Milk containers to protect my onions

First a couple of points relating to the previous March report. In the photo showing the planting of the onion sets I should have pointed out that the white marker indicated where I had ‘pushed in’ the first of the sets; the other two await being pushed in. All that should show is the very top of the onion.

Secondly, I suggested that you ‘chit’ your potatoes in the dark. That was an ‘old codgers’ tale gleaned from someone who used to put them under his bed to chit! It is really much better to chit in a frost free daylight position as the sprouting ‘chits’ are far stronger. Mine are in a porch; windowsills are a good alternative.

On to today's update now.

The weather is warmer and forecast good so I’ve taken another chance today and planted out the onions I’ve grown from seed, in modules, over winter. They had good roots and were getting too big for the modules.

However, as the SFG is on my exposed allotment I have protected them for a while with cut-off milk containers. These will be removed in a couple of weeks when the onions have hardened off. Note: the container is not yet over the onion in the photo below.

The French beans I sowed last week have germinated and then grown quickly into tall, almost ‘leggy’, plants. It’s too cold to plant them yet, so to establish good roots I’ve planted them on into individual pots.

Do the same for other seedlings as they germinate while waiting for the warmer, frost free, weather. If you have too many seedlings, some plants, like rocket, lettuce, coriander etc could be grown to maturity, two or three to a pot, on the windowsill.

Feeding the soil and planting some more

The ground’s a little warmer so I’ve been doing a bit more work. Bearing in mind that the produce we grow feeds us, we need to think about feeding the soil. As an organic gardener I tend not to use chemical fertilizers. I make my own compost and I buy some well rotted manure every couple of years. I’ve put some of this onto the SFG (see photo below) and dug it into all but the corner SF where I have planned to grow carrots (They don’t like it). The advantages of incorporating organic material, compost or manure, is that it helps the soil structure and water retention and worms love it.

The broad bean plants are still alive and today I’ve planted three more. This time I’m planting seeds which are quite hardy. Just make the holes with something like an old broom handle, about 2cm deep, about 10cm apart, pop them in and cover.

In the next square I’ve planted 3 onion sets. Really easy; ideally space them about 20cm apart, but as space is limited I’ve squeezed them in 10cm apart along the north-east edge of the SFG. In the centre of the SF I’ve pressed in a single garlic clove to see what happens! (see photo 2) This leaves a bit of space in that SF for some onions I have been growing over winter from seed, I’ll wait until it warms up a bit before planting them out.

Indoor preparations

It’s still too cold to plant much outside but we can compensate for this by planting indoors, on a window sill or in a small propagating unit.

The first job is to get a potato ‘chitting’ or beginning to sprout. I’ve chosen to plant Pink Fir Apple, a nice waxy potato. Children like the shape because it’s a bit rude! The photo shows a large 5 tuber spud from last year and the one by itself which I’ll chit and plant this year. To chit simply put somewhere dark, and some say warm, but I leave mine in the garage. If you don’t want to plant more than one just pick an old potato from your veg cupboard and chit that.

The other job was to plant some seeds to germinate in pots on the window sill. I’m using an ordinary, peat free, seed and cutting compost. I’ve just under-filled a 100mm pot, watered it and planted 5 dwarf French bean seeds, then covered with a few mm of compost. In the smaller pot I’ve scattered about 20 cut-and-come-again lettuce seeds and covered lightly. This variety will give mixed leaves and produce a crop for some time.

In the picture below, I have included "one I did earlier", a small pot of rocket seedlings to plant out when it gets warmer.

Planting in pots means an earlier crop and less chance of frost or slug damage. An alternative to pots are modules in a mini-greenhouse which sits in the porch or window sill.  I’ve started some tomatoes and peppers in these modules (for pots in the garden) but there is just space for the pots just planted.

Keep an eye on the seeds, when they germinate and pop through they can easily grow really fast and become ‘leggy’, tall and spindly. Try to avoid this by moving pots to somewhere cooler until ready to plant out.

Soon, I’ll be planting a few onion sets and two or three broad bean seeds to go with those planted earlier (and have survived the cold snap last week). Watch out for more photos.

Initial plot and planting

Lured out by the sun I marked out the Square Foot Garden (SFG) on a bit of allotment I had dug over in the autumn. I reused some old door frame, chopped into sticks, and a length of redundant clothes line (reusing things to ensure sustainability of resources).

I’ve avoided a wooden frame as I find that these get wet, remain damp in dry times and provide a lovely home for slugs and snails!

Then the sun really went to my head and, maybe foolishly, I planted 3 broad bean plants that were getting too big for their pots (roots about 8 inches/ 20cm long and out of the bottom of the pot) and have left room for a few broad bean seeds in case the plants are frosted beyond recovery.

As the ground is still quite cold I‘ve covered the rest with a bit of black sheeting which will help the soil to warm and discourage the weeds from germinating. (Black dustbin liners or similar will do). I’ve held this down with wood etc. to avoid it being blown away by the wind.

When the seeds arrive I may well plant a few French beans, some rocket and lettuce in pots on a window sill, ready for transplanting when it’s a bit warmer (broad beans are hardier).

Don’t worry if you can’t start yet, there’s plenty of time and you may well miss another cold spell.

My Square Foot Garden project

Square foot gardening is gardening in a small space for folk who don’t have much space, are new to gardening and want to experiment, or for young people.

Traditionally, each small bed was a square foot (or 30 cm2), hence the name, and typically there are 9 such squares, i.e. a 3 x 3 grid. But you decide: make them bigger, or have more (e.g. 4 x 4) if you have the space.

I’m planning this in January, so over the next few months the spaces will gradually fill up or remain bare if the slugs get there first! I’ll take photographs of the garden once or twice a month so that you can check progress.

In planning I need to consider the position of the sun to avoid tall veg shading others. You won’t need many seeds, so consider sharing packets with friends or neighbours. I won’t be planting much yet, maybe a few broad beans which I germinated in December. I’ve prepared my soil, but if you need to dig yours and prepare, now is the time to start.

Below is my initial plan. It’s based on what we like and eat most of.

I do have an allotment so things that take a lot of space are planted elsewhere (squashes, cucumbers etc). As some crops finish I’ll replace them with others, watch this space.

I have paths on three sides of this plot so I’ve planned accordingly for watering and picking as I don’t want to stand on the earth and compact it.

I’ve just found some children’s plans, taken from the Kitchen Garden Magazine. They are much more detailed than mine but I will try to include them some time to give more ideas.

Enjoy planning and preparation!