Unfortunately, due to other commitments (I’m writing a book and deadlines are approaching!) and the fact that the soil hadn’t warmed up as much as I’d hoped, I didn’t get around to any direct seed sowing outside this weekend.

The broad beans sowed a week or so ago inside have germinated, so these will get a bit of hardening off and then go under the frame next weekend I hope.

If you can’t actually get outside and garden – it’s great to fantasise about it! Sad it may be, but I do love checking through books and catalogues and deciding which crops and cultivars to grow.

Once I’ve bought my seed I put it in a seed organiser. A fancy name for a box with dividers marked with sowing times – late February, early March, mid-March, continuously etc. Doing it this way means I always know what there is to sow and when, so I don’t forget something – and yes I did learn this through personal trial & error! If there are crops that are sown a couple of times a year I simply put the packet back in the new sowing section after the first time I use it.

There are always old favourite cultivars that I go back to year after year – mainly because I always keep leftover seed to sow the following year. But I also like to have a go with something new. This year that includes (descriptions are from the seed catalogues; I’ll try and keep a record to see if they match up to the promise):
Beetroot ‘Solo’ F1” Good for baby beet. Resistant to bolting, leaf spot, downy & powdery mildew.
Dwarf bean ‘Speedy’: Early sower, quick to crop.
Carrot ‘Rainbow’ F1: White to pale yellow through shades of orange; sweet, juicy and tender.
Continental salad: Romaine, frisee, lolo rossa and lamb's lettuce.
Courgette 'Black Forest' F1: climbing courgette, so won’t take up too much room.
Radish 'Zlata': golden yellow, with crisp white flesh.
These cultivars are new from Thompson & Morgan and we're offering 20 percent discount on T&M veg seeds; click on the banner that appears at the top of the main veg pages.

My mouth's watering already.