Terry Walton is transplanting seeds already
Early sowings are showing leaves so I’m on transplanting duty
Acouple of weeks ago it was the snowdrops that showed me the new year was waking up, but this has been strengthened by a glance at the hedgerows. Those long, creepy ‘caterpillars’, the catkins, are dangling there with their fluffy exterior and pale yellow clusters of flowers. These are all signs that, despite the winter, nature will always catch up. How long before we see the pale green leaves of the hawthorn making the hedgerows misty green?
In the greenhouse, early sowings of lettuce and cabbages have started to show their first true leaves. This is an indication they each want a place of their own away from the crowded seed tray, so it’s time to transplant into trays with separate compartments so they can grow on into decent-sized plants.
While carrying out transplanting duties I realised I use the same device that was made for me over 40 years ago. It’s a piece of Bakelite, the material old radios were manufactured from. It’s just over 1cm (½in) wide and 20cm (8in) long, with one end ground flat to ease seedlings from the compost and the other end rounded to make the perfect hole in which to drop the seedling. I was a young man in my apprenticeship, when an older, skilled man knew of my passion for gardening and made this useful tool for me. I’ve treasured it all my gardening life and I must have transplanted tens of thousands of seedlings with this unique tool, and it still looks like new. It’s true when we older guys say ‘they don’t make things like they used to’!
With plenty of manure arriving at the allotment, it’s a good time to complete my onion bed. The green manure that covered
this bed was dug in three weeks ago so a new coating of well-rotted manure can be spread over this area. This will be left for the worms to take back into the soil until mid-March, then I’ll assist with my fork to complete the process. This fertile area will provide me with onions for almost all the year round.
With chrysanthemum cuttings gathering momentum, so too are the aphids that feed on these tender young shoots. Daily vigilance is essential and any aphids spotted need to be removed swiftly with finger and thumb before they colonise.