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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

, especially during the high-risk hardy annual season.I love sowing seeds and still get a thrill at what can be achieved from just a few packets. Any packet labelled 'hardy annual' (or the abbreviation, 'HA') will do the trick, and there's no need for seed

mizuna. The autumn sowings germinated amazingly well and the plants are much tougher (in terms of weather resistance, not texture!) than I had anticipated. I kept them covered with some of those brilliant fleece-covered, pull-out mini tunnels. Lo

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

, and the whole lot keels over in a miserable heap, we use the less helpful name of ‘damping off disease’.Damping off disease is a nightmare during spring. As the exciting cycle of seed sowing continues apace, this insidious disease is very much waiting

A few months back I mentioned that I was sowing some dwarf French beans, for an early crop in spring. I adore these juicy, tender beans and would much rather tuck in to a home-grown crop than imported varieties, shipped all the way from Egypt

. If you have light, free-draining soil, you can start planting potatoes outside. I have very heavy clay soil in my garden, which is still a bit too wet for potatoes, so I’m putting it off for a little longer.I’ll sow some hardy annual flower seeds outside

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

Like many gardeners at this time of year, I can normally be found in the garden with my head in a bag of compost. I'm not hiding from the taxman, or even two noisy kids - I'm just trying to get some seeds sown. Sowing seeds is a task that should

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