Broad Beans and Cavolo Nero

25 February 2016:

We are eating the last of our Cavolo Nero kale but watching with interest as the plants start to go to seed. Last year we went away just as the Cavolo Nero was finishing but we left the plants in the ground. When we returned from holiday, the plants had gone to seed and had produced little flowering shoots that looked very much like purple sprouting Broccoli. I decided to try cooking some and they were delicious so now I can’t wait to try the shoots again this year, but they will be another few weeks before they are ready.

The potatoes are now sitting on an egg tray in the conservatory and are starting to sprout, ready for planting out soon, and the broad beans are about to be planted. We have been saving the cardboard centres from toilet rolls. They are ideal for planting beans or peas as you can put the rolls straight into the ground where the cardboard just disintegrates. This helps to prevent disturbing root systems and means the plants don’t get a set-back when planted out.

I planted some lettuce seeds a few weeks ago and although we have had a few frosts, the seeds are now nudging their way through the ground. I planted them inside a ring cut from a large plastic water bottle and then covered them over with glass. This obviously protected them sufficiently as they are now happily emerging.