Seeds Galore!

The postman has finally arrived with the seeds that we ordered 10 days ago - it seems ages since we filled in the order form. I spent a lovely morning with my daughter (aged 7) sorting out the seeds and she enjoyed reading the backs of the packets to see which month we should start sowing each individual vegetable. There are masses of them and I know that the greenhouse will soon be heaving with trays of seedlings just waiting to burst forth into life.

We have decided to start very simply and grow most of the salads and vegetables that were successful in the garden last year, plus a few others. They are:- cauliflower - all the year round; cauliflower - avalanche; parsnip - tender and true; carrot - sugarsnax; broccoli - belstar; courgette - defender; beetroot - boltardy; onion - Bedfordshire champion; spring onion - white lisbon; radish - rougette; cucumber - burpless tasty green; tomato - balconi red; tomato - brandywine; tomato - ailsa craig; chilli - Thai dragon; chilli - numex twilight; chilli - Hungarian; chilli - jalapeno; chilli - cherry bomb; chives; parsley - French; coriander; and marjoram. In the garden we will be growing lettuce - little gem; basil; and wild rocket.

A quick tally of the total number of seeds is 4,600! Of course I'm not expecting all of them to germinate, but even if one half of them do, and then of those half that have germinated are then thinned out to produce strong, sturdy plants and I am left with one third of my original number, I'll have enough produce to feed our entire road.

Here's to sowing, and hopefully lots of growing.