Broccoli and Brussels

Out of trays and into the patch. It might be a but late but they're in. Spare broccoli went to the neighbour. Mine are at the back of the middle batch in the image.  Notice the weeds at the front of the brassica beds, probably due to good compost containing tons of invisible weeds seeds. 

The germination rate for the red sprouts was terrible. From 20 seeds only 4 made it to the patch, a couple were tiny, less than a centimeter and did not get into the patch. 

Remember when planting brassicas into the patch that they should be buried deep enough that the first cotyledon leaves should be just above the soil.  

Cabbage & Kohl Rabi

Out of the pot and into the patch. Any remaining seedlings went to the neighbour. 

Some Seeds Sorted.

Into the parch went the first found of seeds. This includes parsnips, carrots, radish, and turnips. Each is labeled with the type so that a comparison can be made between varieties. Only orange carrots this year, the colored ones can wait for another time. Red and white turnips, two varieties of radish and two varieties of parsnip (Yates and some from the garden club). 

Seed them went in

More seeds into trays. This time purple cauliflower, orange cauliflower, spinach, and moneymaker tomato. Also some cucumbers, which grow very well in the sun room in Dunedin. 

Germination station

The brassicas (front) are mostly doing well; the Brussels Sprouts are not. That's leeks and onions at the back, they have just germinated. In the middle is marshmallow which seems to have a relatively low germination rate. Hopefully we can get this lot into the patch in a week or two. 

Composting complete

Finally, sieving of the compost heap is complete and the beds are ready for planting. Spring had formally begun with a hail storm and so it's a good thing nothing is in the soil yet (except garlic).