Saturday 14 January 2012

14 Jan 2012 - seed planting time

Well it's time to be digging out the seeds, checking the planting dates and resisting the urge to plant everything right now!

I've sorted them into two lots, plant now and plant later - easy peasy!  The windowsills will be full for a while!  For Claire's benefit, I've taken photo's of the packets in two lots - exotic & reliable.

I'll start with the fun bit first - Exotics ;-)

Khol Rabi (Luna) - the longtails got to this one before I had a chance to harvest, so it's getting a second chance.
Artichoke (Violetto di Romagna) - I've never eaten this, but neighbouring plots had success, I'm just curious.
Aubergine (Viserba) - expensive to buy but I love it, lets see if I can grow it!
Cauliflower (Purple Graffiti) - just to be a bit different
Cucumber (F1 Natsuhikari) - been trying to grow this for 2 years now, it's getting one more chance!
Japanese Spinach Te-suto (Komatsuna) - A Christmas present, other spinach did well, so I'm curious, looks like soft leaves.
Savoy Cabbage (Brussels Winter) - this grew, but only very small, I wonder if a new area might work better for this one, cos this is one of my favourites to cook with.

Here's the reliable ones:

Nasturtium (Jewel mixed) - grows well, looks good, attracts bees and butterflies - this year, I might investigate eating the flowers!
Perpetual Spinach (Leaf beet) - has a bigger dark leaf, strong stalk and more flavour, grows really well.
Perpetual Spinach (Spinach beet) - a soft smaller leaf, smaller plant, watch out for longtails nicking the whole plant tho!
Rainbow Spinach - purple, yellow, white, green, orange!  Grows really well, potluck on the colours in the packet.
Leek (Bandit F1 Hybrid) - I'm going to have a go at getting longer plants this year (using toilet rolls or pipe insulation).  Watch this space!
Brussels Sprouts (Bedford - Fillbasket) - If you don't like sprouts, you haven't tried them when they're fresh picked.
Cos Lettuce (Little Gem) - much nicer than iceberg lettuce!

6 comments:

  1. All sown now, on the windowsill, patiently waiting now ;-)

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    1. Nice! We have to sort out all our seeds at some point, need to get some more too - want to try onions from seed this year (still need to get around to building the cold frame at home to start them off in). Thanks again for the rhubarb crown, moved it to our plot and replanted it today..it had one tiny leaf and stalk emerging, looks like it's waking up :)

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  2. My goodness you're organised!
    Thanks for the pics. (nosey old crow me!)

    Jacob is a HUGE fan of sprouts and cabbage so we'll be having a bit of that going on too, but he doesn't like Savoy (I do but I don't count apparently) so that didn't get a look in.
    I've ordered lots of seeds from a recommended company off Ebay of all places. They won't have pretty packets with instructions but you can find planting advice on here fairly easily, anyhow, they're called Premier seeds and most are 99p with 59p P&P, but you only pay that once no matter how many you order. I've gone squash and bean MAD! No idea where I'm going to put it all, whoops. Most are daft girlie things but I'm allowed to make many mistakes this year, being our first ;o)
    I'll make a list for you when they arrive, I can't remember what I clicked on now.

    I too have never tried Artichoke, I don't like the look of it when the Deli sells it so it's put me off. I think you should go out and find some and do a bit of a taster with it. With photos of course.

    Gosh I waffle on! Sorry, delete if needs be, hee hee, C. x

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  3. The other day one of the radio announcers came into the studio eating a raw corn on the cob. There were lots of comments from listeners many also ate them raw so I bought one and tried it actually it was quite tasty. So there you go how about planting a crop of sweetcorn :-) LoL

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    1. I've been trying that for 2 years now....maybe it's the weather, but I'll give it another go this year, as it's more sheltered where we are now, and post you over some ;-P

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  4. Yeah right. Won't get past the sniffer dogs on the border. I posted 1.5 ltrs of worm wees from my worm farm to a friend in NZ the other day. It arrived ok. :-)

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