Terry Walton is finally getting planting!
Better weather means lots of sowing and planting can be done
Well, All Fools’ Day has just passed and the weather has certainly played tricks on us gardeners so far this year! April’s a month of contrasting weather, warm one day and frosty the next, but the month is also full of wonderful expectations. Is it not said, after all, that April showers bring the May flowers? It’s a time of opening buds and blossom everywhere and there’s a sense that new life is emerging from its winter slumber.
The barren landscape of the allotment is soon transformed by the appearance of the green shoots of life, albeit at this early stage it’s only the green of broad beans and garlic!
Not all the action is observed above ground as the potatoes, as a reward for producing strong, green shoots, are to be buried deep in the soil. There they’ll toil away below the surface building root structure before erupting to the surface. Not too early we hope, or Jack Frost may well exact his revenge!
In my already crowded greenhouse I have to find more room for some seed sowing. It’s the turn of a winter hardy favourite, kale, to be sown. I’m growing a more traditional kale this year after my red kale last winter didn’t live up to expectations. My variety of choice this year is ‘Nero di Toscana’. This is an Italian kale with the familiar curly leaves and has a very dark green coloured leaf, which goes almost black in the cold weather. These are sown in a half seed tray of seed compost just over 1cm (¼in) deep and will be transplanted into 10cm (4in) pots at the first leaf stage to grow into sturdy plants.
With my winter sowing taken care of it’s time to return to my summer veg. This is the time to get cucumbers under way and these days I follow the trend and grow only all-female types. I prefer baby cucumbers that are fresher and can be eaten at one meal. I grow two varieties, the first is called
‘Baby’, which is very sweet and produces a prolific crop of 7½cm (3in) cucumbers and is resistant to powdery mildew. My other type is called ‘Passandra’, which grows slightly longer at 15cm (6in), useful if you have a visitor, and again are good with disease resistance. Both types are sown in 7½cm (3in) pots of good compost and the seed is laid on its side before covering with 2cm (¾in) of sieved compost. They start germination in my airing cupboard for 48 hours to kick start into life. They must then be kept at 21-24C (70-75F) until the big seed leaves pop through, and these must be kept at 18-21C (65-70F) in their early life, as they soon succumb to cool temperatures. With the ground temperature gently rising my broad beans, having been hardened off, are ready to be set free. The ground has been well prepared with a liberal amount of well-rotted manure. Plant beans about 15cm (6in) apart and in double rows about 23cm (9in) apart. These are hardy plants and will stand whatever the April weather throws at them.