Spuds are a go go!

Its official- the spuds have arrived from Iain at JBA seed potatoes. I've knocked winston on the head this year and opted for twice the amount of sherine so my varieties are as follows:-
20x sherine
10x Amour
10x Bluebelle.
All will be grown in peat in polypots with added calcified seaweed (although i've thought about using seaweed meal instead) and to the trench they sit in i will add potato fertiliser and FYM.

Now i have my laptop in 100% condition i'm able to post some progress photos now which i did promise in a previous post. So these are some of the Peter Glazebrook onions that i sowed just before christmas- all grown in polystyrene cups which help to insulate and encourage a strong root system.

And.. these are the first batch of pot leeks 'Cumbrian' which are of Jimmy Dirden's strain. These are fast strong growers and are due for a bigger pot.

These are the later batch of 'Cumbrian' pot leeks which arrived last week from John Soulsby. These should be right to cover the later shows from September onwards. These have been potted straight into polystyrene cups to initiate a good root system.

The blanch Pendle Imp from David Metcalfe are progressing nicely and have their first collars on to force them upwards. This variety of leek needs to be 'pulled' in the early stages as its notoriously difficult to pull later on unlike others such as welsh seedling. Despite this i reckon pendle imp is the best leek to grow for a quality exhibit.

Pricked out my vento onions today destined for the 8oz classes. The germination has been fantastic this year since medwyn decided to ditch the seed coating from last year. A number of growers complained when their onions failed to germinate successfully and this was due to the seed coating that seemed to inhibit germination if a sufficient moisture level was not met. As you can see- like a patch of Stourbridge Fc turf!

Earlier than any other year, my dahlias are throwing some decent cutting material so, i've bit the bullet and started to strike some despite it being early. They are a bit like sweet peas- the more cuttings you cut the more they grow! So a later batch will cover me for most of the shows.

Last but not least...this week i intend to some my sprouts for the august shows. I always like to add a stick to my vegetable basket exhibits for something a bit different to what others put in them. Also, one of my shows has introduced, amongst many, a new class for 10 sprouts so these should be just fine...

So thats roughly where we're at at the moment. Now my laptop is up and running again there should be some more photos in the coming posts. I've got the new long carrot set up pics to post and the new onion and pot leek beds, then theres the new polyhouse for the cucs and the list goes on...and on...and on...and on... See you next week!