[deepinthewoods]

i like to get my chilli peppers started now, to encourage my daughter we bought a naga type, so she can get her uncle back for last years 'chilli off' that burnt her mouth for a good few hours.
 im planning to start my onion seeds tomorrow and some bush type tomatoes as a risky weather gamble.
ive bought the first of my seed potatoes, international kidney, to use as new ones, i chit them, and pot on  into individual 4'' pots  so theyve a good root system ready for the spring to kick in, ill plant them under fleece.
 im sowing 'feltham first' peas this year cos they were first up last year, ill eat the shoots first until later on when ill plant them out

anyone else sowing stuff??

[little blue]

well, this week has been mild (ish) even with the rain... but I daren't sow anything yet - not had much proper snow or frost, so I reckon February will be harsh here

been planning though

[Fleecewife]

I'm planning on sowing onion seeds but nothing else yet.  If I sow too early here then the plants are too leggy and have outgrown their compost (even when potted on) long before they can be planted out.  I will sow my chillies earlier than last year, but not quite yet - one of my sons gave me a dozen varieties from top hot to cool.

[Lesley Silvester]

I will (note to self - WILL) be sowing my tomatoes earlier this year but not before the end of the month or they will be too leggy before it's warm enough to put them out.

[deepinthewoods]

i always pot on chillis and toms so the soil is right up to the first set of leaves, that seems to stop them getting leggy.

[Fleecewife]

The problem here is that frosts go on into the beginning of June, by which time even plants which have been potted on several times into ever larger pots have grown several feet high.  It's a balancing act which I don't always get right to have them large enough by June to crop before the end of summer, but not so large that they have outgrown their strength - and my indoor space.  About the end of Feb/early March should be ok for my tomatoes, but the chillies need to be earlier.  I got it wrong this year and they were late.

I sent off for my potatoes, and alliums today, not so many as usual as I tend to grow too much.  Last year a lot was wasted with me being ill so I want to have fewer things growing so I can concentrate on getting them right.  I usually grow about 180-200 potato plants, but that is a whole lot of earthing-up to do, so this time I am doing just 100.  One variety I grew last year (Yukon Gold) simply disappeared, completely rotted away - no idea what that was caused by.  I also had Spraing in the Golden Wonders - apparently they are prone to it, so I won't be growing them again.

I haven't ordered my seeds yet - it's my favourite winter job and I had better get on with it    I have decided not to grow sweetcorn this year, even though we love it.  Every year they cover all the other plants in the tunnel with pollen, which goes black, and this year they got red spider mite because I wasn't there to keep them well enough watered.  The upside is that I will have an extra bay available for something else    We found last year that a fairly small patch of cutting salads such as mizuna kept us supplied for the whole summer, so I will concentrate on small salads again.

[Lesley Silvester]

I tried mizuna for the first time last year, in a trough outside.  As soon as it was big enough to eat it went to seed.

Need to start thinking about salad stuff. I like the loose leaf varieties as there's only me to eat salad.  OH doesn't eat anything that isn't cooked except tomatoes then he won't eat those cooked. (contrary).  I usually grow all my salad outside but could put the troughs in the greenhouse to start with before it's time for the toms to go in.  When should I sow them for in a cold greenhouse?   (We're in the West Midlands).

[Fleecewife]

The thing with mizuna is that it is amazingly hardy.  Some had self-seeded outside and grew through all the deep snow we had last winter.  The outside stuff did go to seed quickly though.  But as soon as you see the flower buds appearing, cut them off above the lowest leaves and eat them - they are all edible.  That then makes the plant bushier so more leaves to eat.  You can go on cropping until the whole plant starts to get coarse.  Before then sow another lot which will be ready when the first lot goes in the compost heap.

As well as looseleaf salads I like to grow very small lettuce types.  My favourite is Mini Green.  It takes as long to grow as a full-sized crisphead lettuce, but is small enough for a meal for one, and much tastier than Little Gem, although I like those too.  I will be sowing some lettuce soon, even up here, just in case it succeeds and I will have an early crop.  If it gets frosted, well, the seeds are not expensive.

Another salad crop I enjoy is landcress, which is like watercress but doesn't have to be grown in water.  It's nice and spicey.
Radish can be sown in a few weeks time, or you could try some now with good protection.  If it succeeds will depend on the weather.
You can also grow sprouting seeds indoors, to give a tiny amount of fresh greenery in the dark days - almost anything can be grown like that, including cress, brassicas, peas, mung beans, etc.

[MAK]

I planted the garlic last week but have no plans to start anything else.
I have only lived here a year and am unsure about the difference in seasons and temperatures compared to SE England. Last year we did not have the endless Jan/Feb snow I was warned of and neighbours thought me crazy planting my early spuds at the start of March when it was mild. The weather was great and I had a good crop followed by a heavy main crop.
I guess we all feel that the seasons are not so well defined as they once were and although I was lucky last year with many veg cropping weeks ahead of my brother in the UK I could have just as easy fallen on my face with early planting.
It also confuses me that I was still picking outdoor red peppers in December.
Maybe I should play it safe this year and plant when neighbours do.

[Gorse-Lea]

Onion seeds in modules the other day, but apart from that, nothing else.

Need to get the new and improved greenhouse built this month, and planning a cold frame too.

[Fleecewife]

What do you all use as compost for your early sowings?  Do you use last years?  Or do you buy new?  How can you tell if stuff in the shops is new or last years, as there's no sell-by date?  Do you have any problems with early sowings because of poor quality compost?
This for me has been a problem for the past couple of years so any advice or comments will be welcome.  I usually use New Horizon Organic Peat Free Multi-purpose compost and new supplies don't appear to arrive in the shops until just before Easter.

[deepinthewoods]

i grew my cucmber in a 70l bag of compost, now the plants finished il use it for seed sowing, after seiving it. then as i pot up, i make the compost stronger.

[Rumpleteazer]

I put in the garlic a couple of weeks ago - I normally do this in December but didn't quite get my act together. Haven't sown anything else yet.

[Mel]

I had 200 Broad beans planted November and another 200 in December,-I love broad beans hehe,my winter garlic went in November and is doing well,I'm not planning on doing much else until next month and I am not trusting the weather yet,it is a frost here tonight too!

[manian]

What do you all use as compost for your early sowings?  Do you use last years?  Or do you buy new?  How can you tell if stuff in the shops is new or last years, as there's no sell-by date?  Do you have any problems with early sowings because of poor quality compost?

we use last years (if any left) or buy from shop and not worry if not this year.
we have good/ bad depending on heat of soil usually. we make sure its brought inside for a few days in the polytunnel to warm nicely
just about to sow tomatoes (for indoors) and some flowers to sell in the spring

Busy time starts now
 
Mx