Winter sowing advice. Wanting to get a head start for a productive garden next year.

Jjah

Gorgeous braids of garlic in my local Polish shop today so I bought 6 for planting but  nearly died of shock at the till.  They are £1.09 PER BULB!

I sure hope I get to harvest 42 bulbs next year otherwise it will greatly annoy me to have wasted the money.

If I get to save bulbs from resulting harvest each year, it's an expense I can justify. 

Farway

Jjah said:

Gorgeous braids of garlic in my local Polish shop today so I bought 6 for planting but  nearly died of shock at the till.  They are £1.09 PER BULB!

I sure hope I get to harvest 42 bulbs next year otherwise it will greatly annoy me to have wasted the money.

If I get to save bulbs from resulting harvest each year, it's an expense I can justify. 

Still cheaper than buying from seed suppliers, as long as they grow for you

Jjah

Crikey, faraway   I had no idea sowing garlic was so dear.

These are pretty big and seem to be at the point of sprouting already as some have green tips appearing so I reckon they are viable.

RAS

Mine has nothing but Christmas tat and some DIY stuff. Household has been almost empty for weeks.

Jjah

I was extremely surprised Ras.  I wasn't expecting the seeds to come out til Feb at the earliest.  
I picked up some more to add to my growing collection.
Today was quite a good day for foody things.  My 'real seeds' order arrived.  The Mizuna and Komatsuna came and I picked up some thyme, oregano, rosemary and more tomato seeds from wilko 

Jjah

Today's arrivals including garlic for the garden 

MovingForwards

I've got garlic and onion sets in, with leftover lettuce, beetroot, carrots and parsnips; roll on Xmas dinner.
My hardy herb garden plants are happy, the come again next year ones are sleeping.
Comfrey has settled in well, after a bit and miss start. 
Green manure is growing over winter and my seeds are in order of sow month.
My roses are still budding / flowering!

The only thing I never got to eat were peppers as something took a fancy to them.

I was rather impressed with my first not-full-year of growing and feel ready to step up to cabages, cauli, a bit of fruit and some other things, while repeating the usual spuds, root veg, tomato, runner beans, spring onions, raddish etc and learning successional planting, taking everything I will then have learned into the next year and expanding further.

MovingForwards

I paid £2.99 for 2 growing garlic's and the onion sets I purchased loose, both from an independent garden centre.
The seeds I've been collecting from gardening mags, as I get to learn and the freebies would cost about the same if I went to a shop. It also gives me the opportunity to try growing / eating something I may not have done.

Jjah

Wow, MovingForwards!

All that produce for your first year of growing?  That's incr-edible (see what I did there ).

I've not yet done a green manure (that sounds soooo wrong).  I've read somewhere that fenugreek can be used in that way and I do have a bulk bag from an ethnic superstore that could be utilised...
  
I'm still growing myself in productive growing and want to get better with things like that.

I'm happier with the pricey garlic now I know it is cheaper than seed catalogues.  I would never try with the  supermarket garlic.  It never sprouts even if left in the veg rack for months on end so I reckon it is treated (or rather 'un-treated') in some questionable manner.

I'm too stingy for gardening mags but if they are the same price as the pack of included seeds then you are on to a winner  .
Here's to a productive 2021!

After today's scary news reports, I am even more determined to have seasonal stuff all year round in the garden.  More reliable than supermarket supplies 

Jjah

Having seeds in order of grow month, MovingForward is super organised!  I may yet aspire to such dizzy heights.

Successive planting is certainly something I would want to do when I feel a bit more in control.  At the moment I feel I am in a frenzy to get some things started and then I'll slow down enough to take stock and plan