The Joys of Spring

Well, what a week! Good bits and bad (as ever with gardening!). Val and I finally had to admit defeat on our courgette and tomato seedlings. They were doing really well until we were out for a day, a couple of weeks ago, when the sun came out. It was dull when we started out, but while we were away the greenhouse was just too hot and bright and the whole lot scorched. We did try nursing them along but the damage was just too much. So then we had to decide whether to start again from seed and lose the early start or buy plants.

On Wednesday went out and bought replacements!

We started off this week with frosts, but at least they were forecast and we have a supply of fleece, so no harm done. It’s getting more difficult to protect everything as the plants get bigger, as the greenhouse is getting full. We have a Gardman 6 x 8 ft greenhouse and always think there is a little bit more room than there is. So, we have to keep playing musical plants and moving things around until the frosts have gone and we can start leaving things outdoors at night. Just to make space even tighter, a batch of healthy little geranium plugs arrived this morning in the post from Plantconnection, so now we must find even more room.

The new tomato plants are bigger than the ones we lost, so are almost ready for transplanting. The growing bags are laid out ready and we are keeping the plants a little on the dry side to encourage them to flower. I always feel we have a better growing season and get more fruit when the plants are transplanted in flower.

As well as our usual varieties (this year ‘Gardner’s Delight’ and ‘Moneymaker’), we are trying some grafted plants. These are quite new for gardeners in the UK, but have been very popular on the Continent for years. The idea is that you can have a pest and disease resistant rootstock in the soil and a good cropping variety grafted onto it. This saves you from having to rely on growing bags if your soil is poor. It’s a bit of an experiment for us and we will keep you posted over the summer to let you know how we get on.

Enjoy your garden

Steve