Seed sowing begins

A team effort. If you count Artur messing up most of my work.

He misbehaved so much I had to put him on the naughty step.

He even hissed at me when I came too close with the broom.

He hates it when I clean the potting shed.  But who is in charge here?  He may think that this large studio room in the garden full of light and interest and cosy boxes is his kingdom.  But I really needed to reclaim it.

For the past month I have been in full landscaping and hefty work mode. And that means at the end of a busy day you do tend to fling tools into the shed and shut the door.

There was also a nest of the electric fencing tape that I used to corral the horses on the lower terraces.  That hadn’t been uncoiled and put away.

I actually thought the cat might enjoy that – but all he did was look at it disdainfully as he picked his way through the tools and towards the new nest. The box from the Filippi plant delivery.

But I soldiered on and tried not to wake him as I swept and tidied and prepped the seed trays.

It’s the most wonderful feeling when you know the season is poised to begin.  I usually do this first sowing later in Spring but now is the time I have as I will be away for a bit.

I haven’t done mass sowings in case they really don’t germinate. Just a pinch of this, a sprinkle of that.

So let me rummage about for the small bits of crumpled paper in my pockets and give you the first list:

pea Shiraz, pea Sugar Flash, pea Norli (lots of those), more broad bean Aquadulce, brocolli Marathon, calabrese Green Sprouting, brocolli Summer Purple, cabbage Early Jersey Wakefield, cabbage Wheeler Imperial, calabrese Kabuki, Nero di Toscana kale, dill Diana, swiss chard Bright Lights, New Zealand spinach, cucumber Marketmore, tomato Golden Sunrise, Outdoor Girl, Green Zebra, Tigrella.

And for the decorative garden – phlomis purpurea, phlomis vicosa, rudbeckia capuccino, knautica macedonia and a few row of cosmos double click cranbery for the village flowers in May.

***

And that is as far as my notes took me. Instead, the real life away from the garden came crashing in.

I was planning on travelling to Sydney mid March for my father’s 90th birthday party. Instead I am flying on Friday to attend his funeral. He died suddenly and unexpectedly.

Notes about seed sowing suddenly seems the most insignificant thing to do.

He was the reason why the cat features so prominently in my blog. Last time I was home he confessed to me that he isn’t madly keen on gardening, but if I could tell him all about Artur, then he would happily read my stories.

On Friday I would like to post a small tribute to him. And then I am afraid I may be away for a bit while I try to adjust to the new world of being without a father.  And being with my family and supporting my mother who suddenly finds herself alone after 54 years of marriage.