I'm not one to wax lyrically about flowers and the beauty of things, normally for me it's all in the eating, but my red flowered broad beans are simply beautiful.
I was late getting them in so they've only just started flowering but they really do look good (I first saw them here last year and mum got me the seeds as a present at Christmas), I'll post some more pictures of them when they're all in flower.
This was some consultation on the fact that one of my beds of roots, that's supposed to be parsnips and carrots, has only parsnips showing through. I was being a cheap skate and using up my old carrot seed, I pour about three packets together and sowed them really thickly, but only about four seedlings have come up in three ten foot rows. I know they only keep for about a year and I know I should have just chucked them in the bin.
The stupid thing is I have new carrot seed I bought this year, I was just being tight. It's not he end of the world, I have other carrots planted in Long Furrows and in the bed next to this one, but it is a waste of space and effort. Tomorrow I'll hoe it all over and sow some more, maybe Paris Market this time, a nice round globe type of carrot.
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| Just parsnips and weeds |
Does anyone else do things they know they shouldn't when it comes to planting seeds? I think we all try our luck sometimes even though we know we shouldn't and get below par crops as a result.
I always scatter old flower seeds over my beds, what comes up will be a bonus, I have loads of love in the mist this year. My veg plot is so small I don't risk using old veg seeds.
ReplyDeleteLoads of my flowers go to seed so I never have to bother sowing them as they just come up on their own now! Much easier.
DeleteLove in the mist seed can be used like poppy seed I think!
DeleteThose flowers are lovely, why not have some beauty as well as something edible ? I save seeds too, usually they all come up a year later and sometimes beyond, it's always worth a try anyway.
ReplyDeleteI really liek the red and the bees seem to love them as well.
DeleteHave a look a French Potager gardens Kev. I grow Calendula flowers in my veg plot. Flowers attract bees and ladybirds..., that are beneficial in pollination and eating aphids. It also makes the vegetable garden very attractive. We often cut flowers for vases in the farm house.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dave and have seen several beautiful Potager style gardens and like to mix in flowers too. Scarlet runner bean flowers always brighten up a vegetable patch. But I also like to see neat allotment style rows of vegetables in a well-weeded bed. My problem is a tinge of regret when I pick them and break ranks.
DeleteThere's always marigolds and nasturtiums everywhere in my garden, nowhere well weeded though... the nasturtiums are great for a sacrificial plant for the cabbage whites.
DeleteYes, I'm always trying to save seed from year to year, I didn't realise carrot seed only lasted one season, that could be why mine didn't work as well! I keep all my seed packets in the fridge. Last spring I sowed 'Hispi' cabbage seed in a raised bed, hopefully for spring cabbage this year. Two went to seed, but the others are now over 3 feet tall and just starting to heart up....so much for a small cabbage for tight spaces!
ReplyDeleteThey say it'll last three years but each year it's viability drops dramatically.
DeleteBrassicas always take up a fair bit of space, I do love them but hate growing them!
Same with my carrots. A 4' row with just 3 carrots in it so shall have to sow again.
ReplyDeleteIt's just annoying to have wasted all that growing time isn't it!
Deletei don't know why but i always seem to have problems with carrots. i didn't even plant any this year. however, it looks like some carrot seeds got mixed in with my lettuce and i have a few growing. watch them turn out to be perfect!
ReplyDeleteI grow lots but never enough as I have two girls that would eat nothign but carrots if given the chance!
DeleteI did not know that carrot seed only last a year. I have several packages I guess I will toss in the ground this winter. I like the idea of mixing them all together and tossing them in the ground. :O) Carrots are a good winter crop here and my space is ample in the winter as I don't grow much so if they don't come up ok fine. I have tried them in the spring here a few times and had zero luck with them.
ReplyDeleteAs I said to Sue, they say three years but I never find it much good after a year.
DeleteWinter crops here have to be started well before the winter! your seasons make me feel quite jealous sometimes but then I remember the heat you have to put up with!
So that's why I didn't feel quite right about planting a row of carrot seeds which were at least a couple of years old! Will give them a week or two, then if they don't get a move on and start growing, then I shall use this year's carrot seed, which I knew I should have done in the first place. As for flowers in the veg plot....we have planted a long row of flower seeds on one side of the plot, and I am going to plant a few more seeds at the ends of the rows of vegetables.
ReplyDeleteI've been putting in bread seed poppies as an experiment this year, a row should look lovely and give me something to bake with.
DeleteI have been guilty of keeping my seeds a bit past their shelf life a time or two. Never tried carrots though. The wife is the big carrot planter around here.
ReplyDeleteI've planted squash that's been ten years old and it's come up. I just worry there are people who have a seed collection they're storing in case things go bad and half their seed will be no good and they probably haven't got enough in the first place!
DeleteMy carrots worked fine (old seeds too) but my parsnips have refused to show their faces, I'll start again.
ReplyDeleteYour beans are lovely, what a glorious colour those flowers are, I tried to use up some old seeds, which usually works just fine, but this year I have had only two germinate out of about 20 planted :-(
Parsnips do take an awful long time to germinate Sue.
DeleteParsnips are a awkard crop, they take about a week longer than you think so just when you've given up on them they suddenly appear. I've got three rows in this year and they've all come up. I buy a huge packet of seeds so I can sow really thickly and just thin them later. One year I even transplanted the thinings to mums garden and they grew thin.
DeleteThat should read fine not thin at the end!
DeleteI gave them plenty long enough but when I tipped out the tubes the seeds had gone. I possibly overwatered them. I'll give it another go, there's time in the polytunnel to get them off to a quicker start .... hopefully!!
DeleteIt's all about learning the new timings this year for growing here instead of down South where the season was much longer. It's a bit hit and miss at the moment, but then so is gardening in general sometimes :-)