Spring in Lockdown

Well, I may have been 'Locked Down' but, thanks to the garden, I've never felt 'Locked In'. Back surgery early this year has meant that I began the business of seed sowing later than I normally would, ie late March instead of Feb. It was a really good discipline not to be able to heed my normal eagerness to start planting as soon as Xmas has left the building! Last year, my initial sowing of toms and chillies never got going as I sowed early and tried to 'harden off' early - mistake!! The warm spring of 2018 had lulled me into a false sense of security and 2019 was not so accommodating of young plants being introduced to the wide, wide world. Not having a green house or cold frame, means 'hardening off' for me is a constant business of moving the seedlings in and out of the kitchen to the table outside the kitchen door - keeping a constant eye on weather forecasts for too much sun, too much wind, too much rain, and bringing the youngsters back indoors every time things got too extreme. In 2019 when I was out gardening every day, that was hard to do, but this year, later sowing and being constantly at hand thanks to surgery recuperation and CV-19 has meant much happier seedlings. So, that'll be me sowing in late March from here on in then!

Regardless of when I sow, the miracle of growth is a constant joy! Whatever may be going on in the world, seeds still want to grow - how incredible and how fulfilling. This year I've sown the usual tomatoes and chillis and courgette and french beans but I've also added asparagus and cucumbers and I'm VERY happy to report that there are now, nearly 3 months after sowing, baby ridge cucumbers on my slightly weedy cucumber plants ('Marketmore') and I have 5 young asparagus plants. The asparagus won't go in the ground until next year, once frosts are over in late spring. I doubt I'll be harvesting spears for some time, probably 3 or 4 years, but the satisfaction of doing so, when and if I do, will be immense! I have an enormous amount to learn with re to growing fruit and veg but it is very satisfying to eat what you grow and for me, there's an extra dab of satisfaction if I've also managed to grow from seed.

I do try and grow ornamentals from seed too and each year I try with something which, for me, will be a little more complicated, involving techniques like stratification (cold shocking the seeds, or put another way, imitating winter!). This year has been the turn of Clematis 'Frances Rivis', Delphinium, Echinacea purpurea and Stipa arundinacea. I tried first with sowings of Frances and the Delphinium - Frances didn't go in the fridge, Delph did. The fridge is set at 5º C and the seeds, already sown in their tray of slightly damp compost and in a plastic bag, were in for the recommended 21 days. Neither has germinated and so research has been done! One suggestion was to place the seed on damp kitchen roll, pop in a plastic bag and only chill overnight before bringing into the warmth. The seed is then allowed to germinate on the kitchen roll before being potted up - I am going to try this method with the Delphinium. With Frances, rather than trying again, I'm going to try chilling the pot of sown seed now, and then replacing in the warmth. I tried a first sowing of Echinacea directly into a heated propagator but no luck so I tried again in an unheated tray a few weeks later and - hey presto - germination! The Stipa went in a pot and into the fridge overnight and then out onto the windowsill - success! All a bit hit and miss but proof, if proof were needed, that gardening is a process of trial and error, oh and luck!