We spent a couple of hours this morning at home in the garden then popped to the plots for an hour. The rain kept off and the hour turned into four hours. We sowed more seeds of Parsnip Hollow Crown and Carrot Nantes into the bottom bed.

There was great excitement when we saw two asparagus spears peeping through already.

Rob put in some Peas Kelvedon Wonder in the bottom brassica tunnel. I had been swishing them for a few days and they were already germinated so should be off to a good start.  The Hurst Green Shaft that I put in the top tunnel are well up now and the Meteor are showing through too.

Rob has moved the obelisk that I grow the Sweet Peas up and I have planted the Spencer Mixed raised from seed at home. They are now situated at the bottom of the plot by the seating area.

We came home with another bunch of Raddish French Breakfast, my favourite. I shall have to sow more next time we go down.

At home I have pricked out the Gardeners Delight seedlings and potted on some Alicante and Black Cherry.

We built and planted up a new strawberry bed this morning. The plants were all from runners from our original plants so no cost involved. We shall have to think up a way to keep the pidgeons off but as we have twice as many plants again in the fruit tunnel I don’t think we shall be short of Strawberries come June.

In the lean to we have a row of raddish already pushing through the soil.

I put in some more peas in the brassica tunnel. They were the Hurst Green Shaft. I had already swished them in water for a few days and some of them were shooting. They should be ready to harvest in 12 weeks.

(Pod length is about 4″ with 9-11 peas in a pod. Pea Hurst Green Shaft is a super heavy-yielding variety. Only 28″-30″ tall, with all the pods close to the top. A second early, wrinkle seeded variety, which matures in 100 days from sowing. Pea Hurst Green Shaft resists downy mildew and fusarium wilt. And the taste! Has to be eaten to be believed.) info and picture from Thompson &Morgan from whom I bought the seeds.

I have been sorting the tomato seeds out and find that I have twelve varieties already. I have limited space to grow them so I have to decide which ones to go with this year. Gardeners Delight and Black Cherry are both a definite yes. Lemon Tree and Ildie both did well last year so are in the running too. Alicante, Moneymaker and Sungold are all reliable. Oh dear perhaps I should sow one of each. Its just as well that I have a few weeks to make a decision.

I am in love with him
To whom a hyacinth is dearer
Than I shall ever be dear
From “Hyacinth”
Edna St. Vincent Millay

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artapr07/bj-hyacinth.html

The seed potatoes have arrived and are now sitting in egg boxes on the window ledge to chit. They arrived in excellent condition so I am optimistic that we shall get a good harvest.

I have had some Peas Fortune sprouting in a jar for a few days and this morning I have transferred them to two seven inch pots to grow on a bit more. 

A high quality, hardy pea for the first crop in early summer. Large pods are well filled with delicously sweet peas.

We managed to dodge the heavy rain yesterday afternoon and get the peas Fortune and the sweet peas planted. There were forty four pea plants and they just fitted around the inside of the old brassica cage. They will be safe from the pigeons but I am sure they will fall prey to slugs and such. The sweet peas are now planted around a lovely obelisk we bought from Lidl and I have secured it with canes and string. The plants look quite strong but we have protected them with some netting until they get better established. 

Today I transferred the peas Starlight, that had been germinating in a bowl. I had been swishing them in a little water several times a day then draining them so that they were just damp. They all had lovely healthy looking shoots on them and are now sitting in damp compost for the next stage of their lives.

The weather forecast doesn’t look too good for our plans to build the tunnel next week. Rob has a week of annual leave and we were hoping it would brighten up a bit as we have a long list of jobs that need doing both on the plots and outside at home.

Heirloom tomato seed Roma is an outstanding and disease resistant variety that produces red plum tomatoes of medium size.

On the window sill in the kitchen I have placed seeds of Parsnip White Gem on damp kitchen towel to sprout before they go into their cardboard tubes.

White Gem produces broad shouldered, smooth skinned roots and features superb resistance to canker. A great flavoured parsnip which goes well with all roasts and other hot dishes.

Last year we had a good crop of peas from Fortune and I have put about 40 in a bowl and shall swish them in some water every day then drain them until they sprout when they will be transferred to a tray of compost to grow on a little before they go out on to the allotment. Rob plans to sow a few directly into the ground along with some swede Best Of All. Both will be protected with a new cloche/ mini greenhouse we got from Lidl.

I wish I could afford an incubator. I ordered more hatching eggs last night and feel very nervous about trusting my broody after what happened last time. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained they say. My potential broody this time is a large black Araucana and I have gone for Bantam Wyandotte eggs, in silver laced, buff laced and silver pencilled. We only have one Wyandotte at present and that is Toyah. She is a partridge coloured bantam and has been blind from birth so lives separately from the flock, gets very special treatment and has a lovely gentle temperament so we are hoping the new chicks will be like her.

These pictures aren’t my birds but have been sourced from the internet