Thursday 15th April 2010 - weather: glorious again.

I wonder if this weather is the calm before the storm? I heard a rumour that the temperature is going to drop down into the minuses again at the weekend. Not good for all of my emerging seedlings and plants. Oh well, nothing we can do when mother nature decides to play silly buggers.

I have spent the last 2 days potting on seedlings. Not the most exciting job, actually, one I dread, but this year I am determined to be more organised and grow more variety. Every year I seem to run out of room or time and there are things left unsown, so this year, I am trying to be efficient.

I have potted on calabrese, brocolli, cabbage, cauli, toms, peppers, kale, spinach, dahlias and pansys. I have also sown some more basil as the last lot failed to germinate and I have a wodge of seed packets to sow in trays tomorrow and over the weekend. There is a lot of germinating going on - hollyhocks, sweetpeas, peas, beans, chillis, celeriac, calendula, chrysanths and sunflowers. No show yet from the squashes, but they only went in at the start of the week. As you can see, plenty of flowers as well as veggies.

I watched Alys Fowlers program last night about her edible garden and I thought that I really should grow a bit more at home. I do have a trough of cut and come again leaves in the greenhouse which should be ready for a picking next week but that is all. I have masses of pots, troughs and other containers I could use, so I think I will do a wigwam on the deck with some beans, and perhaps a tom plant or 2 in the garden.

Today I purchased 2 aubergine plants which will spend their life in the greenhouse. I have zero joy with aubs, and had decided not to bother sowing any, but my allotment friend Caroline is much luckier than I, so I brought 2 from her at the country market today.

Fingers crossed, an allotment visit looms over the weekend, and again Wednesday afternoon.