By Keith Jordan
After what seems a long winter, I finally emerged from hibernation during a brief mild spell and visited my allotment. I started sorting out my (growing number of) of compost heaps – time to spread the good well-rotted material around fruit bushes, leeks, broccoli and Swiss chard. The worms will drag this down into the soil just as the roots of plants are becoming active again and needing nutrients. Any un-composted material is returned back to the heap for further decomposition.
This year I’m intending to make a much bigger attempt to grow more things, increase continuity and increase yields. The nutrient-rich compost will really help with the latter. It was great to see so many people at the Grow Your Own Year Round Workshop on 7 January. We touched on so many produce-growing issues but hopefully you picked up some useful tips. Just keep persevering, experimenting and reading up on the subject!
Like many people today I’m increasingly feeling the ‘financial squeeze’. My income is not keeping pace with inflation and, with no salary increase for a couple of years (just some personal tax reductions), I’m having to live on less money. The week after I get paid, a third of my salary has gone (regular bills/ standing orders) and the rest flows out at an alarming rate in the next 3 weeks on food, transport and general household things. Weeks 3 and 4 after pay day (depending on dental and other one-off bills) can be frugal. In addition to dwindling revenue money, my savings are minimal so no chance for any more home energy conservation improvements. Making, mending and using things wisely can certainly minimise outgoings but I know one area where I can still make inroads – growing more food.
My growing children are eating more and with inflation (on the increase) our food bills have been growing rapidly (has become my biggest monthly outgoing!) so this is big target area for me, and could be for many others. Although my children crave processed foods and snacks they always love rich soups and stews containing ‘hidden veg’ – a variety of healthy root crops and pulses! I’ve taken on extra allotment half plot (£9 rent) that comes with a thicket of wild blackberries. With some pruning and training these should give an excellent crop from August onwards and make fine pies with the apples that start to become ready then.
Here are just some other seasonal tips for growing more:
- Keep your plot simple and tidy (slugs and snails love damp areas and hiding places).
- Grow more vulnerable crops (salad /leafy crops) in the middle of your plot, furthest from any mollusc hiding places (e.g. hedge or compost heap)
- Don’t sow all your seeds from one packet in one go (‘put all your eggs in one basket’) to guard against failure due to pests or harsh spring weather. Observe the growth of weed seedlings…if they are growing then it indicates the soil is warming up, so start to sow hardy crops a little & often.
- Select winter-hardy broad beans and peas to sow early outside. You can pre-sprout bigger seeds (on damp tissue) to speed up, but plant before the emerging roots become long. This is a good way to check if any old seeds are still viable.
- Seed packets give a lot of information, but if the weather is too cold or wet, delay sowing even if it says February! Parsnips are one of the first seeds to sow outside in February, as they need a long growing season. Shallots and onion sets can go in as soon as the soil dries out.
- Prune autumn fruiting raspberries (those that crop from August) right down to the grown now.
- Still time to plant fruit bushes and trees (up to about mid-March) – good investment if you are staying put for a few years.
- Maximise your compost making (best source of plant nutrients, soil improver, water retention agent, etc.) – composting everything from shreaded paper, cardboard, tissues, leaves, veg peelings, grass cuttings, soft hedge prunings, leaves, rabbit/guinea pig litter, weeds, etc.