It’s hard to believe we are half way through July, where
does the time go? My thoughts at this
time are, surprisingly; my garden next year and what I plan we will be eating
from January through to May. That’s the
tricky thing sometimes about growing your own, the forward planning that needs
to be done,
someone once asked me how I knew when to sow all these different seeds and I
suppose it’s just habit now. I prefer not to sow
straight into the ground for most things.
I find growing in pots, trays and modules a far more reliable way to
raise plants. You can keep an eye on
them more easily, especially if you set up a table or some shelves near the
back door. You can re-pot seedlings and
grow on, once plants are of a reasonable size, they are more resistant to
attack by slugs.
Don’t be tempted to sow a whole packet of seed in one go,
you will end up overwhelmed with seedlings.
Apart from carrot and parsnip seeds which you should purchase every
year, most seeds will keep quite well for several years if stored
correctly. One of the best places is in
a plastic container in the fridge or somewhere dark, cool and dry, so sow your
expensive seed frugally.
You often find seed packets will tell you to sow seed into a
prepared seed bed. This is fine if you
have a seed bed or can be bothered to go to the trouble to make one. Maybe you have already put the seed packet
down because it is already too complicated, but please, pick it back up, there
is another way. Seeds want to grow and I
have developed a mini seed bed mainly from sheer laziness.
For my mini seed bed, I use a seed tray which I fill with
compost and then press down well by putting another seed tray on the top and
pushing down, this stops the compost ‘slumping’. Take a thick pen or stick about the thickness
of your finger and make five seed drills by pressing the stick into the soil to
make a little trench. You are now ready
to plant up to five different sorts of seeds.
Give each little trench a good watering, this helps the seeds to stick
and stops them rolling down one end when you water them again. Sow about 10 - 15 seeds in each drill,
spacing out evenly, label, sieve a little compost over the seeds, and then give
another good watering. Pop a plastic
propagator cover over if you have one, don’t worry if you don’t, a piece of
glass or plastic sheet would work as well. You could try cobbling something
together from the 5lt plastic water containers. Water if the soil surface gets dry, as you
have sown the seeds in little drills, you can water the soil between the
seedlings to avoid flattening them, as they are in slight depressions, the
water gets down to the roots a bit better.
A clean washing up liquid bottle is perfect for this job, directing the
water and controlling the flow. When the
seeds start germinating, you can remove the lid, the seedlings can get very
leggy if they get too much heat.
There are plenty of things you can sow now, these are some
of the varieties I have been sowing this week:
Cabbage
April – A pointed
variety for planting out finally in September for use in April and May
Pixie - Similar to above
January King -
Hardy for December to March use.
Seed packet says sow April to June, the guides on the back are optimum sowing times, as we are in the North West sowing can be delayed here, we are lucky to have good light levels so late in the year. I am giving these a go as I have never grown them before.
Tuscan Kale
Cavolo de Nero -
A really useful kale. Can be grown
nearly all year round. A really attractive
plant that would not look out of place in a flower border. The young leaves can be eaten with salad and
the larger leaves are good in stir fries.
Will tolerate cold weather.
Spinach
Reddy – An
interesting spinach, the leaves have red veins and are quite pretty. Sow seeds thinly into a large pot or directly into the ground. Keep well watered and make frequent sowings as spinach bolts (goes to seed) quickly in hotter weather. Use young leaves in salads, larger leaves are good in curries.
Scallions
White Lisbon (Winter Hardy) Sow this from now
until October, two or three seeds to a module.
Plant out when large enough to handle. Later sowings will provide onions
for next year. Use in place of large
onions for stir fries, soups, stuffing etc.
Deep Purple - Large bulbed variety, with an
interesting pink/purple colour. Sow now
for pulling from September onwards.
Cultivation as above.
Carrot
Early Nantes 5 Sow now in a large pot or box for pulling from September.
Other varieties suitable for sowing in containers
are Paris Market and Chantenay. There do
not seem to be quite so many slugs at the moment so a sowing directly into the
ground may be worthwhile.
If you are quick, you could make a sowing of Dwarf French
beans, Speedy is a good variety if you can find them. Sow 2 seeds per 4” (10cm) pots. Cover over with glass or plastic sheet to
hasten germination, again keep an eye and remove the cover when they have come
up to avoid them getting leggy. Plant
out before the roots start to come out of the bottom of the pot. These are suitable to grow in large pots or
boxes as well.
We’ll check the progress of the mini seed bed in a few weeks
time and then go onto the next stage.
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| Something I cobbled up from a 5lt water container |
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