A busy weekend in the garden at home and on the allotment.

Seed Sowing
To be honest I'm probably a bit behind where I'd like to be at this stage in the year. Saturday saw me attempt to make amends by planting crimson flowered and 'Stereo' broad beans and purple podded and 'Kelvedon Wonder' peas. I hope the respective purple types do well as they are from seed I saved from heritage varieties grown last year. I made a conscious decision to try and save seed from them to help expand their stock and will pass some on to fellow allotment holders. Last year I also saved runner, French and Borlotti bean seeds from the most productive plants and also saved the seeds from a couple of salsify and scorzonera flowers. Time will tell if this is good practice or a false economy.

I made a start with some longer-term crops by sowing the first batch of Musselburgh leeks. My experience with leeks over the past couple of years is as follows: sown too late, transplanted too late = weedy leeks. This year I hope to do two batches: one now for planting out in June; and another later in spring for planting later in summer time. Hopefully that will spread the crop with some ready early winter and others standing in the ground until next spring.

The final seed was some lettuce 'Little Gem' sown indoors. They'll be pricked out when large enough, grown on singly and then planted in the cold frame for the earliest crop I can achieve. Later sowings will go direct into the ground once it has warmed sufficiently in April.

Potatoes are chitting nicely in the attic. This year I have Juliette, which I have grown for the past two years instead of the similar Charlotte. Juliette produces yellow, waxy, kidney shaped tubers in profusion and they are very tasty. I am also trying Rooster and Picasso maincrop potatoes to see if I can store enough to keep us going over the winter. Already in pots in the polytunnel I have Anya. These are really tasty as baby new potatoes and will be ready just before I start digging the Juliettes from the open ground.

Down at the plot
This weekend was one of hard graft and labour. The main job was to expand the growing space by shifting round some paving flags and relaying a path. I broke the back of the job on Saturday with the hard landscaping. Today I was required to dig the newly reclaimed area over, which was less straightforward than anticipated due to the heavy overnight rain. Eventually I got the job done and I transplanted two fruit trees (Denniston's Superb gage and Morello cherry) from large pots into the open ground. I had wanted to keep them in pots just in case I ever move on. However, when in full leaf they require daily watering and it's a job I can do without. They have gone into the open ground in very good soil and with a good mulch of well rotted manure. Any fruit this year will be a bonus but I hope they get well established and provide a crop for years to come. I've not yet decided if the remaining ground I've cleared will be the home for my Rooster potatoes or the courgette and pumpkin patch. The soil is good, the area large and it will suit either crop well. Decisions, decisions...