The vegetable patch

After a few weeks of looking at a bare vegetable patch I have decided that this weekend is the time to make a move on it.

When I first moved into the house I had some fairly large flowerbeds in various places around the garden. The largest of these is at the far end and benefits from almost all day sun. After a little deliberation this is the one I selected to be the veg patch.

In early November I set about clearing this back to a point where I could start digging. it was full of shrubs perennial flowers and even a couple of ornamental trees, this of course all had to go. I've never really been one to grow flowers but I imagine it looked quite impressive when it was first designed. however it had been neglected  for a while and with me attempting to live off the land as much as possible this year the sacrifice had to be made.

I've thought about different approaches to take when it comes to digging. Double digging (digging to twice the depth of your spades blade) seems a bit unnecessary but could be of benefit in particular areas. This main veg patch is for any of my larger plants and also for anything I am to grow a lot of. So when it comes to digging, things like potatoes will require planting in soil that has been dug to a deeper depth than salad leaves for example. Of course a decent depth and tilth all over would be ideal, you would be better off digging it all to a good depth than having some areas very deep and some not dug at all.

I have a picture in my head of where things are going to go but I'm sure this will evolve as the year goes on. It's already split into sections by logs and stone walls so these will stay and at the same time divide my workload up for me. I'll tackle a bit at a time and it should all be dug to a decent depth in time for spring. To improve it further I will be incorporating some homemade compost whilst digging. it can be difficult to judge how good your soil is when you first start so it's always a good idea to add some manure or compost and dig it in well, this way you can be sure the nutrients needed for healthy growth are in the soil. This is best done a couple of months before planting anything, that way it has time to break down and get worked into the soil.

Already waiting to go in I have two broad bean seedlings, these have reached around twelve inches so far. There's not much more I can offer them inside on my windowsill without potting them onto larger pots. Their space inside will soon be occupied by something else so the sooner I get them outside the better now. I have been hardening them off this week so it shouldn't be too much of a shock for them, plus they'll really benefit from all that extra rooting space. Broad beans are pretty tough as far as seeds go and can also be planted direct outside. I might do this with a couple alongside the indoor reared ones as a comparison to see whats best for next year.

By no means will my vegetables be restricted solely to the veg patch, I intend to grow anywhere possible this year. The vegetable patch will be at the heart of it all but I wont be happy until I can walk from one end of the garden to the another picking fresh fruit and veg all the way.

Rain stops play

Not for the first time this year the weather has thwarted any plans I had to get out in the garden this weekend. The raspberries remain unpruned and the broad beans I had planned to introduce to the outside world haven't moved from their windowsill.

My contingency plan was put into action Sunday morning. I had brought my picnic table inside last week to dry out in the hallway. It normally sits in an open spot on an old flag stoned patio towards the bottom of the garden over looking the future veg patch and the fields beyond. this is going to be a great place in the summer, somewhere we can sit and enjoy the fruits of our labour whilst glancing over at what's next on the menu. In the winter however it does seem to be quite exposed. The flash hail showers we have every now and then certainly haven't done the table any favours. The dry stream bed running along the end of the patio turned out to be fully functional again during a particularly heavy shower last week. This was only noticed when we returned home to see the ducks bobbing up and down at the end of the garden. It subsided as quick as it came and was only flowing for a couple of hours. Still a rare treat for the ducks , they couldn't believe their luck!

The table took almost a week to dry out completely so it really must have taken on some water. Over the course of Sunday, in between doing other odd jobs, I gave it a couple of coats of fresh varnish. It now looks as good as new and should be fully prepared for another couple of months outside, before the weather brightens up and gives things a chance to dry out.

All in all not a completely wasted weekend, I'd much rather get jobs like this done now and enjoy the sunshine when it does make an appearance. Fingers crossed for a drier couple of days this weekend.

Early Potatoes

After a three week wait my seed potatoes have finally arrived. I've chosen three different varieties to enable me to grow first earlies and two types of second early. You can also get maincrop potatoes which I will be choosing later in the year. This will be the first year I've tried first and second earlies normally I plant whatever, whenever and see how it ends up, this year however I'm going for a bit of a more structured approach. When purchasing Potatoes they will generally be listed in these three categories, often a single variety will be suitable to grow for more than one if not all of them.

Potatoes are one of those vegetables that if you intend to be self sufficient the more space you have to dedicate to them the better. This is of course only if you intend to grow large quantities. I would urge even non-gardeners to plant a couple of potatoes in a neglected bed, a large pot on the patio or indeed anywhere they can fit them. the varieties you can get hold of these days differ so much from those available in the supermarkets. Admittedly Maris pipers and King Edwards are great roasted but I would encourage you to try and grow something new, something that is not readily available on the shelves, who knows you may never look back. In particular, this year I think heritage varieties are making a bit of a comeback, why not go for one of these?

The first of my chosen three is Homeguard. This is a heritage variety and was the most widely available during the second world war. It is reknowned for it's early lifting ability and consistently high yields. This will be my first early and be planted mid February for harvesting as soon as June.

My second choice is Casablanca, this could go as first or second early so I'll be planting it towards the end of  March for a mid summer harvest. It's great to cook with and also known for its show qualities. Showing's more of an idea then a plan at the moment but I'm sure they'll be more to come on that later in the year.

The third is Kestrel, a pink eyed potato and again one that could cover both if not all three categories. This one also produces high yields, has good taste and is a show bench favourite. This will go in a couple of weeks either side of the Casablanca.

With these three I have covered a wide range of culinary uses as well as a staggered growing season.

When choosing a Maincrop variety storage is an important factor to consider. The first and second earlies won't store particularly long a couple of weeks at most out of the ground. The best thing to do is leave them in the ground until they are needed. If stored well your the harvest from your maincrop could see you right through the winter. Because of storage successional sowing isn't very common when planting maincrops, the potatoes can all be planted harvested and prepared for storage together. A check of the stored potatoes once a week or so just to see all is in order and one bad potato isn't spoiling the rest is all that is needed from there.

As far as I know I haven't eaten any of these three varieties before so there is already much anticipation to see how they grow and more importantly how good they taste.

I will be chitting my first earlies over the coming days, I'll post an article on the tips and advice page but briefly it involves leaving the potatoes to produce sprouts before planting.

Raised beds

Many argue that raised beds are the perfect solution to vegetable growing. You can reach all parts of the bed without having to stand on the soil, they are a nice height to work on and they look great too. It also gives you the freedom to locate your beds wherever you want them. It's best to observe the way the sun moves around your garden for a couple of days before you decide on their final position, this will ensure any seedlings get the best possible start.

A disadvantage is that unless you have a large amount of compost to hand already you will have to buy it in. Depending on how many beds you have to fill this can be an expensive initial outlay, so not ideal for those on a tight budget. It does however eliminate having to dig the whole plot over when starting a new veg patch from scratch. If you are prepared to thoroughly dig your plot over then there is no reason why you cannot achieve the same tilth of that of a raised bed filled with sacks of compost.

I've gone for a combination of the two. Raised beds closer to the house and the main veg patch at the bottom of the garden. Along with various fruit trees and bushes dotted around wherever I can fit them. The raised beds are going to be used for any crops that may need a bit more attention or that are handy to have close to the kitchen.

I managed to dig up some leeks that I had planted last September before the house move. These have been sitting in an over crowded pot up to now. They have gone in alongside some lettuces I also managed to save. I'm not expecting much growth for the next few weeks while the roots re-establish but I'm looking forward to early crop of both at some point in April. This will also free up the bed for a summer crop, not sure what yet but I'm sure I'll have plenty of ideas between now and then.

The second bed will soon be planted with shallot sets, leaving enough space in between rows for some Chanternay carrots. the beds aren't quite deep enough for a maincrop of carrots but the smaller Chanternay should do well with the shallots acting as a mask against root fly.

The third and final bed is still undecided. I was thinking about entering some veg in a local show come the summer so this could be an ideal place to keep an eye on them. onions maybe or perhaps beetroot. That's a way off yet though!

The first signs

Last summer I had decided a Rhubarb plant somebody had kindly bought me would be potted up and left in a sunny spot on the patio. I wasn't expecting a great deal from it the first year but the fact that it barely grew at all and never showed any signs that it was likely to do well was a bit of a disappointment.

In the end I gave up on it. I knew that planting the rhubarb in the ground would have been more beneficial but at the time in an small, already overcrowded garden this wasn't an option.

During the house move all of the pots came with us. I looked at this now completely lifeless pot of soil with no clue that a Rhubarb plant had ever been near it, thinking that it will come in handy for some herbs or maybe a salad crop in a few months.

Having now been sat on my back step for a couple of months, this week while tinkering about doing other odd jobs in the garden to my astonishment I noticed the unmistakable first shoots of Rhubarb pushing up through the soil. This was fantastic news, something I had long given up on and quite possibly would have forgotten about is now likely to become my first crop of the year. While everything else in garden still remains dorment the shoots are continuing to grow.

I have read up a bit on forcing Rhubarb by placing an upturned old pot or dustbin over the top of the plant to exclude light and bring on an earlier, blanched crop. As this plant has done so well I think I may well just leave it to it's own devices and  harvest when it's ready. It now has pride of place in a deep bed in a sunny corner of the garden where I'm sure it will thrive this year.

Where to start?

Looking at the garden and in particular the weather over the past couple of weeks there's so much to do and such little time. I've been making do with dashing out in between showers on the weekends getting an hour either clearing back old flowerbeds or moving lumps of old stone from one wall to another, trying to reinforce the existing beds. All the while looking for glimpses of where the sun is likely to shine most and plotting what I'm going to grow there.

Up to now most of the action has taken place indoors. I've been eagerly studying the collection of books I have along with trawling the internet investigating which crop will suit which conditions and more importantly when I can begin to sow it. Still I can't say I haven't enjoyed the planning of it all, envisaging all of the homegrown delights that await me in the coming months.

I've even gone as far as sowing some seeds on and leaving them on a vaguely sunny windowsill, broad beans, cabbage and chard two of each. Succession is the aim this year so I'm resisting any more, for now at least.