The earliest signs of new life are so so welcome at this time of year. I have been peering anxiously at the bed where I planted snowdrops last spring and think that some may be starting to appear. The crocuses in the front lawn have been glowing in the bright sunshine and daffodils are coming into bud. Hooray!
In my perennial veggie patch the early signs of life are mostly amongst the onion family. Garlic, Welsh onion, chives, wild garlic, three cornered leek, wild leek and possibly some others I have yet to identify are all starting to burst forth. Some of these are teeny tiny seedlings, self sown in random spots.
We can never have too many onions for both cooking and for salads; and I am planning to maximise the amount I pick this year – as much as possible over as long a period as possible. To do this I need to raise more plants so today I have made a start by sowing the left over seeds from last year. The packets mostly say to plant outside in April which is probably what I did before, but if mother nature can germinate her seedlings in February in the open I don’t see why these won’t also have a reasonable chance. Previously I have always dutifully followed the instructions on seed packets, believing that this would give the best results so we will see if my early sowings work or not. And now I am off to order some more to sow another day.
Principle: Everything the forest gardener does takes full account of the whole of the forest garden ecosystem – what has happened, what is happening and what they intend for the future.
