Let the growing commence!

It is difficult to believe that a new growing season is upon us when just yesterday, the allotments looked like this:

It had snowed overnight and the ground was covered in about an inch of snow. It did not last very long though and by lunchtime everything had melted away. The plot looks quite miserable at the moment, the overwintering vegetables looking sad, wet and windswept. But on closer inspection, I noticed the first signs that Nature has decided that winter had lasted long enough and spring should come soon...

That was all I needed to decide it was time to get the 2008 growing season underway!


So today, the first seeds went in:

- Chilli peppers - Cayenne - 4 cells, 2 seeds each
- Chilli peppers - Jalapeno - 4 cells, 2 seeds each
- Chilli peppers - Peach Habanero - 4 cells, 2 seeds each
- Sweet peppers - Californian Wonder - 8 cells, 2 seeds each
- Tomato - Moneymaker - 8 cells, 2 seeds each
- Tomato - Gardener's Delight - 4 cells, 2 seeds each
- Aubergine - Melanzana Violetta Di Firenze - 4 cells, 2 seeds each
- Aubergine - Halflange Violette - 4 cells, 2 seeds each

They are now in the heated propagator in the spare room and I'll be watching them closely over the next few days; I'm always looking forward to seeing the little seedlings poking their wee heads over the dark compost !

I have also sown some Alpine Strawberries in a small tray that I will keep inside for now and transfer later to the "wild" area at the back of the plot. That's where the raspberries grow already and it's in the shade most of the time, which alpine strawberries like.

To be perfectly honest, these are not exactly the first plantings of the season - I already put in a couple of row of onion sets and some garlic bulbs back in October and November. But the first seeds of the season are always that little bit more special.

Garlic Lover Collection - Spanish Roja, German Red, Solent Wight & Purple Wight

28 October 07

Onion sets - Autumn Champion and Swift

25 November 07

I also bought a blueberry bush in Lidl today (99p, bargain!) to join the rest of the berriy bushes: 2 gooseberries, 2 blackcurrants and a redcurrant. The strawberries bed is getting extended this year and as I said, I'm putting more alpine strawberries at the back of the plot. I'm still toying with the idea of getting some raspberry canes. We have some canes growing wild at the back of the plot and we have harvested several punnets over the summer but I'm thinking about an autumn fruiting variety (possibly Autumn Bliss). Space is tight but I love raspberries so watch this space!