Seedlings germinating

Even though I have been sowing seeds all my life I still get excited when little green shoots start popping out of the ground. There is something very magical about burying tiny little seeds in the ground and seeing them transform into plants. Many of these seeds have been sitting in a tin in a drawer at home for months if not years, some I was given and many are past their 'sow by' date.

The first radish, about 3 days after sowing!

One rule of seed sowing is to try and sow them thinly. This avoids having to thin them later and is more economical on seed. I know it’s easy to say, and, even after all these years I still sow stuff too thickly, I’m as guilty as everyone. So this is a ‘Don’t do as I do. Do what I tell you to do’ rule! 

My excuse on this occasion is that most of these are old seeds. Some have even been salvaged from chewed packets in peoples sheds, and some are seeds I’ve saved myself and which I therefore haven’t had to pay for. So I sowed most of them a little too thickly, and now have to thin them.

Radish a few days later

I wouldn’t normally thin radish, but because I have too little garden and too much time at the moment I have thinned them a little. The are also likely to be the first thing that I will be able to harvest so if I thin them a little they are more likely to reach maturity quickly. (we don't even like radish much, but it will be our first crop so we will eat them anyway!!)

kale before thinning

kale after thinning

chard before thinning

chard after thinning

Even now, after thinning, they are still far too close together and will need to be thinned again. In fact I did transplant a few which I wouldn't normally bother to do but I have lots of space and not a huge variety of crops because winter is on the way. I made a point of watering them really well before and after transplanting and also transplanted them the day before lots of rain was due so nature watered them in for me, and she does a much better job than I do….particularly here in Cornwall it seems?

It is always a good idea to water seedlings well both before and after thinning. Plants will take at least 3 or 4 hours to soak up water so give them a good soaking well in advance, even the day before. 

When I had an allotment that was 3 miles away and which I only got to about twice a week I would sow a lot of stuff in trays at home where I could keep an eye on it and give my seedlings a good start in life. Starting stuff in seed trays, in my opinion, is a lot of work. Now that my veg garden is outside the door I will be sowing as much as possible directly into the ground where plants can search out water and nutrients with their own wide-spreading roots and  nature will look after them, with help from me during dry spells.