DIG IT
Hello again everyone, I hope you are all showing a healthy tan from working on the patch during a glorious April. Nice warm sunshine with just the right amount of rain, night temperatures getting close to panic levels but not too low to nip anything.
Well, where should we be?
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| chitted seed potatoes |
All of your nicely sprouted seed potatoes should be in although the last of the main crop can go in during early May. Some of the early plantings will be in need of earthing up, keep growth covered as it appears to encourage the plants to put out roots from which our crop will grow from. Keep earthing up until the end of May and do water well if we have more than a few days sunshine.
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| earthing up potoato plants |
Sets and shallots should be nicely away and showing good green tops, gently press back in any that the birds or mice have tried to pull out.
If you got an early crop of peas in get another sowing in now, especially the “Mange Toute” type. I keep these going every month up to September. Main crop peas should be showing well and another sowing by the end of the month will keep you in peas into early autumn as well. Again water well and provide netting or sticks for them to grow up, this will encourage more pods.
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| Slugs on veg in the Veg Patch! |
Spinach, chard, rocket, pak choi, beetroot, carrots and parsnips should be in now. Again the leafy crops can be sown closely and the thinnings pulled and used in salads or stir fries.
Brassicas of all sorts can be sown in trays or a nursery bed, these can then be transplanted into their final position when 4”-6” high. Beware slugs and snails; use whatever you must to keep these at bay.
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| Young sweetcorn plants |
If you have not already done so, sweet corn, marrows, courgettes and squashes should be sown now. These are normally through fairly quick but let them get to a good size before planting out. It is a good idea to sow these individually in 3” or 4” pots when you see the roots coming out of the bottom; they are ready to plant out.
Marrows etc. cannot get enough feed so put them into well manured ground and keep watered.
Sweet corn should be sown about 18” apart in blocks rather than rows, this will really aid pollination.
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| Rhubarb |
All the beans can be sown from early May, either direct or into 4” pots for later transplanting. French type beans can be sown monthly to give a long harvest period.
There will be a lot of growth in rhubarb and the strawberry plants will be very vigorous. Keep these well fed and watered.
Donna has a very good old fashioned system in place where she fills a hessian sack with fresh manure and puts in the water butt. This will give off a really good brew of plant feed that lasts ages. Just put in a fresh sackful when the brew looks weak. A word of caution, keep the water butt you use for this well away from the kitchen window as it can get “ripe” in the heat and unless the butt has a lid will encourage gnats. I will give this the top growing tip of the month.
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| Cabbage white caterpiller and eggs |
As the weather gets warmer so the pests get more of a problem. Look out for black and greenfly; just spray them with the water from your washing up bowl or bath. No chemicals, free and easily applied, another old remedy. Butterflies will be on the look out for nice young cabbages, just cover with old net curtains or horticultural fine mesh; this will also keep the pigeons off.
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| Cabbage whites |
Tomatoes, yes I suppose we have all done it again and ended up with enough plants to start a commercial greenhouse! Do not despair. Pot up seedlings into 3” pots as soon as the first true leaves are big enough to handle, try not to hold the stem. Water enough to stop the compost drying out fully; overwatering can lead to rotting off. Pot up to 6” pots when roots appear through the bottom of the pots. Plant a bit deeper in the compost this time as this will encourage stem roots to form, giving a much stronger plant. Do not be tempted to plant direct from the small pot as you will get very weak plants, that will be unable to cope in the big wide world. If space allows, pot up all your little seedlings, more of this next month.
Rocket, spring onions, radish, salad leaves can be put in now, both in tubs and direct. With a 10/12 week season try to sow little and often to keep a fresh crop going all summer.
Keep an eye on the soft fruit, tie in the growing stems to wires if you can or at least bamboo canes. This will stop them getting damaged in the wind or lying on the ground and spoiling.
Fruit trees look like we are going to get a bumper crop this year, not much to do with these other than cut out any dead or diseased wood, burn any wood trimmings showing signs of fungus.
Well that should be enough to get your backs aching – don’t forget to send in any hints or tips. Apologies if I have left out some of your favourite vegetables, to cover everything would need a book, do let us know if you have anything unusual growing, Artichokes, Celeriac etc. I for one would be interested in how you are getting on.
Happy gardening
Terry