Roll on spring

There’s been some crazy goings on in the sky over the last few evenings and apart from the winds and cold we’ve even had some sunshine during the day. Don’t be fooled though, we’ve still got some cold weather to come and if you believe the Daily Excess, it’s going to be the coldest winter since 1947 (As Graham Porter used to joke on BBC Radio Leeds “They say that every year!”)

There is stuff to do, you can have a look through your seed tin and see what you have to get for this growing year, you could pop down your local garden centre (we visited Shannon’s) and get some seed potatoes to “chit” (more on chitting here, some people swear by it and some people swear at it!) or start off some seeds in a propogator indoors. You can also have a look online and see if there’s any plant/seed swaps near you as they’re good for finding often interesting seeds. It’s always good to make an early start so when springs starts you can get off on the right foot!

NASA we have a (money) problem

It may look a scientific experiment aboard the ISS that’s been done on the cheap but hopefully the above object may help us sort out the problems of “leggy” seedlings. The seed we sowed a week or so ago on the Weeds HQ windowsill has now started to germinate so we’ve taken the lid off the propagator and stuck the seed tray inside a cardboard box covered in tin foil. The idea of the tin foil is that the seedlings don’t grow towards the light from the window and instead grow upwards. This is a trick nicked off the great Graham Porter on the BBC Radio Leeds “Sunday Gardening with Tim Crowther” show. It’s the first time we’ve tried it so we’ll let you know how we get on.

There were three propagators in the set we bought from Shannon’s so behind the tin foil lined cardboard box another tray of seedlings has just been started off. Why not? It’ll be spring soon and we’ll need something to plant outside.

When’s that heatwave coming?

Tune of the week here at Weeds HQ, the title track from Mark Pritchard’s new album on Warp records. One to listen to on headphones while waiting for this heatwave that’s supposedly soon coming.

Big shout to Graham Porter for giving the green light for those bedding plants and frost-hating vegetables to go in on Sunday’s Gardening with Tim Crowther on BBC Radio Leeds. But do keep that fleece handy as you never know!