Our first show of the year is on the 15th March in the village hall. Schedules, entry forms and guidance can be obtained from committee members and The Five Bells.
Doors open at 2.00pm and as well as the exhibits there will be available a delicious tea and raffle.
We are again running our competition for children growing potatoes in buckets. Buckets,seed potatoes and instructions will be available at the show. Judging will be at the summer show with prizes for all!
We will also be running a trug competition for judging at the autumn show. Entry will cost £10 for which you get a trug that you can fill with whatever you want. Again more prizes!
The planting season really gets going in March. By the end of February there are more than ten hours of daylight every twenty four hours and it is this amount of daylight that accelerates growth. However it is my impression that the cold winter weather has extended into late March and April which may hold back growth so be sure to provide young seedlings with extra warmth to go with extra light.
Hopefully chillies, aubergine and greenhouse tomatoes are well on their way. In late March to early April plant seeds of outside tomatoes and choose blight resistant varieties of which there are now many. Plant greenhouse cucumber seeds somewhere warm. Courgettes , marrows and squash which will go outside can be left to later in April.
Keep planting potatoes in sacks and perhaps move on to second earlies such as Charlotte.
Outside it is time to plant parsnips. It is best to use a canker resistant variety and in our heavy soil I use a dibber to make a hole about 8” to 9” deep and fill it with fine compost. Water and then plant five seeds on top and cover with vermiculite. As parsnip seeds can be quite difficult to germinate you can start them off on damp paper in the warm and move them as soon as you see sins of germination.
The same technique can be used to grow long straight carrots. Early Nantes varieties for spring sowing and Eskimo for main crop as this variety can over winter outside. The main problem with carrots is carrot fly where the fly is attracted to the smell of carrots especially when they are thinned and lays its eggs on the surface and then the larva burrow down and enter the root.
There are numerous ways to try and prevent this. There are carrot fly resistant varieties. Planting onions, garlic and chives along side may distract the female fly and only thin the crop in the evening when the fly is less active. Also you can cover the crop with fine mesh- unsightly! However as the female carrot fly can only manage about two feet in altitude I grow my carrots in deep window boxes on staging of three to four feet in height. This also avoids a lot of bending and kneeling!
There are two danger periods for carrot fly infection and these are late April to early May and August.
As the days warm start planting salad crops such as lettuce, spring onion, radish and beetroot.
Finally for those lucky enough to have an apricot tree aid fertilisation with a soft brush as in our climate at this time of year there are too few insects about for it to occur naturally.
Please remember our spring show and come along to enjoy the afternoon.
Good Gardening
Peter Estcourt