The Seeds of Success

On Saturday I enjoyed the breakfast of kings. Starting with freshly squeezed juice from organic oranges followed by a pot of Pavane Orange Pekoe tea and toast with homemade Seville and ginger marmalade.

Breakfast

In the quiet morning I could plan the garden for the next season. I realised that I might have too many seeds for the available space in the garden.

Seville Orange and Ginger Marmalade

The cost of seeds and the amount of seeds that you get in a packet made me realise that I have to be more conservative when sowing. Previously I would sow masses of seeds to make sure that I have some plants left after the snails had their fill.

Seasonal Seed

This year the focus will have to be on reducing the snail population in order to ensure a better crop of seedlings from the smaller packages of seeds.

I have found another seed producer after struggling to get hold of the seeds that I wanted to sow. It is a good sign that there is a big demand for heirloom seeds but equally frustrating when I miss out on the available stock of some of the seeds.

Seed Selection

It remains exciting to select and to sow the seeds and then to wait and see what Mother Nature does after I have done my bit.

The tomatoes, chillies and peppers, I will sow into seed trays to have more control over my seedlings and to plan which colours I am going to plant where.

By lunch time I had beds of red oak leaf, luxury mixed and mesclun lettuce.  With red rubin, Genovese and Italian large leaf basil, summer salads are going to be a treat. I could at last sow some celeriac and just for some crisp treat, I sowed some tall Utah celery. Cilantro and Arugula was added to the mix.

Seeds of all sizes 

Gardening is so rewarding when one sows such a variety of seeds and after a while the garden explodes into the most delicious herbs, vegetables and lettuce.