Good Friday

What a rainy day!  Autumn rains are a good time to have seeds in the ground and this year I managed to sow a cover crop (oats, mustard and lupins) that will be chopped at ground level and help with conditioning the soil. (sand!)  I sprinkled more generously than the recommended weight.  I must have known the pukekos  and sparrows would be keen for a feed. 

I have other vege seeds that have sprouted but now the nights seem to have cooled their progress may be slow. 

This tray, ghastly plastic that once was once a cherry container, has a lid which is closed at night, becoming a mini hot house. This seed raising mix was like wood chips not a fine mix.  I will not buying that brand again. It has spring onion (the direct sowed ones are thriving not these), broccoli, lettuce and kale. These seeds courtesy of the supermarket promotion last year. They come enclosed in little tissue sections and generally you get six or seven plants.  I think the promotion is aimed at children but as we shop there already I am happy to receive them.

These are clove scented dianthus and I only need one plant for the seeds to have paid for themselves!  They are unfussy and our conditions, sand and gales, do not seem to upset them.