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.
