Come on garlic

We planted the spring garlic today. I expect that that is all that is needed for the existing garlic to spring into action and grow vigorously.

At home almost of the broad beans have sprouted and look good. Leeks have started to sprout, but our parsnips chits have yet to sprout.

The rabbits have not re-emerged, but I'll keep checking.

GW catch up

It looks like my method for starting off parsnips is becoming popular. It is mentioned in the BBC magazine Gardeners' World, but not mentioning me of course. I did come up with the idea, but so would other people too. It seems common for different people to come up with the same or similar answers to problems independently.

Parsnips are slow to germinate and unpredictable, some say unreliable. I have heard people have said things like 'I have sown hundreds of seeds and only a couple of plants came up'. To avoid the uncertainty we chit the seeds on damp paper, that is spread them on a damp surface and when they sprout a root, transfer them to seed compost in a cardboard tube. As soon as the first leaves appear think about planting them out so you don't disturb the root. We use a bulb planter to bury the tube to the right depth. The cardboard tube rots away leaving the plants to grow nicely.

The germination rate is around 50%, amazing for parsnips, and because you plant out plants, not sow seeds, there's no thinning needed.

Gardeners' World don't plant into cardboard tubes, rather plant straight into the ground. We find the tubes useful, indeed I recommend it.

We're ready

The plot has been dug over. The remaining spring cabbages are under a couple of frames to keep the pigeons off them. Most of the soil has had blood fish and bone scattered over it. Substantial rain is forecast for tomorrow which should wash it into the ground. I deliberately left the parts of the plot where parsnips and carrots are due to be planted as they don't want extra nutrients. I didn't have enough blood fish and bone to cover the whole area at the level I wanted so I left out the area for leeks as it will be a long time before they are ready to go out. I cleaned out the greenhouse which was mostly removing the papers from drying onions there. There were some canes and stakes stored there too for the winter and the water tap which I left disconnected to protect it from frost. I'll probably reconnect that in late spring which things start to go out and need water.

The garlic is not doing well. Other people's plots have large, healthy-looking rows of garlic we have just one, quite small garlic plant. This has happened before and I suspect we are about to fall into the same trap, but hey-ho. Today we bought some more garlic, as well as some more blood fish and bone which I'll spread that sometime soon, preferably just before rain. The existing garlic may yet grow (it did before), so I need to find a spare corner to plant the new batch without disturbing it.

The ground is looking good at the moment. The digging went well with the dryness helping turn the crumbly soil nicely. Our local nuisances the rabbits have dug out another hole in our compost bin, which I have refilled with stones and capped with bricks. If it is uncomfortable I hope they will leave.

The good news is that the first ten of our broad beans have sprouted, so growing is really under way.

Digging, both Human and Leporid

Plot 18 needs its yearly makeover. The soil needs turning and weeding ready for the planting to come. If the weeds are removed now they don't get a hold as the weather warms up. The digging has begun with about a third of it complete. The soil is lovely to dig - but not at all like you would expect at this time of year. It is soft, fine and crumbly whereas you would expect it to be heavy and in sticky clods. I think some of the texture is due to being carefully worked now for some years and left untouched over the winter. Some, however, is due to the very dry winter. The ground is damp, not wet and without a lot of rain we will be back the watering regime of last year.

I have also moved the fence to surround the raspberry canes, what's left of them, and protect them from the rabbits. In the process I found an extended rabbit hole which had come up through the compost bin. I filled it with rubble to make it as unpleasant as possible, but I think our skirmishes with the local rabbits looks like continuing. Geoff, the parish council chairman and neighbouring plot holder, suggested finding someone with a ferret.

On the positive side the rhubarb is beginning to appear, the gooseberries are covered in buds and a few are opening and the blackcurrants look weighed down with buds. A few wayward raspberry canes also appeared and they can be moved to supplement the gnawed remnants now inside the fence.

It's good to get in touch with the earth again.

Bean planting

Broad beans are in their pots. 24 Bunyards Exhibition beans, one per pot, are now being willed to sprout. Let's give give them a week or two.

Last of the leeks

We just dug up the last of the leeks. There were a few soft ones that went straight to the compost, but most looked great. There were signs of rabbits all over the place, but none inside our fence. When the ground is ready we will alter the fence to take in the raspberry area and add a place to store our frames between uses. Seed planting time is fast approaching - I can't wait.

Seeds

There's been snow on the ground for a few days and hard frosts, so the leeks that remain at Plot18 are frozen in for now. They're getting a bit old now so they really need using before they go woody. Staying off the plot, my attention has turned to buying the seeds for the new season. The solar Spring has started, the thirteen weeks of shortest days are over, so planting time is approaching for some things. I've been out and bought some seeds.

I've changed some varieties this year and there is nothing bold and new, so far, but the planting plan does leave a few spaces to try anything that we fancy. The list is:

• Broad beans
• Bunyards Exhibition
• Mangetout
• Oregon Sugar Pod
• Dwarf French beans
• Ferrari
• Sweetcorn
• Incredible F1
• Parsnip
• Javelin F1
• Carrot
• Chantenay Red Cored 2
• Spring onion
• White Lisbon
• Spinach
• Lazio F1
• Courgette
• Astia F1
• Leek
• Musselburgh
• Beetroot 
• Boltardy
• Sweet peas
• Old Fashioned Mix

In previous years we have kept broad beans as seeds, but last year's crop was not as prolific as in the past so we decided to buy new seeds. There are a few stalwarts in Musselburgh, White Lisbon, Boltardy and Old Fashioned Mix (grown for cut flowers of course). The rest, well time will tell. I might yet buy some different carrots as an experiment and we still need onion sets and some new raspberry canes.