First Day of Sowing

It's always a joyous day when you sow your first seeds of the year. And here they are: Two rows of broad beans: Aqua Dulce and the Sutton

Broad Beans

These Jerusalem artichokes are soup pot escapees. I only dug them up a couple of weeks ago, but the best ones have been returned to the plot in a new location.

Jerusalem Artichokes

After my disaster with parsnips grown in root trainers I have reverted to my usual technique of sowing Tender and True direct.  Alongside I have sown an experimental row of  Turnip Rooted Chervil. Last year I sowed these in autumn and they came to nought, so here's hoping a spring sowing of fresh seed will produce some results.

Parsnip and Chervil Root - and Autumn Planted Alliums

The autumn sown garlic and onions (plus some weeds) are just beyond the new sowings in the bare soil.

n.b. I have made sure that all my sowings have been clearly marked and labelled  (see white markers) this year.  No repetition of this schoolboy error for me.

Small But Perfectly Formed

Picked these carrots today.  

Paris Market

I wouldn't normally leave carrots in the ground over winter, but these were sown late in August - too late - so they weren't worth digging up in the autumn.  Then we had this peculiarly wet, but warmer than usual, winter. So when I was at the plot to pick kale and dig up Jerusalem artechokes (and weed the onion patch)  I thought I would see what there was under the ground beneath the net.

To give a sense of scale:

They taste really sweet.

And here for the record are the unwashed Jerusalem artechokes. A great boon at this time of year when soup is the order of the day.