Ok….I warn you…some of you may need to put your glasses on for this post! This can be one of the most nerve-wracking times of the season; when the seed has been sown, and all one can do, is wait.
Try not to overwater, yet it’s been dry & oh so hot, so don’t underwater either. Yet perhaps I’ve drowned the seed? Or not watered it enough? Should I try the cardboard trick? Or leave it alone this year?
Was the seed viable? Had I stored it correctly? Has something come along & chomped it in the night? These are the questions I ask myself each and every autumn….nail-biting stuff!
But as you can see….I’m far from having a complete failure (and I can assure you I’m very far from having a nervous breakdown!). From top, the first pea breaks through the soil – squeals of joy! Now there are several & they’re growing on well. Next, I tossed in a handful of coloured chard & beetroot seed (saved from mature plants in the summer and I plan to use their immature leaves in salads or to toss through potatoes, or pasta). Then there’s the leaf amaranth (you can just see some tiny first leaves popping through the fine black compost from the whole flower heads I lay down), and the mustard leaf ‘red elk’, scattered from last spring’s flower heads.
As I write, I’m still waiting for five broad bean seeds to emerge from my first sowing; and many, many peas! I’m hoping yesterday’s rain might have done the trick. Rain is like magic and nothing we do with water can equal it. But if nothing happens….I might have to place an order for more seed for a second sowing.
The last image is of a ‘mesclun mix’ sown on our first Kitchen Gardening Day of the year. Rows of carrots are slowly appearing, as well as beetroot (though Burpee’s Golden seems to be a dud & I’ll have to order new seed). As for the parsnips….they’re always so slow to appear, so all I can do is cross my fingers!
I’ll keep you posted…