All The Seeds I've Started This Year | 2023

Growing things from seed is my favourite part of gardening and I might have gone overboard this year. So, I might as well share it with you on my blog. 

Thankfully, seeds are really affordable - what I've started this year is a mixture of left over seeds from previous years, packets ordered from a catalog with my dad and cheap ones picked up in Lidl. 

I like to start peas early in season in my greenhouse but instead of letting them grow to full plants I cut them to add to salads - delicious! 

I love Zinnias so always plant loads to add colour to my borders. I didn't have a lot of success with the first batch but when I used my propagator trays they were much more successful. Soon they will be ready to pinch the tops so they grow bushy with lots of flowers. 

Safflowers are something I got in a bouquet a few years ago and fell in love with their unusual look so I ordered seeds to try and grow then myself. Luckily they are fairly easy to germinate although the slugs and snails seem to love them. 

After potting a few things on last weekend I noticed my propagators (from Home Bargains) were looking a bit empty so I picked up some more seeds when doing my weekly shop. They've not appeared yet but I'm checking everyday. 

I do grow a few edibles from seed too. Herbs are especially useful when cooking but I don't think I've got good conditions for them to thrive. The coriander isn't looking too bad though and I've started another batch already. 

The spinach is a bolt hardy variety I plan to add to my raised bed when they are big enough - as you can see my germination rate hasn't been great on the first lot though. 

I was gifted some physalis plants last year and the fruit is a delicious snack when gardening so I bought seeds to try them myself. This one is my biggest but I'm hoping some of the other little seedlings will catch up quickly. 

Again, I was gifted aubergine plants last year and was really successful with the aubergines so I wanted to give them ago myself. The seeds were difficult to keep consistently warm enough to germinate but I now have 7 little plants. Let's hope they grow quickly!

Early in the year I got a bargain lot of these blue ceramic pots on Facebook Market place so to add some quick, cheap colour to some of them I bought a mix of bee friendly flowers in Lidl and scattered them over the top of the soil. I don't think it will be too long until they flower. 

These signet marigolds were started from seeds I saved two years ago and now I have loads (if they all survive the slugs) and they will grow into quite big plants. 

The standard orange pot marigolds are growing really well too - hopefully I can keep saving these seeds for free plants in future years. 

I grew leeks last year but they are slow growing and I planted them too late in the year to get a successful harvest. So I made sure I started them early this year and they will replace the first early potatoes in my raised bed at the start of July. 

Pink surprise are more pot marigolds and I can't wait to see what they look like and polar stars are chrysanthemum's that caught my eye in the seed catalog. 

Seed planting wouldn't be complete without some sunflowers. This first lot were big enough to plant in the ground over the weekend and another lot have already been started. 

Finally, some of the things I started from seed that were already big enough to go into the raised bed (I'll just have to watch for frost and protect them if necessary). These were all recommendations from Huw's 'Veg in One Bed' book and things I like eating. Pak Choi for asian dishes, purple sprouting broccoli and fennel for soups in the winter. 

Finally, there are nasturtiums in handing baskets that will go out the front for some nice colour at the front door. These were zero effort so it's good to mix in some things that are easy rewards with things that are more of a challenge. 

Of course there is lots more I am growing this year that I didn't start myself. Tomatoes, peppers and courgettes were gifted from family and I will keep picking up things I fancy in the garden centre too. 

Greenhouse and Raised Bed Learnings

My Garden in July