The first of many trophies by Man U and me this season!???!

Whilst Man U were bagging their first (major) trophy of the season I've been speaking to a few fellow local growers on the phone. One thing we all share in common at this time of the year is high hopes......we're all equal at the moment and we're all going to sweep the board come show time! Fat chance if the slugs, aphids, root fly, blight, white rot and canker have their way!

I collected my spuds on Friday. The varieties are Kestrel, Winston, Maxine and Pixie.

This week I will set my parsnip seeds on damp tissue paper in warmth which will force me to get my drums bored and the mixtures prepared and set into the holes next weekend. This way the parsnip seeds start to sprout within 2 weeks meaning I can guarantee setting germinated seeds into each station. As soon as the white root has started to emerge from the seed casing, even by only a millimetre, I will place it carefully in the top of the prepared station with tweezers. The leaves will be through a week or two later.

My Tasco and Vento onions are growing very slowly but have now started to straighten and show a second leaf. I have several trays of onions sets (Red Baron & Setton) in the greenhouse, as well as my shallots which have all grown very well so far and have a couple of inches of green shoots.

Today I also sowed a couple of pots of capsicum (pepper) being Luteus and Big Jim which is a chilli type. In the next week I will start my celery (Red Star), red cabbage (Autoro) and parsley for garnishing my trugs and baskets. I have also set my dahlia tubers in shallow trays with the necks showing so that I can easily take cuttings when they emerge. For me this is usually mid-May but I' m hoping I might be able to give them a bit of warmth somehow in order to get them struck earlier. Last season I was struggling for blooms for my earlier shows.

I shall be growing quite a bit more stuff this season as I've kindly been offered an 80 yard long run in a friend's smallholding, which has been ploughed and will soon be rotavated. I plan to grow a couple of pumpkins (seed from last season's European record holder), as well as more onions, beetroot, leeks (for the pot), cabbages, dahlias and anything else I can fit in. Only trouble is the owners insist the plot is organic so I will have to be vigilant on the pest look-out front!