He ain't a looker, but he's a goodie

Want to try something new? Well, it's actually a very old vegetable, but if you haven't grown it before, I'd recommend adding salsify to your repetoire of roots. This ugly but tasty vege needs to be planted in spring for a winter harvest, but it's well worth the wait. It's sometimes called the vegetable oyster because of its delicious savoury taste, and it's gorgeous in a gratin. As you can see in the images below, it has a lovely flower too if you let it go to seed.

Have I tempted you to try them? Get your paws on some salsify seed here!

Planting time!

Spring is well and truly here in all its rain/sun/rain/sun/rain/sun glory. In my little corner of the world the soil is finally feeling light, warm and friable under my paws, so it's time to get my first round of direct-sown seeds into the garden beds.

I'm planting carrots (of course!), peas, parsnips and beetroot first - these guys cope well with the iffy weather of spring and won't be bothered by any late frosts.

Before planting, though, feel your soil. That may sound a bit dodgy, but that's exactly what you need to do. If your garden's soil still feels cold, wet and claggy, it's too soon to plant. When your soil is warm enough for seeds, it'll suddenly feel a bit lighter, warmer, and crumblier.

I've got five varieties of peas to go in this year, as I love them all and can't choose between them. My favourites for garden snacking are my Goliath snow peas, mange-tout fellows that rarely make it to the kitchen, they're so yummy. They also seem to be a bit less prone to mildew than other varieties, so if powdery mildew is a problem in your garden give these a try.

I'm also planting four varieties of shell out peas: the robust Victorian Adlerman Tall peas, the pretty purple-podded Dutch Blues, my Prolific Pink Podding peas (which really live up to their name and also produce the most tendrils I've ever seen on a pea plant, so they climb really easily) and some dwarf shelling peas for areas I don't want to add a pea frame.

My top tip for today is to soak your peas (and beans) for 12-24 hours in room-temperature water before you plant them out - this will really accelerate their germination time. I've always done this for sweet peas but it never occurred to me to do it for other legumes too - it really works!

As far as beetroot goes, my absolute favourite is Bulls' Blood, with its dramatic dark red leaves (pop some small ones in a salad) and good-sized roots. I can't wait for them to be ready...

And finally, if you're looking for colour and scent, don't forget some sweet peas! I have a lovely range of colours in my heritage mix and there's still time to get them in, so grab some now!

Fame and features

Be still my beating heart and twitchy ears! I'm Felt's featured seller! Check it all out on the Felt blog.

New seeds! New seeds!

Spring is here,
Spring is here.
Life is skittles
And life is beer!
I think the loveliest time of the year
Is the Spring! I do! Don't you? 'Course you do!

Aaaaand I'm not going to go any further with Mr Lehrer's fine lyrics lest someone think I have something against pigeons. :-)

What I'm actually here to say is that I've been a very busy bunny over the last few weeks, and I've got all my fresh spring seeds processed and listed in my Felt shop. There's a whole heap of new varieties, so go and have a browse!

Starting up the engines!

Time to get those garden engines started! My paws have been busy getting my first round of seeds in - tomatoes and peppers (and as you can see, I'm also chitting a few lovely Jersey Bennie spuds for a Christmas treat).

I've got Campari for a nice mid-sized, all-purpose truss tomato, Yellow Pear and Sungold for tasty cherries (as well as Henry Harrington's Dwarf Bush Cherry for compact potted cherry toms and an early ripener), Black from Tula for rich-flavoured, dark beefsteak goodness (looking forward to slabs of those on toast!) and Golden Roma for a sweet and colourful all-rounder.

They can all be started from seed now, as long as you've got somewhere nice and warm for them. Start them in seed trays or little plugs and let them stay there until their first true leaves are well formed. Once they're at this stage you can pot them on into something big enough to suit them until the frosts are over and you can acclimatise them to outdoors. Getting a little bit pot-bound is actually no problem - this will only encourage them to start forming flowers (and therefore fruit) earlier.

Find them all in my Felt shop and take that first spirit-lifting step out of winter!

Free salad!

I am a delighted bunny, because I have bonus winter salad greens this winter, no effort involved!

I left some red and green mizuna, and a curly-leaf lettuce plant to go to seed in the garden in autumn, and I now have some lush little patches of picking greens where they flopped over. Now that's what I call easy gardening!

There's nothing a bunny loves more than greens. (Okay, maybe carrots.) I think a winter-y salad of freshly picked leaves, some leftover roasted beetroot, toasted hazelnuts, chunky feta and swirls of balsamic glaze and olive oil might be in my near future...

Winter gardening - garlic and broad beans

Scrabble scrabble scrabble scrabble...

What on earth would a gardening bunny be doing digging in the middle of winter? Well, today I finally got my garlic and broad beans in. Both a little later than I intended, but still within planting parameters.

Garlic is traditionally planted at midwinter, which was slightly over a week ago now, but it's not as fussy as all that really. It can actually go in anytime from early to late winter - it just appreciates a few good frosts to get it going.

These are elephant garlic cloves, ready to be planted their own length deep into the cool wintry soil. Remember, pointy end up - this is where the leaves will emerge from. You can actually see the wee nubs on the base of this clove that will become roots in very short order. Elephant garlic is big and mild, and actually more closely related to leeks than true garlic, so it's a great choice for those of you who like a little garlic flavour without it being completely overwhelming. See my previous garlic post for more information about planting your garlic.

Broad beans can also go in anytime over the winter, and are a great, reliable early spring/summer provider. I love my baby broad beans parboiled and then stir-fried with a little olive oil, chorizo and lemon juice - it's so far from any traumatic childhood memories of huge boiled floury beans you'll be a born again bean convert! Get my good old Coles Early Dwarf Broad Beans from my Felt shop today.