First Planting

This week we put some seeds in the propagator. We are trying to stagger the planting to minimise the gluts we had last year and to produce enough for 6 households per week so that we can start supplying a few customers. We are going for interesting varieties and things not normally found in supermarkets.

Seed	Varieties	Number sown	Germination time	Harvest
Aubergine	Black beauty Viserba 3	1 1	14-21 days 10-14 days	August
Purple broccoli	F1 Bellaverde Sibsey	3	7-12 days	August
Celeriac	Monarch Giant Prague	3 3	12-18 days	June
Cucumbers	Paska F1 F1 Baby Telegraph	1	6-9 days	July
Sweet Peppers	California Wonder Citrina	2	10-21 days 7-10days	July
Tomatoes	Ailsa Craig Black Moneymaker F1 Honey Delight	3	7-14 days 4-7days 7-14 days 7-14 days	June July June July
Marigold	Boy-o-boy		5-14 days	–
Lemon grass			Up to 28 days	July
Sage			10-21 days	June
Basil	Plant with tomatoes		7 days	June
Parsley	Attracts lacewings		Up to 21 days	May
Mint	Attracts bees		7-16 days	July

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I started to clear the flower bed directly outside the kitchen door thinking it would be good to grow the herbs there. However, when we cleared the area, we found some bulbs and hostas. The berberis had to go as it attacked people coming out the kitchen door (revenge is sweet) and the flowering currant got a haircut or “pollarding” as GS likes to call it as he wielded his trusty chainsaw. I left the viburnum but took its lower branches off to let more light in to the bed.

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Having wielded his chainsaw on the berberis, GS looked about for other targets – Stan and Olly, the two conifers blocking light from the kitchen were next on his hit list. They are no more, rest in peace o light blockers of the garden. We then got the woodchipper out, you may remember it from the laurel clearing we did last year.

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Whilst GS and GSS were busy with Stan and Olly, I started clearing the beds near the house. The plants had reverted to prehistoric conditions, the rose was inches thick with nasty thorns which looked like dinosaur scales. I got two splinters in my fingers and various cuts, even through thick gloves. The bindweed and brambles were all over these beds too, and again there were poor crocus and daffodils trying to grow underneath.

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We are thinking of paving up to the walls of the house. This would give us space for planters, we will need to keep things like mint in pots otherwise it will go for garden domination like the brambles and bindweed.