Waiting for spring to arrive

A cold, snowy March put a stop to much garden and blogging activity but now that April has arrived, the weather as well as the spirit seems to be lifting. Spring may be late in arriving but that hasn't slowed down the seed sowing that's been going on in the background here at the suburban veg plot.

Hardy plants such as leeks, peas and brussels sprouts were sowed into pots in an unheated greenhouse. They were slow to germinate but have soon emerged with the onset of warmer weather. Broad beans were sown direct into a raised bed in October and were looking good by November (see post here). However, the recurring blankets of snow stunted their growth to a degree and then the attentions of an escaped chicken may have worsened the situation somewhat. A quick flap of her (soon to be clipped) wings and she was over the fence enjoying parts of the veg plot hitherto undiscovered by your average ex-batt. The parsnip tops proved tasty and the broad bean bed offered a veritable feast of digging and scratching opportunities. I shall wait a couple of weeks to see what proportion of the plants have survived before resowing...

Lettuce seeds were sown in trays in February and some have done well enough to be transplanted out to a raised bed though still protected by the Victorian cloche. I have planted out only the red leaved varieties to test out the theory that they are less likely to succumb to the attention of slugs and snails.

The green salad seedlings have been left in their tray and I've already started to harvest some as cut-and-come-again salad. It's tinglingly fresh to the tastebuds and wonderful to have fresh greens so early in the season. I am intending to stick to a plan of successional sowing to keep me in microgreens all year long - watch this space...