Hurrah for the start of BST!

Well, I only got round to sorting out the compost today. My other half mowed the lawn and I went to the 'lotment to empty out the compost and start all over again. There were some twigs and bits of cardboard that hadn't quite broken down so I just added them to the new compost heap. The grass cuttings have really started things off - giving it all some substance.

My first job of today was to visit Jekka's Herb Farm near Bristol - hardly a chore though. It was an open day and I fancied getting some herbs - mainly things that are not easy to get at common-or-garden garden centres. I got some seakale (just peaking through), some pink and blue hyssops (apparently these attract cabbage white fly away from cabbages), orange-scented thyme and a few other things. These are sitting in the cold frame for me to plant out in a couple of weekends' time.

As for the parsnips I was pre-chitting...I have obviously done something wrong. I think it was the top covering of damp kitchen paper. Some of the seeds got a little mouldy. It might have been the warmth of the airing cupboard. Or a combination of the two. Only about 10% of the seeds germinated (10 White Gem and 8 Avonresister). I put out those that did out on the allotment in the prepared bored holes. I will try pre-chitting some fresh ones again this week or next and will not cover them with paper. I am guessing that there is plenty of moisture in the layer of damp paper underneath them. I am impressed that some of the White Gem produced roots, given their age.

While my hands were muddy, I potted up some Anya potatoes on the garden patio. They had been in the boot of my car for a bit too long so were a bit soft. There were lots of little shoots though.

I will not be able to get to the allotment next weekend but the one after that will be busy. I really need to sow some peas and potatoes.

A bit too damp for messing around on the allotment...

A shame. I'll pop over to sort out the compost though. I have been meaning to empty last year's bin for a while now - today is the day. The garden's lawn might get mowed today which will provide lots of material for this year's compost.

I peaked into the little plastic boxes of pre-chitting parsnip seeds. No sign of any roots emerging. I just hope that they show before Friday morning which might be the next time I get to go over to the plot to put them out.

Yesterday, I put a new coldframe in the garden to provide more space for seedlings - the mini-greenhouse was crowded. I am concerned about slugs though with all the brassicas inside but I have never seen a slug in our garden before. I was considering using either copper piping or regular applications of bran/oatmeal to prevent them from noshing on the goodies. Copper piping looks to be more costly than I thought. Might start off with the foody approach then.

I can't wait to plant my spuds this year. I forgot to mention in the previous blog that I have loads of potatoes chitting in the lean-to. I went to the Potato Day at Ryton at the start of Feb. It was manic - sharp elbows were very useful. The vast majority were going for blight-resistant varieties (esp. Sarpo Mira which disappeared in a very short amount of time). I was aiming to get slug-resistant ones as my first attempts last year (Estima and Cara) were full of holes. BTW - the Estima seemed ok for blight (probably because it was a second early) while about a third of the Cara seemed to succumb. From memory, I got some:

• Pentland Javelin
• Rocket
• Kestrel
• Nadine
• Golden Wonder
• Pentland Dell
• Pink Fir Apple
• Romano

I also picked up some Anya from Wilkinsons over a lunchbreak. Very naughty. I am planning to have some of the Anya and Pink Fir Apple in pots at home. The rest will go on the allotment.

Just a couple more weeks now...

First post!

Here goes...

I will post some photos of the allotment later this weekend if I can but at the moment there are:

• onions (1 row of red sets, 1 row of white/brown sets, 1 row of white/brown raised from seed);
• garlic (some from the Isle of Wight - Solent Wight I think and about 3 elephant),
• broad beans (Aquaclaudia Dulce - just covered them with fleece given the cold snap we are experiencing - there was a frost warning last Monday);
• raspberries (bought from Homebase and planted in Feb);
• blackcurrants (same as above);
• blackberries (already on the plot when I arrived)
• strawberries (planted last Spring);
• some leafy stuff (chard, kale and perpetual spinach - rabbits keep nibbling at this despite netting).

Last week, moved the chard, kale and spinach plants to one end of the bed they were in and bored some 60 holes (about 8 ins deep) into the freed up half of the bed with a crowbar and sowed some parsnips seeds. 30 were White Gem but these may not do anything as they were actually out-of-date. The other 30 were Avonresister which I brought fresh that day. The bored holes were filled with peat-free compost which was great to handle (less sticky than other stuff I have been using) but I am aware that some seeds take longer to germinate in it. I covered the parsnip half of the bed with polythene tunnel cloches so need to water underneath asap.

At home, I have some brassica seedlings (Cabbage - Greyhound, Cabbage - Savoy King, Kale - Cavelo Nero, Brussel Sprouts) in the mini-greenhouse. The Brussels may need repotting or restarting as they are a tad leggy. I have only recently learnt to move seedlings into the greenhouse from the windowsill soon after emergence to avoid legginess.

On the windowsills, I have four types of chilli which I sowed 2 weeks ago. These emerged on Weds/Thurs which made me very happy. At the same time as the chilli, I sowed some peppers. Unfortunately, my cat knocked these over later that day so I tried to find the seeds amongst the soil to resow. I can see 1 or 2 emerging right now. I just need a couple of plants so this shouldn't be too much of a problem.