I love this time of year for the lengthening days, the way everything starts quietly and in tiny ways coming to life and the hope and optimism that is involved in sowing seeds.
I get most of my seeds from The Real Seed Company, because I love their general ethos, they have a good range of organic seeds and they are always decent quality. I’ve also picked up a few packets in the local garden centre, and am about to order some more flowers for cutting from Sarah Raven’s website.
I’ve got a coldframe full of seedlings already, with various flowers and veg all at the earliest seedling stage. I noticed today that something has nibbled the leaves off my pepper seedlings, so they’ll need re-sowing. In a fit of irritation I sprinkled a few slug pellets in there – I don’t like to use these, but I don’t know how else to keep the little buggers out of the cold frame and away from my seedlings, and I’m not prepared to lose the whole lot!
Today I managed to make room for one more tray, and sowed:
- courgettes – Golden Zucchini which has grown really well for me before, and Striato di Napoli, a green variety that was a bit slow and not very fruitful last time I grew it, but I’m giving it another go
- summer squash – patty pan, a white one that you treat like a courgette
- winter squash – Blue Hungarian, which I’ve not grown before, and Butternut Squash
- Nigel’s outdoor chilli
- coriander
- wildflower mix
- Nigella
- Cerinthe Major Purpurascens (aka Honeywort) – I love this in summer bunches of flowers
- Molucella Laevis – an acid green flower that’s lovely as a foil to a bunch of flowers of other colours
- Korean liquorice mint – some seeds I’ve had for a couple of years, so don’t know if they’re still viable; only one way to find out…
I’m sowing my squashes much earlier than usual this year because I’ve noticed that others on the allotment always seem to be about 4 weeks ahead of me planting theirs out, and the extra time to grow seems to really pay off. Butternut Squash in particular need a long growing season, so I think it’s worth a try to see if I can get them in the ground and happy a bit earlier in the year. I reckon being in London gives you at least a couple of weeks’ head start on the packet instructions for most things, so long as there aren’t any late frosts. If these early sowings don’t work out, I can always sow a few more in April (the time it says to sow them, on the packet).
We spent a few hours up at the plot this morning: dug another bed (bed 3) and flattened the ground in bed 10 and covered it with cardboard ready to be covered up with manure next time it’s delivered. Then I’ll grow my winter squashes there, as they like to be in a big pile of manure. I’m hoping that doing this will kill off the grass and improve the soil without me having to do any digging. Let’s see how that pans out…
Chopped up the remains of the Rosemary and Lavender bushes I cut down to make way for the raised beds, and put them in the bottom of a compost bin covered with 2 barrows of fresh manure. I’m planning on growing a squash or two in the bin as this has worked really well in previous years.
J made more paths between the beds and filled them with more wood chips. They look fantastic and the whole thing is really starting to come together nicely. Because of all this work to re-landscape it, it feels completely different there now. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the work that needs doing, I’m feeling energy, optimism and momentum as if we’d only just taken on the plot 🙂
Having pent most of the weekend either on the plot or at home sowing seeds, I’m feeling both tired (in the good way) and calm. I’m hoping I might have calmed down enough to sit still and read a book for an hour, which I’ve not been able to do for a couple of weeks because my brain is a mixture of too fried and too frenetic.
So, I’m off to make a cup of tea and have another go at sitting still for more than 5 minutes without falling asleep or getting lost in Twitter and the rolling news. Wish me luck…
Keeping the Plot 