Terry Walton turns his attention to garlic and cabbages
And garlic, onions and cabbages have my attention on the plot
As the month of March opens its account, slowly but surely the winter months recede further. What will this new month bring? It’s renowned in folklore by the sayings of ‘mad March winds’ and it can be a cold, cruel month. So beware out in the garden and resist that urge on pleasant, warm days not to rush into rash planting.
There are tell-tale signs in the hedgerows that some life is stirring. The long, fluffy, caterpillar-like catkins hang there in dense bunches and wiggle about in the gentle breeze as if the hedge is alive with crawly bugs. These caterpillars would be horrifying if they inhabited our veg plots but look graceful and beautiful on the willow trees. Are they more plentiful and longer this year?
At the bottom of the plot there’s another tell-tale sign that spring’s around the corner as the pond becomes alive and the croaking of the frogs can be heard echoing their return to the place of their birth. They’re much later this year as they’ve waited with patience for the last of the ice to melt. The water seems to ‘boil’ with their frantic activity to draw females. Yes, the gardener’s friend is back in town and don’t we know it! Soon they’ll merge back into the undergrowth and become our allies in the fight against many pests. Their return is always welcome on my plot.
The longer, warmer days are having the desired effect on garlic growth. There are strong, green shoots in view but the garlic bed has been panned down hard in the heavy rain and this needs to be broken up to allow the roots to breathe and expand. With my forked hand tool the soil surface is broken up carefully around each plant. They’re then given a treat with a top dressing of blended farm manure. These will now grow away and make super bulbs for a July harvest.
Having started on my garlic patch, my onion bed adjoins this area so I can now prepare this ready for my onion sets. This area is given a liberal covering of well-rotted manure and this is forked in well to produce a nutrient-rich area. Normally, around the third week in March, I plant my onion sets directly into the soil but this year I’m deviating from normal practice to plant these sets in 24 compartment seed trays indoors in my unheated greenhouse. This will allow a good root to form and small, green shoots to emerge before planting out. It gives them a head start and will hopefully deter the birds from pulling them out. We shall now wait to see if this practice succeeds over my normal practice!
My first sowing of early cabbage ‘Primo’ is doing well in the seed trays so to get a succession of cabbage underway it’s time to sow another variety. This one is called ‘Noelle’ and is sown lightly in a half seed tray of good compost at a depth of 1cm (½in) and watered with a tepid spray of water.