Garden Diary: February – Salad Crop, Potatoes, Confusion and a Rant Alert

While we’ve been enjoying beautiful weather we have followed storm Denis, which is ravaging parts of the UK, with horror. It certainly helps to put life into perspective when you see the devastation it has left in its wake. My thoughts are with you.

This week’s SOS focusses on the progress of my little horta (vegetable garden). But before I start I want to warn fellow gardeners of a purchase we made last year.

What a Waste of Money – Bought from Lidls (RANT ALERT)

Hubby surprised me in April 2019 when he bought me this little plastic greenhouse from Lidls . We quickly discovered it is NOT UV resistant. In less than a year the plastic has deteriorated and turned to dust and I am left with mostly just the supporting mesh. Every time I touch it, more plastic dust rains down over my plants. I can’t return it as I don’t have the receipt.

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On Monday we went to the local market and bought some more seed plugs. After last years experiment growing seeds, I have decided to stick with buying the plugs when I can, or in the case of flowers, something I can see the blooms. Last year I grew about a 100 petunias (or if not that many it felt like it) and the flowers were pathetic. And the special so say  ‘blight-resistant tomatoes, which cost £3.50 for six seeds, proved not to be blight resistant and even less hardy than the Portuguese varieties.

1. Growing Salad in Containers

What started as an experiment has become normal practice so even if you have an apartment with just a balcony you can grow your own salad crop.

Lettuce

Purchased this week I planted fifteen lettuce in this container. The idea is not to let the plants mature but to pick the leaves on a ‘cut and come again’ basis. Next month I will buy another fifteen plants.

 

The rocket planted in January is ready to harvest. I still keep it covered with a plastic crate as there is a Cabbage White butterfly that seems very interested in its progress.

Also purchased this week, I’ve planted twenty-five spring onions in this pot. They should be ready to harvest in about 4-6 weeks.

The radish planted from seed (yes I make an exception for radish) on the 31st January is making progress. Seeing this picture reminds me I need to thin the seedlings.

2. Growing Potatoes in Pots

This is an experiment. When we were at the market last month we bought some seed potatoes which were already chitted. We divided them into pieces, sealed with cinnamon powder and planted four to a pot.

3. Carrots

The carrots seeds planted on the 31st January are already poking through the surface of the soil and ready for thinning out.

On the 21st Feb I planted another variety Nataise 2. Which is meant to be an early-season variety suitable for a greenhouse. ah … I only just spotted the greenhouse part so I will cover with an old plastic fridge draw to give them some protection.

4. Courgette or Cucumber? Which is Which?

I also bought these from the market but when I got home I forgot to tie a knot in one of the bags to identify which is which. Any suggestions, please?

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5. Strawberries and a new project

The strawberry bundles I bought at last months market and potted into individual pots are progressing well. I now have seventy plants!

Which leads me on to my garden Gnome’s next project.

6. Growing Runner Beans in Pots

This is an experiment. It is usually far too windy here in my garden by the sea to grow anything that grows up poles. The leaves either get shredded or burnt in the wind or the supports act like a kite and blown over. With this in mind, I found the sunniest and sheltered position in the garden and planted the beans in large tubs. One I have included the wigwam support, the other I will train the beans (hopefully) along the posts and rails.

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That’s it for this week! For more six on Saturday gardens, click over to the propagator’s blog