[starry]

just sown my first onions from seed and some leeks both of them free seeds well from a magazine (so sort of free)  my leeks are usually a disaster so we shall see 

[RobertSongs]

Put some Bhut Jolokia chilli seeds in some wet kitchen towel in a zip lock bag in the airing cupboard yesterday...So yes i have now going to the polytunnel today to get some leeks sown too....It Has Begun!!

Just Checked on the Bhut Jolokia and one of the 12 has germinated and a few of the others look like they a thinking about it too.. cant believe how quickly they have started i was expecting them to be a slow starter..Looks like i better get some compost..Ladies and Gents Perlite at the ready!!

[WendysLot]

Got my garlic in back in November and broad beans 3 weeks ago.

I have onion sets up will hang on until March as it says on the packet.

We are about to have a cold spell, snow threatened so I think I will sit and wait until at least the first week of March.

[born_2b_mad]

The only seeds I have sown are my sweet peas, in 'Richy Tubes'.
24 in total, and I have 2 that are around 7" tall already, and 15 that haven't shown their heads yet. :blink:

Got an email from JBA last night that my seed pots are being packed, so should be here in the next few days

[gavinjconway]

I tried some peppers and egg plant last year but came to nothing - I think I was too late sowing. So this year I have started sowing today... Is it too early? I'll put them in the cold GH later on when they are too big for the dining room window sill!!

[AlaninCarlisle]

You guys' enthusiasm for an early start is so infectious. I broke my own resolutions and sowed two types of leek, Musselburgh and Blue Green Winter in trays in greenhouse. I also went against my own advice and bought 10kg of seed spuds (4 types) at £1.25 per kilo sold loose. Same place was selling onion sets at £2 a kilo but decided to leave those a couple of weeks. Not seen it for a long time but they are also selling pea and broad-bean seeds loose as well at a fraction of the price when packeted

[DD.]

It's well worth ignoring the chain nurseries and having a look around for an independent.

Ours sell loose runner bean seed as well as pea & broad bean, on top of the spuds onions etc. and as AinC says, they're a fraction of the packet price. They've also got loose garlic and in the autumn they'll have bulbs, including hyacinth at a fraction of the price sold at the large chain just a few miles away.

[gavinjconway]

Good tips DD... thanks

[AlaninCarlisle]

Not only do you save money by ignoring the chain garden shops in favour of the independents, you keep the money in your own area AND can always get good local experience-based advice

[shokkyy]

It's well worth ignoring the chain nurseries and having a look around for an independent.

Ours sell loose runner bean seed as well as pea & broad bean, on top of the spuds onions etc. and as AinC says, they're a fraction of the packet price. They've also got loose garlic and in the autumn they'll have bulbs, including hyacinth at a fraction of the price sold at the large chain just a few miles away.

Yes, my local centre always does loose runner bean seed, bulbs, onion and shallot sets, and they are much cheaper but not usually a choice of variety. Another thing they sell in the spring is a huge selection of little pots stuffed with seedlings ready for pricking out. Mostly flowers, but a few tomatoes and salad stuff. It is a very cheap and low hassle way of picking up a lot of bedding plants to fill the borders.

[hightide]

Onions 'Red Baron' 'Arthur' and 'Ailsa Craig' all up and just begining to straighten, Leek 'Musselburgh' also up and in the same state in a long trough. Just sown some 'Long Red of Florence' four seeds to a module in place of shallot.
Marigold saved seeds up, but not doing so well as new packet planted at the same time. New packet of Sweet Pea 'Petite' not doing well at all, saved seed doing well first leaves just begining to show. 
They are all out in the conservatory, this is heated by a small radiator twice a day for four hours, I really want to get them out into the unheated greenhouse, but am dithering over the cold snap everyone is expecting anytime.
Patience I think.....dammit

[Babstreefern]

Kelsea onions and red mammoths going.  Garlic went in last October, and have just this weekend done my tomatoes - vanessas and tigerellas.  I put everything down in my calendar of when to sow.  I wouldn't advise of starting anything early because of the mild weather.  As my dad said "don't cast a clout until May's out".  In other words, get a cold snap and you will have to start again if all your hard work dies

[gobs]

Don't usually do much yet. Garlic arrived, they are going in.

Exceptionally, as an experiment and itching, I sowed a lot of things early.

Tomatoes, pepper, aubergine, celery, celeriac, lettuce (these I'm likely to bin, so leggy, one of them anyway), a load of flower seeds, peas, broad beans. Some brassica. And the usual onions.

[sunshineband]

I am still resisting chillis, cucumbers and aubergines until we come back from holiday on 18th February.

There will be plenty of time then

But the packets are sorted and ready 

[compostqueen]

I sowed hardy mixed salad leaves and oriental leaf mix into trays in my cold greenhouse today, to use as cut and come again