Taking stock in the run-up to springtime
Fruit, vegetables, and ornamental displays are important aspects of our gardening, so throughout the year time is apportioned to whichever section is in most need at a given time. Ever eager to keep ahead of the game, we recently took a quick March check on how all three are progressing in the run up to springtime.
Soft and top fruits are secure and set up for flowering, and on close inspection the buds are beginning to swell.
Typically, the “Victoria” plum is going to be first into bloom outdoors, and although it’s a selffertile variety, the crop is always heavier when it flowers in calm weather and pollinating insects are on the wing.
Under glass in the unheated greenhouse, an established Peach “Peregrine” opened its first pink flowers last week and is currently demanding a few minutes of attention every morning.
Although it too is self-fertile, I insist on visiting each bloom with an artist’s brush every morning to ensure a good crop.
With minor fruit demands under control until the grape vines break bud, nurturing early vegetables in the moderate warmth available, is next priority. The majority are started in small pots, broad beans, peas, shallots, onion sets are first, with Easter weekend planting out in mind.
Potato tubers, presently standing upright in trays with developing shoots, are also destined for planting later this month. Leaf lettuce can be sown in a module tray now, a finger and thumb pinch of seed to each a cell. The resultant plugs will be planted out under a cloche in early April.
Some of our early vegetables, eg perpetual spinach, beetroot, turnip, salad crops, are sown traditionally, directly outdoors in drills, but the timing can vary according to weather conditions. Successful germination is dependent on soil temperature. If that’s down to a single figure Celsius we keep the seed packet closed.
Raising your own veggies in small pots or cell trays overcomes this problem but raises the issue of providing good light and moderate warmth indoors until planting out time arrives.
Obviate this by purchasing vegetable plug plants. Peas, beans, onions, leeks, sweet corn, courgettes, salad crops, and a good range of summer and winter brassicas are yours for the buying.