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open the seed packet. Use the sharp pointed knife to do so

extract from the opened packet the foil container of sweet-pea seeds. Place the opened packet where it is clean and dry. Carefully maintain its pristine condition

see BROAD BEANS and CABBAGE for an instruction on converting the opened seed packet into an aide memoire, and on merging the aide memoire into the overall record keeping that the card-index system makes possible

commence as soon as possible to record in the card-index system the life history of the propagated sweet peas. Maintain the record keeping until the close of the sweet-pea-growing season

excavate four seed-sowing points, evenly distributed, in the surface of the consolidated compost. Use a small dibber to do so. Place each 2cm away from the wall of the pot

make each of the four excavations in the surface of the consolidated compost no more than twice the thickness of an individual seed in depth

use the sharp scissors to open the foil container of seeds that has been extracted from the seed packet

tip four seeds from the foil container into the palm of one hand. Do not touch the seeds with the finger tips, in doing so

place one sweet-pea seed in each excavation. Use forefinger and thumb to do so. Finger the seed as little and as gently as possible

close the compost over the positioned seeds. Do so gently. Use the dibber

produce fifteen sown pots in this way.
[Considerations: twelve pots each containing four healthy plantlets are required with which to furnish the twelve canes of a wigwam. Fifteen ensures that this is achieved. The three surplus pots may be given away or, after the wigwam has been serviced, their contents may be merged with the bagged waste-vegetable matter that is to be placed in the bottom of the next deep trench to be excavated in readiness for a deep-trench bed

mark each pot with an inserted, marked plastic label recording the type of seed sown and when sown. Use a pen charged with waterproof ink when marking the label.
[Consideration: when, at a later stage, the pots are transferred to the open air, the rain does not erase the inscriptions from the plastic labels]

cover each pot with two or three discs of newspaper. To make a disc, invert the remaining empty pot onto a sheet of newspaper, and draw around it with a pencil or a biro. Use the drawn line as a guide, and cut so that the produced newspaper disc is slightly larger than the top of the pot.
[Considerations: 1 -- two or three discs of newspaper reduce evaporation and have sufficient rigidity to remain on top of the pot without collapsing into it; 2 -- newspaper is cheaper, safer, more readily available and more convenient than pieces of glass; 3 -- unlike condensation-dripping glass, newspaper does not encourage any kind of undesirable condition of the compost's surface]

add water to the watering can, to ensure that it is full once again. Maintain a full watering can for all of the time that the developing sweet-pea plantlets are in the unheated greenhouse.
[Consideration: this ensures that whenever the compost in the pots is watered, the applied water's temperature is the same as that of the pots and their contents. Water that is colder than this -- as when fresh from the tap or the water butt -- may cause the growth of the developing seedlings/plantlets to be checked and their general well-being diminished]

repeat the pot-preparation/seed sowing operation in November, December and January at full, calendar-monthly intervals.
[Consideration: note that no moon quarter is involved at this stage, because no watertable is beneath the sown pots. In consequence, the moon's gravitational pull can have no influence upon the pots' contents

await germination each month. Note that, for this, cool conditions are required in the greenhouse, but not icy conditions. Achieve this by the calculated use of heating and ventilation systems. Cater for the differing weather conditions -- ranging from October's to January's -- that each month brings.
[Considerations: 1 -- for germination, a temperature of 50^oF or thereabouts by day and by night is required, certified by a thermometer; 2 -- the house's heating and ventilation systems are adjusted to cater for daytime and night-time weather conditions to achieve and to maintain this temperature level; 3 -- a thermostatically-controlled heating system, adjusted to a maximum heat level of 50^oF, considerably simplifies this stage of sweet-pea plantlet production]

inspect the pots once per day, ideally at the same time each day

keep the compost in the sown pots moist. Apply the water gently, to leave the compost surfaces undisturbed. Use the filled can.
[Consideration: it is essential to avoid over-watering. Over-watering is a greater fault than slight under-watering. Wait for the compost's surface to show faint traces of dusty dryness. Then apply water, bearing in mind that another inspection and possible watering is only 24 hours away]

replace the newspaper discs after
each inspection

watch for the first gleam of green to break through the compost surfaces

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