mudandgluts - first post of 2016 - Kitchen Garden Magazine

So here we go again, another shiny new year!

To mark the occasion my propagator is back on the kitchen windowsill from its short holiday under the bed, stuffed with onions, cerinthe and a third of my sweet peas. Unfortunately my Long Red Florence shallot seeds are lost in the wilderness that is my flat. Once it’s been de-Christmassed I might have a chance of finding them.

The onions are a bit of a punt. I shouldn’t really be starting them now with the spartan conditions I can offer. I can only keep them going in the greenhouse, which I’ve learned will not withstand a sharp frost. If we do have a real winter at some point and they curl up their toes I’ve plenty of time to re-sow, and plenty of seeds.

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On which note I have spent many happy hours this Christmas rummaging through my seed collection, chewing the end of my pen, jotting down ideas and embarking on complicated maths to make it all fit. The provisional result is (cue small fanfare…) Growing in 2016, which feels like I really need a smallholding instead of 7.5 rods!

It’s still raining, so it’s back to playing with seeds. This time packing them up for various seed circles and swaps. And possibly even looking for those dratted LRF seeds.

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.