Second instalment of my blog about growing in bags on a housing estate in Hackney -- I'm hoping other growers will add comments, answer some of my questions, add other questions of their own, and we can start a dialogue about urban food growing on the website.

This month -- kale is growing back after being ravaged ( I think now it was probably pigeons, not squirrels, as apparently pigeons are very partial to brassicas). Spinach, spring cabbage, lamb's lettuce and winter lettuce growing slowly but ok. I removed cloches from cabbage as they were restricting growth and causing leaves to buckle and break, and I have decided they can cope with frost and don't need protection anyway.

Garlic and onions -- we had very strong winds a couple of weeks ago and I noticed the onions were half exposed -- the wind must have blown the top soil away. Luckily I spotted it and added more soil/mulch -- a lesson to keep an eye on things even when I dont think anything much is happening in the garden!

The main development this month though, is sowing seeds indoors:

I am experimenting with a range of different containers: I bought some biodegradable pots, made of grey cardboard, a bit like egg boxes. You just plant out the whole box, and I thought they would be good for lettuce which does not like to be disturbed. I also got some "Grow pots" and "Grow tubes" (from Garden Organic) which are also biodegradable. They are made of black flexible material. Again good for things that dont like to be disturbed. The tubes are quite deep so meant to be good for beans and things with a tap root. Apparently the roots start to grow out of the sides of the pots, and then you just plant the whole thing.

I also have some seed trays, and some plastic modules. A friend recommended to me "root trainers" which are quite expensive but reusable, and very good for beans etc. I might invest in some but haven't done so yet.

Meanwhile, in the grey biodegradable pots I planted lettuce (Belize, a loose leafed variety; and Little Gem) and an early spinach (Early Prickly Seeded) that is supposed not to bolt (last year my spinach bolted).

In the grow pots I planted Brussels sprouts (Early Half Tall) and cauliflower (All Year Round) -- with some seeds of bird's foot trefoil among them. Apparently it is a good companion plant for brassicas -- attracts beneficial insects, or repels bad ones, can't remember which.

In the seed tray I planted lavender, and in the modules I planted more lavender, dill and curly and flat leafed parsley.

I used multi purpose compost because that's what I had, rather than seed compost. Most of the seeds I sowed were very small and I wondered whether to cover them with soil or not -- some books say to sieve a fine layer of soil over the top, but multi purpose stuff is quite lumpy and fibrous, while another book says not to cover fine seeds at all. A friend recommended vermiculite, so I sprinkled a layer of that over the top instead.

Everything has now germinated except the parsley (which is notoriously slow to germinate) and the spinach. However I am worried about everything getting too leggy -- my sprouts seedlings are about two inches tall, as they desperately try to find the sunlight! It is still quite cold, and I dont put the heating on when I am out, and there is not that much sun. However the books said to sow indoors from February.....so we'll see. Last year I planted lettuce and spinach directly outside, but this year I thought I would try with growing indoors first. If it doesn't work I'll go back to just sowing them outside later in the year.

That’s all for now. Look forward to hearing from other growers....