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Apologies for the title, but my blog stats tell me that the most popular page (by some distance) was the one I did last year entitled simply 'Loughborough', presumably visited so often by prospective students and visitors to the town doing a google search. No doubt when they click on the link it isn't quite what they are looking for nor indeed expecting and some swearing and cussing ensues, but hey-ho! So I dreamed up the above title, and if I can just convert to growing for showing, two or three of the masturbating teenagers out of the millions that will now undoubtedly visit this blog for other reasons then it'll be a result (well, it worked with Adam Greathead!). Either that or I'll be cited in the Guinness Book of Records as the most prolific cause of lost boners in recorded history!


Well now, I really do have to buckle down from now on in and make full use of every spare moment. My peppers popped through the compost today and in the next few days I will be sowing brussels, cabbages, aubergines and celery indoors. The sand in my parsnips drums has now settled with no further sinkage, so I took the opportunity to drench it with some Jet 5 at a rate of 45ml to 5 litres. Hopefully that has scorched the crap out of any remaining canker spores or carrot fly larvae that might have overwintered. I'll try and get my mixes done in the next week for boreholing next weekend, although my involvement with the NVS stand at The Edible Garden Show might mean that goes back another week.

I really can't praise my friend Helen enough for the superb onions she's grown for me and as Dan is quite rightly intimating, I hope I can do them full justice from now on. They are already as big as anything I would have had growing in the beds in May so I'm off to a flyer with them. Unfortunately my growlight has gone on the blink so they're currently residing in my conservatory but as this weekend sees equilibrium with 12 hours of equal daylight/darkness I'd have been switching the light off anyway.

My conservatory is also home to my Pendle Improved leeks and several trays of Vento onion seedlings.

These are on a par, if not better than any leeks i've produced in the past so i'm more than happy with how they're ticking along, but once again Helen put me to shame as I simply could not believe the size of her leeks which must be at least an inch diameter and 11" to the button. Derek Aldred is going to have some serious competition at Southern Branch this season. And thanks for the tea and cake Helen!

I've also done something I've not bothered with in the past, although it does make a whole lot of sense. I've heard one or two other growers talking about germination tests so I've done one with a few long beetroot seeds from a batch I had left over from last season supplied by a scottish friend. As I grew my best long beet last season I wanted to see if the same seed was viable and i'm happy to report a small pot of seed has germinated, although I won't be starting the boreholes off until early May with Malvern in mind hopefully. I've got two drums prepared already, and hope to get another four set up before then, each with 5 roots in. You can do a germination test with old batches of carrot and parsnip seed also. It certainly saves wondering whether they're ever going to germinate after sowing proper.

Abacus adds up

This year i've grown my best ever sprouts, the variety 'Abacus', even managing to win at Derby with them in late October.

They hold firm on the stalks and I was able to harvest a large bowl on Christmas morning, still leaving plenty for several more Winter roasts to come. They also turned out to be the tastiest sprouts i've ever had.

I planted them in firmed soil back in April, having given the ground a nitrogen top dressing a couple of weeks before. The plants were regularly tied to a cane and given 3 or 4 sprays with Decis during the season. I never had any problems with caterpillars as a result. I'll certainly be growing Abacus again this season. Now we've gone past the shortest day I can quite happily say that we are into 'this season'.

Final countdown

Just a few more days until my last date of the season, the Dave Thornton organised Derby Show on Saturday and Sunday. I actually made up about 9 points on him at Westminster thanks to my policy of entering just about everything including a plate of 1000 matching lentils and a dish of curly pubes (dressed). However my chances of overhauling him are nil as the likes of John Croot, John Goodall and Charles Cooper will be showing at Derby, all first-rate growers. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and although i'm over 300 points behind i've kept back some long carrots, parsnips, stumps and spuds plus I finally have some tomatoes ripening which I hope to include in my Top Tray. There are also classes for brussel sprouts, a brassica collection (for which I saved one of my 3rd place winning Westminster red cabbages) and a weirdly named 'stem vegetable collection' where you choose from 3 types, 1 of each type selected from Onion, Leek, Celery, Beetroot, Swede. Never seen a class like this at any other show anywhere but it could be worth a dabble! And there is an any other veg cass that my radishes won last season, although I've been a bit more ambitious this year and think I have some nice clean turnips plus I still have several decent lettuce 'Sandrine'. If the Great Show God Mohammed Medwyn is smiling upon me I might make it a close contest yet!




And in answer to the pathetic torrent of texts, emails, blog comments (deleted) that I have been subjected to since yesterday afternoon (haven't you fuckers got anything better to do?) can I just remind you all of the following?



October 20th 1996 Newcastle United 5 Manchester United 0

October 26th 1996 Southampton 6 Manchester United 3



Champions that season? I rest my case. No trophies were ever handed out in October! Now piss off!

London calling

Next up is my 4th Clash (see how clever I was there!?) with Dave Thornton at the RHS Westminster Show a week today. This is an absolutely stunning venue in which to stage vegetables and if you can make the effort the rewards are good as the RHS give very good prize money across the classes, not just in the big collections. Thanks to a website www.parkatmyhouse.com i've managed to find a parking spot at a local pub for 10 quid a day (you can claim this back) so I shall be driving into London in the early hours in order to avoid the congestion charge. Leesa will be travelling down on the train later on in the morning as there will definitely be no room in the car for her this time around.




The reason for this is i've entered 35 classes including 5 collections in the hope of clawing back some of the points difference between myself and the Derby Dingbat. He currently leads by a seemingly unbridgeable 716 to 351 but hopefully i've got a few tricks up my sleeve as Westminster has classes for things like squash (of which I have a nice specimen), turnips, brussel sprouts, red cabbage, cylindrical beet (I have 4 drums of these to empty out!), loose leaf lettuce (my current speciality!), courgettes and chard. When I informed the Thornquat of all my plans his smug face quickly changed and I know he's looking for late rule changes as we go to press just in case. Having said all this he usually picks up a rook of red cards at this show, especially if the Welsh boys don't turn up as happened last year. Therefore I don't doubt that Medwyn will be taking his photo again for GN....yawn!

As well as my Westminster preps i'm also in the process of digesting the NVS Judges' Guide for my impending exam this Saturday. Because Midland Branch aren't holding an exam this year i'm having to travel down to Dorchester in southern country-bumkin land so i'll be setting out early for the 200 mile trip. It means I will be not be entering Sturton Show in Lincolnshire for the first time in 12 years. As well as a two hour written paper there is a mock show that you have to judge, coming up with a 1-2-3 in each class. There are two collections A & B that have to be pointed, so i'm hoping that my experience in entering several collections this year and concentrating on the pointage given to each competitor will stand me in good stead for this. I may sleep in the car if i'm too tired afterwards but as there are more village idiots per hectare down south I don't really want to be hanging about after dark.

Ssssh....

Well less than a week since I sowed them and my Cedrico tomato seeds have germinated, along with some cabbages and brussels. I was going to give brassicas a miss this year as they were a bit of a failure again last season. Despite being netted over the cabbage whites still got in and managed to ejaculate their satanic spawn over the plants. This season I have got hold of some Decis insecticide which is a systemic so hopefully the caterpillars won't materialise but i'll also put netting over the plants to stop the butterflies. Last season I experimented with growing the cabbages in large bottomless pots set above the ground in the hope that it would aid air circulation underneath the plants and deter slugs which always seem to decimate the lower leaves that invariably come into contact with the soil surface. All appeared to be going well until mid-July when we went on holiday and other crops were demanding my full attention. The heavy heads also made the pots tilt because the roots obviously hadn't penetrated through the pots into the soil below and so all in all it was a bit of a waste of time and i'm back at square one, although I do think the idea had some merit. I shall try planting direct into the soil this season but through some sort of membrane that keeps the leaves off the soil.

On Tuesday i'm hoping to get up to Cumbria again for a day's walking in the Lake District followed by another talk on long carrots at Westmoreland DA given by Scottish carrot growing legend (his own words) Ian Stocks. Bearing in mind his reign as National pea champion will come to an end at Llangollen he's relying on doing well with his carrots this year so I will be all ears and with notebook in hand. This weekend I shall be finishing the filling of the sand in my long carrot drums so they have time to settle before the mid-April sowing dates. After that I shall turn my attention to setting up a few drums for a crack at some long beet. After taking advice from a scottish grower Paul McLeod these will be filled with a sand and compost mix rather than pure sand. As I was left with a dumpy bag full of compost from my spud bags that I could not re-use for spuds because they were all scabbed up last season, I wll used this compost in my long beet drums. You still have to bore holes and fill it with mix (more on this at the time) but because long beet must be given lots more water you need a growing medium that is a lot less free draining.

In the meantime, NVS legend and National Championship judge John Trim has been giving a masterclass on how he would judge the pea class at Llangollen in August. He should certainly be able to select my winning set with his eyes closed!

Vento spento

I'm monumentally pissed off about my Vento onion seeds this season. After sowing two batches I haven't had a single one germinate, despite keeping the second batch moist at all times after taking the advice of some of the growers on the NVS forum. I sowed a third batch this season and another suggestion I was given was to break the hard seed coating to make it easier for moisture to penetrate the seed. After doing this I was buggered if I could see a seed anywhere inside so it appears I may have been sowing fresh f****** air! All in all i'm pretty hacked off about it. For the 250g classes I will have to rely on some onion sets 'Setton' and a tray of 'Armstrong' onions that I pricked out a week ago. The 'Armstrong' were a free trial packet which i've never grown before so I have no idea what shape they make and whether they'll be any good for the 250g class.

Yesterday I went walking around the Derwent dams in Derbyshire, famous for being the training ground for the WW2 Dambuster Squadron. Today has been a miserable day weather-wise, totally the opposite of what the f******* useless Met Office forecasted so once again no work has been done in the garden. I've managed to get a few seeds sown, such as capsicums (Californian Wonder, Hot Cayenne, Hungarian Hot Wax), brussels (Abacus), cabbage (Brigadier), red cabbage (Rodeo), celery (Evening Star) and the first batch of tomato Cedrico which i've sown earlier than usual with a view to getting a set at the NVS National Championships at Llangollen at the end of August.

So, the greenhouses are still pretty bare save for this long carrot set down for seed and which seems to be flourishing pretty well......

......and my shallots which are really starting to motor now. The first roots are starting to poke through the bottoms of the pots.

Looking forward, I won't be doing much next weekend as I intend to go walking again, so the weekend after that will be set aside for boring my parsnip boreholes. When they are all finished I will set the parsnip seeds on some damp tissue in plastic containers for pre-chitting indoors. I still swear by this method as it buys you time and means you are absolutely certain that you have germinated seeds in your boreholes. After a few seasons of carrot seeds not germinating I may well try pre-chitting these too. A bit more fiddly than the large parsnip seeds but it could be worth the eye-strain!

Mass planting time.

The Spring Bank Holiday weekend is always a very busy one planting wise. It's usually safe that I can plant out the first of my tender plants without any risk of future frost ....but not certain...keep an eye on the weather forecast! With this in mind I've planted out my celery and a pumpkin, and have sown my first french beans and courgettes.

At home my cabbages are making regular growth. I've also took the opportunity to plant up my surplus onions, brassicas, celery and pumpkins on the long strip of land that I've been loaned on a local smallholding. I've also sown a couple of rows of beetroot 'Boltardy', carrots 'Early Nantes' and 'Purple Haze' and turnip 'Purple Top'. It was a pleasure planting into land that has already been kindly manured and rotovated for me by the owners, so all I have to do from now on is water and weed. How easy is that!?!

I've planted all of my tomatoes into the greenhouse borders, and in front of each plant I've inserted an upturned plastic bottle with the bottom cut off through which I can water during the season. This allows water to get straight to the root and also keeps the surface of the soil bone dry.....tomatoes hate humidity.

I've planted my peppers (Luteus) 2 or 3 to a large pot and these will be grown in the same greenhouse as the tomatoes and take the same feeding regime.

And thankfully Hull survived despite their beating by Man Utd's 3rd team so I can now fetch the dahlias Kev's grown for me without embarrassment. On the subject of dahlias apparently Garden News is soon going to be running an article on the legendary Les Stothard who as well as raising the Blyton strain of dahlias was also the mastermind behind the marrow Blyton Belle, which I believe is unbeatable when grown well. I'm growing another of his marrows that he says has the potential to be even better than Belle so we shall have to wait and see.

Where I'm 'at' !

Medwyn Williams always says that how many red cards you get in the autumn depends on how much work you put in to the plot during the Winter and Spring, so if that's true I really hope I've got some good results to look forward to. I've been busy beavering away the last few weeks sowing seeds, potting on, planting and digging but like anyone who works full time I always wish I had more time to devote to my hobby.

My parsnips 'Pinnacle' and stump carrot 'Sweet Candle' are on a par with last years seedlings but yet again I fear disappointment with my long carrots. The Graeme Watson seed has failed to germinate in sufficient numbers and those that have look decidedly 3rd rate.

I've planted out my first cabbages and these seem to be growing away well. However, my brussel sprouts 'Abacus' are very small and I reckon I'll struggle to exhibit any in early October at Sturton. Despite failing abysmally on an annual basis with cauliflowers I'm having one final go albeit with the green curded 'Romanesco'. I'm hoping I can at least have a head of decent size that may be a useful addition to one of my trug entries. You never know, if I get two I can always enter it into the 'Any other veg' class as most shows near me have deleted the cauliflower class through lack of entries.

On the onion front, the variety 'Vento' (for the under 8oz class) is performing better than Tasco which has always been slow growing for me. I have plenty of 'Red Baron' and 'Setton' from sets, as this is quite a popular class around here. Apparently an experienced judge can tell if the onion has actually been grown from a set rather than seed but they all look the same to me. I shall try and 'pull' all my onions over a period of time once they have reached a set size (say 4" diameter for my large onions in the greenhouse or 2.5-3" for Vento and the sets) so that I have plenty of bulbs to choose from. This can start from about mid-July and last until late August but either way you want to be exhibiting a set of onions that has been out of the ground for at least 4 weeks so that they have had ample time to ripen.

All of my shallots have now been thinned down to four including the superb ones given to me by NVS secretary Dave Thornton. I will be amazed if they grow as big as their parent bulbs but I live in hope.

I sowed my first row of globe beetroot 'Red Ace' last weekend and another one this weekend. Another couple of rows will be sown for the next 3 weekends and should be enough to cover my season.

As yet my first peas and runner beans are just breaking the compost surface but there is no sign of life from my marrows sown early last week. I will be sowing more of these crops over the coming weeks.

I've just about planted all my spuds but I do have several 'Maxine' and 'Pixie' left over which I will endeavour to get planted up by the end of the month. Hopefully, these will give me fresher specimens for my later shows such as Sturton and (dare I say it?) Malvern.

In the greenhouse I have peppers/aubergines/lettuce/celery and cherry type tomatoes. I planted my first 6 'Cederico' tomatoes yesterday in the greehouse borders. I also have 4 pumpkin plants of the European record breaking pumpkin that was seen at Malvern last year. I shall plant these on the patch of land that I've been loaned in Sileby, in the hope I can at least get one to a couple of hundred pounds or so. Any bigger and I won't be able to physically transport it to any show in my car which is usually packed to the roof with my other produce.

On this extra patch of land I also intend to plant my surplus of onion sets and cabbages, as well as sowing more carrots (for the pot), beetroot, peas, french beans, courgettes and leeks (also for the pot only).

I've managed to take a few dahlia cuttings but am having to rely on some others from Kev Broxholme as my Kenora Sunset and Jomanda tubers are stubbornly refusing to wake up from their winter slumber. I really need to get these off him by next Sunday as I fear by that time he may never speak to me again if Man Utd send his beloved Hull back down into the Championship from whence they came!

Wish my onions were this big!

I've scrapped my brussel plants tonight and resown some more seed. It really wasn't worth trying to salvage such pathetic looking specimens.

4 of my long carrots are through (44 to go!) and I sowed another 28 'stations' of Sweet Candle stump carrot.

One crop that is doing well (obviously doesn't mind being drenched in bleach) are my shallots, especially the 12 given to me by Dave Thornton. I'm really quite excited about these (I live a sad old life) and can't wait to see if I really do get 4 big ones from each bulb as Dave suggests. He also told me to let the bulb divide of it's own devices naturally rather than helping it by peeling back the outer layers as I have done around this time every year. It certainly suits me as I seem to have less time available this year and it has always been a time-consuming fiddly f*ck of a job.

I'm an idiot

My cabbages and brussels have been really struggling to put on any growth, to the point of looking really poorly. At first I thought it may be bad compost but other plants seem fine so it had to be something else. Then I hit on what I think it must be……bleach! I put a dash of it in my water butts to sterilise the water and even though it’s very dilute I noticed the water in the watering-can still smelt quite strongly of bleach (In fact I may have put more than just a 'dash' of it in). I reckon the brassicas obviously don’t react to being showered in the stuff. You live and learn. I’ve sown some more and will have to remember to water them from another drum without added bleach!

I'm off to the Lakes.....

.......walking this weekend, as it will be my last chance before the growing season really kicks into gear. This is where all my show veg and flowers are at thus far in the season.

Tomato Cederico. 1st 6 seedlings 2” high. . A 2nd batch was be sown 2 weeks ago and has now germinated.

CeleryRed Star. I have a tray of 12 small plants still in my conservatory. I hope to put these in the greenhouse soon.

Large onions. (bought-in plants) in greenhouse. Still very small. There won’t be any whoppers this year.

Shallots .Were all planted 3 weeks ago…..Dave Thornton’s 12 bulbs, my own reselected shite and some Longor . All growing away very well indeed.

Onion sets Setton. 25+ plants were planted out last weekend. Another couple of trays to be planted up the ‘allotment’.

Onion sets Red Baron. 25+ plants were planted out 3 weekends ago. Parsnips Pinnacle. All through bar two of the 45 stations.

Long carrots. Sown 12 days ago but not through as yet.

Stump carrots Sweet Candle. 22 stations sown last weekend. Another 50 to do as soon as possible.

Red cabbage Maestro. Tray of 24 pricked out 4 weeks ago. Greenhouse. Not growing well at all however so another pot has been sown a week ago and is ready for pricking out.

Green cabbage Globemaster. Tray of 24 pricked out 2 weeks ago. Greenhouse.

Brussel Abacus. Tray of 24 pricked out 4 weeks ago. Greenhouse. As with red cabbage these are looking very poor.

My potatoes (Winston/Kestrel/Nadine/Malin) are chitting in trays in my garage and will go in from next weekend.

My dahlia tubers are all in boxes of peat and the first shoots are showing on some.

I also have several capsicum (Big Jim and Luteus) plants pricked out, aubergines (Black Beauty) and leeks (Musselburgh) for the pot. 2 nights ago I sowed the pumpkin seed that I aquired from a 1341lb European record holder.

2 more wins

Another couple of pleasing wins at Sturton in cucumbers (1st/2nd/3rd) and brussels (1st & 2nd). The brussel variety I grew this season was Abacus which is by far the best I’ve ever grown and gave me plenty of good sized, compact buttons to choose from.

My Carmen ‘cus’ were past their best as they had been on the vine for well over a week but were still good enough to win. Next season I may sow even later….say the end of June in order to have better cu’s for Malvern and Sturton.

Next year's varieties

Long carrot – Resel. New Red Intermediate from Graeme Watson
Parsnip – Pinnacle (Medwyns)
Stumps – Sweet Candle (Medwyns/Shelleys)
Potatoes – Kestrel/Maxine/Winston/Pixie (ESP)
Tomatoes – Cederico (Shelleys)
Cherry toms – Sakura and Sungold (DT Brown)
Onions and leeks – bought in plants from top growers
8oz onions – Vento (Medwyns)
Shallot – Hative de Niort (new stock hopefully!)
Celery – Red Star (Medwyns)
Beetroot – Red Ace (Shelley)
Cabbage – Globemaster (Medwyns) Kilaton (DT Brown)
Red Cabbage – Autoro (Shelley)
Runner beans – seed from a secret source!!!
French beans – Declic (DT Brown) & Purple Speckled (own saved seed)
Peas – Cavalier (DT Brown)
Marrow – Blyton Belle (own saved seed direct from Les Stothard breeding line)
Pumpkin – sent off for some from the grower of the recently crowned european record (should be fun!)
Courgette – Ambassador (DT Brown)
Lettuce – Sunny (DT Brown)
Brussels - Abacus (Medwyn)
Caulis – bollocks to caulis!!!

Sturton 2008

Sturton in Lincolnshire is a small village with a very big show. I had a good one this year (the 121st annual show!), winning 13 'red cards' for long carrots, stump carrots, parsnips, heaviest carrot, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, exhibition shallots, pickling shallots, tomato truss, brussels, collection of veg and one flower/one veg.

I was lucky enough to win trophies for most points in the veg for the 7th year running and the most points in show for the 5th time, although I have some way to go to match the record of the legendary Les Stothard with 22 wins! Best in show this year was for a marvellous set of leeks by a Mr I.Justice, and me 'ole mucker Kev Broxholme won most points in the flowers winning all 3 dahlia classes in the process. A good day then became excellent as I had a pint in the local pub as I watched Man Utd beat Blackburn and thus leapfrog Hull in the table! Phew!

Aphids are little pox ridden gits

My cabbages (Globemaster) are looking superb with little sign of any pest damage. I’ve surrounded them with green netting that keeps pigeons away and helps filter any strong winds and sunlight. I’m also growing a couple of brussel sprout plants this way (at the front of the photo) and these are also growing very well. However, I also dobbed in a few Brussels and Kilaxy cabbages elsewhere that weren’t surrounded by green netting and these have been absolutely infested with aphids. This is most strange as the aphids can surely get onto the brassicas that have the netting around them and yet they haven’t. I sprayed the one’s covered in aphids with Bio Provado a couple of nights ago and it’s amazing how quickly the plants perk up.

Progress report

Tomato Cederico. All plants growing well. First trusses thinned a week ago.

Celery Morning Star. Growing well. First loose collars to be applied this weekend.

Large onions. Swelling nicely and on par with last year.

Blanch leeks. Not as big as last year but look healthy. 3 lost to maggot fly justafter planting.

Shallots. All pots in garage for drying off. Will be 'harvested' atend of June and stored as usual.

Onion sets Stuttgarter Stanfield. Strong looking plants.

Red Baron onions. Growing slowly. Some slug damage!

Parsnips Pinnacle. Growing well. Lush top growth.

Red cabbage Maestro. Only 4 planted but strong looking plants.

Green cabbage Globemaster. 6 planted and looking fine so far.

Brussel Abacus. Some aphid damage that has been dealt with.

Caulis Cornell. Only just pricked out.

Long carrots. Shite!

Stumps Sweet Candle. Best foliage I've ever seen on a stump. Really strong looking, but early days yet.

Potatoes(Winston/Kestrel/Nadine/Malin) Kestrel at most advanced stage but foliage has needed a feed. Will keep eye on the blight forecast this season.

Beetroot Red Ace. Several rows growing as expected.

Runner Beans Enorma. No problems so far.

Marrows Blyton Belle. First 3 plants set out against canes last weekend.

Courgettes. Orelia and One Ball. First plants set out last weekend.

Cucumbers Carmen. Sown at weekend and germinated today.

Dahlias. Rooted cuttings potted up for planting late June.

Cabbages and Kings

I've always grown good cabbages but if I'm honest there isn't the same 'kudos' attached to growing them as there is say, onions, leeks, carrots, celery, caulis etc. This year I said I wasn't going to grow so many but I changed my mind at the last moment when it came to composting the last few seedlings....I potted them on instead! (GROOOOOAN!)

Ah well. They're now all planted and growing away strongly with protective green netting around them. I find this stops the pigeons landing and nibbling them in the early days as they don't like to have anything above or around them if they have to make a swift takeoff....usually when I'm running down the garden throwing stones at them! It also filters any strong winds that can catch the large leaves and spin them round causing breakages. The variety in the pic is Globemaster with a couple of plants of Abacus brussel in the foreground.

Update

It’s getting a bit exciting now….5 days to the Champions League Final……c’mon you reds!

I wish things were a little more exciting in the veg garden. My re-sown long carrots have come through very sparse and patchy so that’s one crop I may well be struggling with this season. My first batch didn’t germinate because of the cold nights in early April and this second batch struggled because of the heat as I couldn’t keep the surface of the sand permanently moist. Out of 46 ‘stations’ only about 25 or so have come through so far. I lost 3 of my leeks to some strange little maggots that were eating away below soil level but the rest appear to be growing away quite strongly.

On the plus side all of my stump rooted carrots (Sweet Candle) came through in the first two beds and a 3rd bed I sowed last weekend should be through soon. My onions growing in the greenhouse borders look healthy enough and are starting to swell. The pots of shallots that I reduced to two are swelling and ripening nicely after a potash feed. All my other crops (cabbages, celery, tomatoes, brussels, peppers, runner beans, potatoes, parsnips) are pretty much where I’d expect them to be.

The next few weeks will be very busy as I try to get everything hardened off and planted.

Update

This is where all my show veg and flowers are at thus far in the season, bearing in mind that it's still very early.

Tomato Cederico. 1st 8 seedlings recently potted on in conservatory. Another batch will be sown this weekend to cover the later shows.

Celery Morning Star. Tray pricked out a week ago and first true leaves now showing. These are also in my conservatory as it's been far too cold to put them in the greenhouse recently.

Peppers Bullhorn have just germinated in the conservatory, likewise my aubergines Black Beauty.

Large onions (bought-in plants) in greenhouse and will be planted into greenhouse borders next weekend.

Blanch leeks (also bought in) have been potted on into larger pots and a 4" pipe lagging collar applied. These are in the greenhouse and will be planted outside during mid to late April.

Shallots were planted during January in 3" pots in the greenhouse and now have decent roots and foliage. I will pot these on into 5"-6" pots where they will stay, being 'plunged' into the outside onion borders in the next couple of weeks.

Onion sets Stuttgarter Stanfield. Were planted in cell trays in the greenhouse several weeks ago and are very slow to show green leaves.

Red Baron onions. 2 trays pricked out a week ago. Greenhouse.

Parsnips Pinnacle. Chitted seeds have been placed in each 'station' in my large drums, 35 stations in all. The nights have been very cold however so I will have a nervous week or two waiting to see if they have survived.

Red cabbage Maestro. Tray of 24 pricked out 2 weeks ago. Greenhouse.

Green cabbage Globemaster. Tray of 24 pricked out yesterday. Greenhouse.

Brussel Abacus. Tray of 24 pricked out 2 weeks ago. Greenhouse.

My long carrots will hopefully get sown next weekend.
My potatoes (Winston/Kestrel/Nadine/Malin) are chitting in trays in my garage and will go in the weekend after that.
My dahlia tubers are all in boxes of peat and will be watered for the first time tomorrow to encourage new shoots for cuttings.

Start sowing

At last I've managed to get the first of my seeds sown. Today I did some red cabbage (Maestro), brussel sprout (Abacus), red onion (Red Baron) and onion (Bristol). These are all in the cold greenhouse along with a pot of parsley which is needed for the enhancement of displays and baskets.

Inside I've sown a pot of Morning Star celery which, along with cauliflowers, is one of the two crops I really want to improve on this year as I've never really been able to show either to a high standard. Celery needs quite a long growing season so I've sown some seed onto some moistened compost in a pot and covered them over with vermiculite. They'll be kept warm to aid germination and should be ready for pricking out in a month or so. At that point I'll transfer them to the greenhouse by which time temperatures should have warmed up. However, I will have to keep an eye on night time weather forecasts as celery is very susceptible to frost or even low temperatures and will die very easily if allowed to get too cold.