Seeds - batch 2

But first, a report on batch 1: Tomato (Russian Red) - wonderful peasant stock! All germinated, all hardy-looking, all coming along nicely Tomato (Green Zebra) - the number that I actually wanted have germinated and have their first true leaves now which is good news Tomato (Gardeners Delight) - as always, the cherry tomatoes are the weaklings of the bunch. They did mostly germinate, but were a bit spindly - still got a couple of more sturdy-looking ones so hopefully they will continue to thrive. Cape Gooseberry - today the first couple of seedlings have poked their heads through, hurrah! Parsley - the problem child of this a particular batch. Still plenty of time to resow though. Chamomile German - fertile wee bunch, and oh so tiny Peppermint - like the Cape Gooseberry, the first couple have just poked their heads through Oregano - we have germination, I am shocked! Now to keep them alive. Marigold (Mexican Mint) - three or four germinated here, will probably need to sow some more as I wanted a big group of these this year. Now on to batch 2: Sown today for the Mexican garden were Chilli (Carribean Blend, hoping for some Scotch Bonnets in here) Chilli (Ancho - as per last year) Tomatillo (as per last year) Epazote (hopefully they will germinate this year). And for the ordinary garden were Pepper (Topepo Rosso) Basil Bergamot Hyssop I have a space and a plan for a proper herb garden this year, just need to get some bricks or something to outline the segments.

Seeds - batch 1

Garlic report - the organic shop didn't have garlic that looked any sturdier than mine, so all eight cloves I planted out were from last year's harvest. All eight have germinated and are coming along nicely.

Seed report - today I sowed the following into seed trays:
Tomato (Russian Red)
Tomato (Green Zebra)
Tomato (Gardeners Delight)
Cape Gooseberry
Parsley
Chamomile German
Peppermint
Oregano
Marigold (Mexican Mint)

This year I've resisted the temptation to plant the more unusual varieties (the Purple Calabash from last year cured me of that, at least for this year!) so I've gone back to some faithful varieties, a red, a green, and a cherry. I'm planning on planting out five of each.

Into the garden this week

Over the weekend most of the seedlings were planted out in the garden - the cape gooseberry, 11 tomato seedlings, and four Mexican marigolds. I really need to get a wriggle on sowing the remaining late spring/early summer seeds though....Also up from the direct-sown seeds are the peas, beetroot and carrot.

While I wasn't looking whitefly has arrived on the citrus, so the round of spraying with Neem Oil has commenced today. Begone!

A bigger, better garden

At the end of summer we cleared away a big camellia bush in the garden which has freed up a rectangular space (2.5m x 3.8m) - looks enormous compared to the rest of the garden. Hola, my Mexican garden!

It's now early spring, and sown indoors today were:
* five varieties of tomatoes (Yellow Plum, Green Zebra, Purple Calabash, a beefsteak and a cherry tomato)
* Parsley
* Cape Gooseberry
* Mexican marigold

If it stops raining long enough to let the soil dry out a bit I'll be able to get out and do the direct sowing that needs to be done. Right now it's looking a little too boggy.