Flat surface shortage begins

We seem to be hitting peak seedlings a bit earlier than normal this year due to my adventures with propagating the houseplants. There may be some tough decisions ahead as we ought to prioritise food crops and cutting flowers rather than succulents but then again I can always get creative with the living room sideboard and dressing table top I suppose!

Succulent babies emerging at last

For now we have peas, lentils and chickpeas that have all germinated and shot up very quickly. These will soon be hardened off outside ready for planting up the allotment in a couple of weeks time:

Purple podded and Jeyes peas, Italian lentils and chick peas.

We'll then start some more peas off and a few beans of various sorts for a succession of cropping. In theory they could be planted directly into the allotment bed but as we have plenty of wildlife on the plot including voles we tend to lose too many that way! 

The echiums and pansies have also coped well with their transplanting into bigger pots and we'll need to harden those off soon as well as I need room for cosmos, sunflowers and lots of other lovely cutting flowers too. 

Echium blue bedder - a new annual for us this year

Even the kitchen table garden and the bathroom window ledge are getting in on the act this year.

Aloes and Boblets thriving in the kitchen

Indoor azalea - happier now that it's in the right compost and a moist environment!

Meanwhile the outdoor shelves are filling up rather well too...

parsnips, brussels, caulis, herbs, flowers....

Happiness is a sprouting seed tray!!