Chitting it

Started Chitting some parsnip seeds today it may be a bit early but Medwyns article in the garden news stated that it was time to start some off so I have followed his advice and will set 2 drums going and the rest will be in March the earlier ones will probably be good for the early shows.I have placed them in a plastic tubs on kitchen paper with some water then covered them with more paper

I have also sown 2 variety's of Celery Redstar and Evening Star I am a week later than last year which is fine as they were in peak condition for my local shows I will sow some more in a months time so that I have some good ones for Harrogate as it is game on with Mr Smith  and imperative that I beat him
I also sowed the first of my Tomatoes 6 Cedrico and the 2 Giant toms that I got from Dan and some Lemon grass purely for interest.

Shallots are sprouting an will need to be planted out soon

Mixed fortunes with the Vento as some of the foliage seems to be dying and some are OK with 2 true leaves I will just have to see what happens later on  I still have more plants than last year at the moment

I have managed to gather 200 litres of molehill soil each day this week in my lunch break  1000 litres in total it is lovely stuff and my Onion beds are now full and ready to be tilled with my Mantis tiller I will then have both beds analysed and correct the growing medium accordingly.I intend to grow Leeks in one and Onions in the other.

spuds are coming along nicely

The Alliums that I bought from Harrogate show have sprouted after only a week

I have also been working out my sowing dates for Carrots and Peas after Ian Simpsons talk this week His times for Sweet Candle and Show perfection Peas are as follows Carrots 22 weeks from sowing  Peas first pod reaches Optimum size 86 days from sowing date
I intend to sow 2 lots of Carrots and 3 lots of peas to cover the Shows that I intend to exibit at. I am also buying some 10 foot canes to grow the peas on using Ians method more on this later as the first lot of peas will not be sown till May I also e mailed Ian regarding the type of lime in the mix and his reply is below also there is an an amendment to some information that he gave at the talk he has asked me to feed it out to all concerned
Hello Paul,

Although I use Garden Lime it may be worthwhile trying a few with Dolomite Lime to see if it makes any difference. I’m a great believer in trying something different when I can but only experiment with a few just in case.
If you do try any with the Dolomite Lime I would be keen to find out how they turned out. Please let me know.
Rgds Ian


P.S. During my talk on the Peas I mentioned that I grew a variety called Juno that was Mildew resistant. This was an error on my part as it was a variety called Dorian that was Mildew resistant not Juno. I had also grown Juno that year as well as Dorian and my reselected Show Perfection.
Dorian produced a reasonable Pod but the main characteristic was its total resistance to Mildew, hence my suggestion regarding trying to cross Dorian with Show Perfection. Dorian is sold by Thompson & Morgan.
As for the Juno Pea, it was very disappointing and in my opinion will never make a “ Show “ variety.
If you could let people that attended the Talk know this then that would be appreciated. Many thanks.