Kt’s Permaculture Garden - February 2022

I’ve been spending the last few days doing a bit of a review about how my garden designs are going.

I left kale and some chard sown last spring in place over the winter and they are thriving pretty well. I am harvesting some to eat at least once a week. Unfortunately my health wasnt great at the key time for sowing winter crops last year and so seeds never made it into the soil, but alongside these brassicas I have some baby leeks looking small but healthy in a different raised bed. 

I’ve also loved sorting out my crazily big seed collection, (alphabetical order for the first time ever, rather than plant type!) - I’m experimenting with some green manure crops in a couple of the raised beds this year which I’m excited about. The seeds in the plastic bags in this photo are perennial and annual meadow herbs, grasses and flowers. I’m going to be growing some of this seed as plug plants to place directly into the lawn in places presently covered with wood chip. This mulch will have killed the grass, to give the baby plants less competition when they are planted.

Also over in the “wild” part of my garden, are some seed heads left on grasses and flowers seeds sown  directly into the lawn last year. In this seed head pictured I found sleeping ladybirds. I plan to leave more areas of the “lawn” with seed heads in place to overwinter for insect habitat  this year. 

Yesterday I sowed the first seeds of the year! Chillis in Northern England need to be started off super early in the year for them to ripen in the summer sun. I’ve sown 4 different varieties this year, 3 are new to me, plus my favourite “Nigel’s Outdoor” chillis from Realseeds, bred to thrive outside in the UK

Through the winter I’ve grown a constant supply of sprouted seeds and pulses on my kitchen window sill. In the long dark winter days it seems like such a privilege to be able to easily grow (and then eat!) delicious fresh sprouts. 

Some of my favourite resources connected with this post 

I buy most of my seeds from two seeds specialists in England. Tamar Organics & Real Seeds  - I love both their products and their ethics.

I buy my meadow plants seeds from Emorsgate Seeds - who also have loads of really useful info about everything you need to know relating to sowing grasses, flowers and herbs to create “meadows” on their website.

The fantastic No-Dig gardener Steph Hafferty published a brilliant blog post on Valentine’s Day  about her seed sowing plans for February. You can read her post here  

My friend and permaculture teacher & practitioner, Graham Burnett has produced a fabulous  little guide, “A Garden In Your Kitchen” which includes a great section on sprouting. 

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