fresh peas straight from the pod are divine.

I got a call from a friend who asked me if he could grow seeds in an egg box. I thought about this and recon they could be fantastic for starting off peas. I found four egg boxes at home. First I removed any sticky labels on the lids.

I filled the boxes up with a mix of garden soil and old potting compost. If you don’t have potting compost it doesn’t matter, just use garden soil and be sure to make sure to remove any small stones, weeds and crumble it into as fine a tilth as you can. I then sowed twenty seeds into each box in two rows as you can see. Thiose 80 seeds will be enough to grow a 1 metre row of delicious peas.

Then I gently pressed the seeds into the soil

And then covered the seeds with more soil. The peas need to be about 1 cm below the surface. I then put them in a large tray and very gently watered the boxes using a watering can with a fine rose. if you don’t have one of these it doesn’t matter. Water using a small jug. You don’t want to wash the soil out of teh boxes, exposing the seeds.

Now, leave the boxes in a sheltered spot outside. Mice love germinating peas so it is worth putting some cardboard or even a sheet of glass if you have some over the boxes. In a week or so the seeds will germinate and then any cover will need to be removed. Be sure that the soil is kept moist. When the seedlings are about 2 cms high I will plant the boxes straight into the ground where the cardboard will decompose and the peas will happily grow away. I sowed the seeds on 1st April. First emergence was on 11th April and I planted them out on 16th April

I planted the egg boxes with their seedlings into a large container, although they will grow just as well – probably better – if planted directly into the ground. However, peas grow close together which can mean weeding is quite difficult and peas are not a crop to grow through a mulch like cardboard. If you have some cultivated ground they will do very well

These peas are a heritage mange-tout variety called Jaune de Madras which will grow to about 1.8 to 2 metres, so they need support. There are several ways to do this. As you can see I am using hazel twigs and stems for the peas to grow through. However, you can use canes spaced about 10cms apart with string tied around them to create a type of net for the pea tendrils to attache themselves to. One can also buy pea netting which does the same job and can also be used to support climbing French beans and runner beans.

It’s time to sow some beans

Last week in part one of this series of posts I suggested that all one needs to grow beans in a corner of even the most neglected garden requires no knowledge or expertise. Now is a good time to sow some bean seeds. In this demo I will be sowing a dwarf French bean called Vermont Cranberry. It is a delicious American heirloom that is held by the Heritage Seed Library. However, any variety of bean you can find will do except the dry beans you might have in your store cupboards which won’t grow into tasty green beans. If you have a few bamboo canes or sticks about 2 metres long you could instead sow climbing French beans or runner beans. It isn’t too late to sow broad beans either and for those you don’t need any canes. All you need are receptacles to sow the seeds into and something contain them. Loo rolls are ideal, as are used yoghurt or cream pots which you have made some drainage holes in. In this case I am using a mix of loo-roll centres and slightly larger kitchen-towel centres cut in half. I have put them into a plastic container that once held tomatoes bought from my local supermarket. If using this type be sure that it has some drainage holes in the bottom. A piece of string tied around the top will stop them falling over or out!

Next thing is to fill the loo rolls up with soil. As with lettuce and all seeds you want to sow in this way, you need the soil to be well sifted, free from stones and lumps. If you have any old, used compost it will do the job just as well because seeds do not need fertile soil in which to germinate. I fill the loo rolls to the top and then give them a gentle tap and firm the soil a little so that it looks like this.

Now put one seed into each tube – two if the tube is large – and cover with soil. You want the seeds to be about 2cms below the surface. Not all the seeds will neceassrily germinate so having a few spares is always a good idea. I have sown into 12 tubes and hope I can end up with 10 plants.

Water the pots and put somewhere warm like a windowsill. You can put another plastic tray on top but this is not necessary. Be sure the soil is moist but not water-logged and hopefully in a week or so plants will start to emerge and don’t forget to add a label! If you put something over the top be sure to remove it as soon as the first seeds germinate. With luck you will have some bean seedlings to plant through your cardboard or equivalent weed suppressant early in May. Gardening requires patience!

I sowed the beans on 24th March and they started to emerge on 12th April

I then put them in a sheltered spot outside to acclimatise. This stage is called ‘hardening off’. On 19th April I planted the seedlings out. First I marked up on the cardboard where I wanted to plant them in a block spacings of 20cms x 20cms. Then I cut holes through the cardboard about 5cms in diameter – big enough to easily accommodate the loo-rolls. Using a trowel, although an old table spoon will do the job too, dig holes about 10cms deep – slightly more than the length of the loo rolls.and plant each bean ‘module’. Crumble the soil you remove before filling in the hole. Remove and small stones you might find and any grass/weeds that you dig out. If you have more than one bean growing in a loo roll ‘module’ you can gently tease them apart and plant separately.

Be sure to give the plants a good watering which will help them settle in. Just as long as there are no frosts there should be some beans to harvest in the next few weeks.

If you like lettuce now is a great time to sow some seeds. If you are going to plant seedlings through your weed barrier, (cardboard or similar) you will need to sow some seeds in a container like this one which I saved after a supermarket shop. You need to make some drainage hole with the tip of a sharp knife. If you are unable to buy some seeds see if a neighbour or a friend have some spare. All you need is literally a pinch.

The next thing is to add soil. I have used my trowel to scoop up enough from a corner of my garden which I have sifted to remove bits of twig and then rubbed through my hands to make it more friable.

One of my favourite lettuces is Little Gem. They are a tasty, fast-growing little cos type. Because garden soil can contain lots of weed seed sow the seeds very thinly as in the photo in rows so you can identify them when they germinate and not weed them out by accident!

Once you have sown the seeds sprinkle a little soil over them, gently firm and then, if you have a watering can with a rose, lightly water. Otherwise water carefully using a jug. You want the soil to be moist, not sodden. I like to add a label and date to remind me what I have sown.

Now you need to put the seed tray somewhere light and warm. A windowsill in the kitchen is ideal. If you have another clear plastic container the same size you can put it on top like a mini-cloche. Alternatively cover with some cling film. With luck, in a few days you will see the seedlings start to emerge.

After just seven days the first lettuce seedlings have started to emerge. Keep the seedlings moist and grow on outside out of direct sunlight if you are keeping the cover on, otherwise a sunny spot is fine. Watch out for slugs nibbling them. It is worth checking the seedlings when it is dark and removing any slugs. But, hopefully this will not be a problem. As you can see in the photo, the seedlings are roughly in three rows. If any weeds emerge they will now be easy to identify and remove.

After two or three weeks the lettuce seedlings should have four true leaves and be ready for pricking out into a new container to grow on or be planted into the vegetable plot. If you have crops already planted out like young brassicas then inter-cropping with lettuce is a great way to make use of space. The lettuce should be ready to start harvesting long before the brassicas take over. Pricking out spacing about 5cms apart into a small container either using potting compost or garden soil is a great way to make use of surplus plants which can be given to friends, family and neighbours or to allow the seedlings to grow on and be planted out later for a successional crop.

If you have some clear ground then you can plant out the seedlings. These are Little Gem which can be spaced 15cms apart in blocks or rows. As with all vegetables that are being transplanted lettuce can be planted through a weed suppressant like cardboard. These lettuce should be ready to harvest in about a month. Having transplanted your lettuce seedlings sow some more for a continual supply.