I’m talking about vegetable seeds. I spent more than £70 on them this season and have to say that germination rates for some can only be described as rubbish.
I do know how to plant seeds and have been doing it successfully for donkey’s years but 2023 has defeated me in a numThey are not cheap and far too many simply don't work!ber of areas. Butternut Squash (two plants), Spinach Beet (none), Aubergine (none) and Gardeners Delight tomato seed (three). These packets of seed are not cheap and were all top branded items.
The runner and broad beans have been a roaring success and the courgettes are also OK but to have four staples virtually written off is appalling. I appreciate that the 2022 season was strange from a weather perspective and may have resulted in poor seed harvesting but germination rates like this are simply not acceptable.
A number of strange things are happening in my garden this year but two of the most peculiar are the number of sycamore seedlings that have germinated and the arrival of a really strange and extremely high weed.
I don’t know if you can have a Mast Year for sycamore seedlings, but we must have had several hundred thousand germinating, the majority on the lawns and were easily dealt with by the mower. But my wife and I have weeded out literally thousands – and the blighters are still coming. They are in the hanging baskets, borders, drive and even the guttering.
We will have missed some and next year will find mini trees growing in various parts of the garden. Hey ho.
Now, I’m a member of the bean-stalk generation born around the end of the second world war and am 6’2” tall. About six weeks ago I discovered a small clutch of thistle like plants that towered above me. I identified them as Sow Thistles. They do pull up quite easily.
Then we found them, again in small clutches, in six other locations in the garden – including the vegetable cage. We have never seen them before and have been here for 36 years. So where on earth have they come from? The garden is reasonably well cultivated and, at getting on for 7 feet tall, are pretty easy to spot. It will be interesting to see if they return in 2024 but I have been very careful not to put them on the compost heap and bagged them up for the tip. This is why gardening is always so challenging and fun.
Happy gardening!
Graham the Grumpy Gardener
Comments