Since it's more or less the start of spring now, I've been spending some time getting the garden prepared for plating vegetables. In late autumn I planted some 'green manure' to try to improve the soil. For some reason it didn't grow very well, growing fairly sparsely rather than filling the plot with green. I decided I couldn't wait any longer and dug it into the soil.

The front room is full of small pots and trays where I have planted some seeds. So far some of the herbs and salad veg have started to sprout. Over Christmas I planted some broad beans in a trough in the garden. They failed to germinate and when I checked on them today, the seeds had rotted in the soil. I have planted some more - they should have been done during february so hopefully I haven't left it too late.

Also today I planted some tomatoes and chilli pepper seeds. These were part of a kit I bought from Woolworths during their closing down sale. The kit contained a wooden trough, some compost, and 3 packets of seeds (tomato, chilli, oregano) and cost just over £1. Even if only one plant germinates, it will have been worth it.

Last year I planted some leeks but they failed to grow very large. We decided to start eating them so I pulled one out of the ground today. Despite looking like a baby leek, it was actually the largest in the garden. Some are smaller than most spring onions. I can't comment on the taste because it was completely lost amongst the other flavours in the pasta sauce.