Nothing, nada, rien

Absolutely nothing has germinated in the potting shed...no tomatoes, peppers, chillies, cape gooseberries, aubergines or strawberries; in almost 7 weeks!! Well, I say nothing, there is a little weed in one of the pots but that does not count. So, I have come to the conclusion that it has been far too cold.

It is starting to warm up now, so my plan of action is to re-sow over the Easter weekend, but I might also pay a visit to the garden centre and procure some back up plants just in case. I also have a long list of other crops to sow as it is almost the end of March which is usually the busiest sowing month and I have not made a start yet.

Apparently, the weather is going to be rubbish... wet and miserable but I must get the chitting potatoes planted - it's tradition to do it at Easter. I also need to get the garlic and onion / shallot sets in the ground so hopefully the bed is not too wet.

So much to do....

Shopping, chitting and waiting

Today's gardening activity was mainly spent in the garden centre. I needed to get some aubergine seeds (now sown) so thought I'd pick up a few other things too.

I went for bonnie potatoes again this year, a very reliable second early; they are now chitting alongside the sown seeds in the potting shed. This should provide 6 sacks of delicious spuds later in the year.

 

Red onions, garlic and shallots have also been purchased; bit too early to plant out though and the bed I'm going to put them in isn't ready yet anyway... might tackle that next weekend if it stays relatively dry this week. 

 

 

No green shoots yet from last week's sowings but hopefully something will appear soon; am patiently playing the waiting game.



A good day!

Today was a good day to start sowing, so I did; 4 varieties of chilli, 2 varieties of sweet pepper, 4 varieties of tomato, cape gooseberries and strawberries. The sun has gone in now, but fingers crossed the potting shed is warm enough for the seeds to germinate in the next couple of weeks.

I don't think I have ever successfully grown strawberries from seed, but I do recall sowing them in the past... maybe 2016 is the year?!

I'm not planning anything particularly radical or new this year, just hoping for an abundance of produce to keep us well-fed, the freezer well-stocked and enough to make some chutney along the way.

Hopefully 2016 is also the year that I keep up with this blog and don't let it become neglected, again.

Ready, Steady, Sow

My 2015 season has finally begun, I've never made it to March before without sowing anything so today I brushed away numerous cobwebs in the potting shed and got on with it, just managing to beat the rain... might not look like much now, but in a few weeks these little pots of black compost will be sprouting a fine selection of seedlings (hopefully)...

To be more precise, kaibi round and orange bell peppers; fatalii, hotscotch, basque and ohnivec chillies; moneymaker, san marzano and red pear tomatoes, pot black aubergine and cape gooseberry.

I also had a go at microgreens for the first time, so in 2-3 weeks I should be garnishing my meals with tiny, colourful bursts of intense beetroot flavour.

This year I will only be growing one variety of potatoes; I opted for Bonnie, a second early that I have grown a couple of times before. They are both reliable and delicious. The seed potatoes are chitting away and should be ready to go into sacks around Easter.

Finally, I pulled up the last of the carrots, apart from a few holes they were pretty good so leaving them in the ground this long hasn't done them any harm at all.

Will need to get sowing the next batch soon.

What's fruiting?

The strawberries have come on leaps and bounds in the last week or so... all of a sudden the plants have shot up; this was a couple of weeks ago...

... and this is today

Strawberries everywhere!! I also spotted a tiny cucumber or two making an appearance; these ones are passandra

I've got a good feeling about this season.