Greetings!
Friends are often asking me what they need to do in the garden right now to GROW THEIR OWN VEG, what can you plant now? There has been a great revival of interest in growing your own veg in the last few years, and yet it can all seem very complicated and be hard to find simple advice to help you GROW YOUR OWN.
I will send out this email every week or so to let you know what to do this week and what you could be eating in the months ahead.
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What to do this week
Good Friday is the traditional time to plant POTATOES, but whilst the weather is dry and warm start now.
Choose potatoes that either have short green buds or no buds yet rather than potatoes with long spindly white shoots.
Early varieties can be planted about 4-6 inches deep and 8 inches apart. You can either make a hole with a trowel for each potato or dig out a V shaped trench to plant them in. They should be planted in rows about 30 inches apart.
Maincrop varieties should be planted 12 inches apart.
I will tell you about the mysteries of 'earthing up' in a few weeks time.
Have you planted any BROAD BEANS yet? I usually start mine off in 3 inch pots under cover to get an earlier crop, but now you can plant them straight in the ground. Plant the large seed about 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart. i plant mine in square meter blocks equally spaced apart, rather than in rows.
You could also sow some mangetout or sugar snap peas, expensive in the shops, absolutely delicious freshly picked fro the garden.
If you have any compost to spread start spreading it where you are going to be growing veg, it doesn't matter if it is a bit lumpy for things like potatoes. Next week I will tell you how to build a compost heap out of old pallets, like mine, if you haven't got one already.
It is a bit late now to sow tomatoes and peppers so i should wait until the end of the month until it is warmer and then buy some plants.
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What you could be eating now
Why am I looking so happy in this picture?I just discovered a source of FREE coffee grounds in Starbucks. you can go into any branch and you will find free bags of old coffee grounds. These are a great natural slug repellent and a fertilizer at the same time. This week i have been finishing off salads which overwintered in my unheated greenhouse: American Land Cress Lamb's lettuce Lettuce Mizuna (I will tell you more about Mizuna next week) Tonight I am having a stir fry with Semposai greens and Rainbow chard that has been outside all winter and is starting to grow again now. We also pulled the last leeks this week, a great winter crop, easy to grow. I will tell you when it is time to sow them for next winter.
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