are part of the Kew Collection from Thomson & Morgan and described as an ideal variety for growing in open ground or containers on the patio - I plan to grow mine in some large containers. They produce pods in pairs, averaging 8 dark green peas per pod, and the plants reach no higher that about two-and-a-half to three feet apparently. Individual seeds will be sown into fibre pots exactly as the Runner Beans allowing me to plant, pot and all, in their final position for the summer in a few weeks time. 

It is frustrating to be ill at such an important time of the year for us gardeners but a few days here or there often makes little difference at thus time of year in the grand scheme of things and as I have admitted to before I am terrible for sowing seeds early and trying to get a jump start on Mother Nature. I have talked previously about false spring, a few days of lovely sunshine lulling us gardeners into a false sense of security believing spring has sprung only for a cold snap to follow the next week. Long range forecasts for down my way suggests we will be back to temperatures nearer 10 degrees celsius than 20 next week and night time temperatures as low as 1 or 2 - do not be fooled by this warm spell! 

The pot table near the house is at least full of spring blooms to enjoy whilst I am grounded.

Cheers 🍺