Drought plagued plot

Because of the drought(!) yesterday was the first day in over 2 weeks I managed to get to the plot. Was starting to get a bit anxious that everywhere isnt ready for planting out. 

There was much intaking of breath and tutting from the ol' boys when I said I was going to weed. 'Nah, you cant do that, its too wet' etc so I rolleyed my eyes as usual and showed them how its done!

So I went from this:

 to this:

And this:

to this

No soil was compacted in the making of these photographs!

Elsewhere on the plot the raspberries are looking fab

 As are the onions

 and shallots

And the view down the site is looking rather lovely too.

Now, just need to see a bit more sky every so often and all will be right with the world.

Oh, before I go, my little fig tree in the back garden has 7 baby figs on it :D

First seeds sown in 2012

Today I've sown the first batch of seeds for the year. I mark it as a big occasion. Its the start of a new journey for the gardening year. And (at the risk of getting all hippy on you all) its the promise of new beginnings from these little seeds.

Having recently studied a module of the RHS course on seeds I am even more in awe of these tiny objects. So, something new for me this year (having been a very slack gardener in the past) I washed out the plant pots and seed tray before putting the seeds into them. They deserve that, right? I'm asking these seeds to develop into things I am going to eat later in the year, so it seems fitting to actually treat them as something rather special.

So, this is what was sown today

On the non-edible front there is some Coleus -rainbow mixed, as I like them and need some more ground cover that isnt forget-me-not in the garden.

Edibles: 

Aubergine - early long purple 2

Onion - Ailsa Craig

Cauliflower - All year round

Basil - Sweet Genovese

Leek - Autumn Giant 3

Last year, youngest decided that she wanted to sow the seeds from her apple core. There were about 10 in all. 3 germinated. When they all had their 2nd set of true leaves I transplanted them into the same sized pots in the same potting mix, but they have grown at extraordinarily different rates which I just don't understand. There may have been a day's difference to when the first and last put out the seed leaves.

They've all been subjected to the same levels of sunlight, same amount of water, and same temp. It is quite odd. However, they all look healthy and really that's the main thing.

Also overwintering in my bathroom is one remaining cutting taken from a rosemary bush. I had 7 but they one by one died. I think, in retrospect that I probably damaged the heel when inserting them into the pot. I'm hopeful that this last one has now started to make some good roots and will be ready for planting out later in the year.

And finally, something that I have no idea what it is, except it was rescued from a pot at the end of the autumn. I know the 2 larger seedlings are forget-me-not (what else would they be, the stuff is EVERYWHERE in my garden. So if anyone has any thoughts as to what it might be then let me know. I'm erring towards either Yew or heather. Both of which have self seeded in my garden before.