SPRINGTIME is here and our new resident gardening expert, TANYA PEARSON takes you on a seasonal walk through the vegetable patch.
THE clocks going forward is always a sure sign that Spring is here and every year I’m glad for it. With the extra daylight comes more time in the garden, but also the list of jobs to do! Growth increases exponentially this time of year, so dedicating ten or twenty minutes a couple of times a week to weed your vegetable garden will keep on top of the weeds as they grow and stop it from becoming a daunting task. Keep an eye on the onion patch – onions don’t like the competition and weeds will hinder the development of the bulbs, so carefully hand weeding will keep your onions happy. April is the time to be planting second early and maincrop potatoes. You may start seeing the tops of your first early potatoes now (planted in March). As they grow, carefully earth them up using compost, wellrotted manure (at least a year old) or even grass clippings to increase your yield. It’s a good idea to water them prior to earthing up to lock the moisture in. If you cover the top growth then don’t worry; potatoes are robust and you should see the plant poking through soon enough. This can be done several times over the coming months. You’ll want to pinch out the tops of your broad bean plants once they’ve got three or four sets of flowers to avoid attracting blackfly. Prevention is key, but if you do find you’re too late, try using a small amount of washing up liquid in water to wipe the blackfly away. You should still get a good crop. Now is a good time to sow root vegetables as the soil has warmed up. Carrot and parsnip seeds should be sown directly into the soil and mixing the seeds with a bit of horticultural sand makes them easier to sow thinly. Covering carrots with fleece once they appear helps to protect them from carrot root fly. I find beetroot and swede are better grown in modules and then planted out when they’re big enough to handle. Tender plants such as Runner beans, French beans, sweetcorn, cucumbers, outdoor tomatoes, courgettes and squashes can all be sown direct or planted out towards the end of May when we’re clear of frosts. Plants may need hardening off, so pop them outside during the day for seven to ten days and bring them inside at night. That should be enough to get them acclimated and then they can be planted out. By mid-May we should see the last frost thaw and our vegetable gardens start to show their true colours. But don’t get too comfortable! Keep an eye on the weather and if it looks like it’s going to be a cold night, grab some fleece to cover tender plants. By the end of the month, we should be completely free from potential frosts. Happy growing, folks! l Just a reminder that Growers Organics nursery in Yealmpton is now open and we are back in the market square in Totnes every Friday and Saturday.
A tip on the ol’ slugs ‘n’ snails
SLUGS and snails are prevalent at all times of the year, but Spring and Summer see gardeners offering a bountiful feast to these problematic gastropods. Make sure you protect young seedlings from these hungry mouths by covering plants with fine mesh, fleece, or cloches (an empty plastic bottle with the bottom cut off makes an excellent little greenhouse to protect crops). You’ll be surprised how quickly these tiny mouths can desecrate your hard work! Going out at night with a torch and collecting slugs and snails is fine, but I like to approach the problem from a different angle and encourage natural predators of these pests: frogs and hedgehogs are excellent guests in the garden to help here. Cutting small CD-sized holes in the fence will allow hedgehogs to pass through and leaving out shallow dishes of water for them to drink from is good too. A small pond – even one in a large plant pot (without a hole in the bottom, of course) or tub – with some rocks and plants in is enough to attract frogs into the garden. These pest controlling helpers are relatively inexpensive and organic too! It won’t magically solve your pest problem, but it will drastically decrease the populations.
Reconnect’s Organic Gardening column is written by Tanya Pearson
of Growers Organics. Growers are at Totnes market on Fridays and
Saturdays. Visit www.growersorganics.com, or call 01752 881180.