Kitchen Garden Forum

Haven't been on the forum for a very long time (more than a year )as I have been ill but have been hovering around reading posts again for the last few weeks. Still lots of regular names that I recognise - good to read all your posts. I'm itching to get going in the garden again although it will have to be at half speed this year I think until I'm fully recovered. Sowed my first seeds in the propagator today and it felt good!!! What is everyone sowing (if anything - I know I'm too early) just now?

Welcome back Haggis! Glad to hear you have made some recovery.

No doubt we will bore you stupid with our recommendations.

Hi and welcome back, hope your recovery continues.
I am replanting broad beans, this hard winter deccimated the autumn sown ones,

Good morning Haggis, it is nice to see you back on the forum once more, sorry to read you have been unwell.

But it is nice to read that you have been able to start a little seed sowing, now if there's one thing that can help one to feel a little better, it must be this.

I have started Broad beans, peas, summer cabbage, cauliflowers, tomatoes and some early leeks, these are all in the greenhouse by the way.

haggis. Make a full and speedy recovery.

OH makes me feel I've been lazy. perhaps I'll get on with the peas.

My broad beans have largely survived the frosts. The ones which have fallen over and gone brown have been shooting strongly from the base, so I've just chopped off the manky stems.

I've been harvesting celeriac and leeks and a few parsnips which euded me in December. I dug up one which I'd left on purpose and found that it was in fact 3 thin ones.

On my windowsill [and getting precious little light in this murky weather [o bugger, it's sleeting now] are a few pepper seeds. Red Cayenne and yellow cayenne. Unfortunately the Scotch Bonnet which I saved from a bought plant has not come up, so they are probably dud. I mean to put into modules some parsley and winter lettuces which were sown last autumn.

On the allotment I do little except decant water from the butts which get water from the shed roof into those which don't. I usually collect enough water in the winter to avoid having to use the pump in the summer. This is time-saving as well as better for the crops, as the pump gives off mains water instead of rainwater.

Hope it's a good year for you, Haggis.

Thanks for all the replies and your good wishes. You all seem to be far ahead of me but I live in Aberdeen and I think I need to delay for about a month after sowing times in the South. I lost just about everything in my (unheated) greenhouse this winter - not so much the frost but the length of time it lasted. Everything was frozen solid for about a month. I should have taken stuff indoors but the dreaded chemo made me feel like a zombie and I never got round to it.
I bought a cheap and cheerful heated propagator from B&Q last weekend (£13) and have sown some sweet peas in that. I may have a go at broad beans in the greenhouse soon but we are still getting really hard frosts. I need to get my plot cleared as it was badly neglected last year so have drafted in my dad to help - he is newly retired so that's good timing! Only growing a small amount of potatoes this year so have opted for some heritage varieties - Shetland Black, Home Guard and Flourball - all chitting in the dining room at the moment. Roll on the March so that the sowing season can really get under way!