Seeds sown, seedlings pricked out, transplants into the ground. I'll be repeating this cycle for the rest of the growing season. Unlike in recent years, I'm not sowing everything individually in pots--though I am doing many seeds this way--the beans and peas have been pre-sprouted and sown in situ, a big savings on potting compost. Also a big savings in extra table space on my patio, and on pots and trays which can be used for different, less numerous plants.
Snap peas and broad beans are small but growing well at the allotment. I put down a short row of dwarf French beans at home too, not shooting up yet. I tried to pre-sprout some climbing French beans at the same time which did not sprout; I guess the seed was too old. I'm trying again with some two year old seed, which also might prove to be too old; both batches were seed I'd saved myself, but ended up not growing last year as I ran out of space--instead I grew some runner beans which ended up rather disappointing.
And of those runner beans, I tried to regrow some roots/tubers that overwintered, but they don't look like they're going anywhere either. I'm not planning on sowing new seed in any case; the harvest was too small to justify wasting precious space on them. I'd much rather have French beans which have been far more prolific for me over the years. While I prefer the climbing beans to the dwarf, I could only buy the dwarf beans in the seed sale last year; therefore I'm hoping my saved seed will pull through (and I'll save some more if it does).
Although I was hoping to keep my tomatoes outdoors now that the days are warmer, we're forecast a week or two of near-frost temps overnight. I can't risk it, even though my sheltered patio microclimate ought to be safe enough. These have spent some nights outdoors this past week, but I'll have to shuttle them in and out again until it's more like 6C or warmer overnight. As a precaution, the son and I also mulched over our newly sprouting potatoes at the allotment too: a couple inches of stable bedding (mostly straw). The allotment is much more exposed and will probably frost.
Regardless, I've started my next wave of summer crop seeds: salad cuc, pickling cuc, and zuc. These have to start indoors, hence the need to move tomatoes outdoors, but until they sprout they can at least stay stacked on each other in one place. I need to remember to start a second batch of both cucs in mid-May too, as my pickling cucs in particular seemed to run out of steam before the end of summer. Need more pickles!
The last summer crop seed yet to sow are my squashes. I try to start them about six weeks before planting out, generally at the beginning of May. Last year I could have planted them out earlier had I sown them earlier (it was a very warm, dry year) but in general they get planted in early June. As I don't have the room for them just now, I'll stick to my usual timing.
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