New Season

The new growing season is getting under way in our kitchen garden. Buds are swelling and blossoms are opening on fruit trees and bushes, seedlings are appearing in the areas where we kept vegetables going for seed production last year. It's a bonus labour-saving that, allowing things to self-seed, and it shows us just how quickly they can get going when left to their own devices. That said, we'll be waiting a while yet before direct sowing crops outdoors.

Overwintering vegetables and salad crops are still yielding, but their days are numbered and many are bolting and going to flower. It's worth letting that happen, even if they're not to be kept for seed, as those flowers are a vital food source for early-season pollinators. Bumblebees love it!

There's a lot of pre-growing of seedlings going on in the potting shed. Even more than usual, since we have a couple of commissions to put in veg plots at local primary schools later this month.

It's worth planning well and exercising a bit of patience at this time of year: many inexperienced growers, brim full of enthusiasm and raring to go, start sowing prematurely, which doesn't bring any advantages (just the opposite), since outdoor conditions need to be suitable for seedlings at the right time for transplanting them to their final spots.

We can provide valuable assistance with planning your kitchen garden for maximum year-round productivity with the least effort, helping you avoid the pitfalls and dead ends and focus on enjoying that fabulous fresh produce as it makes the short journey from veg bed to plate. We also supply plants, such as perennial vegetables, herbs and fruit bushes, as well as seeds and tubers, subject to availability.

Drop us a line, by email or using the contact form on this site!