John's Gardening Diary 26/03

Neil has asked me to write a regular piece on gardening. So will give it a bash and hope that you don’t find it too mundane, unfortunately that’s my style. It will probably be more in the form of a diary since I would not presume to advise anyone. No formal horticultural training, just 70 years’ experience and occasionally getting it right.

Planted first early potatoes, well chitted and covered with fleece. The fleece warms up the ground and encourages early emergence but is a double edged sword which also makes newly emerged shoots vulnerable to frost, so am always watching the weather forecast to be able to replace fleece if needed. Chitting has the same effect in that it reduces time for emergence – it also tends to reduce tuber numbers; fine if you want fewer, larger tubers.

Weeded strawberries which had attracted a fine companion crop of chickweed and gave them a tickle of nitrogen out of the poke – ¼ oz per sq.yd. 20.10.10.

Planted out sweet peas and covered with glass which is more to keep the rabbits off since sweet peas are quite hardy – 1/2oz per sq.yd. 0.20.20 fertiliser.

Finished pruning roses and gave them a top dressing of ½ oz 14.14.21 .Habits of a lifetime farming and a lack of enough compost/dung means that I depend on processed fertilisers to provide adequate nutrients. Soil here is also easily drained and nutrients easily leached.