Lovely gardening weather today

 It's been a lovely day for pottering in the garden so we made the most of the fine weather to have a good tidy up. Old plant pots have been stored away properly and some of the more tender plants have been moved to the top of the wood store. I have found that it's the wet rather than the cold that kills my pelargoniums and they survive perfectly well as long as they are under cover. I have emptied three half water butts and layered them with partially rotted compost and a thick layer of leaves that we collected the other day. Then I topped them with a good layer of compost and covered them up with a sheet of acrylic.  I'm hoping to transplant lettuce seedlings into the tubs in a week or two.  I did this last year and had an amazing crop all through the winter.Then in the spring I added more compost and planted all manner of veggies.  I am planning to be a bit more organised next year when I plant things. 

                                        

This raised bed planter looks really pretty with the lettuce and viola that I am growing for salads. The plants will soon start to bulk out and will give me a nice little crop through the cold weather.  The viola make such a pretty addition to salads

This blue tub is the base of a water butt and I have planted it up with plenty of spring bulbs. So that it isn't a wasted space through the winter I popped some spare lettuce and pansies in.

It's lovely to see so much edible produce in the garden and we are hoping for some lovely steamed veggies and winter salads over the next few months.

The new raised bed is looking really healthy with rows of beetroot which I am growing for the leaves, lettuce and spring onions.  Onions sets that I planted are just starting to push through the surface of the compost. They will hopefully give us a good crop next year.