I collected the last brussel sprouts, most of which have been nibbled by hungry wild rabbits. In my raised bed I also harvested the last carrots and parsnips, which were actually quite small but very tasty in my beef and ale stew.

Cold frame lettuce

My coldframe protected the Winter Lettuce from the worst of the Winter weather including the snow and I was delighted to be able to pick some Lambs Lettuce and Rocket as you can see in the picture below. A few croutons and some fried pancetta accompanied my mixed salad nicely at lunchtime.

I am still enjoying the garlic and shallots which I grew last year but supplies are running out rapidly. And in fact this morning I planted my new shallots (called Red Sun) in the area where I grew potatoes last year. The sun was shining and the crocuses near my greenhouse had opened up their purple petals as a sure sign that we are now coming out of Winter.

The broad beans which were sheltered in my greenhouse did not look too good so I sowed some more in the afternoon. I also took the opportunity on this sunny afternoon to feed my fruit trees by sprinkling some organic bonemeal powder around my apple tree, cherry tree and also the black and redcurrant bushes. This should give them a boost during the awakening season of spring. As I was spreading my bonemeal fertilizer I noticed that my cherry tree was full of buds so hopefully I will get a lot of fruits this year.

Still no sign of any Daffodil blooms in the garden which means a delay of about 4 weeks compared with last year.

My sowing plans are well under way and include indoor sowings of red Amaranthus, Cleomes and Cosmos which I look forward to seeing in my new flower borders.

Here is my list of gardening activities for the next few weeks.

Laying turf
Since we have had a fair bit or rain recently it should be easier to pull up any old lawn to replace it by a new one. And Autumn is one of the best seasons to start a new lawn with turf or seed: the weather is still warm enough for the grass to grow and it will also get plenty or rain which should help the lawn establish itself. In fact I have noticed that my local garden centers have stocked up on turf recently. It’s always best to lay the turf as soon as possible on a level, weed and stone free soil in order to achieve best results.

Harvesting and feeding
The tomatoes which I have grown outdoors will continue to ripen into September, and therefore it’s important to continue to water and feed them regularly.

It’s important to harvest beans regularly to make the most of the young tasty vegetable and also to encourage further growth and crops.

The harvest of potatoes harvest is continuing especially for the maincrop varieties. And I am keeping an eye on the sweetcorn which should soon be ready for harvest.

Must have a go at cuttings
Pelargonium are a good choice for cuttings. Simply fill 8 cm pots with compost and some perlite. Cut off some healthy stems below a set of pelargonium leaves. Remove all leaves except the top 2 pairs and insert 3 in each pot. Water and put them somewhere light. In a few weeks they should start to root and you will be able to pot them up.

Forcing Hyacinths
I enjoy having a go at forcing hyacinths each year as it brings colour and delightful perfume into the bleaker months of winter. Choose a healthy hyacinth bulb (prepared bulbs are best for forcing). Fill a terracotta pot of suitable size filled with bulb fibre or compost mix and push bulb into the pot to half their depth. Water and put the hyacinth somewhere dark and cool (that’s very important – I have had problems with hyacinths suffering from heat or drought). When the shoots are about 5 cm tall, bring them indoors to fill your home with colour and lovely perfume.

Winter may seem like far away but it’s nice to prepare for it with some unexpected blossoms from the hyacinths.

Rocket First Early Potatoes

However it looks like the hot weather which we have had early on in the year was not so beneficial my tubers which did grow as quickly as expected or produce many potatoes. Or could it be that my clay soil is to be blamed for this shortfall?

In fact I am a bit disappointed with the amount of potatoes for the first line which I have dug up. You can see the amount in the picture here.

On the good news front this type of potato seems resistant to worms and looks prestine (with a nice yellow soft skin and white flesh). I will need a bit more time to make up my mind as to its taste, so far I would describe it as smooth (ie. not floury).

The next variety which I have yet to dig up is called Ratte. I will enjoy doing a comparison between the two varieties when I have got round to picking the next line of Ratte variety potatoes.

So there’s a lot more digging to be done with the reward of a constant supply of freshly cooked organic new potatoes.

Greenhouse Peppers

I did have a head start with my peppers which I starting to sow back in April of a variety called F1 tasty grill. They have an elongated form and tasted great last year.

You can see in the picture below that right now the peppers in my greenhouse are quite big and growing well in the grow bags.

I recommend feeding the plant regularly; personally I use a potash-rich tomato liquid feed (the organic type as a personal preference).

As the plants grow bigger and heavier with fruits, I need to start staking them with some bamboo canes which I will push in the ground.

This year I also bought a pepper plant from a garden centre as a comparison and I believe it is a standard variety called Bell Boy pepper. In fact looking at the label it looks similar to the peppers that you can buy from supermarkets normally.

I like to try different varieties of vegetables every year, sometimes you find new varieties that are particularly tasty, easier to grow or more suited to your local conditions.

Home-grown peppers taste great and since I know where they come from I guess they are doubly good for me too.

My top tip: the plants which I grow in my greenhouse tend to grow in profusion and end up with a lot of leaves and flowers. I personally prefer to reduce the number of flowers in order to harvest a smaller number of peppers that will ripen quicker.

Was it tip-top for you? Please leave a comment – thank you!

English Garden Garlic

Following from my last post on my garlic trial I am having mixed results at present. I guess the weather and the type of soil have had a lot to do with the results.

So far I can report that the garlic in my English garden is struggling as you can see in the picture on the right hand side with the tiny cloves and some onions in the background; in fact some of them seem to have died out.

I am not sure if the cause of this failure was the wet winter followed by a really dry spring.

French Garden Garlic

In the meantime the garlic in my French garden was doing fine last month but I have now left it to its own devices and I know that it is getting really hot down there. The harvest time shouldn’t be too far away now and only time will tell.

My Greenhouse Tomatoes

By now your tomato plants are likely to be of an average height of 9 inches (depending on when you sowed or planted them and where they are growing and care for). The tomatoes grown in my greenhouse are actually taller than the other outdoor specimen which I planted not that long ago and both are bearing flowers. The size of the plant is not a concern since it will all come in good time with the warm summer which we shall hopefully continue to enjoy (although it is cold and raining heavily today!).

So what do I need to do now to make sure that I get a delicious crop of tomatoes? For me just a bit of maintenance is enough as follows :

1. Removing side shoots:

Early on I try to make sure that I remember to remove the side shoots as they appear on cordon tomatoes only. I tend to focus on the shoots that start from the bottom part of the tomato plant stem. I often forget some side shoots but in my personal experience it doesn’t do any harm and I still get a good crop.

2. Staking the plants:

One of the most important task to do as the plant grows quickly and needs supports otherwise the wind may break you tomato plant and you’re left with a weak plant. I simply use bamboo canes and twine to support my plants.

3. Tomato water and feed:

Feeding tomato plants once a week if you remember to do it is great. I prefer to use an organic high-potash fertilizer from the moment my tomato plants start developing flowers. Sometimes I also give them a seaweed fertilizer which is organic and quite a comprehensive feed (although a bit expensive but I don’t over use it).

What about tomato diseases?

I don’t spray my tomatoes against diseases since I prefer to grow organic vegetables and in the past years I have done well without any chemicals. However two years ago when we had the floods I recall that everybody in the UK had to fight the dreaded tomato blight disease. Even Monty Don who had decided that year on the Gardener’s world TV programme to grow most of his tomatoes outdoor had a poor result.
I also like to grow companion plants next to my tomato plants and you can see in the above picture a little marigold next to the plant. This is supposed to deter predators which are likely to damage my plants and in this particular case I believe it is the strong smell of the marigold which confuses the predators. And it also looks good!

Finally, let’s not forgetting the best tasks of all: harvesting! And the more you harvest, the more you get in my personal experience. Also, it prevents the pests such as mice which I have seen in my greenhouse from temptation.

Home Grown Cabbage

Cabbage at last is a success and this is a first for me since previously my cabbages had been badly attacked by the white fly which lays its eggs on the leaves and then the caterpillars devastated all my vegetables.

The only thing is: I am not so keen on that type of winter cabbage (Durham Early). Funnily enough no other pest has had a go at them either! Although I noticed that this variety of cabbage is available from major supermarkets (at a cost of £0.85 each and the seed packet cost me £1.70 for hundreds of seeds).

My second radish crop is growing well and thankfully we recently got some rain. Radishes are thirsty vegetables which develop a hot taste when they are not watered enough.

Unfortunately it looks like this year again I won’t be having many cherries. Last year it was the frost which happened at the same time as the cherry blossoms and which resulted in many flowers dropping on the floor.

This year I noticed that many of the tiny green cherries seemed to have been pulled off their stalk. And it turns out that the pigeons have been eating them green! I have always been aware of cherries being eaten by black birds when near-ripe and managed to put a net on the tree at the right time.

But this is so early! So next year I will have to act earlier.

It feels so good to be able to collect my first vegetables which have been home-grown and cared for organically.

And if you know a good recipe for cabbage please let me know!

Planting Potatoes

My early variety potatoes are already in and they have started to sprout shoots so I will need soon to start earthing up the shoots in order to get a bigger crop of potatoes. This also allows me to do some weeding along the way.

I should have a continuous supply of my home grown potatoes for at least 7 months of the year by planting early and maincrop varieties of potatoes. The two varieties allow me to have early new potatoes in July and then a later maincrop in September.

So it’s not bad going for all my digging efforts!

This free chilli offer is part of the Dig-in campaign which the BBC are currently promoting.

I cannot stress enough about how easy and rewarding it is to grow chillies – that is if you like it spicy!

Below is a list of plants which are easy-to-grow and I shall start sowing most of them outdoors in May if the weather allows it.

Sunflower

Sowing flowers:

- Outdoor sunflowers: bring a bit of sunshine in your garden with tall sunflowers. May is a better month to grow them outdoors. I did sow some sunflowers seeds in my greenhouse in April but they did not germinate and it looks like a slug ate the tender shoots.
- Love-in-a-mist: easy to grow annuals usually available in shades of blue and pink.
- Sweet peas can be planted outside and trained to climb on a bamboo wigwam for example. Mine are already out.

Sowing vegetables:

– Sweet corn: easy to grow in modules and very tasty. Personally I tend to use them in a area where a visual screen is useful or alternatively to provide shade to other plants nearby.
- Squash and pumpkins: if you only have space for one of them, I recommend growing squash (butternut varieties are my favourite ones). Squash and pumpkins need a fair bit of space to grow and as well as feeding, which is why they are often grown on rotten compost heaps.
- Green beans – particularly dwarf green beans which are one of my favourite vegetables and are so expensive to buy from supermarkets that it’s really worth a try. I shall leave my green bean modules in the greenhouse until they are ready to be planted out.

Sowing herbs:

Many herbs such as basil and coriander need more warmth and sun to thrive and now is a good time to sow them.

This year I have decided that it is too late for me to grow any cauliflower in the garden since I fear that they will be affected by the white cabbage fly like last year.

I did sow some winter cabbage which is doing fine at present since the butterflies are only just starting to come out. And so we have had our first cabbage this week for the first of many crops to come.

Finally you can also continue to sow most of the seeds which I mentioned in my last article on what to sow in April.