Exciting times as my seed orders go in!
And the first crop I’m going to start sowing is ‘Mammoth’ onion
Firstly, let me say ‘Happy New Year’ to you all. Let’s hope it’s a good one in the garden!
With the festivities winding down, those of you with a real Christmas tree will be thinking of disposing of it shortly, but don’t take it to the tip, make it into an ericaceous mulch for acid-loving plants, such as blueberries. When using a Christmas tree as a mulch always wear thick gloves to remove the needles; these can then be added around your plants and gently worked into the top 5-10cm (2-4in) to allow them to break down slowly and add some acidic goodness. The actual tree can then be shredded, bagged up to allow it to breakdown for a few months, then be used to enrich the soil in your borders; or why not chop it into sections and stack it up to use as a refuge area for insects and smaller creatures?
Now we’re into the new year my thoughts have turned to seeds! With the incredible uptake in people growing their own last year (and signs are showing many will continue this year), checking the dates on my seed packets and ordering any that are needed for this year is definitely overdue (especially seed such as parsnip and lettuce, which doesn’t keep very long). Not only will I be growing my favourites, I also like to make space for some new and exciting varieties that I can share with you soon. Before I can start sowing seeds I need to get the little greenhouse cleaned out and ready for action by cleaning all the staging and using a horticultural disinfectant on all the surfaces and windows to make sure there are no overwintering insects or nasties. I also like to make sure all the heated propagators are
compost over the sides like
I used to! Moving a few bags of seed compost into the greenhouse to make sure they warm up and dry out a little is a good idea as it has been stacked up outside for a couple of weeks. Now that everything is ready I’ve decided the first veg to sow will be ‘Mammoth’ onions from Robinson’s Mammoth Vegetable Seeds (www. mammothonion.co.uk); these can grow to a huge size if you’re growing for showing, but I just want to grow a few big onions in the garden. I’m following the guidance and sowing and growing at a temperature of around 12C (54F), then transplanting and growing them on once they germinate and form a ‘crook’ shape. Plants will then be moved to a cold frame in March before planting out in late April.