Beds & Buds

Plenty more in the way of sowing this week – my sowing plan goes something like:

• Things which all come ready at once & don’t stand for very long (e.g. lettuce, cauliflower, radish etc) – sow once a month
• Things which all come ready at once but will keep going for a bit/stand for a while without spoiling (e.g. beans, peas, carrots, spring onions, leek etc) – sow 2 or 3 times
• Things which are harvested all at the same time, or stand till you want them (e.g. parsnip, onion, garlic, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, beetroot – sow once in Feb/March, or April

So the February sowings are all completed – LEEK (mrs d), BROAD BEANS (barry plot 19), PEA (hsl gladstone & hsl newick), SPRING ONION (white lisbon) in the second category, & PARSNIPS (hsl Guernsey), TOMATO (various), PEPPER (various), SHALLOTS (hative de niort), CELERY (lathom sef blanching galaxy) & CELERIAC (monarch f1) in the third.

My, such organisation!

I’ve also had a bumper sowing session of annual flowers into modules. Buying bedding plants was an expense last year, & an avoidable one at that – the module trays have cost me a grand total of £1.49, & all the seeds having come from seed swaps over the past couple of months.

Other ‘home’ activities have been getting a batch of grapefruit wine underway & obsessively frequent scrutiny of all the seed trays (most of the tomatoes are up & running). No sign of the SHALLOT (pw banana) or PARSNIP (h white gem) seeds coming to anything as yet – I would have expected to see some signs of life by now in these.

At the Hill, I’ve decided that I don’t have the heart to whack the last two raised beds (a1 & a2) through the onions & the garlic, so their construction will come about later in the year, once the bed is clear.

I used the decidedly Spring-like day on Saturday to level & rake all the paths, ready for the weed suppressant. I added a dozen bags of manure to beds b1 & b2 where the potatoes will be (& a bag to each of the compost bins, which I didn’t think would do them any harm) & then dug all of the beds over ready for planting.

Whilst I had the spade handy, I dug up some JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES for tea along with a PARSNIP (white gem) & a couple of BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Falstaff) plants (which where a casualty of the construction of bed d1).

Once the beds are completed, of course, I can turn my attention to the area of the plot up by the compost bins & the shed – which will lend itself very well to fruit growing. Speaking of which, it’s heartening to see the current bushes breaking into leaf, & the rhubarb only a week or two away from the plate…