Always keep one eye on where you're going...

Rather a good day in the Sheffield Hospitals Charity office today.  However the leaving of the said office didn't go quite as successfully, with me confidently walking face first into the entrance doors proving a rather spectacular conclusion to the day.  Sadly it seemed to have escaped my tiny and distracted mind that the first set of doors when leaving the office are, in fact, not automatic. 

Though in the face of such adversity I think I recovered admirably, as fortunately my nose took the brunt of it and it was only witnessed by two alarmed vistors and a random woman dropping off flyers for reception.  On finally reaching my car, having triumphantly negiotiated all remaining portals,  I was required to spend several minutes checking the nasal situation but I am pleased to say there doesn't appear to be any permanent damage.

So now, sustained by a healing cup of coffee, I'm able to update on the seeds, or rather seedlings, that are flourishing on my windowsill.

The cucumbers were first to come through, with a massive five out of six germinating nicely.  Nearly all the tomatoes have also come through with five out of five, with the only exception being the Blondkopfchen (white cherry variety) which have stubbornly refused to budge.  So it will be seven varieties of tomato this year I think, the Blondkopfchen seeds were a couple of years old so perhaps they've just run out of energy or got a bit damp.  Then the aubergines, well aubergine, as only one of the four have germinated.  That means a second sowing this weekend to make up the numbers.  The chillies are still holding back but I noticed a couple coming through this morning, the jury's still out on them.  Finally the celeriac, which are showing no signs of life but having never grown these before, I'm just hoping they're late developers....

Once your seeds start to sprout make sure you remove the clear cover you have over them.  High humity is nectar to seeds but will make your little seedlings rot and make sure you keep the compost they're in nice and damp by checking them daily and watering a little when needed.  If you have got them on a radiator to germinate, then take them off now and the high heat is no longer needed and they'll dry out quicker.  Watch them grow until you can see roots starting to come out of the hole in the bottom of the cell, then it's time to pot them on...

The new addition to the windowsill is the tray of seed potatoes.  Potatoes are a fabulous crop to grow as harvesting them is like digging for buried treasure.  I never cease to be excited when, scrabbling through the dark and earthy compost, I find these little nuggets of gorgeousness resting patiently.  I'm not sure I can do their description justice, they're just so....new.  The grow so wonderfully with very little effort and they come in so many colours and shapes with a variety of different uses.  You can grow them in bags, pots, tubs or in the ground which makes them perfect for every type of garden.

You start off with seed potatoes.  These are just rather wrinkly looking potatoes, probably with a few sprouts on them.  I get mine from JBA Seed Potatoes which do a staggering variety of seed potatoes of the three potato types, these are:

First Earlies - plant around the end of March and they can be harvested around June/July.
Second Earlies - plant mid to late April to be harvested around mid August
Main Crop - plant late March to mid April for harvesting mid August all the way to October.

You will also need to choose your variety based on what you're going to be using them for i.e. floury for mashing or waxy for salads, although many are good all-rounders.

JBA Seed Potatoes are also great with planting advice and timings etc, even if you don't get you seeds from there (they will have probably sold out of the most popular varieties by now) it helps to give you an idea of how to grow them.

I only ever grow First and Second Earlies because I grow in potato bags so don't grow a massive crop and because Main Crop are more likely to get the dreaded blight around August and September.  I can't be doing with that so I just grow the ones that I can harvest mid to late August so I have a greater chance of avoiding blight all together.  This is particularly because I grow tomatoes and aubergines as well, in reasonably close proximity, and so I don't want to risk blight spores spreading around the three. 

You can easily get seed potatoes from your local garden centre though, plus the bags to grow them in if you want to take that route.  You'll need only four or five seed potatoes per 50 litre bag, plus I have a couple of 40 litre ones as well and those take three or four seeds.  I've never grown them in the ground due to space so I can't help here but there are a whole variety of good veg books that you can get or, as I do, just Google it.  Gardener's World is invaluable to me in most cases, so their Growing Potatoes Guide should help.

This year I'm sticking to two varieties, both of them Second Earlies:

Blue Kestrel - I tend to grow the Kestrel variety every year as it's a fantastic all-rounder, so it can be fried, baked, roasted, mashed and boiled.  It has a superb taste and good disease resistance, plus it doesn't seem to suffer to badly as cuisine for slugs.  The Blue Kestrel is a relation with all these admirable attributes but with a lovely purple-ish tinge, plus it's a bit more floury which appeals for roasting purposes.
Salad Blue - I grew this for the first time last year, following which I was totally in love.  It's a gorgeous deep purple colour all the way through when harvested, when cooked it turns a delicate blue.  It's a waxy, or salad, potato and looks brilliant when added to the said potato salad.

You will notice I like to go for unusual colours but many of these don't survive the cooking process, frankly they're just a lot more interesting to grow.  I do grow "regular" potatoes though, such as the Kestrel, and some previous varieties I've known and loved are:

Charlotte - the well-known waxy (salad) potato but a million times tastier than the ones in the shops.
Heather - a scrummy lilac-skinned variety, will definitely grow again but my last crop was a bit small.
Red King Edward - actually a Main Crop but I grew it as a Second Early, beautiful red-skin with creamy white flesh.

Once you've got your seeds you need to "chit" them.  This is where the windowsill comes in.  You need to lie them in a tray (old egg boxes are also good) and put them in a light but cool place.  Greenhouse, conservatory or windowsills work well.  If you do go for the greenhouse please make sure the door is closed as you don't want frost destroying the lot. 

I've popped mine in one of the clear, plastic covers I've just taken off my tomato seedlings and put it on the windowsill in my parents' study, turning the radiator off.  I've run out of room on my primary windowsill and I've afraid I've just had to spread further afield, as I do every year.  By April every available windowsill has some variety of fruit or veg growing on it, the downside of not having a decent greenhouse.  That's it.  Just leave them there to produce lots of lovely sprouts from their eyes until it's time to plant them out....