IT’S a new growing season and our gardening expert JOA GROWER bows out with some tips for gardeners wanting to grow their own vegetables.
WELL it’s the start of a new growing season and I hope that you all have the same enthusiasm for growing vegetables as you had last year. Despite everything else that was and still is going on in the world our gardens flourished. So let’s make 2021 another great year on the vegetable plot.
Those of you with green houses or poly tunnels can now start sowing a selection of seeds. I recommend you don’t do the varieties that will need frost protection, as you have plenty of time to do those later when the weather has got a little bit warmer. Keep an eye on the forecast for frosts as all plants in an unheated green house may still need just a little more additional protection.
Those of you growing your seeds on the window sill in the house don’t forget that as soon as your seedlings start to come through the compost turn the pots or trays daily, this will stop them becoming tall and leggy.
Window sills are also a brilliant place to start chitting (sprouting) seed potatoes. Your aim is to get short stocky growing shoots and not tall pale and spindly ones,as these will probably get damaged whilst being planted out.
There are many different varieties to choose from. Do remember that if they are labelled as ‘First Earlies’ that means that when they are grown, they will be your new potatoes and won’t keep very long. So dig them as and when you need them. ‘Maincrop’ will store right through the winter, as long as they have not been damaged when you dig them out or been attacked by slugs. So I would recommend that you buy about 25% ‘Firsts’ and 75% ‘maincrop’.
JUST a reminder that Growers Organics nursery in Yealmpton PL8 2LT will reopen mid February 2021 and our plant stall will also be back in the market square in Totnes in February. Thank you for reading and Happy Gardening!
Joa’s A-Z of Organic Gardening:
Z is for Zzzzzz. A good night’s sleep, after all your hard work and fresh air in veggie garden.
And just like Z being at the end of the alphabet, I am at the end of my writing career. It’s has been a great pleasure for me to be able share my organic gardening thoughts with you for the (almost) last 10 years. I do hope it has been of some help to you all, but now I am going to pass the batten (well trowel) onto someone who has worked along side me at Growers Organics for the past 3 or 4 years. I know I am leaving you in safe hands!
Introducing Tanya…
HELLO, there. I’m Tanya. Now, I don’t have the years of experience Joa does, but I certainly make up for that in my love for organic, home-grown veggies! I’ve been gardening for the last six or seven years and this is my fourth season working at Growers Organics. What’s wonderful about gardening is there’s always something new to learn.
Like most, I started with radish. Also, like most, I grew far too much of it. I learnt that a small square foot of radish is plenty for me. I love growing great produce to eat, but I also love experimenting, learning and enjoying it all along the way – that’s what gardening is all about for me. How else can we learn if we do not try?
I started with a few small raised garden beds and progressed to an allotment. Both are constantly full of experiments gone not-quite-as-planned and many more are in-progress, but amongst the failed crop of cauliflowers and the half-eaten spinach leaves the sparrows enjoy far too much for me to net, you’ll find a whole host of food to eat: from strawberries and berry bushes, to climbing beans and trailing squash vines; from nurtured rhubarbs and asparaguses, to self-seeded chamomiles, lettuces and tomatoes. And if I get to eat a few things before the wildlife gets to them, then all the better!
So, take a walk with me through the vegetable patch, won’t you? And let’s all enjoy it together…