Funny that Soilman should choose to leave a comment on my blog about the folly of early planting and specifically mention that parsnips don’t need to be planted yet. Before receiving the comment I’d been building myself into a crescendo of dithery panic.

We were on the plot this weekend getting in an urgent planting of spuds and a sowing of summer cabbages before the sociable Easter flurry comes upon us. I set up a mobile hotline with my Dad who was also on his plot and expected him to keep me informed of what he was planting. He mentioned ridiculous things like runner beans (he’ll be lucky!) but failed to inform me about parsnips which very clearly need planting now.

He slipped the surreptitious sowing, subtely into the conversation a few days later.

Soilman’s comment didn’t come through in time to calm me down, and anyway, Lynn had already been out on an emergency parsnip sourcing exercise and successfully provided me with some fresh tender and true seed.

So straight out of work yesterday I took a bit of a detour and managed to plant two rows of parsnips in the twilight. I’m looking forward to the clock change so I can sow my way along a semi-straight drill in daylight.

Also managed to pick another bucket of purple sprouting broccoli so the journey turned out to be quite worthwhile.

Absolutely stunning spring morning, shamefully wasted away in bed, and then followed by an afternoon trip to the plot, accompanied by a flurry of soggy hail – my favourite.

I’ve slipped into my usual March panic. The year is galloping along and I feel as though I must be behind. Surely I should have seeds bursting from the ground by now. As it is I haven’t even got round to sorting my seed packs into planting order.

If I bothered to check out last years progress I’d probably remind myself that there isn’t really much advantage to be gained from planting early. The carrots never germinate and all late sown seeds come into there own in late April/early May. I’ve still got that white rabbit panic though: “I’m late , I’m late”.

The purple sprouting broccoli has sprouted at last, the pigeon netting did the trick and I managed to pick a whole buckets worth of the delicious treats.