February 2008

We are just starting to sow the seeds for the allotment's plant sale. This is quite a difficult task as we grow thousands of plants to sell to our members and to the locals. Quite a large team of people is needed; I am teaming up with Mel to grow Peppers, squash and pumpkins, sweet corn and petunias amongst other things. The plant sale takes place in mid May and all the plants need to br mature enough to sell but not so mature as to be pot-bound. Timing is therefore crucial.

Along side doing this for the society I have to sow my own seeds for my plot as I try to grow more unusual varieties; stuff you can't buy in the local supermarket, and things that are bit more challenging. Sometimes it works but very often it doesn't. Sometimes the seeds just dont germinate or if they do the plants don't thrive. One of the most frustrating things I have ever tried to grow is chick peas. Someone brought me seeds from Italy to grow as an experiment, but England just doesen't have the right climate. The plants grew beautifully but all I got was empty pods. How frustrating is that.

One year I grew wonderful sweetcorn, 36 plants; every single cob was eaten by squirels because my netting wasn't secure enough to keep the pesky critters out. It taught me a lesson; after that experience I have always been very careful about netting the sweet corn securely.

On Sunday I dug up the last of my carrots from last years sowing and a few giant parsnips and some leeks. This made a great vat of tasty soup. The most rewarding thing in the world is to eat stuff in mid-winter from your own garden.

Last week I sowed some early carrot seeds, hoping for a nice early crop. As and experiment at the end of last year I sowed raddish and lamb's lettuce seed in my unheated greenhouse. These have come up and I will get a small crop. The carrots I put in didn't germinate, but I will try it again as I am not sure that the seeds were viable.

Looking forward to another happy year of allotment gardening