Celtuce is confusingly has three variety names in Latin - Lactuca sativa var. asparagina, augustana, or angustata. Maybe is it is because all of these varieties are edible in the same way. It is a stem lettuce and apparently the chinese slice the stems, put it into stir fry or pickle it. It is meant to be eaten before it flowers when the stem is still solid, when it flowers the stems start going hollow and the flavour and smell of it apparently intensifies.
Scorzonera is a vegetable eaten in Italy, the roots is used and it is apparently like horse radish and can be used to make things like sauce and mash. These are meant to be biennial and harvested after the two years. These were sown in April last year. Salsify which I have often associated with this, is apparently eaten more in Eastern Europe. The latter did not stay well in the ground for two years for Mario even the roots are meant to be treated the same.
Broad beans - not that unusual - but Mario has a good succession of them of different varieties. There are winter and spring sown ones, the important info to bear in mind is that broad bean takes 110 - 180 days (4 - 6 mnths to be ready for harvest) depending on things like what time of year it's sown and what variety. The last sowing that he did was late April (popular dwarf Sutton's Variety).
Seed sowing
First we levelled out the cleared areas as best as we could with a rhombus like bed on a slope gently facing northwards. I cultivated with a tool that has star like spurs on it which has a hoe like part on the back of it and gently evens out the soil whilst cultivating it at the same time.
Then we levelled out more with a big wide rubber head rake. Then Mario measured out the area we were going to sow according to its misshapenness and lined out one of the edges. Then we drew the drills with the row maker tool. We sowed carrots and beetroot. For carrots we made the drill 1.5cm deep and for beetroot around 2cm. We then watered the drills before we sowed the seeds. This helps gives the seeds the optimum microclimate and keeps them next moist all around enough at this time of year (when it's warmer and less likely to rot off) for them to germinate. The carrots were sown 1cm apart and beetroot 2cm apart. We then used a hoe to brush the soil in and to tamp it down. This now doesn't have to or get watered in. Carrots will next get watered in when they are thinned. Mario says that if all seeds/ plants are established well from the start, he wouldn't have to or will not water regularly, except for indoor plants and when it has been a droughty spring/ summer. He doesn't have the time to water everything all the time. Then we cultivated the soil lightly around where we had sown the seeds with the standard three pronged cultivator, purely for aesthetics because of the public and to discourage them from stepping onto the bed. We then covered the carrots with fleece. First we put in three metal frames, tied three strings along them, sides and top. We made slits first with the back of a spade, before gently almost tucking it into the slots as to not tear the fragile fleece with both of us doing it on either side almost at the same time. Then we spade soil over the edge to help weigh the fleece down, again lightly cultivating any footprints out if necessary.