Terry Walton is planning for the year ahead
The planting regime continues with cabbages and lettuce!
January is progressing and as the days slowly lengthen, gardeners are straining at the leash to get started. Patience is a virtue in gardening but, at times, this gets put to the test as we all want to get the new season underway.
As you walk past the rows of greenhouses dotted along the path at our allotments there are many signs of new activity. A glance into some shows a range of smaller plastic greenhouses, which have been erected inside ready to start early crops in the double comfort of extra protection.
Many plot holders have started filling pots with compost ready to warm up, to house early sowings of broad beans. The sales of compost sold from the stores on the allotment has already started to rocket in anticipation of better, warmer days. Slow down lads and lasses, it’s only mid-January!
We may not know what Mother Nature has in store for us this spring and summer but one thing looking likely is food prices being high. So this is the time for all gardeners to do something about it. Everyone who has an allotment can capitalise on rising prices and help supplement their budget. This is the time to use the ground productively and cram those crops in. In between slow-maturing crops, such as Brussels sprouts, fill spaces with a sowing of catch crops like quick salads. These will be in and out of the soil before the sprouts realise it! If you’re growing sweetcorn let a few climbing French beans use them as canes and get two feeds for the price of one! Go on, surprise yourself with your ingenuity.
With January ticking away, my greenhouse planting regime continues. My home greenhouse is heated with a double burner paraffin lamp and this provides sufficient heat for everything inside to steal a march on nature. It’s the time to sow early cabbage, and this year I’m reverting to my favourite, which is ‘Golden Acre Primo’. After several years of experimenting with other varieties, none of which gave me very early cabbage in April, I’ve gone back to this old variety. These are sown in a half tray of good multi-purpose compost and sprinkled thinly before covering with 6mm (¼in) of sieved compost. A light watering, then they’re popped into my plastic inner greenhouse at about 15.5C (60F). I only need nine plants but the surplus seedlings will be shared with my neighbouring allotmenteers.
While I’m in the sowing mood, these cabbages will be joined by an early sowing of lettuce. I’m sowing the variety ‘All the Year Round’, which is a hardy, all-weather, butterhead lettuce. These are also sown in a half seed tray of good compost and covered with 13mm (½in) of sieved compost. These will join the cabbage in the heated greenhouse and pop up in about 10 days. Again, all I need are nine plants to go out under a cloche in March, so my neighbours will benefit. These will give me my first taste of fresh salad for the season. I hope this generosity will be rewarded with some crops I’m not growing! The mint roots I planted in a pot and placed in my warm greenhouse have made plenty of tender green shoots. These will give my wife sprigs of fresh mint to flavour potatoes and a small amount of mint sauce.