Look! Can you see what I can see! It’s the first signs of life on my allotment!
As the badly written label in the background will tell you, these are some of my shallots, but more importantly than that they are the first signs that my allotment is going to produce good things to eat.
These little babies are a couple of inches high, as are most of the others in their row. Elsewhere on the plot there are onions, red and white, doing much the same thing, and some tiny little carrot seedlings.
These latter have only germinated in half the row, which is puzzling. Perhaps a duff bunch of seeds, or – I fear – more likely, something wandered down the row munching its way through my seedlings before getting full about half way down and sloping off into the ether.
That is a worry for another day. For the time being, the main thing is that all my exaggerated fears about the shady nature of the plot, the overhanging trees, blah, blah, blah, were just a bit of beginner’s panic. These seedlings are at pretty much exactly the same stage as the onions at the bottom of the garden, which means that of course I can grow loads of stuff on the allotment.
So one more time, look at the seedlings!
Look at them!
On the ipod while marvelling at the wonders of nature: Blink 182 / I Miss You. I’d like to dedicate this song to the gaps in the row of carrot seedlings where little tufts of green should be…
The drooling vegetable 
April 21, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Isn’t it great when stuff grows! I’ve been gardening since I was a tiny child, but every year I still panic that I have done something terribly wrong to my seeds, potatoes and sets!
http://www.fennelandfern.co.uk
April 30, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hi. Welcome to blotanical. I do like your approach. Just thought I would share that I read recently about a very cool way to make your own seed tape. Mind, I haven’t tried it yet, but after spending some time on my knees transplanting and thinning bibb lettuce–I’m ready to. Anyway–the recipe for your very own very grand see tape goes like this:
1. Dissolve 1 TBlsp cornstarch in 1 cup of water in a pan, cook till mixture boils and turns translucent and gel-like. Cool.
2. While mixture cools tear of some sections of paper towel, and cut them to desired width(1/2- 3/4 in.). Check the desired seed spacing for the seed you want to use and make dabs of the cooled cornstarch mixture at the proper spacing. You can use a pastry bag for this if you want. Place one seed on each cornstarch dot and let dry until no longer sticky. Then you can roll it up until you are ready to use it. There are variations to this method–mixing small seeds into the mixture-etc. Just thought it was a cool idea. Make sure you mark each roll with the name of the seeds and date it.
May 1, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Blimey, thanks for the tip. I shall give it a whirl next time I’m feeling creative!