Pricking out

I spent a very pleasant sunny morning this week inside my greenhouse. I was listening to Radio 4, pricking out my ickle seedlings. Seedlings should NEVER be handled by the stalk, always by the seed leaves or a root ball. The tiny hairs up the main stem of a tomato seedling can actually develop into roots, and some schools of thought say that you can plant them right up to the first set of seed leaves. I must admit, I did plant them about half way up the stem, but they did look a bit sickly for the first few hours - they fell right over and looked like they might transpire. The next day they were standing up tall and straight in their new home.

My early mangetout peas are up, so are my broad bean Express. Chilli seedlings are looking good, as are the Aubergine Enorma which I planted back in January.

Every year I try something different. I bought some Asparagus Pea seeds, and sowed a few in the greenhouse. They look like they are related to sweet peas, you pick the pods when they are only 1" long (sorry don't do metric!) and they are supposed to taste like asparagus. I have heard mixed opinions about them. Has anyone tried growing them, I would be interested to know.