Lemongrass

The off-the-shelf, supermarket lemongrass that we potted in February has sprouted. We simply firmed the shoot into moist potting compost and secured a plastic bag over the pot with an elastic band to create a mini 'greenhouse' propagator.

Prepared for any impending Great Slug Blight

... erm, they might not stand up to slugs the size of pigs but, ... we're on guard.

Rain Stopped Play on St Patrick's Day

New seedlings:

Roxton and Musselburgh Leeks

Chillies

This Cooks Garden Carribean Hot Pepper blend was an impulse purchase brought on by the tedium of wheeling a shopping trolley around a supermarket. We bought it in the gloom of the New Year, lured by the promise of the bright, jewel fruit pictured on the packet. We did not expect that the seeds would be mixed. Frustratingly, the varieties are not named on the packet but we think we can identify three varieties in the picture and hope that our limited sowing will produce a plant of each.

This is the first time we've grown chillies and frankly it is already proving disappointing. We regret not planning to plant a more interesting type of chilli, not regular supermarket fare, to make the most of our limited windowsill space.

Perhaps a visit to Spitalfields City Farm is on the books in the hope that they've got something intriguing in their nursery plant sale.

Mint

We're sprouting some mint to replace our last lot that was done in by the snow.

Signs of Life

New seedlings:

All Year Round cauliflower and Cavalier peas.
Down the allotment we greeted old friends:

Columbine

Rhubarb

Sorrel

Horse Radish

Allotment Kitteh No.3

 

We built a pea trellis reusing prunings we scavanged from the kerbside green waste collection bins along our road.✩ No need for plastic netting.✩

Sprinkle attachment

We use this recycled Barr's pop bottle with nozzle attachment to gently water our seedlings.

The nozzle is genius, it is designed for converting PET bottles for reuse as hand-held sprinklers. We drilled a few extra holes in the side of the screw cap section of the nozzle to break the airlock when the bottle is inverted; our bottle being glass we can't squeeze the water out.

★ Leap Year ★

A post to celebrate the 29th of February and our ✩First Seedlings of 2012✩. Ta-dah!

Old dog's new tricks: tamp the compost into the paper pots, knocking out the air. Otherwise, the compost will subside as the air is forced out of it when you water and the seed is washed to the bottom where it has a hard time germinating.

For tomatoes, lay the seed on the firmed surface. Then, no need for a sieve, rub a pinch of the compost between your finger tips and sprinkle a fine layer, not much deeper than the thickness of the seed itself, over the top of the pot.
Sprinkle with water until the module is damp but not soggy. Allow space for air to circulate around the modules when you place them in trays. These precautions go some way to prevent things getting mouldy, which they do sometimes*.

Keep the modules damp and check after watering that the seeds remain covered with compost as they need darkness and moisture to germinate.

*Take all precautions to stop things getting mouldy to prevent damping off running rife through your seedlings. Though this too can happen anyway, whatever you do.

We sowed 2x9 varieties of tomato: Gardener's Delight, Minibel, Purple Calabash, Marmande, San Marzano, Principe Borghese, Costoluto Florentino, Tigerella and Lldi. The Lldi failed to germinate.

Paper Seedling Pots

❅❄It's snowing!❄❅

Old dog's new trick: fold the lip over to prevent the seam splaying open once the paper seedling pot is filled.

Chitting Potatoes

♥ Dreams of long Sunday roast dinners. ♥