This weekend me, the Gardener in the West, and my two daughters have been planting some early variety peas.  We raked the soil to be make sure it was relatively lump free before adding some of our homemade compost which consisted mainly of vegetable peelings and animal manure.  With a small 5” spade we dug a 5” x 1” trench and planted a variety of peas, watering thoroughly.    

We also now have some Easter chicks, which we hatched in the incubator.  We used a dozen of our eggs and a dozen donated by a friend.  After 21 days we had 8 lovely, fluffy Easter chicks but sadly one died leaving us with just 7.  We were lucky that one of our hens was broody and she took to them as though they were hers.

We have also been Spring cleaning and found my old nylon multifilament fishing net which we were going to throw away.  However, the wife had a good idea to use it to stop the birds eating the lettuces.   

First we cut up the loops then through the nylon multifilament fishing net.  The final result is shown in the photograph.

We secured it in the ground with two sticks/bamboo.

If you have an old multifilament net, which you no longer use, why not try it on your vegetable patch!          

What a lovely weekend we had and a great one to get out in the garden.  I did some weeding around my winter onions and garlic and put in my early potatoes as you can see from the photo below.  The raised bed had been used for strawberries but I moved them to a more convenient place in the garden about a month ago.  Potatoes are great for cleaning the ground and I had tipped quite a lot of woodburner ash onto the bed over the winter.  I dug the whole patch over, getting rid of any weeds and put two trenches either side of the bed.

I have been chitting the potatoes for the last three weeks in the greenhouse and I felt it was now right to get them in the ground.  You will see from the photos that I have planted them quite close together.  This is basically because I want nice round, small new potatoes.  My main crop will be planted slightly further apart.  Once you have heaped the soil over them making two good mounds, you can cover the ground with a fleece to give them a head start although I haven’t done it this year.

I have also been getting some seedlings under way, under glass.  Last week you saw my lettuce one inch high in the toilet roll pots.  This week I am going to get some more under way so I keep a regular supply through the summer months.  As a rule I always try and put some seeds in every four weeks.

Early carrots are also something else you can bring on in your garden or raised beds.  For those who have not got much room you can try them in large pots.  If you want to, you can start them under glass moving them outside as the weather improves.  I am personally a big fan of carrots in pots and I am reliably informed that by growing them in pots with one inch about the soil and the lip, this will prevent carrot fly.  This year I am going to try some pots outside to see if there is any difference from those given a helping hand under glass.  I will share the results with you in a later blog.

There is still no sign of my broad beans and I may have to resort to trying to dig a few up to see what is going on but patience very often pays off.

Whilst on the subject of fleece, I have always been told to use a fleece on the ground a good week prior to planting out any seeds especially in the early part of the season.  That extra warming of the ground will do enormous amounts in helping those seeds to germinate.

I have been asked to supply a photograph so you know what the gardener in the west looks like so …. here you are!  This was kindly taken by my eldest daughter, one evening just as we were losing the light.

My name is Alister, ‘The Gardener In The West’ and I live in Herefordshire, on the border of England and Wales. My job since leaving school is selling houses but since my early 20’s I have been interested in my veggie garden. My wife, Joanna, often jokes that I don’t mind doing the work as long as I line my stomach!

I am also blessed with two lovely daughters, Lydia being the eldest aged 10 and Natasha 7. Both love helping Dad especially in the greenhouse where they can pick lovely, sweet cherry tomatoes (Gardeners Delight) straight off the vine and eat them. Since moving to the wife’s grandmothers house some 14 years ago, we have been lucky enough to have a bit of space around us to enable us to not just have a productive garden but also some chickens, ducks and geese. We are currently toying with the idea of getting some tiddling lambs for the children to look after. It is only really in the last 5 years we have had time to enjoy the garden as we had to carry out substantial works to the house, in fact, for twelve months we enjoyed the delights of living in a caravan.

Helping to keep pest like slugs at-bay are our happy band of chickens

This time of year is exciting, looking forward to Spring and the longer evenings. It is really the first opportunity to spend some time in the garden. Over winter I have been trying a few experiments with cut up toilet rolls. I have used these to bring on my winter onions and garlic having planted them out directly into beds some 5/6 weeks ago. You will see from the photographs that they seem quite healthy but as yet I am unsure as to whether or not the bulbs will swell and give me a good crop.

Early garlic looks good

Overwintering Onions

The last of last years leeks

My concern at the moment is that there is no sign of my broad beans which I planted late November. The end of last year was obviously very wet and at the moment I have concerns that they may well have rotted in the ground. I am faced with the question as to whether I should have been bringing some on in the greenhouse in pots just in case. To me it always seems funny that we should plant seeds in the middle of winter but my Father and others since have always said that by planting out in November/December you have a stronger plant which is less likely to be hit by black fly. I must add that on the whole I have not previously had any problems with this method.

I am also bringing on some lettuce and beetroot in the greenhouse (beetroot is another thing I am trialling). Next time I will update you on how they are coming along.

Beetroot coming on well in my toilet rolls!

Early lettuce seedlings getting the experimental toilet roll treatement.

See you then.