Seeds are home

 

The next batch of seeds and sets are home.  The first batch were freebies from a gardening magazine, but these were carefully chosen to match the list of varieties we want. When a specific variety was not there we chose to wait and get it elsewhere, whereas last year we just chose another one. 

The list so far:

Onion sets	Sturon
Leeks	Musselburgh
Courgettes	All Green Bush
Carrots	Kingston F1
Sweet peas	old Fashioned Mixed
Mange tout	Reutzensuiker
Peas	Kelvedon Wonder
Beetroot	Boltardy
Tomatoes	Gardeners' Delight
Spring onions	White Lisbon
Lettuce	Mixed Salad Leaves
Sweetcorn	Applause F1
Red cabbage	Red Fuego F1

Most of the choices were long considered, but the red cabbage was a rapid choice - I just fancy growing some. We haven't yet bought parsnip or spinach seeds - we didn't find the varieties we want.  All of this is in addition to our existing seeds, either gathered, free or left over:

Potatoes	Pentland Javelin
Carrots	Nantes Frubund
Beetroot	Choggia Pink
Broad beans	Norman's Beauties
Tomatoes	Ailsa Craig
Broccoli	Early Purple Sprouting
Pepper	Tabasco

Let the sowing begin

Time for seeds

I drew up a plan for this year as we were beginning to tidy up last year.  I don't stick to these plans rigidly, but it helps to get straight what you need to do.  I knew where to add the horse manure and where not to (some things don't like manured ground). In the event we didn't get as much manure as we wanted so this year I'll get it early before the riding school has spread it on the surrounding fields. The plan still looks a good place to start.

I've been going through the list of seeds we need for the new season.  It's not just the plant, it's the variety.  I think the variety is a very important part of getting the best tasting vegetables, but we are still working out what is best for our soil, the local climate and what we prefer.

Last year we grew White Gem parsnips and I think they were better than the Patriot variety we grew the year before.  They tasted a bit better, they grew bigger and there was less rot and canker.  Last year we grew two sorts of courgettes, with the Green Bush being by far the best cropper and a wonderful flavour and texture.  We have grown Musselburgh leeks now for two years and they are superb, big, crisp, tasty, not woody and resistant to bolting. Sturon white onions were dependable, not too strong-tasting and kept well.  The red onions have been a disappointment for two years so we will not grow them. Runner beans have also not passed the taste test. They are easy to grow, but a bit bland, so we will try peas instead. Our own broad beans from saved seeds will be there too. Last year we grew mange-touts for the first time Sugar Bon (snap).  They were tasty, but not strong growing so we might try something else for experience.

In addition we will grow early potatoes (Pentland Javelin), broccoli (Early Purple), sweetcorn and peas for the first time.  There will be some wall flowers that were surplus to the garden pots and some sweet peas for a bit of colour and we might even plant a few marigolds to divert the pests. There are the fruit bushes and the asparagus too. We have to see what the harvest turns out like this year.

More leeks

We planted the leeks last year in stages.  There were two long rows of leeks that we realised were too spread out, so we in-filled with another row later.  The last leeks to go out are considerably smaller that the first ones.  Jean took some more leeks today and that finished the bigger ones off.  A few had suffered in the cold weather - they had had too much water in between their leaves and then when it froze the stem was damaged. The remaining, smaller leaks (which are still a good size) seem to have fared better.  Fresh, crisp leeks are a delight to eat.

Parsnips are over

The snow has all melted a few days ago and the parsnips have thawed out.  The mud was the usual winter clag.  Jean dug out the remaining parsnips.  We have given some away and blanch and freeze the rest, which was more than I expected. 

There were some beetroots still in the ground and Jean pulled all of them too.  The tops had died back, but the beets might yet be good to boil and eat.  There are still some leeks standing, so we need to walk on the plot to harvest them over the next few weeks, but otherwise we need to stay off as much as possible to let the plot dry out.

Seed potatoes

A wet and murky afternoon drew me to shopping. We had a look in Wilkinsons on Hessle road and their shelves are filling up with gardening stuff again.  I had a look at seeds and the like.  They had onion sets for sale, sold by weight so it's not clear how many sets you're buying.  They had white 'Sturon', an unnamed red onion and some shallots.  They also had quite a range of seed potatoes, including Pentland Javelin which we want to try for our earlies, so I bought a bag. 

We have put them away in a dark cupboard for now, we should bring them out for chitting next month.  The cold winter might mean a late start for planting; potatoes don't like cold ground or frosts.

Ice is melting

A quick visit to the plot today showed the snow is still covering the ground, but it is melting.  I looked at the water butts and the ice in them was melting too.  There was a big plug of ice in the middle of each butt which was stuck to the lid, but water was all around each plug. When I checked the tap in the greenhouse there was running water, so the pipes seem to be intact.

So no leaks in the pipes, but leeks in the ground are certainly still there. They are exposed now and look fine.  The winter onions and garlic are exposed too and they look a bit limp and yellow, but I expect they will pick up.  The days are getting noticeably longer so the extra sunlight should help them.

All seems well.

Cosy

The first falls of snow melted away, but quite unusually for England some more has fallen and even more is forecast. The water tanks are very icy, but the shed is warmer than I expected, probably due to the greenhouse soaking up what sun there is.

The leeks look wilted in the frost, but I expect they'll be fine when they are thawed out.  We'll take a few more in a day or two.  Hopefully the snow will have stopped the ground freezing too hard so we can dig some out.  There are some parsnips under the snow somewhere, I think they can stay where they are for now.