It's that time now when sowing seeds is just a steady process that will continue for much of the year. Things will start off slowly - speed up and then steady off again.
March usually marks the start of our seed sowing season although this year the celery and celeriac were sown in February in an attempt to finally succeed in growing a crop. The true leaves are beginning to develop so it's a case of so far so good but there's still plenty that can go very wrong!
Most of our seeds are started off in the greenhouse in either trays, pots or modules to be transplanted later. This way works for us on two counts.
Firstly our clay soil isn't ideal for seed sowing - any seeds that we sow direct such as carrots and parsnips are sown in a trench of compost which then needs to be kept well watered.
Secondly sowing in pots in the garden greenhouse means that we can keep a closer eye on progress - if we grew vegetables close to hand in our garden it may be different!
With the pace of seeds sowing due to take off - it's at this time that I look at our seed collection and think - have we overdone it this year? Will we have space in the greenhouse to sow and grow on all the seeds we have bought? Will we have have room on the plot for all the resulting plants, and potatoes, and onions, and shallots, and strawberries and ...?
As usual our original seed order has been swollen by freebies from magazines, tempting visits to garden centres and being seduced by gardening programmes. We both watched Sarah Raven's series on Bees, Butterflies and Blooms (if you missed it you can view it from here) and started planning in our heads where we could have a patch of 'wild' flowers. The result more seeds added to our collection.
Anyway I comfort myself by the fact that I always feel like this at this time of year whereas Martyn's philosophy is that we'll find somewhere! Let's hope he's right!
Anyway I could post a list of the seeds sown in umpteen different posts but I don't want to frighten you off or make you curl up your toes in boredom so instead we have pages on our website accessed from the Sow, Grow & Harvest tab at the top of the blog. Our March vegetable sowings will be listed here and flowers will be listed here Other links on this post take you to pages on our website that go into more detail just in case you are interested.
I also keep a diary of all our gardening activities month by month on our website which goes back to January 2007 and can be accessed from the Garden Diary tab at the top of the blog. This is a full account of what we are doing and when.
Another reminder
If the competition submission form doesn't work try using Google Chrome - the form is a Google document and Google and Microsoft seem to have a policy of making sure their utilities don't work with the other company!
On Word Verification you may not even realise that your blog is using the awful new word verification as when you reply to comments it doesn't appear. You may have been noticing that less people are making comments on your blog. Many people are avoiding commenting on blogs that use WV - if you moderate your comments then you don't really need to use WV as well as you can delete any machine generated comments before they reach your blog. WV doesn't stop people posting spam - just machines.
You may also like to take a peek at the cards I have been busy designing here on my new website - if you take lots of photos you may even be interested in having a go yourself - I don't expect to sell many cards but it's fun creating them so I don't really care!
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Your seed box looks like mine, and that's after I've had a clearout and passed on all the ones I'll never sow. The celery/celeriac seedlings look healthy. Have you got them under the grow lights? We've been out all day but I'm just about to go and do some sowing myself now.
ReplyDeleteYes the celery and celeriac are under grow lights Jo.
DeleteI hope you succeed with the Celeriac, Sue. I've decided not to grow it this year. I felt that all the effort I put into its cultivation was not sufficiently rewarded! I'm trying a few other new (to me) things instead.
ReplyDeleteJane bought a copy of TKG magazine this week, in order to qualify for a competition. I was miffed to see that she got 5 packets of seeds with it, whereas I (loyal subscriber for several years now) only got two - and they were ones I didn't want (Aubergine and Red Pepper).
The free seeds business has been a bone of contention on KG forum too Mark. The fact that you get more if you buy them in the shops. For us though that would be a bad idea as we have too many seeds anyway. We got the aubergine and peppers too! What did Jane get?
DeleteGreat idea to start a little wildflower patch! I helped plant a full plot-sized wildflower meadow at our allotment last year and can't wait to see the [my] bees buzzing around and collecting nectar from it.
ReplyDeleteI watched Sarah Raven's programme as well and enjoyed most of it but felt that she was a bit pushy and patronising as a presenter. But at least the message got out to more people...
I was trying to find the collections that she sowed, Tanya but I guess she has them at a high price on her website.
DeleteGood luck with the stuff from Ms Raven. I had dreadful germination rates from her seeds last year and won't be buying again, finding similar tales on forums and blogs too.
DeleteGot my seed box out of the fridge last night - had a quick look and put it back again!
You're so lucky to have a greenhouse, Sue. It must transform the whole seed-sowing process. I suppose the temptation is to sow too many seeds.
DeleteI'm not a fan of Sarah Raven - she really grates on me. But it's good if she's encouraged more people to consider the needs of bees and butterflies.
We didn't buy any seeds from Sarah Raven BW - I think she prices up based on her name.
DeleteI'm not sure how we would cope without a greenhouse Linda - ours is fairly large too and we have a smaller one on the plot. I know exactly what you mean about Sarah Raven but she did seem to have an effect whether it was long lasting or not remains to be seen. We already had lots of bee and butterfly plants but the meadow that was photographed near Leeds was stunning
I always worry that I have way too many seeds too...yet seeing your bundle makes me feel slightly more confident that I can cope. I love your seed storer boxes by the way...i really need a decent box to store mine in...or even any box, they currently live in a carrier bag!!
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed by the seed tins Tanya as they were much smaller than we had imagined but they are good for carrying seeds about for sowing and at the moment the two of them house the flower seeds - the large shoebox (Martyn has big feet) house the vegetable seeds.
DeleteYour seedlings look so healthy and beautiful. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Angela welcome - I hope you come back again soon
DeleteI sow most of my seeds in seed trays too rather than direct - it means I can grow them on it pots and not take up valuable bed space for too long a period. Also the blackbirds can't dig them up as easily.
ReplyDeleteThe blackbirds do like to dig about don't they Liz but I still love them!
DeleteHi Sue!
ReplyDeleteI have a seed problem too!
I wonder when I am ever going to have time to grow everything in there!
I stareted off with a fancy designer seed box, but I'm overflowing in to 2 big chocolate tins now!
Ooops!
Martin :0)
Maybe we should form a support group Martin
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