Plum Blossom & Easter Bunnies

Plum blossom

Yesterday we visited the garden and found that the Easter bunny had been!

I planted the leeks out into the trenches I'd prepared the day before. I intend to plant rocket or to plant out my lettuce seedlings between the leeks. The lettuces have come up in droves so as soon as they develop a second set of leaves I'll transplant some of them to other spots.

There definitely seem to be some kind of carrot-like thing growing. Just waiting for the next leaves so I can be certain. My spinach is also through.

Onions and garlic are about 2 inches high now and the strawberry crowns are developing beautifully.

At home I transplanted peppers and tomatoes into 10 cm pots. I also started some leeks, maize and sunflower seeds on the windowsill. The leeks are in a discarded biscuit container and the maize and sunflower seeds are in paper cups.

I'm disappointed with the germination rate of my sweet peas. Despite soaking them between sheets of kitchen towel until they sprouted and then planting them, I only have about 11 plants from two packs of seed.

The varieties I used were Old Spice and Bijou (a low growing variety). Now I'm trying again with a variety called Candyman which yields pink blossom and the remainder of the Bijou seed.

The paper cups tip for bigger seeds was one I picked up from a book and I'm so glad I did as paper/plastic cups are *much* cheaper than buying black plastic pots.

An even better tip - if you have a florist you visit frequently ask them to keep the black plastic pots from the plants that they buy to re-pot - saves a fortune!