wet and windy

Wet and windy today (the weather, not me) so I've been in the greenhouse pricking out and potting on. I'm trying to decide how many alpine strawberry plants I actually need. The seed is so fine that it's impossible to sow any other way than just scattering on the surface and then you end up with hundreds of these tiny plants. Separating them is a fiddly job as the roots all tangle together.

I've also put coriander plants into individual pots in which they'll be grown on to maturity. There's still loads of sowing to be done but it's going to have to wait until I can find more space for seed trays. I think the trouble is that the warm weather in March tempted me to sow far more than I usually do at that time of year, rather than spreading it out over a couple of months. Consequently I've run out of space.

The cauliflower plants that I put out under their plastic bottle cloches are getting well established, although it's a bit tricky to photograph through the plastic.

I always put a sprinkle of pelleted chicken manure in the planting hole which gives a nitrogen boost and gets them off to a flying start. It is also alkaline which should help deter the dreaded clubroot.

Because I forgot to heed the weather forecast one day last week some of the emerging potato shoots got badly frosted. They are putting out new growth but it's likely to have set them back by a week or two.

new potato growth to replace frost damage

And the moral of the story is....don't ever imagine that you can beat the weather.