Keith Jordan
With daylight lengthening, birds nest building and weeds beginning to grow it’s time for action for gardeners. After months of relative dormancy, it’s a time of optimism – like the start of the football season!
Don’t rush out and sow all the seeds at once – keep some back to sow at regular intervals. This creates continuity and provides a reserve in case the first sowing fails. Beware, snow has fallen some Easter periods and young seedlings can die during cold, wet spring weather. Apply the old saying ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ to your seeds. Protect seedlings with horticultural fleece or old net curtain during cold spring periods – this creates a sheltered microclimate and can increase yields.
As with other aspects of life, prevention is better than cure in gardening. Reduce hiding places for slugs and snails by having a spring clean of your plot. Gardeners are great recyclers of materials, but the large piles of wood, bags, pots and ‘stuff’ kept for a future project seen on allotments and gardens are ideal hiding and breeding places for our most troublesome crop pests. Also look out and destroy their eggs – seen as small piles of round translucent eggs (about 3mm) in damp places. Molluscs are very persistent so I find deterrents like egg shells, grit and (expensive) copper tape around plants aren’t effective compared to reducing their local hiding places.
For more useful hints and tips come to our next Grow Your Own workshop Grow Your Own – Spring Jobs.