seed order

I spent part of yesterday morning poring over the catalogue and trying not to go too mad choosing seeds for next year. I think I've made some good choices, I've gone for the same parsnips and runner beans as this year because they were really good (Tender and True for the parsnips and Scarlet Emperor beans) but when J came home from work he did his own bit of poring and made some novel suggestions about what we shouldn't plant this time. He reckons we should give the potatoes a miss this year along with the sweetcorn and concentrate on squashes.

It took me a few moments to come to terms with the idea but actually, we didn't get any cobs off the corn because the badgers (wildebeeste) had them all and potatoes are cheap to buy locally so, yeah! I think it's a good idea. In 2008 we will not be growing potatoes or corn!

We're planning on growing carrots, parsnips, turnips and maybe a few beetroot, runner beans, french beans and sugar snaps, lots of interesting squashes, lettuces and other salad bits and pieces. The onions, garlic and leeks are already in the ground for next year as are the winter cabbages and purple broccoli and actually you know, we haven't really got much more room on our plot. There are some unused patches at the moment, but come spring, I expect I'll have the usual problem of finding somewhere to plant out seedlings grown at home.

We had a quick visit to the allotment today (Saturday) but didn't get much done. J made a new brick path across the top patch while I popped a row of broad beans in where the courgettes had come out. It was nice and sunny and there were quite a few people there. We met some new neighbours and admired what they've done so far. I also had a chat with some not quite so new neighbours who have just planted some new trees, including a Marjorie's Seedling plum, like ours. They'd been impressed by the amount of fruit on it this summer so I hope theirs is as productive.

Now we've made our choices, we've got to do the actual ordering. I believe we can do it online these days so I'll do it tonight when I get back from the pub...on second thoughts...

Happy gardening (and planning ahead)