Happy Winter Solstice

[Jayb]

Wishing you all a Happy Winter Solstice, the year turns with the sun and days will be getting longer 
Seed sowing
Crops
Love summer 

[Jayb]

[BarriedaleNick]

Yes indeed!!  Happy Solstice everyone, even though it is officially the first day of winter it is time to look ahead to longer days and green shoots!

[goodlife]

 

I'm afraid Solstice celebration does sounds much more appealing to me than....'bah humbug'...
Coming to Christmas time is like pedalling up hill...and getting 'over the hill' and turning the 'new leaf', prospect of longer day light hours again..day by day..it is like pedalling down hill...

....OH I'm going to get first batch chillies going soon 

[Jayb]

Yep give me pedalling down hill for me any-day! I know some love winter time but I hate it. Loath the cold and lack of light. I do look forward to and enjoy Christmas, but to me focusing on lengthening days, sunshine and the dream of sowing, planting and growing again is just tops 

[Jayb]

....OH I'm going to get first batch chillies going soon 

Yayyy Chilli sowing 

[goodlife]

....OH I'm going to get first batch chillies going soon 

Yayyy Chilli sowing 

yayy indeed....last couple of days I've been filling several 'shopping carts' with chilli seed orders...and then deleting them again.. Temptation to get more seeds is killing me...and I have too much to grow anyway. I know if I dive into seedbox I'll be stupefied of the choice ...one can only grow so many at one time
Oh...few more days waiting..just to get over the 'worst'...and come boxing day, I can start getting propagators out without being too obvious of being 'bored of all it all'.   
In mean while....I did find some interesting 'new to me' varieties...maybe for 2016 season...

[Paulines7]

Yep give me pedalling down hill for me any-day! I know some love winter time but I hate it. Loath the cold and lack of light. I do look forward to and enjoy Christmas, but to me focusing on lengthening days, sunshine and the dream of sowing, planting and growing again is just tops 

I am in agreement with you 100% Jayb.  I have been looking forward to today for a few weeks now.      Daylight lengthening really makes me happy and I will be ecstatic on March 29th when the clocks go forward. 

....OH I'm going to get first batch chillies going soon 

Do you start them off indoors on a window ledge Goodlife?  I don't heat my greenhouse but am wondering if they would be all right if I sowed them in there rather than indoors.  My pelargoniums are surviving in pots within polystyrene boxes.   

[galina]

  so agree with you all    YaY     

The strange thing is that for a while the darkness lifts a little in the afternoons whilst the mornings are still getting darker.  Only in the first week of January the morning dawns come earlier.  But overall yes, the days are getting  l o n g e r  at last.   

[goodlife]

No I don't...my window ledges does tend to be too cold for chillies germination...and not enough natural light neither.  I start them off in heated propagator..just those cheap full seed tray sized ones...I wrap the whole propagator with bubble wrap, put insulating matt undernearth too, so that all heat created stays in and not being 'leaked' out. Once the first signs of germination are evident...I move them under grow lamps to be grown little bit bigger for pricking out>>>seedlings grown under lamps larger too. Some larger plants eventually will end up on window ledge and later on in spring, rest eventually acclimatized to grow in GH.

[BarriedaleNick]

....OH I'm going to get first batch chillies going soon 

Any particular varieties this year goodlife?  As yet I am undecided what to grow.  Had a great year with Fatali Red and Carolina reaper this year but looking for a spicy fruity type this time around.  Ah - just the thought of it warms the cockles!!!

[goodlife]

Well I did get number of varieties earlier on the year...mostly hot types...but I'm definitely going to do more of 'chinense' types..hot and fruity as I'm particularly partial for that habanero-type flavour. Aribibi gusano is on top of my sowing list..it was new one for me this year and it does pack a flavour for such a small chilli  ...and now that I'm getting used to hotness of bubblegum...I think I'm going to do that again too. I'll post variety list that I'm planning to sow later on...I just don't dare to start looking quite yet...if I do I have to start getting compost in too..etc etc.. I don't even remember what else there is in the seed box..it is like seedmas again when one opens the lid..
I'm sure there is some spare seeds for you should you need some....

[Digeroo]

Fabulous.  Its onwards and upwards towards spring.   

[pumkinlover]

Going back to the original post!. I was surprised how light it was today when I got in the car to drive home at 16:10.
Do we celebrate today as the shortest day or tomorrow when we are over the worst! Or is it a bit pedantic to ask the question.?! Any way like the rest I welcome the return of the 
Now back to chillies!!

[alkanet]

it used to bother me with the winter solstice that the mornings after are still getting darker (as it were)

but now i don't get up early enough to notice