February Prep

The first weekend in February saw the sun come out, at least for one day; so, taking advantage of the weather, I got some more of those odd jobs done in the garden. This included clearing, weeding and lightly digging over the last of the beds. Now they are covered in a mixture of cardboard, black plastic, weed suppressant and, in one case, a custom made cloche cover. This little lot should not only keep the weeds down but should also help to warm the soil in preparation for some early planting.

I also dug over what will become the squash bed. Hopefully we'll have better luck than last year when all we managed to grow was fresh slug food.

The last job in the garden was to dig up what will be almost the last of the parsnips. These were a real experiment last year but at about a foot long, these have done us proud.

The weather on Sunday was not as good so it was an opportunity to visit one of the many garden centres on the Island. We only wanted to pick up some potting compost but, of course, we came away with a few more 'essential' items that we didn't realise were missing from our lives, including this nice new planting tray:

I know, I could have made one from scratch but it would have taken me all summer and probably ended up costing more than the £6.99 that we splashed out for this one. At least now I can do my sowing at the dining room table without getting into too much trouble.

So what to sow? Firstly, some flowers for the propagator: Agastache 'Golden Jubilee', Pyrethrum 'T&M Superb Mix', Salvia Lyrata 'Purple Volcano' and Chrysanthemum Heteropappus 'Blue Knoll'.

I also like to get the sweet peas in early so planted 'Fragrantissima', 'Statesman Mixed' and 'Fragrant Ripples'. Unfortunately there's no room in the propagator for all this lot but the warmth of the utility room should help them along.

Finally I managed to get some 'Cayenne' chillies and 'Stereo' broad beans in for planting on later, as well as some coriander and peas. These last two are a bit of an experiment, intended for growing on the kitchen window sill and putting into salads when they reach a few inches high. Even I'll admit that it's still a bit too early to sow these for growing on to maturity. Maybe next week...