Garden Notes – Get Sowing

Thank heavens for the dry weather coming in at the end of March. At last we could get out into our gardens. We need them for exercise and food. Of course lots of you have no veg patch but it will be useful if you can manage to grow something in the coming months, even if it is only in a tub. I worry that though we grow a lot of veg in this country there will be no-one to harvest it. We could have a reduced choice of fruit and veg. If so it will be sensible to grow what you can in your garden.

Some crops are really easy to grow and are good value spacewise. Think of runner beans and the climbing French beans which crop a bit earlier. Spinach beet the perennial spinach will crop all year and is tough and easy. Beetroot will provide leaves and roots.

Lettuce and radishes all take up little space, likewise the herbs. If you are getting fed up with pasta a bunch of basil and oregano will liven things up. Coriander is really easy to grow and surprisingly tough, just what you need for your curries.

You can grow a whole veg patch in tubs where they will get more attention and may do better than the open ground ones. Courgettes do fine in pots as do dwarf French beans, which crop for ages. I have found quite a few ‘volunteer’ potatoes left over from last year so for once I will not dig them up but will allow them to add to my potato crop.

I was cross last year when some raspberries I planted turned out not to be the Autumn ones ordered but summer ones and I had to buy more from a different supplier. Now I am glad that I will have raspberries in Summer and Autumn.

Being cautious I am also sowing winter veg, leeks and the kale Red Russian, and chard which provides a huge yield for a small space.

If you cannot get the seeds mail order have a word with your local garden club. Members are often great hoarders of seeds and apart from parsley and parsnip most will germinate even if they are a few years old.

Stella Strachan

[Please note that this message is not posted on behalf of Bentworth Parish Council and does not necessarily reflect the Parish Council’s policy]