Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Sow far, sow good
The long Easter weekend is the perfect time to get to work in your garden
Say Easter and you quickly think of chocolate eggs, a long weekend off work with family and, of course, gardening. Easter has been our big traditional gardening weekend since medieval times, and today it is often the first chance busy people have to get out into the garden and start getting to grips with all the work that has piled up over the winter.
It only takes a few spring days and suddenly everything needs doing at once, and the warmer weather this week will mean spring will undoubtedly have sprung in your garden.
There is grass to cut and edges to trim, beds and borders will need to be cleared of weeds, the patio will be ready for a good going-over with a stiff broom or pressure washer, and containers will need planting with something suitably spring-like.
Primroses and violets are the traditional Easter flowers, although cultivated polyanthus, violas or pots of well-budded spring bulbs are the modern equivalents. A few hardy souls will even crank up the barbecue and get the garden seats out.
And if you want to grow your own, now is the time to get started on creating your kitchen garden.
Once your soil preparation, fertiliser spreading and raking have been done, the key job to get under your belt is sowing. Most hardy vegetables can be sown now – so that’s carrots, parsnips, radishes, lettuces and spring onions, Swiss chard and spinach. I would delay sowing
‘‘ Now is the time to get to grips with all the jobs that piled up over winter
beetroot for another few weeks since it often bolts if the weather takes a turn for the worse again.
And if you want to raise young leeks and brassica plants prepare a small area as a seedbed. Simply work in plenty of old compost, rake the soil finely then sow short rows.
You can happily sow any of the late summer/autumn varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, calabrese and Brussels sprouts.
However, don’t sow late varieties of these or sprouting broccoli until May since they are not cropped until late next winter or the following spring.
When the seedlings come up thin them out to an inch or so apart to give them more space and transplant the young plants to their growing positions later.
It’s still far too soon to start frost-tender veg outside, though now’s good to sow them indoors. I put two to three seeds of runner beans, sweetcorn, outdoor cucumbers and courgettes in pots of seed compost on a warm windowsill indoors. That way they will be ready to plant out in six or eight weeks when the risk of late frost is past.
The one job I’d suggest putting at the top of your list is a trip to the garden centre.
Easter weekend is the peak season when all the occasional gardeners do their one big annual garden shop. So if you need to stock up on seeds, fertilisers or gardening gloves, make sure to get there early.
It’s the way to be sure of a very happy Easter in the garden.