Pushing up the daisies

OK we have all survived another Christmas, it's getting to be a time of year that I really dread, it just seems like such a hollow celebration. I'd rather been down with my veg to be honest :-)
Anyway slipped over to the lottie site to sign up for my second year, yay! The garden is really at its low point, except for a few things that seem to be hard to kill, rocket everywhere as always, still a few sprouts, parsnips, romanesco and cabbage.
Big news, I received my seed catalogue from Willemse and I have also compared with a good UK site, which I realized sells certain items much cheaper, especially beans, peas and various seeds. So I think I will buy from two different places this year. Of course, the actual sets like potatoes, onions etc cannot be imported so I will get them from Willemse.
So far my choice is leaning towards:

• 2 types of spuds, a maincrop called Caesar and an early called Bernadette, 5 euros each for 25 plants, which will give me 50 plants, probably enough if the crop is good,
• some Red onion sets,
• some Jermor echalotes,
• Cylindra long beets (recommended by tim from Allotments4All),
• Danvers half long carrots (maincrops),
• Lyon Prizetaker leeks (winter crop),
• some Declic green French beans and Purple Teepee purple beans, for a change (these are only about 2 and 2.50 euros a packet, very cheap by French standards where they are about double that!!)
• Sweetcorn, "incredible" variety (this will be the first attempt at that),
• some Bedfordhsire Champion seed onions, just to try out,
• peas, maybe an early called Spring.

I still have plenty of seeds of some things, like parsnips (won't do so many this year! just a row), radish, tomatoes, lettuce, brussel sprouts (might try sowing them this year), calabrese broccoli, broad beans and herbs.
Of course the garlic is already in, I don't know when I can expect to see it sprouting though, a few have come up, but not all, it's a bit cold yet.
The things I will not do this year are: gherkins, not so much cabbage but maybe try and spread it over the seasons (I will buy plug plants for those), fennel, which was a flop (Maybe I should plant it very early?? it didn't seem to like the warmer weather???), spinach which just didn't grow successfully, coriander which just went straight to seed, and all the bloody rocket, I expect I will still find it all over the shop for years to come.
Things I want to try: corn, red onions, echalotes, broad beans. And more herbs, in a "simples" garden, the thyme and parsley are overwintering brilliantly and I would like to try more herbs like marjoram, oregano. Also a second rhubarb plant
Just hope that the weather is more normal so everything doesn't fail miserably like last year :-( or else I could start to be discouraged. I will try to get some pics soon so I have a good record of what went on in every season of the year.
Year 2!!! What an exciting challenge!

Labels: buying, catalogues, planning, seeds, winter