March Update: What are you growing in 2006?

I would like to join in if I may. I have a garden and an allotment. The garden is ornamental, but I grow tomatoes in the greenhouse in the summer. I love perennials, and grow and sell them at plant fairs during the summer. I am addicted to sowing seeds, and always sow far more than I have room for!

This year I shall be growing lots of vegetables, including potatoes, shallots, onions, salads, oriental veg, peas and beans, flowers for cutting etc etc.

I haven't made much of a start yet, thanks to all the cold weather, but I have sown round carrots in modules ( a pinch of seed in each module, plant out as one without thinning), and they are in the greeenhouse slowly growing. I have also done spring onions the same way, and will do beetroot when there is room in the propagator.

Slow growing things like chillies can be started now, as long as you have somewhere cosy for them to grow on in. Tomatoes need about eight weeks from sowing to planting out, so I shan't be starting my outdoor ones until the beginning of April.

There usually isn't any need to panic over sowing things later. Later sowings grow faster and stronger, and can be far easier to manage.

Happy growing!

We've done a sort out of the seeds in the fridge and sent off for our free seed potatoes (well £2 to cover p&p) and agreed that we need to buy some more wildlife friendly flower seeds but should be fine for veggies (except sweet corn which ds wants to try again). Although I've promised dd that if we get to Wilkos and they have raspberry canes we'll buy some for the back of the strawberry bed.

I'm planning on planting seeds this weekend (dh has to bring the compost in from the car) - parsley, carrots (in modules), tomatoes, butternut squash, peppers and 2 pots of flower seeds.

Ds wants us to buy a potato barrel to see if they work better than the old plastic bins we are currently using (would look nice enough to be on the front patio too).

Im a novice gardener too, so Im sort of playing it by ear and seeing what growns and what doesn't!
My sunflowers are a couple of inches tall, (grown from seeds harvested from last years sunflowers) geraniums and dahlias are coming up, all have a couple of leaves, but not doing well with the sweet peas. Last year I had loads, but I dont think where I have them is warm enough so I might have to start off some more.
Ive got some raspberry canes waiting to go out, (when we get rid of all this snow and ice) I have 5 strawberry plants I bought off ebay, they were looking a bit sorry for themselves but I repotted them into bigger pots and they are now sprouting new leaves all over the shop.
I planted dill, sage, basil and parsley which are just starting, and rocket (free seeds from the freebies forum) which is also coming up.
Im really pleased with my tomatoes, they are only tiny at the moment but I have 14 little green shoots! No cucumbers though, I dont know where I went wrong there.
I still have runner beans, peas, cherry tomatoes, lettuces and carrots to plant but according to the packets its a bit too early.
And cress on the kitchen windowsill! and I forgot the garlic, a couple of cloves are sprouting.
All the seeds were either free, half price at the end of summer from Wilkos or 29p a packet from Aldi. Ive put them all in my porch which is large and sunny in one of those plastic greenhouse thingys and I have a thermometer out there to keep and eye on how cold it gets.
Its so exciting, Ive only ever grown a few flowers in the past, when Im bored and fed up at work I just think of me little tomatoes coming up and it cheers me up!