So, the Korean Celery came out of the fridge and is now sprouting! The garlic is doing really well, which is very pleasing. There was a great harvest of Purple Sprouting Broccoli but that has come to an end now.

It’s not just the March hare that goes mad! I think most gardeners tend to as well especially if you are trying to grow your own food. From some point in March (depending on the weather) until the end of May it is a season of sowing, potting on and planting out as the weather improves. After that things calm down a bit, but its never not busy. If spring is sunny and warm, as it is this year, it is tempting to want to hurry things along, but the night-time temperatures are still quite cool. The temperature in my cold frames has varied between 30oC plus down to 3oC. The soil is now dry so if sowing in the ground the seeds will need regular watering until they get their roots down. The soil is quite warm so if we get some rain they should do well.

Some of my calabrese and cabbage are ready to plant out and the sweet peas are not far behind. I like them to be quite large before they go out and have to face the big wide world full of pigeons, slugs etc (they will be netted).  The first lot of Alderman peas were eaten by the mice who nipped of the growing shoots, so another lot are germinating in pots at home.

My raised salad bed at home is planted up with lettuces, radish, spring onions, beetroot, parsley and garlic chives.

In terms of harvests there are still leeks, some small spring cabbage and the Nine Star Broccoli. This is a white, semi perennial that is tender, sweet and worth trying. It isn’t very cold hardy,, in my experience, so needs a bit of care in the winter. I’ve also taken the flowering sprouts off the Astrurian Tree Cabbage to stop it flowering and keep it for another year. Apparently, you can eat the flowering shoots, but I haven’t tried it yet. The leaves are lovely; pale green and soft. They make great stuffed cabbage leaves.

The last of 2024’s potatoes have been eaten but the new seasons are all in. The earlies were planted in late March, under cover, and are all up. The main crop has only just gone in.

The south facing windowsill is populated with Dahlias, Chillies, Aubergines, Peppers and the cold frame with onion seedlings, brassicas, flowers, peas, more lettuce and salad crops.

The tomatoes and cucurbits will probably go in next week. As pretty much everything has to grow outside, I don’t start them too early, and they are quite quick to grow. The carrot seed will go in at Easter as I’ll be around after that to keep an eye on the watering. There’s a lot to do, but it is a very exciting time of year for the gardener.

Below is a list of everything that’s growing and what will be sown later this month:

Potatoes: Jazzy (early), Picasso, Desiree

Carrots : Early Nantes2, Amsterdam Forcing, Romance *

Peas: Alderman, Oregon Sugar Pod

Cabbages: Primo F1 Red, Golden Acre, Kalibos, Wong Bok*

Cauliflower: Graffiti*, Snowball, Boris*

Calabrese: Marathon

Aubergine: Long Purple, Czech Early, Genie*

Chillies: Jalapenos, Havannah Gold, Beaver Dam*, Ostry*

Peppers: Lemon Dream*

Beetroot: Boltardy

Spinach: Matador, Beet Leaf*, Tree Spinach*

Chard: Peppermint, White Silver

Spring onion: Lilia

Lettuce:  a mixture of Salanovas, Navarra, Salad Bowl, Lollo Rosso, Canasta Llaguna

Radish: Bright Lights

Tomatoes: Tomande*, Ozark Sunrise, Tigerella, Crimson Crush, Principe Borghese*, SuperSauce*, Garnet, Black Opal, Honeycomb*, Orange Zlata, Paul Robeson*, Russian Black

Cucumber: Market More, Mini Munch ( not hardy, will grow in small plastic greenhouse)

Courgette: Romanesco, Zephyr

Squash: Tromboncino*, Marquee de Provence*, Sunshine*, Crown Prince, Butternut (Hunter)

* indicates varieties that are new to me this year.

Sow many seeds, So little time!!

Enjoy your gardening space, and I hope you get time to enjoy the sunshine.