A Busy Week In The Garden

At this time of the year there is always plenty of jobs to be done in the garden, most of them really enjoyable.

This week Peter has put the blade down on the mower and we now have a really nice looking lawn rather than the somewhat miserable grassy area we have been looking at for the last few months.

My contribution to the flower garden this week has been limited to walking round admiring the spring flowers.  Surely tulips are amongst the loveliest of spring flowers and the pretty primroses which bloom year after year, in spite of following a very hard winter.

Although I have done little in the flower garden, I haven't been totally lazy and potted up lots of tomato plants grown from seed.  The only problem I have is that I simply cannot resist potting up every single brave little seedling that germinated and always end up with far too many plants.  I shall have to try really hard to find good caring homes for the surplus.

I had five tiny little seed potatoes left and, as I can't bear to throw anything away, I went out to buy yet another potato bag to grow them in.  Unfortunately I accidentally picked up and "extra large bag" and when I opened the pack was astounded at just how large it was.  I promptly went out and bought another small bag and the potatoes are comfortably settled in their new home.

The extra large potato bag has now been utilized as a "mobile garden" which we filled with compost and have sown cabbage seeds in.  In fact I am so impressed with this that I think we shall buy some more bags to put in any available spot in the garden and therefore obtain extra growing space for yet more delicious vegetables and salads.

The runner beans in the greenhouse are now growing strongly and, in the next few days, will be put outside to harden off prior to, planting out.

The Humble Potato

The idea of growing potatoes had never really appealed to me, the digging trenches to plant them in and the harvesting always seemed to be too much like hard work.

However, this year all the garden centres were advertising potato pods, just strong plastic bags to grow them in, and that sounded right up my street.

A little compost in the bottom of the pod, five seed potatoes placed on top and covered by a little more compost. The bag is then topped up at intervals keeping the shoots covered until the pod is full, easy peasy. The stems then reach to about 18" above the top of the pod, die off, and, hey presto, they are ready to harvest.

One word of caution, not being the most patient of gardeners, as soon as the stems had turned yellow, I assumed they were dead and emptied the pod out. Big mistake. There certainly were lots of potatoes which ranged in size to that of a pea up to the size of a grape and the whole pod full was barely enough for one meal. Needless to say every last potato was carefully washed and cooked, yes even the pea size ones, and delicious they were too.

I have subsequently discovered the pods enjoy a weekly feed of "Miraclegrow" or similar plant food to get better results and the temptation to empty the pods too soon must be strongly resisted. I did getter better results from pod number two and that crop did at least get to the size of a plum.

Next year, with patience and a little more loving care, I feel sure I will easily achieve potatoes large enough to be classified as jackets.

As this was my first attempt at potatoes I tried four pods, one of which is still growing. Next season I will have at least eight and will include the variety "Charlotte", surely the best salad potato ever and "Rooster", the most versatile. Apart from those two there is such a selection on the market I shall probably close my eyes and use a pin to select some others. I guess that is as good a way as any to discover which are the best.