Now that the kids would rather go out than play in the garden (they're old enough to go out the local park and shops etc), I have more garden to play with myself! I've decided to reclaim what was the grow your own patch and add more edibles in pots, leaving plenty of room for flowering plants and shrubs for wildlife. Sadly, due to the recent storms I lost one of my eucalyptus trees but I'm keeping the wood as it's hard and I have a few ideas.
So, to get to the serious gardening stuff: I started early with some seeds to see how well they would do. The plants selected were broad beans, garlic, spring onions and chillies. In short the spring onions didn't do too great so I'm sowing more again soon. Here's the rest:
Broad beans
I used a few varieties, including the Sutton and Aquadulce Claudia, which have done quite well. Back in November about 50 seeds were sown and now after some not germinating and a bout of fungal disease, there's about 30 plants, which is more than enough for a small family. Beans are a firm favourite with my children so there'll be more to come in the shape of runners and French come April time.
Why sow so early? Broad beans are hardy plants and seeds can germinate at low temperatures so you don't need to use heated propagators or bring seed trays into the warmth. In my case I left them in the polytunnel and they did well apart from fungus getting to some of them. To prevent all my plants from dying I simply threw away the infected ones (burning helps kill fungus), being careful not to add them to my compost heap (well, you don't want to spread disease, do you).
The surviving seedlings were transplanted to larger pots (0.5ltr size) to grow on in January and now in early March I've put them outside in prepared beds. Careful not to dig too much as I don't want to disturb the wildlife in the soil, I added home produced compost to the beds as feed for the beans. Once this has been done there's little needing to be done. Broad beans don't need much more care really, which is great for those of us who like the idea of growing our own but don't want to spend too much time or don't have much knowledge of horticulture. Sit back and enjoy picking them when the time comes!
Healthy looking roots of the broad bean.
One that didn't make it.
The forest of beans in my polytunnel was starting to take over and the plants were getting to close to each other. Now they're spaced out in the fresh air.
Garlic
I don't know a lot of people that grow garlic and to be honest I've not always done very well in growing it, but this year I changed my method. I took to growing it in pots. Two pots were prepared and nine are growing quite well. Like other members of the allium family, garlic doesn't like invading weeds so growing in pots is easier to control, provided you give them sufficient space. Garlic for growing can be purchased in the early winter months and the coldness can wake them up, which means another job out of the way before March, but remember to keep the weeds out! Finally, on garlic, here's a strange tip: my mother would put two or three cloves of garlic in water and let that sit for a couple of weeks. She would then dilute that garlic water in a watering can and use it to hydrate her roses. I don't know if it was just a coincidence but the roses watered with this would have a stronger scent than those that didn't! Maybe I'll give this a try this year and let you know.
Garlic
growing wonderfully in pots! Not a weed in sight so these guys should be
comfortable.
Chillies
Not usually the type of veg you'd think of starting as early as November but I took two varieties to the test: Apache and Jalapeno. Apache is a variety that can be sown in November, Jalapeno didn't do too well - out of 6 seeds sown only two germinated, whereas 5 Apache are growing nicely. Typically, most seeds need daylight and warmer soil to kick start germination. Extra light wasn't given to my seeds but they were left on a window sill inside the house, above a radiator. Repotting has only just been done (using 0.5ltr pots again) to give their roots more room and more nutrition. I've also given them support with 30cm sticks. Not daring to leave them in the greenhouse just yet, they are back in the house on the same window sill for now. I'll move them outside once the weather warms up and repot them once more into larger pots.
New
beginnings - I was skeptical at first sowing in November!
0.5ltr
pots with peat free compost.
Now
transplanted into those pots to grow on. I'll be moving them to bigger pots
again in a month or so, depending on their growth.
Some
gentle support by means of loosely tied string to aid the plants.
And finally...
...I'm also adding horseradish to my herb patch. I purchased a packet of two thongs by Taylors, which cost £2.99. I don't think that's a bad price, especially as when looked after, the horseradish should carry on growing for years as it is a perennial plant, so I shouldn't have to buy any more. Carefully digging the ground and freeing it of weeds, I planted the thongs with 5cm of soil above their tips. I'm hoping to see some growth in about three-four weeks.
This
caught my eye at a local garden centre and as my husband loves horseradish, why
not?
You can
see here that the thongs do show some life. Alternatively, if you know someone
who grows this they can always dig some up for you to plant in your garden
instead of buying any but beware of pests and diseases in this case.
It's seemed relatively easy work so far this year but I know that there's hard work around the corner. Next week I'm hoping to sow some Mediterranean fruit and veg (think aubergines, tomatoes) and work on my plants and shrubs. Don't let the weather put you off - we sometimes allow ourselves to be trapped indoors over winter but now the days are getting longer and warmer so get on out there!
Till next time x
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