The clocks have sprung forward, so I think it is an opportune time to write about the progress of some plants that I haven't mentioned recently.
I am really pleased with how my brassicas are coming along. This is the first sowing; cauliflower, raab and brussels sprouts:
even the slug-munched raab (bottom left) is making a comeback!
This is the second; kale, various cabbages and purple sprouting broccoli:
Lettuce is also coming on nicely; as well as the cut and come again varieties I also have reine de glace, little gem and lollo rossa seedlings under cover:
Outdoors I spotted a couple of beetroot seedlings from my first sowing and some spinach beet, so progress is definitely being made and the soil must be warming up now.
I also started off some sweetcorn yesterday... I'm trying a babycorn variety this year; Minipop - so I placed 9 seeds into individual pots in one of the propagators.
I was watching my favourite TV chef this weekend and one of the recipes called for pea shoots. He mentioned how easy they are to grow and said that they can be produced on tissue paper... a bit like growing cress. I had never thought about them like that and always viewed them as an off-shoot (no pun intended) from growing peas.
As I have a huge quantity of pea seed and based on previous attempts, little confidence in my ability to harvest them at the right time I thought I'd have a go at growing some specifically for shoots.
I did a quick internet search and it seems pretty simple... just sow as normal, when they get to about 5 inches tall cut the shoots, leaving about an inch of stem and they will reshoot. So, this is before I covered them over with compost:
and they are now on the top shelf in the greenhouse.
In other pea news, my mange tout and regular pea sowings have put in an appearance above the compost:
Well I never!... one of today's tasks was to empty the compost out of the propagator modules that had failed to germinate. Considering I had placed them under the greenhouse staging and given them no attention for a few days I was very surprised to find...
one cucumber seedling, which by a process of elimination must be marketmore:
and a not-so-strong-looking tomato seedling, which could be moneymaker, but I'm not so sure:
There was also another tomato seedling (sub-arctic plenty possibly), about to push through the compost, so I have just moved that into another propagator and will see what happens with it.
Hopefully, they will both survive the shaky start and go on to fulfil their tomato destiny... unlike the surprise gardener's delight seedling from a few posts ago that has since gone to the greenhouse in the sky.
Encouraged by the evidence of new growth this morning I got on with a bit more outdoor sowing today; into the raised bed went a row each of:
- Carrot (Chantenay Red Cored)
- Carrot (Early Nantes)
- Beetroot (Boltardy)
- Parsnip (White Gem) - didn't use toilet roll tubes this time, but I did pour boiling water on the soil first.
I used one of the spare bulb crates to broadcast sow Kamal and Sweet Spanish Yellow onions. Depending on how they get on I will thin out at salad onion size as necessary and leave some to grown on to full size. I'll also compare these ones to the ones I sowed undercover last month (below) that will be planted out into the raised bed.
I also thought I'd sow another row of Paris Market into the bulb crate with the others as I need to get into the habit of succession sowing.
The rocket was looking rather tasty and I couldn't help myself... I only pinched a couple of leaves, just to try them and they were delicious.
Must exercise more self control!
Yesterday's rain has clearly had an effect on the outdoor sowings: radish, turnip, paris market carrots (just about), mizuna and mixed lettuce seedlings have pushed themselves up through the compost.
These are the radish (french breakfast):
Also, not to be outdone by the raspberries, there are now green leaves on both the gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes.
I'll definitely be keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the re-sowing I did today. I transplanted the few tomatoes that have germinated into individual pots; one roma and another gardener's delight had poked up through the compost since the last time I checked but the remaining modules are completely bare. Even so, I watered them and will leave them under the propagator cover for another week or so before throwing on the compost heap.
In terms of tomatoes I sowed:
- moneymaker x 2
- red cherry x 1
- roma x 4
- sub arctic plenty x 3
- urbikany x 8 (figured I may as well sow all the remaining seeds)
In terms of peppers I sowed:
- orange bell x 2 (last of the seeds)
- california wonder x 7
- cayenne x 6
- chilli shake x 3 (last of the seeds)
I also re-sowed 5 each of aubergine and cape gooseberry.
It was also time to transplant some of the cucurbits from modules, so the yellow scallop and marketmore seedlings are now in individual pots.
Ginger. I was in the garden centre yesterday and came across some grow your own ginger... why not? I thought. There was limited information on the packet about what to do with it and advice was to consult a gardening book for further guidance.
So that's what I did, only to find that my numerous collection of gardening books don't have any information on how to grow it.
So I quickly checked the internet, found a lot more information and discovered that most people actually grow it from the shop bought roots. Randomly, my gardening mag did an article on grow your own stir fry back in 2008 and there was a small piece about ginger in there.
Anyway, this is what it looked like before planting:
Following what seems to be best practice I found a large tub, filled it with compost and gave it a good soaking before placing the root (or rhizome) about 5cm deep.
Just need to remember to keep it moist, out of the cold, feed it regularly and hopefully I'll be harvesting new roots in the autumn.
Something is definitely not right with my earlier sown peppers and tomatoes, a quick audit shows that kaibi, orange bell, california wonder, chilli shake, cayenne, money maker and roma have failed to germinate at all.
From 51 potential plants I have 5: 1 red cherry, 3 gardener's delight and 1 urbikany. I am most disappointed by the kaibi as that was the last seed I had of that type.
Thinking about it, the aubergine and cape gooseberry sowings have also come to nothing. I have clearly done something wrong so it looks like I will need to re-sow.
So, what was supposed to be a quick visit outside this morning to work out my tasks for the next few days turned into all out war!
Silvery trails and munched leaves in the greenhouse were evidence that those slimy little critters have been dining out on my seedlings.
One of my poor little mini-whites has been munched when it was only half-way up through the compost, still with the seed casing attached - who knows if that will grow now?!
So, I undertook a search and destroy exercise... hiding under pots and in one of the propagators I found 6 slugs and one snail happily sleeping off their night-time feast. Unfortunately I dropped one of the slugs on the gravel and couldn't find him so he lives to munch another day.
One impudent snail was slowly making its way across the window frame in broad daylight - at least the others had the decency to hide.
To be honest though, I think I got off quite lightly... everything in the greenhouse is still very young and vulnerable and could have easily been decimated if there had been more of the little pests. They must have just been getting started.
... in the lead at the moment are marketmore cucumbers and yellow scallop squash:
Following close behind are mini-white cucumbers and gherkins:
Still waiting for courgettes to make an appearance... hopefully shouldn't be too much longer.
Yesterday was very busy outdoors, and the weather didn't disappoint so I was a very happy gardener. I started off by doing a bit of tidying up and a check on my seedlings; garlic, rocket and brassicas are coming on quite nicely now:
Only two of my herb pots have germinated; coriander and dill:
I can't work out why things are taking so much longer than previous years. I usually have pepper and tomato seedlings by now, but my first sowings have so far yielded 2 gardeners delight, a red cherry and no peppers :-(...
... at least there is still time to sow some more if needed - I'll check if there is any more movement by the weekend and make a decision then.
In terms of new sowings, the greenhouse now contains:
- Peas (Feltham First) x 8
- Peas (Golden Sweet Yellow Mangetout) x 8
- Lettuce (Reine De Glaces) x 3
- Lettuce (Little Gem) x 3
- Lettuce (Lollo Rossa) x 3
- Tomato (Garden Pearl) x 4
- Tomato (Costoluto Fiorentino) x 4
Outside I sowed:
- Leeks (Autumn Mammoth 2 - Snowstar) 1 row in the raised bed
- Mizuna & Mixed Lettuce scattered together in a bulb crate
- Spring Onion (Ishikura) 1 row in a bulb crate
- Spring Onion (White Lisbon) 1 row in a bulb crate
- Pickling Onions (Barletta) 3 rows in a bulb crate
- Pickling Onions (Purplette) 3 rows in a bulb crate
There are a few new things here that I am trying this year; Lollo Rossa is a pretty looking lettuce and Costoluto Fiorentino will be the first beef tomatoes I have grown. Barletta and Purplette are part of my master plan for storing my produce so I am really looking forward to seeing how they turn out.
Whilst my mange tout has always been a great cropper, I have not had success with harvesting regular peas in the past... I either pick them too early when they are very tiny even though the pods look fat, or let them go too long and they turn yellow, maybe I just need to pay a bit more attention to them.
On my way back inside I noticed a bit of green action on the raspberry canes:
Couldn't help but smile at the thought of picking them in the autumn... they are always delicious.
... hmmm, this does not bode well for when the season is really in full swing, I'm already getting behind with blogging what I have been up to - must do better!
Anyway, what I should have posted about a week ago is that I continued my indoor sowing with:
- Okra (Clemsons Spineless) x 5
- Cucumber (Miniature White) x 5
- Gherkin (Cornichon de Paris) x 5
- Courgette (All Green Bush) x 2
- Tomato (Sub Arctic Plenty) x 5
- Mint
- Thyme
and a selection of brassicas:
- Cabbage (Kalibos) x 2
- Cabbage (Offenham 2 - Flower of Spring) x 2
- Cabbage (Golden Acre / Primo) x 2
- Broccoli (Early Purple Sprouting) x 2
- Kale (Dwarf Green Curled) x 2
Outdoors I sowed a row each of:
- Spinach Beet
- Turnip (Purple Top Milan)
- Beetroot (Boltardy)
I have never tried to grow gherkins before but am hoping they are just the same as regular cucumbers and therefore don't pose too much of a challenge. I have tried okra in the past, but just ended up with greenery and no flowers!
There is so much to do this month, but I do enjoy it when it gets busy... and it is totally worth it once it comes to harvesting time.
My gardening mag landed on the doorstep this morning, and with it came some free seeds:
- Courgette (All Green Bush)
- Pumpkin (Jack O' Lantern)
- Squash (Yellow Scallop)
Not being a big fan of squash or pumpkin, I have never tried to grow them before... having said that I have just returned from an impromptu sowing of 5 yellow scallop seeds in the greenhouse propagator, would be a shame not to try really.
Think I'll have a go at the pumpkin too, but they don't need to be sown till next month.
A couple of days sunshine - what a difference compared to the weekend! - and the seedlings are starting to push their heads up through the compost.
A trip outside today revealed a sprinkling of rocket, along with a small contingent of evesham special sprouts, broccoli raab and all year round cauliflower.
I also spread out my seed potatoes (Charlotte) to chit, so come Easter they should be ready for planting.
Let's hope the sun is here to stay.
