The sun is out, the the wendy and poly are steaming warm, and I am still sore from planting potatoes. With today being the first of April, I thought I could rest a little and sow squashes and cucumbers.  We have a frost until the end of may, that leaves approximately eight weeks during which these seeds will hopefully germinate and are likely to become triffids.

For the moment I have now sown a ghostrider, I fancied something of a break. A few additional varieties of winter squash have been sown instead. No small pumpkins either, I wasn’t particularly enamoured by sweet dumpling. That’s not to say mama H won’t encourage me to sow one. Many of these are sprawling varieties. Last year, there was success with the Cobnut butternut squash being grown up bamboo canes, rather than out across the ground.

The runners and riders:

• soleil
• astia
• patty pan
• yellow scallop
• cobnut
• winter butternut
• crown prince
• gourd small
• cornells bush delecta
• white serpent
• striato di naploli
• tondo di picanza
• little gem
• bush baby marrow
• crystal lemon
• marketmore
• fem spot

There are quite a few varieties, but I do have a tendency to sow a large number. Besides, not all of these may actually germinate. Half of these are to be observed on a warmish window sill, the others will be in a unheated prop in the four tier blowaway. The 4TB does actually get quite warm now that it is warming up a little. I take solace in the fact that the celeary and the carrots sown in there are just starting germinate. The hollow crown parsnips have yet to make an appearance.