The hardening off process is well underway now. Each morning before breakfast I get the small plants out of the conservatory and place them on the table and chairs in front of the house. Each evening I put them back again. I’m just itching to get them planted out.

The peas, leeks and broad beans are lovely healthy little plants. The onions look a bit whispy, but then they always do. However the cauliflowers are causing some concern.

When you’ve never grown something before you’re never quite sure what it’s supposed to look like. My little cauliflower plants are very flimsy, and I’m at a loss as to how they will ever support a cauliflower. I’ll just have to wait and see, I expect they know what they’re doing.

Somehow in my sowing frenzy earlier in the year I forgot to sow some nasturtiums. Apart from being dead easy to grow and producing lovely colourful flowers and providing lots of free seeds, nasturtiums attract black fly.

Each year, as well as growing some for the flower beds, I grow a few ‘sacrificial’ plants to keep the blackfly off my broad beans. Today I’ve sown some nasturtiums seeds. Better late than never.

broad beans cauliflowers red onions hardening off