Seed Sowing & Somerset House

My #Project60 portrait by Brock Elbank

Winter's nearly over! Will this be the year I manage to grow more vegetables in my garden? Not if my kids and the Green Party involvement have anything to do with it.

However seed sowings speed up from this month on - what will you sow? If you were only to try one plant, how about a chilli? Easy to grow, generally very productive, and if you keep it inside it isn't going to get eaten by those pesky slugs and snails.

We still have two months to go before Spring springs into action so anything you've left to do before next year needs to be done now. For example compost areas, hedge/shrub trimming, lawn care, cutting back any dead branches or material that may still be present, power washing the decking, repairing/replacing fencing, etc.

Any hard landscaping is also easier to sort out while the garden is in its bare stage, so that you can see what is what. 

In other news, I've been shot for a series of 80 portraits of people sporting impressive and interesting facial hair that will go on display at Somerset House, central London, next month.

The photographs were taken by award-winning photographer Brock Elbank, with a dozen of the works commissioned by Somerset House for the show exhibited for the first time. Subjects vary from actor John Hurt and model Ricki Hall, to an Italian called Angelo Gallamini who Brock described as owning “the Zeus of beards” and of course humble moi.

I'm really looking forward to seeing my portrait on those hallowed walls!