Broad beans are struggling to get going in the cold, damp weather.
GARDENINGIF you would like to get ahead early with seed sowing there are some vegetables you can start now in a heated propagator.
I’m preparing my cheapie propagator for the first tomatoes, for my greenhouse on the allotment, but globe artichokes, celery, early cabbage, cauliflower and onions can all be started early with some heat and reasonable light levels.
Sow early peas in modules or a length of guttering ready to plant out once established and when the soil is a bit warmer. Broad beans and lettuce, such as All the Year Round, can also be sown now indoors to get a head start on direct-sown plants, ready for planting out later.
It’s been a dreadful year, thus far, for getting the broad beans out.
I haven’t even bothered planting mine yet and an old acquaintance a few plots away has just managed to get his in the still-soggy ground.
A bit leggy, and not surprising. They were planted in his greenhouse as long ago as November.
But broads are most forgiving and, planted at depth so they do not blow over, they will soon come good.