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Doesn't it feel great to get your fingers into the ground? The weather has relented, the soil is warming and I've spent happy days outside sowing seeds directly in the garden. We're about three weeks behind on the season, I reckon, but nature always

Last year I sowed all my seeds in the first week of January, eager to get my brand new garden off to a flying start. Everything was sown at once - from Eryngium leavenworthii to tomato 'Gardener's Delight' and my front room looked like a badly run

done, I forked a barrow load into the now-empty greenhouse bed and began seed sowing. First, I direct-sowed lamb's lettuce, then sowed 'Arctic King', 'Winter Gem' and the greenhouse lettuce 'Rosetta', which I've not tried before, into modules.Next, I

on a bed of brown rice.All of these thoughts prompt me to engage in some therapeutic seed sowing. Sowing seeds is almost as comforting as eating the final result. After a few hours in the greenhouse sowing yet more peppers and chillies, including some

, garlic chives, lemon balm, chervil, or even mint.Lastly, don't forget radish. You'll often find them in seed ranges developed for children as they're so quick and easy to grow, although I do doubt that may kids actually enjoy eating them

to grow, and get started. A greater range of young plants and seedlings are now available than ever before, providing a good alternative to anyone who thinks sowing seed is tricky. However, you certainly pay for the privilege of buying plants compared

of cress.I love growing cress. The seed is ridiculously cheap, and incredibly quick to germinate. And, of course, growing cress is a great way of introducing children to the pleasures of gardening. Just buy the packets of seed, get sowing and you'll see

besides. They're not pre-packaged salad mixes from the supermarket, but home-grown in my greenhouse. And if you don't have space for a greenhouse don't worry - a windowsill is perfect. All you need is some compost. I reuse seed-sowing compost from

was the natural place to be. Packed full of ideas for what to grow this year, and armed with packets of seed, I was determined to get some seed sowing done. But before the fun bit, I had to stop prevaricating and clear out the greenhouse.It's well worth cleaning

premium.However, this year I decided to grow my onions from seed, and I've just been assessing the results. Yes, I did need to sow them in modular trays in the greenhouse in March, and could have started them even earlier if I'd had a heated propagator