Hello everyone,
Another annoying question from me again!
Its our first year on the allotment and I've noticed that a lot of the books refer to making initial sowings in a 'seed bed'. They all show a lovely patch of fine soil without weeds, where rakes glide over the top without effort.
Is this usually a dedicated bed, or do you move your seed bed around?
How do you go about creating one? I guess we could dedicate one of our smaller (6 x 7 ft) beds as a seed bed and give it loads of compost - or can you just use those seed trays and shift them about?
Steve
usually a seed bed is a protected corner, often shielded with a sheet of glass or plastic to get your seeds germinated. I built a makeshift one out of roofing tiles and an old shower screen!!! But the varieties are endless ;D You could just put four planks up and put some fleece over the top! Mine is about 1m long and about 40cm wide, that's plenty for me.
usually around this time of the year I will fill mine with some compost, mixed with a little sand, weed it out, and sow in it patches of beetroot, broccoli, lettuces and leeks, which will all be transplanted out once bigger.
It's a way of having a protected corner, but where things will be sown out of doors. You will find that most cabbages, brussel sprouts etc appreciate being outside to make their seedlings, rather than indoors, and you can sow them in a patch in a seed bed then when they are a few inches tall, plant them out in rows.
I used to try and sow a lot of things indoors (I am in a flat) but found that most things did not appreciate it, and it was better to wait a while and sow them outside with protection. Now I only do aubergines, peppers, tomatoes inside.
I hope this helps, others will have other ideas if you wait a bit!!
i use a large polystyrene fish box from the local chippy, and a sheet of glass for the top.works well and its free
regards Jim http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzlGUXWZGl4