The Magic of Seeds, the Brassica Cage, Planting Shallots & the Greenhouse

Seed Sowings

It’s magical!!  Less than 48 hours after sowing them, the seeds of my cabbage and cauliflower had pushed their way through the surface of the compost into the light. I always get excited when this happens. Childish I know, but it really is Hogwarts stuff.

As soon as they had emerged I opened the vent in the propagator and a couple of days later moved them, uncovered, to my conservatory window-sill. The calabrese and lettuce followed a couple of days later, and then the tomatoes.  The aubergines and sweet pepper are still keeping me waiting though.

Today (26^th Feb) I have sowed a couple of varieties of chilli pepper, “Hercules”, an F1 variety, and “Jalapeno”, well-known from my visits to a local Mexican restaurant.  I also sowed 2 trays of leeks, “Autumn Giant 3 Albana” and “Mammoth Blanch”. (I want to see how large I can grow them!)

Rethinking the Brassica Cage

I have made a start in salvaging what I can from the tangled ruin of my brassica cage.  After two seasons I have reluctantly decided that my full-sized, walk-in cage made from cheap plastic piping is just not working. It is simply not robust enough. Not only did it blow down in the gale, but also, in lighter winds, the joints were blowing apart. The cage has needed constant attention.  Also it is a real pain to move every year from one part of the allotment to another.

So what are the alternatives? It may be possible to root the posts in scaffold poles, hammered into the ground, if I knew where to find them. But still there would be the problem of the joints, and moving it every year. Maybe I need to give up the idea of a movable, walk-in cage and make some individual cages for each bed which can be lifted easily from one bed to another, and propped up along one side for weeding.  I may still be able to salvage some of the existing pipe framework and reuse it. Hopefully a cage 3 ft tall will not blow down in the same way as my 6ft cage did.

Whilst clearing the cage I decided to harvest the remains of my brussel sprouts, several kg worth. The larger ones are destined for the freezer, the smaller ones for immediate use.

The Greenhouse

I have also cleared the remains of the lettuce from one side of the greenhouse and weeded it – the couch grass has already started showing inside, and it’s easy to untangle and pull up when there is nothing else growing.

Wind Damage, Raspberry Bed, Seed Orders and the First Sowings

Wind Damage

Returning from my winter holiday last week I was shocked when I went to the Allotment to take stock. At some point there had been a severe wind, with the result that the brassica cage had been blown down, several of the the plastic mulch sheets had been blown to the back of the site, and a couple of plastic cold frames smashed beyond repair. I think the brassica cage too might be a gonner.

At least the greenhouse and shed were unaffected. And the chicken house and run were unharmed.

Yesterday I paid my first visit of the season to the Orchard. Fortuntely he fruit cage too was undamaged.

The raspberry bed

Now that the severe winter weather has passed, it is warm enough to start work outside. I decided to start with the raspberry bed. I cut down all of last season’s canes, and spent an hour or two weeding by hand. Raspberries are quite shallow-rooting, and I was worried that a hoe might damage the roots.

Ordering seeds

Last week I checked over my seed store and ordered more to fill in the gaps.. I am fortunate enough to have a spare refrigerator in a utility room. Officially we use it for drinks, but it's there  I store onion sets, saved potatoes and seeds. I find they stay in good condition longer in the refrigerator, which means that using a packet of seeds over two or three years is more reliable, Thereby saving money. (Of course, running the refrigerator costs money, so whether I actually gain at the end of it all, I don’t know!)

The company I like to buy my seeds from isTucker’s seeds. They are not the biggest, and their online descriptions of seeds is very basic, but they have one great advantage which endears them to me. Their seeds come in resealable plastic envelopes which again helps them stay in good condition longer.

The First Indoor Sowings

The seeds arrived yesterday, so this morning I have made my first sowings under glass. I use heated propagators and John Innes seed compost. (I’m not sure about that – the compost is much finer than multipurpose, which is good, but is so fine it can get waterlogged, which is bad. I’ll let you know.)

I sowed a small tray each of:

Aubergine – moneymaker

Capiscum – California wonder

Tomato – Sungold, Gardener’s Delight, Alicante, Roma and Country Taste.

And a slightly bigger tray each of:

Calabrese – Agassi

Cauliflower – All Year Round

Cabbage – Greyhound

Lettuce – All the Year Round

Some of these I would have sowed earlier had I been around and been organized enough to order my seeds before Xmas.