Sowing the seeds of grub.

I've had a few weeks of spending a lot of time at work. Lots of overtime to be had, but the down side is when I do have time off, it's a real effort just to do anything and that includes visiting the allotment. However all is not lost. Spring has started, although it seems as if Autumn has been exceptionally long and moved straight on in to spring totally missing Winter.

Parsnip seeds starting to sprout

I did manage to sow some seeds today as well as see how my other seeds are getting on. Mixed results it must be said. First of all the parsnip seeds that I experimented with seem to be, at this stage, doing the trick. In a previous post I mentioned that I had read of a way to start off the parsnips by putting them on a wet paper kitchen towel and in a Tupperware tub. Either left on a window sill or a greenhouse they will start sprouting and be ready to plant out. However, a week later I also found out that if you've had the seeds over a year or so, then they will never germinate. So I tried it again and as you can see some seeds have just started to sprout.

Here are some pictures of everything growing or not as the case may be.

Marigolds doing well

Peas are also doing me proud

Leeks are being a bit timid

Cauliflowers are starting to come up

As to are the savoy cabbage

Today's seeds 

The seeds that I have sown today are pumpkin, courgette, kale, marrow and lemon cucumber. Yes that's right, lemon cucumber, one of the plants in the Garden Connect planting scheme and the only one I had missing. l finally received my seeds that came all the way from Singapore. It was a friend who found and order them for me via Amazon, although for the time it took, it could have been via the Amazon. The last time I tabbed my seeds, I thought I had used a permanent marker. I hadn't, it was just a normal felt tip pen and if it wasn't for my blog, I couldn't remember which was which until it started fruiting. Disaster avoided. Well, as with the cricket, bad light and rain stopped play. In some way I'm hoping that there will be no overtime this week and I can finally get to the allotment. Till next time and thanks for reading.

My seeds from Singapore with some free
 safflower seeds