Seeds a plenty!!

Well the weather has been awful the last few days with frosty north winds, driving rain and snow so there was no activity on the allotment. However this did give me time to have a good look through my seeds and see what I will be planting out this coming season and also meant I was able to find out what I needed to purchase.

There are only a few seeds which I will need to purchase and these include, radish, beetroot, pumpkin, turnips swede and some P.S.B. As the allotment shop have started selling these I will get them at a very good deal. I have to say I am cross with myself that I didn't save pumpkin seed from last year. Must remember not to cook and eat them all this year!!

So my list of things to grow are as follows...

Salad Leaves,
Ultimate mixed, iceberg, all year round,
Lollo rosso, little gem, lettuce mixed,
oriental spicy leaf, mustard greens,
oriental mixed and finally perpetual lettuce.
(All of these will be put in the bed near the greenhouse and into tubs around the greenhouse.)
Peppers,
Bell, Cayenne, hebernero and Thai.
(Due to having four different kinds of seeds I will try growing them all this year.)
 Squash,
courgette Spaghetti, butternut,
gourds, patty pan, pumpkin,
marrow, cucumber, gherkin.
 Brassicas,
Kale, broccoli 'raab' calabrese,
Brussels, cauliflower, red and white cabbages,
spinach, radicchio and P.S.B .
 Salad,
Tomatoes of three varieties (a standard, plum and cherry)
radish, spring onions (red and white)
golden berry pineapple, kiwi and melon. 
( I know the last row is fruit but i thought I would slip it in this section anyway!) 
Herbs,
Dill, garlic chives
lemon thai and curled parsley. 
 Roots,
carrots, celeriac, parsnip,
beetroot, leeks, onions (red and white),
turnips and swede. 
 Legumes, 
ying yangs, maroon beans (these are seed saved which I got form another allotment holder last year, not sure of their actual names)
climbing bean, french dwarf bean,
peas and runners...and maybe some sugar snaps and mange-tout. 

Then finally I will grow sweetcorn, mushrooms and old and new potatoes.

Well I think that's it for the list although I am sure I will throw some extra bits in if I find the space.
 Besides all this I will be planting more flowers this year in the bee patch and I am hoping to get a few edible ones in there but need to do a bit more research on that first. 
It's quite a long list but I like to have plenty of variety...and I am also hoping that this year will be a good year for crops which I have failed at before!!
All I need now is some decent weather to get things started!!
.

Is there anybody there?????

Parsley looking good in the greenhouse

Well I can't say I would blame you for abandoning this terrible blogger. I could apologise for me absence of late but that's getting a bit boring now so I won't make excuses or anything like that. I just haven't had the inclination to blog up until this point. But now I am here and spent five hours this morning catching up with everyone!!  Original plan for today was to get some things done down the allotment but the weather is foggy and wet so this was the next best plan!

Surprise carrot harvest.

  
 I have managed to get a few bits done down the allotment with a little tidying and also a little digging but I have to admit that it hasn't been a lot of work carried out. I did also bring my seed home to sort through several weeks ago now and they still sit in their nice little tin. I am definitely going to be going through them this weekend though...after all if I don't soon get sorted out I will never have anything to harvest come summer.

Leeks, and hopefully parsnips and celeriac.

 Whilst up the allotment I did a bit of checking and took a few photo for you, still none of the new site for the bees but the other two plots are looking quite good for the time of year. Garlic has had 100% germination rate which has pleased me. However none of the broad beans have survived over the winter so I will be sowing some more very soon. Leeks are looking good and I am sure there will be some nice parsnips under the ground (or is that hoping??) You can see the celeriac...will have to lift it to see if leaving it in did me any good!

Brassicas look a little weary.

The brassicas at the other end of the plot aren't looking so great now. They have been slaughtered by the birds and the brussels never did form those tight little buds we like to eat. I think maybe I work the land too much for the brussels so will try a different st5rategy for them this year and see if it makes a difference. I will soon be harvesting the good greens and composting the rest. the P.S.B. is just starting to show although not much this year ..maybe this means we will enjoy it even more!
 

So things aren't too bad but then they aren't great. I still have potatoes to remove before I can get other things in the ground and I can' say I'm hoping to get anything form these but considering what I did mange to dig up last year I don't think I have missed out on anything there. On other news, we had our A.G.M. last week. It was quit4 a nice turn out. I am still a committee member. The only major change was the secretary and then a couple of new people joined the committee too. Rent rates were set with water reduced by 50% over last year due to the wet year we had. If it is dry this year obviously it will go back up again. The allotment shop has opened up again and we are now selling seeds at very cheap rates. This is a first trial year but I think  great idea as you can by small quantities and they will be on hand if you just want a few extras.

I made a decision on my front garden. I am going to seed it back to grass. What I forgot to mention in my post was that my garden is on a slope and I was worried about the soil washing out in heavy rain so I think this will be the best idea. Also will be easier to mow. Haven't decided what I'm going to put in the front bed yet this year...that I will have to wait and see on for now as going through the seeds for the allotment is becoming rather urgent.

The weather has been really up and down here...just when you are lulled into a false sense of security that Spring has arrived it turns cold and foggy again and they are even predicting more snow for the weekend. I really have had enough of winter now. I want to get in the garden and get things sorted and start my new project for me little bit of nature for the bees. So many plans in my head that haven't even started all due to the weather. On the plus side though we are seeing more daylight. Shouldn't be too much longer before it's light when I leave work....how I miss the summer evenings! 

Well I guess that's about it for now. I have lots more to say but I guess spreading it out might be a better option and give me more reason to sit down at the computer more frequently. 
Here's hoping the weather man is wrong and we are in for a sunny weekend!!
.