come on spring!

Oooh, the excitement of the new season approaches. The hens' combs are swollen and red and they’re laying their little eggs again. Robins chase about the garden and amorous wood pigeons flirt on the bird table. When we walked today we saw our first snowdrops in flower.

And so – to seed ordering!

The Marshalls Seeds catalogue is irresistible and each year it turns up some interesting ‘must try’ varieties. This year is no different.

A new variety of butternut squash Hunter promises to fruit earlier than the butternuts that we grow from Tesco finest squashes. Perhaps will try one at home as well as their usual allotment site.

I’m a northern lad and love mushy peas. So why not grow some Marrowfat Peas and Maro is the variety they sell. These peas stay on the plant until their pods are dried. They are easier to manage and no problem with picking when harvest time coincides with holidays. They just sit and wait down the allotment until we come home! Mushy peas with mint sauce is a favourite in Nottingham. Dried peas are a favourite of Nottingham mice.

We’ve struggled with parsnip germination for two yeas and had no parsnips of our own this year. So, this time we’ve chosen to try Turnip Rooted Hamburg Parsley. The roots are like parsnips and their tops like parsley. Double fun!!!! They’ll be grown here in our home garden.

A nice little gimmick to give to dad and the family will be this new dwarf runner bean Hestia that can be grown in containers. If they are as successful as the dwarf cherry tomatoes we grow in our containers and hanging baskets they’ll be real winners.

Flowers to adorn the newly designed garden:

Centranthus (Valerian)

Campion (Lychnis coronaria)

Come up Spring!!!!!!!!