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.