It’s been warm and sunny over the last week, encouraging seeds to sprout and plants to shoot up. Whilst this does sadly include weeds, it also means some of my new offspring are going great guns.

This is a courgette that I planted as a seed around 3 weeks ago. I have grown this variety, ‘Striato d’Italia’, before, and have found it to be reliable and prolific.

I should point out here that I don’t really like courgettes. However they are a fairly bulletproof vegetable to grow, so I always plant a couple so I can feel like something has been a success at least! I try and watch them like a hawk and pick them when tiny, but fruits always escape my notice and become gargantuan.

Last week’s plantees Achocha ‘Fat Baby’ have done amazingly!

It warms my heart when things germinate nice and easily, instead of dragging their heels and steadfastly refusing to emerge (I’m looking at YOU Sweet Cicely – thanks for NOTHING!).

My beetroot have started to sprout, but they look rather sad so I’ll see how they go before taking a photo! The turnips continue to limp on, despite being nibbled on by something very tiny. No movement from the Oca or the ‘Sunchocola’ tomato seeds yet.

It’s going colder again for a few days, so I will probably hustle all my greenhouse vacationers back into the house. Frost me once, shame on you… I’ll also likely be pricking out a few tomatoes, maybe some basil, and perhaps planting another row of turnips – we’ll see.