According to the RHS, the three tasks at the moment are tidying up, finishing the pruning and getting new fruit bushes in and preparing for the orgy of planting ahead.

The main thing about growing your own is to make sure that the plants don’t get checked so they want to be vigorous. One of the key things we know is that you want your seeds to get off to a good start. That means making sure that the soil is warm and inviting for  them. If you stick seeds into cold wet soil they may be so discouraged that [...]

Now is the right time to get your spring bulbs in. Plant hyacinths now and keep them in the dark to be ready for Christmas – my dad always kept his in the airing cupboard. And get the daffs and other spring bulbs into the lawn now so that they’ll be ready to gladden the heart by their progress in bleakest February. [...]

Over enthusiastic forcing of Rhubarb

Sometimes we’re a bit overenthusiastic when it comes to forcing rhubarb – a great if under used fruit these days. Here you can see that we’ve left the plastic dustbin on too long and a couple of the shoots are starting to create flowers. Simply cut these stems off at ground level so that they don’t weaken the plant and carry on harvesting.

We’re at that tricky stage now when we’re not sure if the last frost has been or not.  So all those lovely tomato, squash, bean and courgette plants that you’ve been [...]

You’re supposed to be planting your spuds this weekend. However if you’re anywhere like we are the ground is still really to wet – it’s squelching underfoot. I think you’ll just have to get them ready so that as soon as the ground is reasonably dry you’ll be ready to go. That’s why we thought it might be useful to have a few selfwatering patio planters around so that you can at least get salad and other crops away without waiting for everything to dry out. [...]