Spring resolutions under way

My new spring resolution - spend more time gardening not thinking about it, is working a treat. Yesterday I spent most of the day in the garden or doing things connected with gardening. Although, the spanking the Red Devils took from the Scousers did split up the day and make me sit indoors enduring torture - plus the texts from Liverpool supporting friends.

Most of the gardening time was spent making a start on getting the veg garden up and running.
The garden frame has been sitting on the raised beds all winter, so the soil was lovely and warm and welcoming for some early crops. So an early row of rocket, a row of beetroot 'Detroit' and one of lettuce 'Stoke' (a variety from the Heritage Seed Library) have joined the broad beans sowed last week.

Outside I put in a row of salad onion 'White Lisbon', Continental salad mix, radish 'Amethyst', celtuce and carrot 'Egmont Gold' (another from the Heritage Seed Library) plus some 'Early Purple Sprouting' broccoli in a seed bed.

I'm also testing a new product - the Seedbed Roll from The Master Herbalist. The company produces a couple of different types and I've used the English Summer Salad - a mix of lettuce and salad leaves. This is a professional way of growing veg that is meant to produce better and faster germination, stronger growth and needs less water and no chemical controls. The seed comes pre-sown on a biodegradable paper mat that is covered in a clear layer of compostable film that conserves moisture and warmth and acts like a propagator. It'll be interesting to see how it performs.

Finally, Clare and I set up our exotic veg seed sowing production line - filling pots, firming compost, writing labels, sowing seeds, covering with vermiculite and watering. We've sown our first batch of indoor tomatoes, aubergines, sweet and chilli peppers, basil and courgettes. Last year we sowed too much too early and all in one go - this year we're doing things more carefully and steadily to prevent the seedling mountain we suffered last year.

Well, The Archers omnibus has just finished, the sun is shining and it's a proper spring day out there, so we're off to the allotment. Twice in quick succession - the allotment won't know what hit it! But there's lots to do and we've got onions, shallots and garlic to plant as well as some new fruit trees and bushes.