From Inside Blogs: Allotment

Showing posts with label Allotment. Show all posts

Friday, April 8, 2011

April is Go!

I always feel that March is the prelude and April's the full blown symphony as far as my seed activities go.

I don't have a greenhouse and the coldframes are stuffed with overwintering pretties, so April's my main month for sowing. I hadn't quite realised quite how much there is to do this month until I decided to put all of April's packets into one box, so I can just pick it up and go whenever I need them. The main reasons why there's so many are:

I use lots of different leaves for salads and have a large wodge there at the back ready for successional sowing

I've gathered quite a few different packets of various native flowers together during the clear out of my main seed tins ready for some light guerrilla gardening

I've decided to grow my own Nigella seeds for curries and bread making, plus lots of different Basils for pesto and pasta sauces

I always have too many different seeds anyway

As well as the massive salad and guerrilla gardening stashes, there's the cucurbit stash of cucumbers, courgettes, squashes and melon seed which will be sown much later this month, when my window sill's cleared of the current germinating batches and the weather's warmer. This week will see the seed potatoes planted and I'm in the process of chitting my peas and parsnips as usual, plus starting off the saved chilli seed from last Autumn.

It looks like little and often is the only way I'm going get through that lot. Wish me luck!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Psst! Fancy Some Nasturtium Seeds?

As you can see I have rather a lot of packets of nasturtium seeds, which I acquired in the process of telling you about Nick Hamilton's Twitterchat last year.

They're the perfect thing for a giveaway as they can be used by both gardeners and food growers alike. I started growing nasturtiums up at the allotment a few years ago, where they've made a regular appearance ever since. Gardeners concerned about their self-seeding tendencies may like to restrict them to their summer pots, where they can be kept under total control ;)

They flower prolifically and all parts apart from the stems are edible. NAH is usually quite conservative when it comes to vegetables, so it's pretty surprising that he happily munches away on the flowers as well as their peppery leaves in salads. I also make delicious nasturtium capers and have been known to give my plants an allotment version of the Chelsea Chop.

The variety I have on offer is Jewel Mix, which grows to around 9-12 inches in height. I don't usually go for seed mixes, but I rather like the rich yellows, oranges and reds of these. Now's the perfect time to sow them and I can confirm they have a good germination rate.

If you'd like a packet, then do leave me a comment below. I have 25 packets of around 20 seeds per pack to give away, so I'll do it on a first come, first served basis. Once they've gone they've gone! Sorry, this is only open to UK readers.

Update 29th March 5pm: Note to self: I must also ask you to send me your address details when setting this kind of thing up! Everyone who's replied up to and including Juliet should have been contacted by now for your address details. However, I can't get hold of 30foxley, Karen and Hilary. I do hope you come back here, see this and contact me via vegplotting at gmail dot com so I can arrange to send you your seeds. Assuming you do, I have 6 packets left for anyone else who'd like some :)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Love is in the Air

The really warm weather the past few days has brought many noticeable changes to my garden and plot. We've succumbed to the first grass mowing of the year and the weeds are starting to make their bid for the sky. The birds have turned up the volume, the bees are buzzing and previously slow and sleepy ladybirds* are getting a little more racy in their activities. Love is most definitely in the air ;)

Has anyone else noticed there's lots of ladybirds around at the moment? I'm having to rehome loads of them as I work my way through all this spring's pruning and shredding activities. It's probably just as well they're here: I'm sure the sunshine will also wake those pesky aphids from their slumbers...

* aka ladybug for those of you from across the Pond

PS don't forget the clocks go forward tonight here in the UK. Sweet dreams and from tomorrow we can garden in the evening - yay!

From Inside Blogs