Sowing for successive crops

Wow, Saturday already. My weekend gardening is going to be focussed on enjoying the green, the warmth and the produce.

There is a little trick when it comes to planting successive crops and that is, if you are harvesting, it is already too late to be planting out the next crop. This is, if you are wanting to avoid having a gap in harvesting.

So with this in mind, it is seed sowing time again. I currently have some great little plants in the green house ready for planting out. It is easy to see the potential growth of those plants and not think about the need to sow more seeds. I find that for each lot of plants such as lettuce, carrots and onions that I sow, they can be relied on for a month or so of harvesting in the warmer months. That means, of course, that a new lot of seeds needs to be planted every month!

What's on my hot list to sow this week:
Coriander
Parsley
Spring onions
Carrots
Lettuce
Beetroot
Radish

I am tempted...

This weather is so delicious. I can almost taste a summer harvest as I laze in the warm rays. The trickery of this Winter warmth has made me want to start my summer plantings.

There are so many new seeds in my box that I am looking forward to planting, seeing the growth of different plants and then, finally tasting the produce. But it is just a tease. Soon the weather will be cool again, the mornings frosted and crisp.

The warmth has been a timely reminder that the bleak cold days and slow growth does cease. Not long ago I bought some seedlings. (gasp!) At this time of year, germination takes much longer than in the warmer months, even for over-wintering veg. This warm spell has reminded me that it won't be long until my children and I can get out the seed trays again and get sowing.

Seed Sowing September

With the warmer weather becoming more common, I seem to be thinking about the garden so much more. My lack of posts is actually due to my excitement at being able to make an impact in the garden again and certainly not due to a lack of interest... Too much time planting and sowing and not enough blogging...

September really was seed sowing month and the green house is now so full if trays and pots I can hardly get in. I recall this time last year when I didn't have my green house, in fact it was just dream of mine. Until my husband saw the look of absolute delight on my face when in a friend's new green house. It didn't take long till he ordered me one!

My friend's is twice the size of mine and I loved it, but assured my husband that I didn't need one that big, perhaps just because I just wanted one and didn't care how big, just that I was getting it!

I love my green house, it is my happy place. I heard my just turned 4 year old daughter say to my Mum the other day "Mummy goes to her green house when she is cranky because it make her feel happy". Did I say that to her at some point, or did she observe that herself?

I think of how I can possibly fit a chair in there too as the compulsion to visit it, to see the germinating seeds, the budding flowers, the just out of season vegetables lures me to stay...

So my green house is full and I still have more seeds to so to ensure successive crops... and my husband commented that "perhaps we should have gotten you a bigger green house".