A weekend on the plot sowing seeds and planting out seedlings

The weather being kind and the forecast mild(ish) I was able to get a good few hours in on the plot this weekend and get some seeds sown and seedlings into the Vegetable Patch. 

The Runner Bean seedlings that had been hardening off in the Greenhouse and then the Wood Store are now planted in their bed. Many will say it's too early but they are looking fine and with little threat of frost in the forecast I am confident they will begin to romp away in the warmer days ahead. The second sowing remain in the Conservatory for now but will be moved to the Wood Store to harden off in the near future before joining the others in the Bean Bed. 

The Leek seedlings have also been planted out in a couple of rows. A simple task as the seeds were sown in fibre pots so they were just dropped into a dibbed hole, pot and all, before the soil filled in back around them. Being a little old fashioned the lines are plumb line straight and all being well I have have two perfect lines of big fat Leeks come the Autumn. I use a scaffold board to stand on the soil as it is a raised bed which has the benefit of allowing you to use the board as a guide to keep the rows nice and straight. 

A row of Parsnip seeds were sown next to the Leeks; another benefit of using the scaffold board to stand on the bed being you simply turn around and sow on the other side of the board giving you nice spacing between each row. The board is then flipped over and on to the next row which in this case was the first sowing of Carrots; a second sowing will be made in a few weeks. 

With the Raspberry Bushes coming up in their bed and the Strawberries putting on new growth in their beds and the Blackberry sprouting leaves all over the Vegetable Patch is really coming to life now. 

The Pea seedlings will be planted out in their container soon, the forecast looking fine, and a second sowing will be made towards the end of the month with a third some time in May in an attempt to avoid a glut. I will have to place chicken wire around them no doubt as the containers are under the Cherry Tree and the Wood Pigeons love picking at the blossom and in turn Cherries thereon and would no doubt be all over the Peas as well given the chance! The Cherry tree does look lovely at this time of year. 

I was also able to give the Greenhouse one last check over and wash down, I found one of the glass panes have slipped over the winter and that was placed back in the correct position and secured with some new Greenhouse Clips. That done I was able to plant out the Gigantomo Tomato seedlings to go with the Buffalo Steak planted out a few days before. I have four of each variety in the Greenhouse with the plan for the other varieties to be grown outdoors this year on the Vegetable Patch. It is the inner child in me I suppose but I will be attempting to grow the biggest Tomato I can this year with the Gigantomo, as the name suggests, the ideal variety to do this with. Please do keep visiting to stay up to date with the progress - you never know there might be a World Record breaker in the harvest! 

Cheers 🍺