Lots of seedlings

I got back from the far east yesterday, so today I had a gentle relaxing day catching up in the garden. I potted out more tomato plants (I have 25 plants for 4 varieties). I potted out all of the cauliflowers (23) and most of the cabbages ready for going into the ground over the next two or three weeks. To that end, I put some of the cabbages (11)and cauliflowers into the cold frame along with the beetroot (which are looking a bit stringy). In a moment of optimism, I sowed some beetroot ‘chioggia’ (which I got free with a magazine) and a row of parsnips (‘Gladiator F1’).

I filled up the propagator again with sweet pepper, sunflowers (the first 4 are looking sturdy) and some more lettuce.

Failures:
First lot of lettuce - no sign at all.
leeks - 3 out of 16 came up. I think that they were too damp. I’m going to wait and sow them directly into the garden.

More planting. I’m trying to grow a great variety this year (so, four types of tomato, for example). I also got cracking and dug the new bed. And, yes, it is on a slope (from left to right). I’ve ended up terracing the vegetable plot bit by bit. I put a lot of the turf to the right of the new bed, that used to be a semicircular bed. I’m planning to put potatoes in it (they’re chitting nicely in the greenhouse). I’m pretty confident my back’s going to ache tomorrow.

The tip for the propagator that I read was that once 75% of the seeds are up, take them out. Last year I managed to nearly destroy several plants on sunny days. They also go pretty leggy if left in. The seedlings (as you can see) are fine in the greenhouse, it’s got a heater that prevents it going below about 5C. This weekend the outside temperature has been about 7C, pretty warm.

Yesterday and today, I planted tomatoes (‘Moneymaker’), more Primo cabbages (the first lot have come up and I’ve taken them out of the propagator). I moved last week’s cauliflowers into the propagator and the seeds were sprouting within a day - shows the power of the propagator. I’ve sown some more ‘ring of fire’ chilies and some sunflower seeds (I’m determined to grow some this year, they’re lovely even if they’re not edible). I planted up some more carrots (‘Paris Market’). The first lot (‘Nantes 2’) are in the toilet rolls on the right of the picture - hopefully they’ll not mind growing there until they’re planted out. So far, no sign of the leeks, but I’ve put these into the propagator, so maybe something soon. The beetroot ‘Detroit 2’ are all up, so I’ve taken them out of the propagator (strangely, not much sign of the ‘Boltardy’.

All of the seedlings that are now out of the propagator are doing well - I just have to keep them watered, but not too damp and wait for the right weather to plant them out.

I sowed some lettuce (‘Blonde Maraicheri’) into the cold frame. The mixed lettuce that I sowed earlier is coming up (but no sign of anything else, still, it is an experiment).

Tags: root vegetables, salad