Germination and pricking out

brassicasNow isn’t that just a lovely sight? Germinating seeds in almost every tray of compost.

I have spent a happy few hours today pricking out my little brassica, cosmos, shallot and lettuce seedlings and potting them into individual trays.1germination

I am very low on potting compost, so I had to keep racing out and digging up fresh mole hils of soil and mixing it in with the compost.

It makes it go further but I need about two more sacks to complete the pricking out work. I have trays and trays to go.

And it never ceases to delight me that seeds can germinate so quickly and turn into mini plants.

1pleased to seeI had a little helper who was useless at sitting still and staying out of the way.

Eventually I cleared a space right beside me on the bench and he happily plonked down on my kneeling mat and purred and snored and kept out of my way. 1pricked out

I use a chop stick to prize apart the little seedlings. No matter how hard you work to sow the seeds as thinly as possible you invariably end up with a clump.

But by holding the leaves and pulling while levering with a chopstick underneath, the plants come away without too many casulties,

All I need to do is stop Artur from lying on the newly pricked out plants.  There are just so many perils from seed to plant.