Sowing the seeds of (Success)?!

The first seed sowing of 2010 has taken place.We are being more cautious about the amount of seeds we are sowing early as I am sure there is too early especially if the weather does not suit young plants being put out when they should due to late frost as we had last year.Most seed packets have a little piece which tells how long from sowing to harvesting for the particular seed and I think if this is extended too far then the best crop is not obtained from the veg.
This morning I sowed Greyhound cabbage which can be sown Spring and Autumn for fairly continuous harvesting.We like cabbage but not a glut of it in a few weeks. The Cos lettuce is a winter variety which can be sown now until it is time for the summer varieties. Cauliflower All year Round is self explanatory again something we like in moderation for as long as possible.
I have made a record of the sowings and will make a repeat sowing the end of Feb
I had compost in the shed since last year when I bought an offer of buy 3 or 4 together but it froze solid during the big freeze! I want to give my seeds the best start so I bought a good quality compost for seeds which promises 25% extra germination....who can argue with that?!
Every year we plant seeds and think we will remember when and how but now know that does not work so this year we are keeping a record of our labours. This journal was a birthday gift last year but has no specific year just 4 weeks to a month with advice on what to grow and harvest with a few recipes thrown in. I like Carol Klein and she was one of my favourite presenters on the now defunct Gardener's World.
Of course I have only opened the book now on week 4 of January!Carol's advice for week 1 was to make early sowings of Spinach, lettuce,broad beans and summer cabbage!
Week 2 onions and leeks could have been sown.(Not on our frozen soil)
Week 3 is a recipe for Colcannon, this is a traditional Irish dish of cooked potatoes and cabbage mashed together with butter.
Week 4 is about chitting potatoes in old egg boxes, I have mine all ready to go but will hold off for another week to be certain we are not going to get another really hard frost, I am also going to put out rat poison after last years episode!
I put the seed packets of todays seeds in a separate envelope to remind me to make those repeat sowings in a few weeks.

Comments

Latane Barton said…
You certainly are a busy little gal already... and I am just hugging the covers and trying to stay warm. I don't have a garden (son in law next door does) so maybe I will get more involved in HIS garden this year. I do love vegetables.
Anonymous said…
I know what you mean about being cautious. I went ahead and sowed some turnip and mustard greens. Planted a few onion bulbs and now we are going to have a another cold spell this week of lows way under freezing.

Good luck on your sowing and planting this year. Won't it be nice when spring gets here?

Have a great weekend.
Pam
Anonymous said…
I just ordered my seeds this week. Hopefully I will be able to get them in a few weeks so I can plant some indoors til spring.

Willow
Jo said…
It's good to read about gardening, Peggy. Here in North Africa, I just dream about my garden back in South Africa. What a lovely birthday gift your garden journal is. I used to love Gardener's world - when I had television. I'm sure your seeds will be a success.
sharonl said…
Looking good Peggy!!We're going to start sowing for 2010 in the next week, haven't been able to get up to the allotment recently as unfortunately it turned into a lake and flooded after the bit thaw!the river burst its banks and according to a friend there were sheds bobbing about!! so no doubt my autumn sown shallots and garlic are destroyed so the next chance we get we'll be up doing a big clean up after the damage. Good luck with the seeds!
Catherine said…
Hi Peggy - Two things - I nominated your blog for the Irish Blog awards in the specialist category as it is so nice about gardening. And I tagged you with High Five - just a fun meme where you write about five highlights for you in 2009! I'm sure you can find fifty - not five!Have a look over at my blog to get the idea. Loved the post about early planting and I gave that journal to a friend with a polytunnel for Christmas!
Catherine
Linda said…
You are off to an early start! But the growing sap is rising in the veins, isn't it? That extra bit of light now at the end of January makes all the difference to plants and humans.
Peggy said…
Thank you all for leaving comments and I can see from reading that what Linda from 'Slow growing in Scotland' says is true!
The growing sap is rising in our veins and we are chomping at the bit to get out and start the new growing season.
So to all of the gardeners whether it is fruit, flowers or veg you grow once you enjoy it I hope we all have a great year!

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