2025-04-12 Potatoes and more sowing

The weather seemed good for sowing this week, so I planted all my potatoes over three days, along with a second dig over of most of my plot.

We don't have a huge amount of soil, so we tend to plant early potatoes, which I will dig out in time for some of the other crops in early summer. This time I planted three varieties (2.5 kg of each):

• Rocket, a good early variety. Makes fantastic crispy roast potatoes.
• Charlotte, a salad potato that has plenty of flavour.
• Frances, which I have not grown before. It is supposed to be very early, disease-resistant, and a good all-rounder.

We are fortunate to have an allotment hut, run by volunteers, that sells a wide variety of things at pretty much cost price. The potatoes were less than £4 a bag, and extremely good quality.

I've also been doing quite a bit of sowing. A couple of years ago we bought a greenhouse for the garden, and that is really handy for sowing seeds. Prior to that, we were growing them indoors on the window sills, which wasn't ideal. We have a lot more room in the greenhouse, better light, and watering is much easier.

So last week I sowed quite a few brassicas, in seed trays:

• Reflex F1 kale, a curly kale variety that did very well last year. It seems to do better than the flat-leaved varieties, pests don't seem to like it quite so much. We got a good crop right through to February when the few remaining plants started to die back.
• Kalettes, not sure which variety, the packet just says mixed F1. Again, these were a revelation last year, very nice flavour and texture. They also lasted quite well, and the top leaves, while not actually kalettes, are still good to eat. We have only just finished them.
• Sprouting broccoli, Purple Rain F1. Haven't grown this for quite a few years, and TBH I was still finding my feet back them, but they did ok.
• Sprouts. I've never liked sprouts, they taste quite unpleasant to me for some reason, but I've never tried growing my own. Maybe they will be different straight off the allotment? I'll certainly give them a try, based on how good the kalettes have been. I'm growing Red Bull and Brilliant F1.
• Also Luzia F1 cabbage.

I've also planted a few things straight into 3-inch pots:

• French beans, Cosse Violetta. I love this variety. They are purple, but turn dark green when cooked. The plants are very vigorous, produce lots of beans, and they don't seem to go stringy even when the pods get quite big. Lovely flavour too.
• Cucumbers. I've never had much luck with these, probably because I usually put them in with the tomatoes as an afterthought, and they end up not getting enough light. This time I have planted three varieties - Honey Plus F1, Mini Munh F1, and Masterpiece, and I will give them their own spot.
• Chilli, Basket of Fire F1. Hope they aren't too hot!

The seeds I planted previously are mainly doing quite well. The parsnips, beetroot, and leeks are doing well, and the rhubarb is looking very healthy. The tomatoes are only just getting started, although a couple of the expensive F1s haven't come up, which is a bit disappointing.

The herbs are taking their time, no pun intended. The oregano and thyme have sprouted well, but are quite slow-growing. The basil and parsley did nothing for ages but have now started germinating, they were probably waiting for a bit of sun.

There are still a few seeds left to sow, including some baby sweetcorn, something else I haven't grown for years. Next job is topping up the pots in the allotment greenhouse, ready for the tomatoes, and digging the last bit of the plot. Then it will be time to start the daily watering routine.