Just sow

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It's absolutely nearly spring. How can I tell? Well, there are tête à têtes in my front garden nodding merrily in the breeze, a splash of bright yellow amid the sometimes-gloom of February. I get woken up by the Disney-like chirruping of birds every day. I sat on a bench at the weekend with a flask of tea, a packet of Oreos and NO COAT. I know. Groundbreaking stuff considering a fortnight ago I was sledging.

But no, the real test of it being spring is... I've lost my windowsills to seedlings. Windowsills are at a premium in my house anyway (WHY when inventing UPVC windowsills did they make them so tiny? Were they not propagator fans?) but it's getting ridiculous. My kitchen windowsill is currently housing Flora tubs/cherry tomato punnets with wooden barbecue skewers stuck in them with tin foil taped to the tops. What for? You ask. Batavia lettuce, microherbs, tomato seedlings and rainbow chard, with their tin foil reflectors like a leathery boomer in the Costa del Sol.

We have a bay window in the living room with doll's house windowsills (useless) so we've also got a dining chair with a heated propagator on it. This was a birthday gift of my wife's and we've got padron pepper seeds currently nestled in it (pls germinate, babes), with cucumbers going in soon. 

I've also sown hundreds of soaked marrowfat peas in old paint roller trays filled with soil. I soaked them for 24hrs, sowed them in wet soil, covered lightly with some more soil and have kept them very well watered and, yes, you've guessed it, on the windowsills (well, actually, truth be told one of them is teetering on the edge of a filing cabinet but you get the drift). In 2 days they've sprouted and in 2 to 3 weeks I'll picking fresh, tasty pea shoots for my salads! It's a great thing to do with kids, like any peas or beans, because you get quick gratification and see the fruits of your labour fast. 

I have a cold frame primed and ready for a month or two's time when things have already been pricked out (one of my favourite tasks) and potted on for more sill-bathing. My wife and I have a sowing plan, as we've hundreds of things to grow and limited space for it - we only live in a one bedroom flat so space is in short supply. 

While the wind is still nippy, and the air feels fresh in the shade, starting things growing feels productive. I spritz my little seedlings, chat to them, move them around so they get optimum sun. I bloody hope they grow. It's all to play for.

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