Another row of broad beans is in the garden.  The beans were planted in long , biodegradable pots, filled with peat, & the pots have been put in the ground.

The soil is still cold and wet, even though it has been covered for a few weeks.  Surrounding the bean seed with peat in the pot will give the seed an easy start. Once it has developed, the bean roots will grow through the fibrous pot into the soil.

A wide plank is spread over the bed to walk on. This avoids compacting the soil. Compacted soil is not easy for vegetables to grow in. A measuring board helps space the pots at the correct distance.

Planting a row of beans every three weeks, will spread harvest and avoid a glut!

A hoe will remove weeds, and allow the vegetables to grow without competition.

It is easier to hoe the weeds when they are very small, before the roots have grown to anchor them in the soil.

The first leaves to emerge from a seed are called cotyledons. Try to hoe weeds at this stage. Hoe as soon as you see weeds emerging, then it does not become a chore.

Make life easy & leave the hoe at the end of the veg plot, so you can pick it up as you go to inspect the vegetables.

Hoe when the soil is dry. Then the weeds will die quickly.

Make the rows wider than the hoe, so hoeing can be quick with no fear of chopping up the vegetables.

Hoe shallow

• to make it easy
• to avoid disturbing the roots of the vegetables
• shallow hoeing is possible if hit weeds early

The ideal hoe is sharp & shiny, so the soil does not stick to it. A good quality stainless steel hoe will keep shiny & sharp. Most people do not have time to maintain tools - so get a good one, that will look after itself.

Chives

• members of the onion family
• easy to grow herb
• mild, delicate flavour
• very easy to grow, indoors & outside.

They grow like clumps of grass. It is the spiky, tubular green leaf that is used.

Chives are eaten fresh, as the flavour is destroyed by cooking. For storage, they do freeze well (use ice cubes) but our plants survive the winters well in the vegetable garden.

Chives are rich in vitamin A & C.

To use:

• chop leaves:
  • to flavour salads, soups, fish & potatoes
  • as a garnish
• cut the leaves just above soil level
• wash
• leave fresh, no need to cook
• chop in to small pieces Read More »

The early planted onions, shallots and garlic are growing well, although the purchased shallots never seem to do as well as our own saved homegrown bulbs.

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Not much happening above ground in the potato bed -� a few� tiny shoots showing Read More »

Most rain water falls in the winter, so now is the time to collect it.
As our climate changes & an increasing proportion of rain falls in winter, it is becoming cost effective to invest in water storage
Rainwater can be collected, and stored in tubs and other containers, from the roof of dwellings, garages, greenhouses etc..
Check your local water authority website as they often have offers on water butts.
Invest in a watering can, it uses less water than a hose.
If you prefer to use a hosepipe, fit a trigger nozzle to control the flow.
Mulches such as wood chips, bark and gravel help to prevent water evaporation and also suppress weed growth, saving you both water and time spent weeding.
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The dandelions are out, so it is time to check the bee hives.

The bee colony is inspected to see if the Queen Bee is still there.� She may not have survived the winter.

The colony cannot manage without a queen.� So, a queenless colony can be put into a hive which has a queen.� The hive will benefit by having more workers available to forage.

A book about this subject is:

The Beekeeper’s Handbook

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Take precautions to avoid a setback in the garden:

• move tender potted plants inside
• cover delicate plants in the garden with polythene, cloches, old curtains, conifer branches, horticultural fleece
• delay buying plants
• mulch to keep warmth in soil

Work the soil:

• dry, cold conditions are ideal for cultivating - soil structure will be maintained
• prepare seed beds, by knocking the soil into small crumbs

apical - the apex or tip

bolt -instead of producing the vegetable desired, the plant ‘bolts’ into maturity, flowers, & produces seed during the summer instead of the normal root.

brassica - member of the cabbage family. Used as veg for:

• leaves - cabbage, brussel sprouts
• flowers - cauliflower, broccoli
• roots - swedes, turnips
• stems - kohlrabi
• seeds - mustard, oilseed rape

chit - sprouts that grow out of the eyes of potatoes

F1 - is the product of a careful and deliberate cross of two different ’strains’ and will produce plants that are uniform and have particular charateristics, eg very straight runner beans, or bright orange courgettes. F1 means first filial generation.

Groundkeepers - potatoes remaining in the soil after harvest. These can be pea-size, or larger tubers which were damaged and discarded.

hardening off - getting plants used to the colder conditions outside. Usually done by putting the plants outside in a sheltered spot during the day, for a few days. Then putting them out for 24hrs a day in a sheltered spot, covering them if the forecast is bad.

haulm - the green leaves and stalks of potatoes

hoe - a hand tool used to scrape the soil. It is made up of a sharp metal blade, attached to a long handle.

leggy - spindly, usually means the plant is not getting enough light.

module - a tiny, self-contained unit of peat or compost - seeds are planted in them, and when they have germinated and grown into little seedlings, the module can be taken out of its container and planted into a pot, or into the garden soil.

mulch is something which covers the ground completely, in a thick layer, without any gaps.

open pollinated plants are varieties that� grow true from seed. This means they are capable of producing seeds from this seasons plants, which will produce seedlings that will be just like the parent plant.

senescence - senescence is when the green leaves and stalks start to die down.

transplant - move a plant from one pot to another or into the garden itself.

tuber - is an underground stem which has thickened to form a storage organ. A potato is a good example.

volunteer - a plant growing of its own accord. It has not been planted or invited. Volunteers are usually remains of a previous crop and harbour disease.

Most potatoes naturally produce one main chit (sprout). This is apical dominance.

The eye at the rose end of the potato (ie furthest from where the potato was attached to its parent plant) is dominant. This dominant eye is at the ‘apical’ end of the tuber, & it supresses the sprouting of other eyes.

Is it better to plant a potato with one main chit, or lots of chits? One main chit will produce fewer larger tubers.For early potatoes, this will bring an earlier harvest. Knocking off the main chit, desprouting, may result in more stems and smaller tubers, because apical dominance is eliminated. Cutting tubers into pieces breaks apical dominance between eyes, releasing eyes to sprout. Other factors will effect sprouting:

• Seed planted in light, sandy soil which warms rapidly tend to produce more stems and set more tubers & result in smaller harvested tubers.
• Later planting tends to produce more stems per plant and have a lower yield.
• Sprouting of tubers under light produces short, tough green sprouts. Read More »