Spring 2016

Hmmm, I didn't post much last year did I? We did alot of DIY in the house last Spring so the garden was a bit neglected. Having said that, the potatoes and parsnips did well. In fact I'm still digging up the parsnips - here's today's crop:

Don't think I'll win any prizes, except maybe for rude unusual shapes

I'm not sure parsnips are worth growing again? We all love eating them, but they take up so much space and for such a long time. They also don't seem to taste that different to shop bought ones (unlike home-grown carrots). Maybe I just need to be better at inter-planting?

Last Spring, in the end of season sale, I bought 4 tomato plants and a yellow courgette plant from a local nursery. The tomatoes grew really well, but then succumbed to blight before they had a chance ripen - it was a cold, wet summer. However, the courgettes were great and I'd grow them again.

I planted onions, shallots and garlic last Autumn which are doing well. I had too many sets to fit in the raised beds, so put the spares in individual cells. My plan is to use these to fill the gaps in the next couple of weeks.

Today I have dug over 3 of the beds, and sown lots of seeds which are now sitting on the kitchen windowsill:

I made a batch of newspaper pots for the sweetcorn (they have long roots) and the rest have gone in cells in my (new) windowsill propagator. I've not grown tomatoes from seed before, so fingers crossed for them. The 2 types of squash came free with Kitchen Garden magazine, so they're new too. The chillies I have tried before, with mixed success due to weather conditions (I think).

Here's hoping for a more productive year than 2015!

New Year

It finally feels as if Spring is on it's way and my thoughts have turned to sewing and planting. Last year I grew Maris Bard Potatoes (First Early) but was quite disappointed with them. The haulms flopped and died very early on and they didn't produce that many tubers. This year I've chosen Nicola, a second early from Taylors, which will hopefully do better. For now they are chitting in the kitchen:

I was given some seeds for Christmas, so I sowed the first of these at the week-end. I've done 3 rows of parsnips, with a row of lettuce in between. My parsnips haven't done so well the last couple of years, so I'm hoping that fresh seeds will do the trick. My the time the parsnips need the space, the lettuce will be coming to end (well that's the theory any-way)

More sowing

We had some spectacular weather last week, with lots of hailstones and plenty of thunder rumbling around. Dodging the showers, I managed to get out and plant a few more rows of veggies.

I'm trying a different way of planting the parsnips this time. I've used the dibber to make deep holes, which were then back-filled with potting compost. Into each hole I have put either 1 or 2 seeds and covered them up with more compost. I'm assuming that a few won't germinate, so the doubled up ones can be thinned into the spaces. My Dad tells me that Joe (his father) used to grow his this way and it does make alot of sense. I've also put in another row of carrots along with some garlic chives - supposed to be good to deter carrot fly! Finally a row of rocket and some more lupins (as green manure where the cabbages will go later on in the year).

More sowing

Having spent the morning tidying, I spent the afternoon sowing more seeds yesterday in the glorious sunshine.

Bed 5

In raised bed 5 I planted a row each of Spring onions, Red onions and Spinach, and a wide row (approx 10cm) of Mixed salad leaves.

Bed 2

Lupin seed

In bed 2, I planted Cabbage, Lupins and Brussel sprouts. The cabbage managed a whole row, but the Lupin packet turned out to only have 6 seeds in and the sprouts only had enough for half a row! The lupins were a freeby, given away as a soil improver, so I can't really complain, however, the sprouts I'd bought myself. Not having bought many seeds in the past, this year I've got them from all over the place. The sprouts came from Wilkinson and so far I'm not impressed - not many seeds and poor germination of the ones sown 3 weeks ago. I may have learned the hard way to spend a bit more on better seeds...

Greenhouse growing

In my mini-greenhouse, I planted Aubergine, Peppers, Courgette and Chillies (Joel's favourite!). I had intended to do half a tray of each, but there weren't that many courgette seeds so I ended up planting them all, which meant fewer chillies (I'll plant more later). The courgettes were 1 per cell, but the others are much smaller seeds to doubled up.

Sweet peas

I found some old peat pots in the shed, so filled these with sweet peas (mostly 1 per pot, but a few ended up with 2 to use them up). Sweet peas are one of my favourite flowers and can't be bad for companion planting - can they?

Free seeds

 Those lovely people at Innocent are giving away free seeds with their lunch-box smoothies at the moment. We got our first set today - tomatoes!