23rd - 30th March

23^rd March

The sweet pea germination rate is now up to 35%. It had better pass 50% soon. It is interesting how I can sow 100 seeds of the same type of flower on the same day in the same pots, compost, conditions and keep them in the same place and have some that are not breaking the surface at all, others that are barely up whilst 10 are at least 5 inches tall, 4 of them are over 6 inches and 1 of them, 7 inches.

My onions are really coming along well. So well in fact that I’ll have to plant them out soon. I was going to move them out into the greenhouse but it has been very windy today and I fear accidents may happen. I bought a packet of organic root vegetable and onion fertiliser which is very high in potassium (potash) and I took that to the allotment and gave a liberal sprinkling over section 3 in preparation for planting out the onions. It looks like we’ll have some rain soon so that will help. We have had about 10 days of absolutely glorious weather. It has felt like we are in late April/May not the middle of March. When I think that this time last year we had just had Easter and it was a bitterly cold one, we certainly have had it better this year. My Dad has heard that we are in for a long hot summer. I’ll hold my horses as a friend of mine, a PhD graduate who got his MSc in climatic something or other has told me that there is a huge error factor in the mathematical model used to predict the weather. He says that venturing past a 3 day forecast builds up so much error in the formula to make it incredibly unreliable, so I’ll not get excited over a summer long prediction.

24^th March

My pessimism over potential low sweet pea germination spurred me on to sow those extra seeds from the packets. So 1 each of Blue Danube, White Supreme, Due Magenta and Scarlet and 16 of the mixed variety. I also found a spare Red Arrow seed from last year. So they are all sown as a back up. I also potted on the hanging basket plants into little yoghurt pots as well as 4 more red peppers. All of these are now in the greenhouse. Into one improvised seed tray (one of my recycled plastic tubs) I sowed all the Cineria Maritima seeds. There was supposed to be 150 in the packet but it seemed far less so I counted them, arriving at a figure of 130 so allowing for unseen seeds (I had sown them by this point) the quantity was probably correct. Funny how the eye deceives.

25^th March

I had a great sowing session at lunch time. I sowed all the remaining Nicotiana seeds into one end of a large tray with over 100 plugs, and the rest I sowed with Ageratum. If they all grow I’ll have more than I can cope with in the garden. I could use more containers – but most of those would only stand on open ground where I would otherwise plant them direct into the spoil! One idea is to use a wooden fruit box I found in a skip to grow the flowers. Being low it can be put out by the willow tree behind a low bamboo edging so that the flowers grow up behind it. Any surplus after this will be planted out down at the allotment – if I have space there! I sowed another small plastic tray with leek seeds and 21 cauliflower seeds in a thin plug tray. 40 Brussels sprouts (Bedford Fillbasket) were sown into a modular tray. The onions are still looking very good, sweet pea germination (the original sowing) has reached 37%, but nothing yet to show for the 8 chilli pepper seeds warming themselves on the radiator.

26^th March

A good dose of rain today which was needed, but the temperature yesterday and today was significantly lower, with accompanying wind which was less welcomed. The car in which I collect the topsoil for the allotment raised beds has been shunted from behind, jamming the boot shut, thus meaning I have not loaded up with soil today. On the plus side, my Dad has given me some seeds that he got as part of some promotion. Rocket, basil, thyme and mixed salad leaves as well as a plant that looks remarkably like nicotiana called laurentia.

In the garden there are 2 tulips that seem to be nearly ready to flower, and the hyacinths have been out for over a week now, and you really notice the lovely fragrance they give off. The fennel has been growing for a month or more, the oregano in the ground has woken up after its hibernation and the chives have sprung up into life, with at least 1 flower bud. I have about half as many daffodils as last year though. I checked a photo I took and counted over 60 flowers, so I don’t know what has happened there.

30^th March

I went to the allotment to cut into the ground with a spade to make a little channel around the plot for the base part of the wire mesh fence to slot in so that it at least descends somewhat below the surface. With the ground very hard and compact I don’t think rabbits will burrow much into it so I can get away without ensuring it’s the recommended 6 inches deep. Is that me taking the easy route again though? I had got only a little way when my spade broke. It wasn’t the handle or the shank, but the blade itself – right across, so I now have a funny little implement that is a very short but wide spade end on a handle. I remember the blade bending a bit in the past and thought that it couldn’t be too good for it, and now it’s gone. I wandered over to amuse Alfie by asking if he had some cellotape for it and he lent me his spade, so I finished the job. I also trimmed some overhanging wood from the raised bed.