Spring planting

I don't know if I ever started planting this early - but I'm really looking forward to a summer of produce, so I guess I'm very motivated. Also, we have this wonderful east facing double glass door, which we're not currently using for egress, and the space round it is not too crowded. So I have moved all my cookery books off this bookshelf - it's ideal because it's going to allow drainage, and won't block the light.

What I'm using for planting is vegetable 'chips' - courtesy of my local fruit and veg shop. Last year I found a load of these on the footpath in Smithfield, where the wholesale fruit and veg market. They don't seem to be to hard to come by, and they are free! They are deep, so the seedlings will last for a good while in them.

I planted:

• Tomatoes - Latah, Auld sod, Ailsa Craig
• Squash - Tondo di Piacenza, Cosata romanesco, Patty pan
• Herbs - parsley and basil
• Beet - I've read that it transplants
• Flowers - Calendula, sunflower, french marigold, hollyhock, sunflower
• Artichokes - covered in plastic above

It really didn't take that long, and now the clock is ticking in the right direction!