Spring is in the air here in the French Alps, some unseasonably warm weather is with us and temperatures have risen to 15 – 18 degrees Celsius in the valley. The snow is melting fast and spring bulbs are poking their heads up in my flower beds already, along with the primroses peeking through.
I spent a little bit of time planning what I want to grow in my vegetable garden this year. We have quite a short growing season here, although it is warming up now at the end of February, it can still frost and snow low down at any time right up until mid-May. At least half of my garden, including the vegetable garden still has snow lying on it so I can’t get too excited yet about planting much. The soil is cold and the days still short but there is hope and some seeds can be sown for planting out in warmer days to come.
I don’t have a big vegetable garden, but I usually manage to grow quite a number of different things. With a bit of planning and growing just a small amount of several crops, which give us plenty of variety and choice over the course of the summer. We now have a greenhouse which is amazing, so more space to bring seeds and seedlings on in a warmer environment in early spring as well as to plant things such as tomatoes and cucumbers that love the warm sunny environment.
Scribbled on a piece of paper to aim to grow this year is:
- Sweet Peas
- Courgettes – green & yellow
- Peas & sugar snaps
- French Beans
- Spinach
- Lettuce of various kinds
- Tomatoes
- Early broccoli
- Beetroot
- Radishes
- Broad Beans
- Cucumbers
- Leeks
Today I could not resist and started to sow some seeds, one of my most favourite jobs as it’s always so exciting to plant these tiny seeds and await their germination before they grown into plants that will then provide food for my family.
Today I sowed the broad bean seeds, pea shoots as a quick grow salad crop and then some flower seeds to add into my beds in late spring. These were Cosmos (Brightness Mix & Sensation Geant), Coleus (Rainbow Mix) which is a great for pots on patios or even as houseplants and some sweet pea seeds (Fragrant Tumbler).
I will wait a few weeks before sowing anything else, next of the list will be some tomato seeds and lettuce. I try to grow a succession of lettuce, so we always have a good amount to choose from all summer long as well as some quick grow salad crops like rocket and cress (which my daughter enjoys sowing on kitchen roll and watching grow).
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The Alpine Gardener 