• get rid of the tiny weed seedlings
• keep the soil loose on top - so reducing the number of weeds which grow because they find it hard to germinate in loose, dry soil. Also loose soil will be easy to hoe in the future.

TopVeg used a small hand rake as a hoe. It is important to work the hoe in a shallow layer of soil, so that the roots of the shallots are not disturbed.

The shallots have grown well in the last week.

It is a shame that the shallots have grown in an uneven fashion.

Using a hoe when the weeds are tiny, before the weeds start to compete with the shallots, will also make life easier in the future.

Celery can be grown from seed or purchased as seedlings in plugs.

Celery seed is sown in late March, & needs a temperature around 70 deg F. to germinate. Seeds should be sown about 5cm apart, & 0.5 cm deep. They will take about two weeks to germinate.

Seedlings can be planted out after 5 or 6 weeks when the temperature is above 55 deg F. Read More »

The growth of the shallots, planted six weeks, ago is uneven. These 3 photos were all taken today, and each bulb was planted on 28 February.

The uneven growth of the shallots indicates: Read More »

It is difficult to grow straight carrots in heavy or stony soil.
Carrots grow best on light stone free soil, such as sand, loam and peat soils, where there is no restriction on the tap root growing straight down and therefore producing a perfect, straight carrot.

• Caroline has posted a comment about growing straight carrots:

I heard that a good way to stop carrots from ‘forking’ in rocky soil is to use the end of the rake or something long and cylindrical to make a deep narrow hole, fill it with lovely fine compost and sow the seed directly on top of the compost. Even with a bit of soil movement this should still help you have relatively normal shaped carrots.

• alternatively, on stony soils a narrow slit trench could be made with a spade & filled with sand or peat. The slit can be about 2″ wide at the top. Carrot seeds are sown in this strip so there is no restriction on tap root development.

• grow medium rooted varieties instead of long rooted carrots
• Ben has added a comment about the problems of adding manure to carrot land:
  It’s also important not to plant carrots in soil that has had slow release fertilizer added or clumps of manure. The carrot root can come into contact with it and fork from the extra nutrients.

It is possible to grow straight carrots by creating the correct environment for carrots.

The leek is a symbol of Wales, and is eaten by the Welsh on St David’s Day, which is on 1st March 2008. St David is the patron saint of Wales.History has it, that the Welsh fought a battle against Saxon invaders, in a leek field in 640 A.D.. The Welsh wore leeks in their helmets to identify themselves in the battle.

Click the link to find more information about growing leeks and their nutritional value.

Slave on the River Cottage Forum asks if last years shallots can be planted this year as sets Read More »

Leeks have excellent nutritional value.

Leeks contain: Read More »

30 shallot sets , variety Yellow Moon, were planted in the vegetable garden on 24 February 2008.

The Yellow Moon variety of shallot:

• is disease resistant Read More »

An early variety of carrots, sown in late summer, have been harvested throughout the winter.
The carrots were sown in early July and left in a polytunnel. They were not thinned, but have still grown to a good size. They were relatively small when harvested in November, but have grown well since then. They still have that fresh young-carrot flavour. Read More »

Parsnips are usually left in the ground until they are needed. But if there are some left at the end of the winter they may be stored:

• dry (in a cool, frost-free place)
• in a clamp
• frozen. Freezing is best if parsnips are to be kept well into the spring.

Read More »