I read allotment blogs out of curiosity about what other people are up to rather than to learn how to do things. Now and then an idea will come up that I will try out but on the whole I have found ways that work for me and am reluctant to depart from them.
This then, is what I am up to at this stage of the season. Just in case you’re curious too.
April is perhaps the fastest moving time of year in the vegetable garden and with the cold weather of a few weeks ago fading into memory, there is a lot happening.
The soil on my plot has been wet and cold and the only thing I have “sown” direct so far (9th Apr) is my early potatoes, Charlotte again this year.
Most of my vegetables I start off under cover, usually sowing seed in 9cm pots then pricking off into cell trays. Lettuce ‘Oakleaf Navarro’ followed this route and went out on the 9th too, along with Broad Beans, sown direct into 9cm pots and Onion ‘Rumba’ sets, planted into cell trays on 17th Feb.
Growing on in cell trays now I have a fair list of things, some nearly ready to go out, others just pricked off, namely:
Lettuce ‘Lollo Rosso’, ‘’Sald Bowl’, ‘Oakleaf Navarro’
Cabbage ‘Delight Ball’, ‘Huzarro’, ‘Kalibos’
Beetroot ‘Boltardy’ and ‘Boldor’
Spinach and Spinach Beet
Welsh onion, Onion ‘Armstrong’, Spring Onion ‘White Lisbon’
Celeriac ‘Asterix’
I have carrots in 1 litre deep pots and Pea ‘Twinkle’ in 9cm pots, some of which have emerged today. The rest of my peas will be direct sown, probably in the next few days.
I checked through my seeds today to see what else needed sowing and there wasn’t very much. Parsnips need to go in very soon; Runner Beans, Kale, Broccoli and Squash in a few weeks time. Courgettes and one variety of Sweet Corn I have sown today. Successional sowings will be made of Carrots, Lettuce, Spring Onions, Beetroot and so on, but there is a strong sense that the growing season is well under way.
The list below is what I have sown so far.
Beetroot Boldor F1 04/03/2018 11/04/2018
Beetroot Boltardy 31/03/2018
Broad Bean Masterpiece Green 03/02/2018
Brussels Sprout Brendan F1 30/03/2018
Cabbage Delight Ball F1 04/03/2018
Cabbage Huzaro F1 04/03/2018
Cabbage Kalibos 30/03/2018
Carrot Early Nantes 17/02/2018 19/03/2018
Carrot Romance F1 19/03/2018
Celeriac Asterix F1 17/02/2018
Chilli Apache 03/03/2018
Chilli Ring of Fire 03/03/2018
Chilli Tabasco 03/03/2018
Courgette Ambassador F1 11/04/2018
Cucumber Carmen F1 31/03/2018
Flower Sprout 30/03/2018
Garlic Provence 02/10/2017
Garlic Solent Wight 02/10/2017
Leaf Beet Perpetual Spinach 04/03/2018
Leek Blue Solaise 30/03/2018
Lettuce Lollo Rosso 19/03/2018
Lettuce Oakleaf Navara 03/02/2018 30/03/2018
Lettuce Red Salad Bowl 19/03/2018
Lettuce Salad Bowl 19/03/2018
Onion Armstrong F1 03/02/2018 04/03/2018
Onion Red Baron 04/03/2018
Onion Rumba sets 17/02/2018
Onion White Lisbon 03/02/2018 30/03/2018
Parsley Plain 30/03/2018
Pea Twinkle 01/04/2018
Potato Charlotte 09/04/2018
Spinach Matador 30/03/2018
Sweet Corn Earliking F1 11/04/2018
Tomato Sungold 19/03/2018
Welsh Onion 11/03/2018
garden ruminations 
Oh Jim, Oh Jim. I am so far behind your planting. No hot beds and a rather cold greenhouse have been staying my hand. Have I been too cautious? Parsley, Coriander has germinated Carrots, leeks, red cabbage, spring onion just sown. Onions and shallots went straight into the ground before Christmas and have struggled on. Potatoes – soil so wet and cold I am only going to put them in this weekend. Lettuces – I must get going!! Thanks for the great list.
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I think I’ve decided that the vagaries of our climate mean that you only ever know the right sowing date for something with hindsight. It’s warm, you wish you’d sown earlier; it’s cold, should have held on a bit. Or as an ex workmate used to say, you die if you worry, and you die if you don’t.
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That does sum it up perfectly!
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