In the garden today...

In the garden this week we mostly have... immature veg plants. Like these Broad Beans:

I sowed two types of Broad Bean. One (Witkiem Manita) is doing really well. I had 100% germination rate for these.

I always sow a couple of extra seeds at the end of each row, to replace any casualties, or non-germinations. Later on I remove them if they are not required.

The other type of Broad Bean I sowed was Imperial Green Longpod, which has been much slower to germinate, and there are one or two gaps in the row. Actually, when I sowed the seed I thought it didn't look very fresh. The seeds were very small and very shrivelled, and one even had weevil-holes in it, so I can't say I'm surprised at the result. Anyway, I have enough of them to make a decent row so I'm not complaining too bitterly!

Next-door to the Broad Beans are the peas. I sowed a small quantity of 3 types - Premium, Boogie and Purple-podded Desiree. They have all germinated well (much better than normal, I would say, probably due to the drier, warmer weather we had in March), but the Desiree is evidently the most vigorous of the three.

They are already beginning to reach out little tendrils towards the chicken-wire support I have provided.  Last year I had some problems with mildew on my peas, so I am hoping to do better this year, at least with Boogie which is allegedly highly resistant to disease.

The Shallots and Garlic, under their protective netting are racing ahead. No problems there just now.

Shallots and Garlic

In another of the raised beds the parsnips and beetroot are growing away nicely. Still very small of course, but that's to be expected. Look how dry the soil is! (Yes, after photographing them I did water them.)

Parsnip - Panache F1

The Beetroot seedlings are just beginning to develop their first proper leaves:

Beetroot - Boltardy

The Asparagus is putting up a few more spears now, though nowhere near enough. (Can you ever get enough Asparagus??). It really needs some prolonged heavy rain to give it a boost.

There are four spears in this photo...

Elsewhere some chicories are beginning to re-sprout. If when you harvest chicory in the Autumn / Winter you leave the roots in the soil new leaves will grow again in the Spring, providing a small but nonetheless welcome harvest of delicate leaves to brighten-up your salads.

I sowed my other beans over the Easter weekend too. I have lots of Runners (Scarlet Empire and Red Rum), some yellow Dwarf French beans called Polka, some Cherokee Trail of Tears for my forthcoming 3-Sisters bed, and some Michelse Tros (called the Mushy Pea bean). The latter grow like climbing beans but produce beans that go mushy when cooked, like Marrowfat peas. Should be "interesting"! Where am I going to put them all? Don't ask...