Today I received an acknowledgement from Suttons Seeds for my plant order, so that’s OK. In fact it’s even better than OK, as they don’t appear to have charged me for p&p!

Although I am getting some small plants from them, I usually try to grow as much as I can from seed. I collect as many different varieties as I can from plants around the garden which I know do well here. The biggest problem with that is having enough suitable space in Spring to get them germinating.

On top of the central heating boiler is relatively warm, and provides ‘bottom heat’ which has proved quite successful in the past, but it’s not very big. Once germinated the seedlings can move onto the kitchen window sill for maximum light, but again that’s not very big either. From there they go into the conservatory, which sounds posh, but I use it like a greenhouse, so it can get a bit messy.

It’s this lack of space that makes me buy onion sets rather than sowing seed, but I must say I might have a go at sowing a few red onions this year, as I just love their colour. I’m also going to have a go at growing leeks for the first time. I got some seeds the other day, and hope to sow them in the next day or two, as the books say they need a long growing season. Happily they repay this with a long harvesting season. Yum yum.