Northern Sowings

[JennieAtkinson]

Having just spent a week away from home, devouring just about any gardening magazine I could find in the shops, and realising that most people are now in March sowing seeds like mad, I sat on the plane coming home and thought I wonder if I could start anything off early (and I'm just so desperate to get going).

SO ....... today I have sown just four seeds each of

Gourmet Sweet Pepper
Bell Peppers
Hot Cheyene Chilli Pepper
Baby Belle Aubergine
Tyria Cucumber (I know ... I was getting a bit carried away by this time!)
and a few Bandit Leek seeds.

All are sitting comfortably in the propagator. If they come up I'll have to think about how I'm going to keep them going in the house until the greenhouse warms up in May I just realised that sowing peppers and aubergines in May was just a no hoper and probably why I didn't get any flowers on the peppers last year until September. I also plumped up some Jiffy 7s in warm water and planted a nasturtium in each and I've got these sitting in the greenhouse with a propagator lid on top - I have always been an optimist!

How is everyone else doing in the north (I mean north of Perth not Birmingham!) with their sowings. It would be interesting to see how we all get on and if it is indeed worth having a go this early.

[mandyballantyne]

Hi Jennie,

I am south of Perth but not by that much.

I have started off 4 types of toms and chillies, all up and looking lovley, shallots, basil, carrots and potatoes. Nothing in greenhouse yet.

I will be starting off some cucs and aubergines at the weekend. Alice and Mrskp in glasgow is way ahead of me so I think i have some catching up to do.

Keep us posted, Mandy

[bramble]

Hi Jennie, so long as you keep the little seedlings reasonably warm they should be fine. You have a tunnel and if you put them in there and enclose them in something like a propogator lid they should be fine.
Is'nt it great to be sowing our crops again.
Hope you had a good holiday. Did you go somewhere warm?

[sewer rat]

Hiya Jennie
You are ahead of me !! I'm supposed to be two weeks ahead of you - or was that just last year !
I won't be planting anything for another 10 days or so, (apart from peppers already in the house, and Humberstone shallot seedlings already in my greenhouse) then I'm on a 7 day week, 12 hour shifts, sowing seeds, pricking out and propagating, planting tatties, onion sets and garlic cloves. Tunnel will be up, hotbox propagator will be assembled, CD Player blasting out some rock music , thermos flask by my side - BLISS!!!!

[JennieAtkinson]

Well done SR. It must feel great to FINALLY be doing the actual sowing. It felt great just sowing four seeds! Best of luck to you.

Thanks Bramble - yes it really is great to start going again. Especially as I hope to have stolen about two months on previous years!

Will keep you posted how they do. I see alot of TLC coming on and bagging every bit of window space in the house.

[Alice]

Hello Jennie, I planted my peppers in December and they're coming into flower - but I do have great south facing windowsills.
I planted 2 Baby belle Aubergine about 4 weeks ago and they're into 3rd set of leaves - wish I had planted more. (South facing windowsill)
I've 2 tubs of carrots into real leaves, they've been out on the south facing terraces, with the odd night in the greenhouse
My lettuce and mixed leaves are just living outside now
My banana shallots are in the unheated greenhouse
8 Buckets of Charlotte, planted in january, never been anywhere but outside ,are all up, covered with fleece at night
Spring onions planted last sept doing fine
Think that's about it. Not doing main planting til end of the month.
I think a sheltered south facing slope does make a big difference.
Hope your plantings go well.

[JennieAtkinson]

That sounds as though you are well ahead Alice. I have a lovely south facing slope but not sheltered unfortumately. Gets blasted by every ounce of wind we get! All my attempts at planting a shelter belt have failed as well.

[Alice]

I'm going to have to make a shelter belt for my new kitchen garden Jennie. It will be fenced off with chicken wire to keep the pesky deer out (I see their hoof prints up there) and I was thinking of hanging it with netting and sticking in some conifer branches to provide some shelter til I get something growing.

[mrskp]

The trouble with being so far ahead is that when I go away for a few days at the end of March I will be in a blind panic about how my babies are doing !

My theory was if I started early enough, I could resow to replace failures. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it !

[Birdie Wife]

Hi Jennie,

I started off some onion seedlings in January and they're about 4" high now, one tray is in the coldframe and one is still on the windowsill. Broadbeans sowed last november outside with protection are doing okay, I germinated some old peas and stuck them in the ground on the off-chance I might get anything. I have sowed some flower seed in hopefulness and alpine strawberries (courtesy of Serenity) but I'm hoping to be much better prepared in the garden this year in terms of cloches and enviromesh. Basically still hedging my bets though! Keep thinking about leeks etc but I think I'll hold off for another couple of weeks.

[JennieAtkinson]

Hi BW
Do you manage to keep the cloches in the ground? I was wondering whether to get a small one to cover my cabbage and sprouting broccoli given the horrendous numbers of cabbage whites last year? They are quite expensive to see them taking off over the fields!

[Smuff]

Wow, some folk are well on!
Although not as far north as some, I'll be sowing chillis, qs and toms this weekend (it's been feeling a bit warmer the last few days) and the bulk of stuff will be sown in April/May for planting out May/June.

[Birdie Wife]

Hi BW
Do you manage to keep the cloches in the ground? I was wondering whether to get a small one to cover my cabbage and sprouting broccoli given the horrendous numbers of cabbage whites last year? They are quite expensive to see them taking off over the fields!

I've got some sheets of corrugated plastic left over from one of our other jobs on the reserve and I was going to make some frames with 4mm mild steel fencing wire, if I bend it in a bowler hat shape I reckon I'll be able to weigh the ends of the frame down with heavy stones. So I'll end up with a cloche that's half-circle in cross-section and stones at the side of it, don't know if that makes sense, will try and take a picture. Bit experimental, really. Tried clear plastic drinks cartons last year but they all blew away, unsurprisingly...

[Berr]

Northern Sowings.

I've sown the following, mostly in conservatory (frost-free), mostly in the last few days, and all for growing-on in the polytunnel. "G" means germinated.
Turnip P.T.Milan.
Lettuce Counter.(G)
cabbage Excel(G)
cabbage Puma.(G)
calabrese Decathlon.(G)
Nero di Toscana kale.(G)
Komatsuna.(G)
Rocket.(G)
A T&M Oriental mixture (GYO freebie).(G)
Pak Choi Choko (G)
Swiss Chard Lucullus (G)
Broccoli raab. (G)
radish.
winter purslane.
beetroot Boltardy
beetroot Detroit 2.
shallots (sets)
shallots (Piglet's banana) (G)
potatoes Epicure, Maris Bard, Karlena, Arran Pilot.
carrot Early Nantes 2.
carrot Amsterdam Forcing.
Cauliflower Lateman.
Kale Starbor.
Pea Meteor.
Pea Kelvedon Wonder.
Leek Jolant
Bunching onion Ishikura.
Sweet pepper Cubanelle
Chilli pepper Cayenne.
Courgette Black Beauty.
Courgette Patriot.
Tomato Gardener's Delight.
Tomato Sungold.
Cape Gooseberry.
Strawberry Royal Sovereign.
Strawberry Alice.

This is the earliest I've ever sown. So, much of it's experimental. I'm prepared to resow later. I'm 3 miles south of Stirling.

Berr.

[JennieAtkinson]

Wow Berr - how big is your conservatory??