I thought it would be easier to keep all my diary notes (sowed this, transplanted that, harvested the other) in one place this year, and save the main blog for more (I hope) more interesting stuff!

6 Feb 2009
Today, we are mostly looking through the yacon growing tips, to plant a few up and hopefully spare a few to share with friends. And we have got the propagator down from the loft! No seeds sown yet as the weather has been so cold, but I have thoughts of chilli peppers and even calabrese (I am too easily influenced by what I hear on the radio. Thanks a lot GQT…I shall be writing to Anne Swithinbank this week to ask her exactly when I should expect delivery of an extra acre or three to grow all this fluffing stuff in…I think it’s only fair)

15 Feb 2009

Some yacon has been popped in to a propagator on a sunny windowsill. This isn’t really necessary at all but (a) we want to make sure we maintain some plants and a growing plant is easier to judge than a sleeping “tuber” and (b) we are sharing some out this year and want to make sure we’ve got enough live tubers before we send out any more.

Today, down came our second propagator, to be kicked off with the first real sowing of the year, chillis and sweet peppers:

Chillis – Rocoto (or Rotoco), Czech Black, Early Jalapeno and Thai Dragon.  The first two are home saved seeds, originally from Real Seeds stock who supplied the Jalapeno.  The Thai Dragon is one of our few remaining F1s but it’s a very nice chilli and I wanted to use up the seed.

Peppers – Kaibi Round, Dedo de Mocha, Pasilla Bajoo and Poblano.  I think technically three of these are chillis of one type or another, but they don’t have any heat.  All are home saved seed – the Kaibi Round and Dedo de Mocha are Real Seeds origins, and saved only last year so I am happy with them (that’s why they’re on my “seeds to share” page.  The Pasilla Bajoo is saved from Simpsons Seeds stock, but it wasn’t kept entirely pure so I don’t know what I’m going to get from it this year. The Poblano was a T&M plant which I saved the seed from and it’s grown good (non-hot) fruit in the past for me but the seed is getting on a little so I don’t know whether to expect much from it this year.

One other sowing today – mustard seeds in the seed sprouter, which I shall write up separately.  Also planning Paris Market and rocket sowing in the greenhouse, and probably our field beans too, some time this week.

22-24 Feb 2009

Sowed some sweet peas, Flagship and Swan Lake…ooh get me with my colour coordination. They will be joined by heliotrope and er, cosmos (bright pink and white) and nasturtiums (yellow, orange and burgundy) and sunflowers (same colours as the nasturtiums) eventually.  Some baby carrots, Ideal Red, sown in a pot in the greenhouse.  Kaibi Round peppers, home saved, were up within a week and other capsicums looking promising.  Also harvesting some mustard, and started a new batch of sprouting seeds.

7-8 March 2009

Field beans germinating well and first sweet peas peeking out.  Sowed eight seeds each of Simpson’s Special, Hugh’s Huge, Alderman and Clarke’s Beltony Blue, in root trainers for the Garden Organic heritage v. commercial experiment.  Also resowed Poblano and Czech Black chillis and moved the other seedlings in to unheated propagators.  A bit sad about the Czech Black germination but several have come through and then died so I suspect it’s a compost problem – normally I have really good germination with home saved seed.  Hmmmm.  On the bright side, Pasilla Bajoo (hmmm, spelling) has germinated very well even though the seed is almost three years old and only saved on a whim, and my Kaibi Round has 100% germination!

15 March 2009

100% germination on our home saved field beans!  Second batch of Czech Black doing really well.  Still no sign of the poblano, which is very old and I suspect dead, so at least I can dispose of the seed (it’s nothing special, just T&M seed saved in a random fashion).  My better half has been digging, cutting, mulching and other things that mean I have to stay in the house and occupy the dog, who is keen to become involved but of limited use in these tasks.  Specifically hazel trees have been moved in the last few weeks, blackberries pruned and tied in, asparagus bed cleared and mulched, and a patch cleared for the field beans.  Our rocket tub (gone to seed rocket, chopped down and some of the contents sprinkled back on the soil) is sprouting in spite of the best efforts of Frightful Mr Fox.

Today I shall hopefully be sowing tomatoes, creeping thyme, heliotrope (mmm cherry pie) and a few other vegetables and perhaps herbs, I haven’t decided yet.  A trip through the seed box is in order as I have some seeds to share via the Seed Network.

(…later that same day…)

Tomatoes of choice turned out to be my new HSL acquisition, Scarlet Knight, another new-to-me but old variety, Red Cherry, which came free with a magazine, Ballerina, a plum, bush type for pots outdoors, and the remainder of a packet of Gardener’s Delight, half of which went in the propagator and half of them in a pot in the unheated greenhouse (see main blog for reasons behind this, “Experiments 2009″).  Alongside them went heliotrope and cerinthe for the front garden (both good insect plants).  Later this week the better half sows the creeping thyme in pots, as it will be useful for filling in gaps.

21 March 2009

More sowing is in store this weekend, plus potting up chillis and peppers.  The tomatoes in the propagator have already germinated, although in the case of Gardeners’ Delight, this is only one.

Easter Weekend 2009 (10-13 April)

In keeping with my intentions not to oversow this year, not a lot more planting has occurred since the last entry above. Tomatoes have been potted up and have been ferried in to the greenhouse daily so are growing well, stubby and green and almost could be described as “not leggy”.  Heliotrope didn’t germinate well and needs resowing.  Have sown old breadseed poppy seed and this fared the same (will resow using last year’s pods), as did common thyme. Fresh seed of creeping thyme, Greek marjoram, and leaf celery all came through within days though.

On Good Friday the Garden Organic peas went in – 6 plants of each variety, with the remainders kept as spares in case of accidents.  As much eggshell as a year’s baking could provide went around them to protect the precious plants from slugs and snails (still haven’t started that survey!).

Sowed runners – bit early but we have two new packs of seed so there’s room to experiment.  8 Celebration and 8 Red Rum, in root trainers, with 4 x2 Ferrari dwarf bean (I suspect the seed is old and they won’t grow) and 12 x 2 Rocquencourt DFB (slightly newer but still not fresh seed).  These in the greenhouse.  Tray of cosmos to go in the heated propagator.  Also growing roottrainers of calendula and nasturtium which have germinated well.

19 April 2009

Potted up the remaining chillis (5 x Czech Black) and cerinthe in to pots for the front garden.  Lots of seed labels prepared for more sowing today and this week (notes to come later, when I remember to take a notepad with me).  Cosmos germinated quicker than expected and is ridiculously leggy so will be resown but not in the propagator.  Casualties of vine weevil, our precious rhubarbs, have gone in to the new “mulch bed”, which was intended to house squashes.  We hope that the plants will stand a chance of survival in the ground (nematodes saved them this year but we seem to have wasted our money on them this year).