Page 44 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2024

April 2024
I do hope you have got all your beds ready for sowing and planting and got rid of as many weeds as you could because this is just about the busiest month of the year for doing these jobs.
If you still have a few weeds, treat them with a weedkiller containing glyphosate. This does not affect the soil which means that you can sow or plant as soon as the weeds have died.
Many seeds can be sown direct in the beds in drills one or two centimetres deep. Rake the soil as fine as you can and rake in some general fertiliser such as Growmore or fish, blood and bone.
In March I gave you a list of seeds that can be sown in this way. Others are turnips, swedes, kohl rabi, spinach, calabrese and Brussel sprouts. Peas and broad beans are large enough to sow individually, spaced out along the rows. With smaller seeds, sow them as thinly as you can.
I, personally don’t sow all these seeds
in drills. I described last month how I
sow lettuce and beetroot in cell trays and brassicas in small pots. I also told you how I grow carrots and parsnips in tubes, drums or bore holes so please refer to these notes.
I sow broad beans direct in the beds, but I sow a few in pots in case any don’t germinate. I also sow peas in small pots (drinking cups).
This is also the month to sow the tender vegetables that won’t stand any frost. These are runner beans, French beans (dwarf and climbing), sweet corn, marrows, courgettes, pumpkins and squashes. I always sow them in pots in a propagator in the greenhouse to give them an early start. If you haven’t got a propagator, you can still sow them in the greenhouse but they will take longer to grow. If you
fertiliser like Growmore or fish, blood and bone before you plant anything.
I said last month that you could start planting early potatoes, but I don’t plant mine till April. I plant them 12 inches (30cm.) apart in trenches about 6 to 9 inches deep (15 to 22cm.) and put a layer of lawn mowing’s in the bottom which helps to prevent scab. If you grow maincrop
Seasonal jobs
KEY TO SUPPLIERS
D – Dobies
S – Suttons
B – Browns
F – Fothergills
R – Robinsons Sh – Shelleys M – Marshalls
haven’t got a greenhouse they can all be sown outdoors direct where they are to grow but you are better waiting till May.
Any plants raised in a greenhouse need hardening off in cold frames before planting out
varieties as well as earlies, plant them towards the end of the month.
If you planted shallots in pots early in the year, or last December, they should be ready for planting now. I described last month how I plant onion sets. They can still be planted now if not already done and also garlic. There are varieties
Any plants raised
in a greenhouse need
hardening off in cold
frames before planting
out. My frames are
dismantled and put
away behind the shed
or greenhouse when not in use so this is the month to get them out and fix them up again in position.
of garlic for planting in autumn but different varieties for planting now. The most popular are Solent Wight, (Dobies, Suttons, Robinsons, Browns and Fothergills) Picardy Wight (Marshalls, Browns and Fothergills) and Rhapsody Wight(Marshalls, Robinsons, Browns and Fothergills).
If you sowed onions early in the year, they should have been transferred to small pots then probably potted on into larger pots. Depending, of course, when they were sown, they may be ready for planting after hardening off.
If they were sown early enough, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines should be ready for planting in the greenhouse or polytunnel. They can be planted direct in the border if you have prepared it by forking it and adding some
Last month I mentioned sowing hardy and half-hardy flowers, including sweet peas. If you didn’t do so you can still sow them now so, please refer to last month’s notes about these.
So much for sowing so what can we plant? Always rake in some general
Dahlia tubers growing. Ready for taking cuttings
Chrysanth cuttings rooted
44 Simply Vegetables
DEREK BROOKS FNVS