Springing into action (well, stumbling really)

I have just planted my parsnip seeds. Germination is usually not very good, and you have to use fresh seed - more than a year old and there will be zero germination. In order to get decent sized roots, I push the end of a crowbar into the soil - the deeper, the better, but a foot is enough, unless you are showing them - and then wiggle it around to give a tapering hole, with the top as large as the top of the parsnip. Then fill the hole with good compost, and put 3 or 4 seeds on top. Cover with an inch of compost, water well and cover with a plank for 3 weeks as they are very slow to germinate. Then remove the plank, and when the seedlings show, thin to 1 parsnip per hole

I have also started off my hot bed. (You may remember that after digging it out, it filled with water. That has now drained away.) I put 4 big bags of fresh manure in the hole, then trampled it down and topped it off with a couple of bags of compost. Then a sheet of glass on top to keep it warm, and in a couple of days I will plant lettuces, beetroot and carrots, hopefully for an early crop.