Update: almost all the parsnip seeds have now germinated (after about 10 days on damp paper), so I have sown some in roottrainers and will sow the remainder in the ground - after giving it a good soaking!!!

I must admit I am not that keen on free seeds, because by the time they are given as freebies (on magazines and other goods), I have usually got the ones I want or have at least ordered them, so they are just surplus to requirements. I give them away at our Horticultural Society meetings.

Of my parsnip seeds, three have shown emerging rootlets so I have planted them immediately as suggested by Johnboy, so I will keep checking them twice a day now!

Thanks, Johnboy. I will examine my parsnip seeds on the paper towel (just as you described) for any sign of sprouting and act immediately.

I always reserve a few sweet peas and plant them in a hanging basket. They don't last very long there and have to be replaced with other plants in mid-summer, but to start with, they look really great, both tumbling down and scrambling up! And smell nice, of course.

Three days on from my last posting and we just had 3mm of rain which the strong sunshine and northerly wind today have dried up again and no rain forecast (on Metcheck) for us all next week. Luckily we now have water on the allotment, albeit a fair distance to carry, but it should enable us to do so...

I have bought very small transparent paper envelopes before from a stamp/coin shop because I believe the seeds are less likely to sweat in the paper.

I know parsnips are notoriously difficult to sprout though, once off, they grow well on our allotment. Anyway, I read somewhere that you can germinate them on damp paper towels and then sow them. So I am trying that this year but so far they are just lying there in the damp, not expanding or wrinkli...

There is a very reliable overwintering cauliflower called 'Walcheren Winter 3 Armado April' (I am sorry it's such a mouthful but there it is) which is just coming into "flower". They have always been successful for us and one great advantage is that they are never bothered with cabbage whi...

I know you might see this for some time, Johnboy, but when you do, glad you are back! What a great birding area you live in! Coming back to the start of this thread, good news about the wheatears: there were five at the moor edge this morning, four males and one female, so they were just late, it ap...

You lucky things, those who have had rain! To date, we have had 3mm of rain in the whole of April and it shows. Rain was forecast for today for the west of England, but we certainly didn't get any (and we are only just over an hour from the coast). I was hoeing this morning and there are still great...

Hello Johnboy, many thanks for your lovely bird report. We had the first wheatear here today, too, but probably just passing through. I do hope we still get our usual "quota" because they are always so wonderful to watch on the dry stone walls and can be approached quite closely. There has...

Primrose, I agree with OH: keep two lots of containers, one for winter/spring (then you can plant your bulbs in, say, September when the summer bedding plants are still ok) and one for summer so that you can plant your summer bedding before the bulbs have died down or, in my case, the winter pansies...

We do have mobile phones, mainly because my husband used to work in many isolated spots on his own as dry stone waller into his 70's, so we thought it would be safer if he could contact somebody in case of an accident (never did use it for that!), but we have not had a television set for about 20 ye...

Hello Primrose, I haven't tried it but it sounds tempting. I can imagine it's the fact that as the slugs and snails crawl over the hair, their progress will be impeded by the hairs sticking to the slime. I regularly cut my husband's hair and bushy beard and keep the cuttings for the birds (for nesti...