Sewing Seeds

Summer here was a time of either cool or scorching hot weather. The early unseasonal cool weather proved to be very poor for growing, with plants not becoming very well established. Then January turned on days and days of over 40c. Which then of course baked the garden and the gardener. I usually plant my winter garden in January but seedlings would have almost been impossible to keep alive. Like all gardeners when the season changes we are filled with optimism that the next season will be a good one. As there are few summer vegetables to clean up, most of the garden is pretty empty at the moment. So beginning with one bed today I have planted seeds of red flowering broad beans, Florence fennel, Italian parsley, beetroot, heirloom radish's, dutch purple and yellow podded climbing peas. Seedlings of rainbow beetroot, nasturtiums, lettuce, chives and rainbow chard are now also planted. Along with a lemon thyme given to me by a friend. I have used up all of the compost from my tumbler and thrown an entire bucket of dynamic lifter (pelleted chicken manure) on the garden bed. It is now all watered in and I hope that the neighbors can't smell it! A good mornings work!