free pease

 Last year, just as Summer was fading, a mysterious donor flooded the local library with yellow-pack seeds. Unable to resist freebies, I snagged a packet of peas and a packet of spinach; and hoped I would remember doing so in the Spring. I did! On 11th March, I planted 9x peas in my handy everlasting set of 5cm ⌀ micro plant pots. In the same session I planted 9x black haricot beans own-self-saved from last year. Remarkably, I scored `100+100% germination and here they are on 26th March:

I think I'm probably a bit previous on this because we are a full 5 weeks from last possible frost (1st week in May hereabouts) and I can't leave them in those tiny pots that long and I really don't want to do an interim re-potting of t'buggers. I think I'll tek a chance on putting them in the ground inside the poly-tunnel this coming week. I also started another set of 9xpea + 9xbean on the 27th Mar as a backstop.

We are currently enjoying a bounteous flush of salad greens which have appeared from nowhere - or at least which re-appeared more-or-less where they were last year with no effort on my part. Rocket Eruca satica (really tasty unlike the watery stuff that's sold by Tescaldi), lettuce Lactuca saliva; mustard greens Brassica juncea; tarragon! Artemisia dracunculus (so good); wild garlic Allium triquetrum; mint Mentha spp. is impossible to kill and we have two varieties intermixed. When I'm home alone, I nip up and snip a sandwich full for lunch. Less often when anyone else is present because they will insist on rinsing the leaves and discarding any with holes - such a waste.