Let the seeds be sown

The first seeds of the year are being sown - Tomatoes, indoors, along with some Chili seeds. Just a selection on the windowsill for the early ones to plant, and early to harvest.


I planted out some hardy lettuce seedlings (sown in December) at the allotment at the weekend - in between the broad beans to keep the ground covered and we shall be picking them over the next few months. I also replaced the few Broad Beans that either hadn't come up or were just not going to make it - more for the compost. A quick bit of weeding (yes! in January) and mulching and the beds all look lovely.

Broad Beans and Lettuce seedlings

Alex cleared an area for the Rhubarb to move to as it has been in the garden at home and not really in the right place, so we have moved that to a better home and mulched the area with straw. Here is the patch cleared by Daddy and Imogen - tools side by side.

Daddy and Imogen getting the rhubarb plant

Job for next week is to clear an area to move a cooking apple tree from the garden to the allotment - risky eh? It's not doing well in the garden and takes up space that we would rather use for other edibles so it has to go. We shall see how it goes, it will take 2 seasons to produce any fruit no doubt but you never know.

And finally an updated picture of the herb spiral - looking good and needed a little weeding. The Sage, Thyme and Oregano are all coming on well and need some dividing. The Chocolate Mint is spreading and growing too as are the wild strawberries. I'm also really pleased with how the Welsh Onions are spreading. More to add to this over the next couple of months and I really need to sort out the little "sink" pond at the bottom. A very successful permaculture design allowing different herbs to grow in close proximity even though they have varying needs - shelter or sun, and moisture levels. I would recommend building a herb spiral to anyone who loves growing herbs but struggles to get them in the right position. Low maintenance too.