My Tiny Plot

I love Spring – everything is so new, green and full of promise. Apart from Christmas it’s my favourite time of year.

The Cabbages that I transplanted a couple of weeks ago are coming on a treat and are ready to be planted out in the garden. I made sure to dig in some lime before I planted them and firmed them in nice and snug – Brassicas like to have their roots tucked in.

I’m a sucker for a neat row and decided to make a little Cabbage patch over near the Peas. At this time of year your plan is starting to take shape and it’s a great time to make those last minute changes to it before your beds start getting filled up. Before you know it you’ll be wondering where on earth you will put that Courgette plant or row of lettuce.

Here at mtp I’ve been busy sowing and planting. Now that the nights are light I find that I can get a lot done in the hour between bath time and when it gets dark. Here’s what’s in already:

• Peas – check
• Potatoes – in, last week
• Radish – sown (two rows)
• Early Carrots – in, one sowing under the cloche, two sowings in the ground
• Parsnip – one outdoor sowing
• Spring Onions – in, but not up yet
• Rocket – in, and up
• Broccoli – sown in coldframe
• Perpetual Spinach – ditto
• Sweet Peas – four varieties sown in coldframe
• Dwarf Sunflowers – sown in coldframe
• Leeks – just pushing up in coldframe
• Lettuce – check, check, check – early sowing in the coldframe, plus outdoor sowings last week
• Broadbeans – 2 inches tall
• Cabbage (summer) – seedlings transplanted
• Onions – check
• Shallots – check
• Garlic – in and growing well
• Tomatoes – Super blight-resistant variety (Ferline) sown, currently getting the 4-star treatment indoors

Currently harvesting:

• Rhubarb
• Kale
• New Zealand Spinach
• Perpetual Spinach
• Herbs
• Tulips

So that’s the view from mtp. Anyone else sowing anything else? I don’t like Beetroot, Sprouts and Celery so that’s why they’re missing from my list, but I’d love to know if anyone is having success with other stuff right now. Always room for one more as they say!

I don’t know what it is with Brassicas but I always sow too many of them. Maybe, I’m just hedging my bets because I tend to lose a lot of plants each year, either to slugs, caterpillars or mealy bugs. Or maybe my hand just slips when I’m sowing, I’m not sure. All I know is that at this time of year I have a lot of transplanting to do.

Today, it was the turn of my Cabbages (Greyhound). I sowed the seed a few months ago in a small propagator and as soon as the seed had germinated I put the whole thing outside. As luck would have it the next day the whole country benefited from a thick layer of snow. But the Cabbages didn’t seem to mind. I must admit, when I saw the lid covered with 5cm of snow, I was…worried.

Now, they’re bursting out of the propagator and need some more space. Hence the move up into larger, individual pots.

I’ll grow them on in pots in the coldframe until they have 5 or 6 leaves and are about 4 inches high. After that I’ll plant them out in their final position. They’d better hurry up and get big because there’s only so much space in the coldframe and it’s running out fast. The joys of Spring!