Asparagus Pea

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

 

Variety: Asparagus Pea
Sown direct: 2nd April 2018
First Seedling: 8th April 2018
Germination: 6 days
Germination ratio: 2/10

Grow your onions

The gaps in the aluminium slats are ideal for onion drying

Way back at the beginning of March, I set about planting my onion sets out into their prepared bed. I’ve never had much luck with growing onions from sets or seed but this year I went about the planting out process with almost military precision, taking great care to ensure that each row was the correct distance apart and that within the rows, the sets were also spaced as per the recommendations in the various gardening books I have at my disposal. The result was neat rows of tiny onion bulbs which could have passed muster at the Trooping of the Colour, on Horse Guards Parade.

Onion Sturon

My beautifully neat onion sets.

I have never had much luck when it comes to growing onions whether this be by seed or by sets but I am determined to keep on trying because we go through an awful lot of onions in Mudville and whilst I won’t pretend to be able to grow anything like our entire requirement in our patch, I should be able to provide a significant number for consumption. This year I am revamping the veg patch and throwing my existing rotation plan out of the window. It has been in use for about 5 years and is quite restrictive, allowing for only a three year rotation at best. I hope that by rejigging where I grow certain crops, I will be able to see how successful (or not) they are in their new locations and, with luck, find myself in a position to instigate a much better 4 or 5 year rotation system. Only time will tell but on Saturday (March 7th) I made a start and planted the first of my onion sets in one of the raised beds.

Mangetout Oregon Sugar Pod

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

 

Variety: Oregon Sugar Pod
Sown direct: 27th July 2014
First Seedling: 4th August 2014
Germination: 1 weeks
Germination ratio: 12/15

7th August:

  

Unfortunately, although these germinated and grew well, the colder weather hit a little earlier than I anticipated and I wasn’t able to get them into the ground. I will be growing these again next season, as this variety has always done well in my garden in the past.

Cabbage, Winter Jewel

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

Variety: Winter Jewel
Sown indoors: 27 July 2014
First Seedling: 1st August 2014
Germination: 5 days

14th August:

20th August:

I am beginning to think I am doomed where the brassica family is concerned. These seedlings seemed to stall at about three inches high and then something attacked them. I have no idea what but the upshot is that I will not be growing anything over winter, other than the parsnips, carrots and leeks which are already in the ground. I will try these again next year though.

Parsnip, Tender and True

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

Variety: Tender and True (RSC)
Sown direct: 30th Match 2014
First Seedling: 27th April 2014 (approx)
Germination: 4 weeks
Germination ratio: N/A

We love parsnips in our house and were really disappointed with the very poor germination and subsequent low yield we got last year which was due, I believe, to the prolonged cold weather. I always buy new parsnip seed each year, as it doesn’t keep very well from season to season. This year I’ve sown a different variety into a bed that was covered with a blanket of cardboard for several weeks prior to sowing, to help keep the soil reasonably warm.

In stark contrast to 2013, this year we have had a spell of lovely warm weather with just the odd cold day, since the seeds were sown and we now have three rows of tiny seedlings. As is my habit, I have sown more seed into a couple of significant gaps in the rows and I hope we will have another successful harvest come the autumn.

 

Carrot, Touchon (direct sown)

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

Variety:Touchon (RSC)
Sown direct: 30th Match 2014
First Seedling: 19th April 2014 (approx)
Germination: 20 days
Germination ratio: N/A

The is described as being ‘Sweet, good for winter storage‘ and so I am looking forward to tasting these carrots in due course.

Beetroot, Sanguina

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

Variety: Sanguina (RSC)
Sown indoors: 30th Match 2014
First Seedling: 19th April 2014 (approx)
Germination: 20 days
Germination ratio: N/A

Another Real Seed Catalogue acquisition and these have popped up in good quantities along the row they were sown in. This is another successional crop and I will be sowing another row in the next few days.

Lettuce, Really Red Deer Tongue (direct sown)

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

Variety: Really Red Deer Tongue (RSC)
Sown indoors: 30th March2014
First Seedling: 12th April 2014
Germination: 2 weeks
Germination ratio: N/A

In previous years my lettuce and salad leaf crops have been grown in the greenhouse but this year I will be growing most of my lettuce outside because I now have some superfine insect mesh to help protect them. I will also be using slug pellets (sparingly) because the netting will prevent the local wildlife accessing any slugs unlucky enough to come into contact with the pellets.

Lettuce, Moretons Secret Mix (direct sown)

This is a record of how long this particular set of seeds took to germinate and how they looked at various stages from first appearance to the development of the first set of true leaves and beyond. I hope this will prove useful.

Variety: Moretons Secret Mix (RSC)
Sown indoors: 30th March 2014
First Seedling: 12th April 2014
Germination: 13 days
Germination ratio: N/A

In previous years my lettuce and salad leaf crops have been grown in the greenhouse but this year I will be growing most of my lettuce outside because I now have some superfine insect mesh to help protect them. I will also be using slug pellets (sparingly) because the netting will prevent the local wildlife accessing any slugs unlucky enough to come into contact with the pellets.