There’s a lot to be said for growing things from seed. True, you don’t get an instant garden like you would with buying plants, but it’s cheap, rewarding, and actually quite good fun.
As the weather seems to be warming up nicely, I dug out my seed collection at the weekend. I appear to have acquired a vast collection of flower and vegetable seeds: mostly bought for a fraction of their original price in ‘end of season’ sales. There’s everything from beans to peas, from cosmos to cottage garden mixed. Some will be able to go straight out into the garden very soon, but others benefit from an earlier start inside. Looking around, it soon became apparent that I had nowhere near enough windowsills to house my collection, so off I popped and purchased a tiny greenhouse with a plastic cover.
I’d decided when I began to plan the garden that there wasn’t space nor need for a big greenhouse, so this little one do the trick quite nicely. I positioned it in a sheltered spot that also had the benefit of good light and sun.
A quick rummage in the shed produced some seed trays which I filled with compost, duly sprinkled seeds on the top and covered with another thin layer of compost. After firming all the soil down, the trays got a good water, and into the greenhouse they all went. So far I have Cosmos (brilliant for late summer/autumn blooms), Tagetes (apparently great for discouraging green and whitefly), some cherry tomatoes, and a couple of pots of sweet peas.. I’ve also sown a pot or two of dwarf French beans: the French beans I grew last year provided absolutely corking results, so I’m hoping for a similar re-run this year.
Reading the remaining packets in my collection, some of the mixed seed collections instruct to sow straight into the ground. I’ve learned over time that certain plants don’t like to be messed about with, and don’t like to be started off in pots and then moved.
So the next job was to tidy the areas that these seeds would be scattered in. The next couple of hours were happily spent grubbing around in the garden, digging out any weeds and grass from the borders: they are a lot easier to get out now than trying to negotiate around emerging seedlings later.
That done, the mixed seeds were scattered around, and the borders got a quick rake over to bed them in. Next up was a water, and now I just have to sit back and wait for the results. Well, that’s what would happen normally. Me? I’m out there now every half an hour, it seems, peering into seed trays and soil, willing my little plants to grow.
And today we had lift off. I present you with… the tiniest tagetes in the world!
In no time at all I should have a myriad of colourful plants, and a garden that has the ideal ambience to attract butterflies, insects and bees.
Tagete seedlings
