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Recent sowings & plantings |
| > | Pests Corner |
| > | Gardening hints for February and early March |
| > | New Products |
| > | Planning |
| > | Other news ... |
| > | Delivery dates |
We have used up all our Autumn King carrots. Of the root crops, we have a few parsnips and beetroot left and Sue still has turnips. The leeks stood up to the severe weather very well. Our kales looks a bit miserable - the Red Russian is worst and the Black Kale looks the best but 3 miles up the road in Benwick, Sue's kale is fine. My Dad has just started picking purple sprouting broccoli 'Rudolf'.
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Leeks |
Black Kale |
Lambs lettuce with snow |
The Winter Salads are perking up, apart from the lettuces which have taken a hammering. The over-wintered onions have lived up to their name. The perpetual spinach and chard is pickable. The parsley is a mess but I did rescue several plants and put them in a pot on our unheated porch windowsill which faces south. This has survived several severe haircuts by Ele.
Still to come are the overwintered cauliflowers and Autumn brassicas (broccoli 9-star, cabbages, broccoli Pacifica).
Recent sowing & plantings
If you didn't plant any Super Aquadulce broad beans in October or November, you can do so in February.
In March you can sow peas, radish and parsnips, but if you want parsnips for Christmas you can delay sowing until April. In the Easter holidays, why not get the children to grow mustard and cress in empty egg shells - they can draw faces on the egg shells and grow a few vitamins to go with all the chocolate.
Pests Corner
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Our sprouts were a bit small to pick for Christmas so we went for curly kale instead. However it took a lot of washing to remove the greenfly. We think we left the Enviromesh on a bit long. This year John has decided to cover the July and August plants straight after they go in, but to remove the mesh in late September/early October) once the plants are about 1 foot (30cm) across (after the cabbage-white butterfiles have finished laying eggs). This should give the predators chance to get stuck into any late aphids. As you can see in the picture to the right, Sue's sprouts were ready for Christmas, a lot bigger than ours! The hard Winter will have done for a lot of pests, but will also have killed many predators. We have noticed an increase in beneficial insects since we started growing flowers in the vegetable garden. Our companion plants are all attractive to beneficial insects, bees or butterflies |
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Gardening hints for February and early March
You need to be thinking about preparing the ground for the potatoes and/or March plantings. Start digging and manuring light* soils (unless the soil is frozen or very wet). You may need to do some weeding around over-wintered crops. In March some crops might need top-dressing with fertilizer or liquid feeding. If the older (lowest) leaves of brassicas are looking yellow, it means that the plant is running out of Nitrogen. This element is mobile and so the plant moves it from the old leaves to the rapidly expanding growing point.
*the terms 'light' and 'heavy' relate to the clay content of the soil. Pick up a handful of soil and moisten it (don't make it too wet). Work the soil using your thumb against your fingers. If the soil becomes like plasticene and you can roll it into a thin 'sausage' and then bend it to form a ring, then your soil has a high clay content. Clay soils can be very fertile and will contain a lot of potassium if it's the right type of clay. The drawback is that clay soils can only be worked in a narrow range of moisture content. Too wet and the soil will smear and you will spoil the structure; too dry and it will be like trying to break up bricks. Light soils contain a low proportion of clay and more sand-sized particles. They are easy to work under most conditions. The drawbacks of sandy soil are that it may need irrigation and it has a low capacity to hold most plant nutrients. All soils can be improved by the regular addition of bulky organic matter such as garden compost, farmyard manure and leaf mould.
New Products
Sue's
Sweet Peas Collection ~ Specially selected by Sue for their
fragrance and deep colours, in contrast to the Chelsea pastel
colours.
Colours include: clear lavender, frilly white, bold cerise
pink, rich deep magenta and bright red.
Planning
We are expecting delivery of seed potatoes on Friday 19 February. Our suppliers have invested in a new netting and labelling machine which has had a few teething troubles. As soon as you receive your potatoes you can start chitting them. Instructions will be included. There is still time to order seed potatoes whilst stocks last.
Our first plants of the year are due to be dispatched w/c 15 March: Spring (pointed) cabbage, round cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, beetroot and peas. We also have cut & come again lettuces which you can buy in packs of 5 plants of a single variety, as a Mini Pack (2 plants of each variety) or our original Selection Pack with 10 plants of each variety.
If you have a heated greenhouse or conservatory you could also order our first collections of tomatoes, chilli and sweet peppers for delivery w/c 15 March, but they will need to be potted-on and kept in a warm light place.
Don't forget to let us know if you are going to be away and we will try to fit our deliveries around your holidays ~ email your holiday plans.Other news
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Finally, I thought you might be interested in this item from the Telegraph: Rhubarb crumble – the new cancer-busting superfood.
Researchers have found that rhubarb, like many red vegetables, contains cancer killing chemicals.
And baking the plant for 20 minutes – like in a crumble or pie – dramatically increases their concentration.
Dr Nikki Jordan-Mahy, of Sheffield Hallam University's biomedical research centre, said: "Our research has shown that British rhubarb is a potential source of chemicals that may be used to develop new anti-cancerous drugs".
"Rhubarb has been shown to have some very interesting polyphenols that have anti-cancerous properties. Eating a nice crumble will be good for you."
We have rhubarb plants for delivery in April ~ Rhubarb 'Victoria'.
It is always great to see your gardens, allotments, window boxes, etc., do send us your photos.
The following dates are the planned dispatch times to you for the plants during 2010 (these may change depending on weather etc.):-
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22 - 24 February ~ |
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15 - 25 March ~ |
March Delivery ~ Brassicas & Beetroot; Cut & Come Again Salads & Sweetpeas |
| Collections ~ tomatoes, chilli and sweet peppers, cut & come again lettuces. | ||
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12 - 22 April ~ |
April Delivery ~ Rhubarb, ever-bearer strawberry, alpine strawberry, aubergine, cucumbers, chilli peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes (including grafted plants), onions, leeks, headed lettuce, sweet peas. |
| Collections ~ Sweet peas - Chelsea & Sue's Selection; cut & come again salads | ||
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4 - 13 May ~ |
Early May Delivery ~ Globe artichoke, asparagus, beetroot, cardoons, celeriac, celery, chard, leeks, headed lettuces, rocket. |
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10-15 May ~ |
May Ornamentals ~ Flowers for companion planting |
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17 - 26 May ~ |
Late May Delivery ~ Borlotti, dwarf French and runner beans, courgettes, pumpkin, squash, sweetcorn, herbs, leeks. |
| Collections ~ Courgettes; squashes; Cut & come again salads; Children's | ||
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07 - 17 June ~ |
June Delivery ~ Very early purple-sprouting broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, purple and Romanesco cauliflower, Florence (bulb) fennel, swede, turnip, leeks, cut & come again lettuces. |
| Collections ~ Dawn's Brussels sprouts; clubroot resistant cabbage and cauliflowers; beetroots, cut & come again lettuces. | ||
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28 June - 08 July ~ |
July Delivery ~ Cabbages, calabrese, kales, purple and white sprouting broccoli, Winter Cauliflower, headed lettuces, rocket. |
| Collections ~ Clubroot resistant cabbage and cauliflowers; beetroots, Winter cauliflowers, kales, purple-sprouting broccoli, cut & come again lettuces. | ||
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02 - 05 August ~ |
August Delivery ~ Oriental vegetables; Cut & Come Again Salads | |
| Collections ~ Clubroot resistant cabbage and cauliflowers; beetroots, Winter cauliflowers, kales, purple-sprouting broccoli, cut & come again lettuces. | ||
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30 August ~ |
Autumn Bedding plants |
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20 - 23 September ~ |
September Delivery ~ Spring Cabbage; Winter vegetables and Winter Salad | |
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04 - 07 October ~ |
October Delivery ~ Spring Cabbage; Japanese Overwintered Onions, Winter vegetables and Winter Salad |
Don't forget to let us know if you are going to be away and we will try to fit our deliveries around your holidays ~ email your holiday plans.
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