Tag Archives: Desiree

Keep ‘em peeled

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It’s been nearly a month since I started off those seed potatoes. I’ve now moved them into a couple of cardboard egg boxes by the side of the patio doors in the back room where there’s lots of light and hopefully no chance of frost damage. They are now less red-looking and there’s some nice little tight green/reddish buds or “chits” forming where the “eyes” were. The potatoes will be ready to plant out when the shoots are around 1.5-2cm long, hopefully around mid-march/early april when the ground has started to warm up and after the risk of frost has passed.

A couple of years ago one spring afternoon I got a bit overexcited when we had a couple of hours of sunshine and decided it was the right time to plant my already chitted seed potatoes. After rubbing off all but three of the chits on each one (a good tip if you want to get larger but fewer potatoes) I planted them into a prepared bed.

Feeling chuffed about getting another gardening job out the way I made myself a cup of tea then listened to a weather forecast on the radio where they warned it was going to be the coldest night of the year. Good timing eh?

So it was back out in the garden with some black bin bags which I put over the bed and secured them with a few tent pegs and bricks to protect the potatoes from the cold night to come. Next morning I popped to the garden centre and got some horticultural fleece. A bit of forward planning like checking the weather forecast a few days before would have helped but no, impatient here knew best.

Thanks to Shirley Calgary for the top tip about cutting the seed potato into two or three pieces when sprouted (each piece has to contain a sprout) which will give you more plants for your money. How good is that?

So hurry up warmer weather I want to plant out those potatoes. I love homegrown spuds me!

(Just like the Four Tops) I can’t help myself

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1ezjjxkYWo&feature=relate

Last weekend, I just couldn’t stop myself going to the garden centre and purchasing a bag of seed compost to start off those vegetables early. It was the first weekend the shop was open after christmas, I haven’t got much self control have I? Alongside the compost I got some seed potatoes (that will need “chitting” but more on that in another post) Desiree was the variety, by the way.

Now how long will it be before there’s endless seed trays on the kitchen windowsill taking up space and leaking water all over the place? Not long I imagine. I told you I was impatient!

Also in the last post I mentioned I was going to redesign my garden so since then I’ve been doing some research, looking through books and listening to garden design podcasts.

A massive mistake people make is that they decide they want to revamp their garden, go to a garden centre and spend a fortune on plants without any research or thought, stick them all around their garden and wonder why in a couple of months they fail.

What I learnt from only a week’s research is you shouldn’t rush into redesigning your garden, take your time.You should take a year out to gather information about the site. Over the varying seasons look at shadow patterns and what parts get sun and at what times of the day and what are the site’s good views and bad views. Also ask others who live with you what shrubs/flowers/trees they fancy, what are your likes and dislikes etc and the design should start to make itself obvious (so it said on a gardening podcast!). Look at old books, go to parks and gardens, take photographs and get inspired. Rip things out of magazines of plants and gardens you like and keep a scrapbook.

I was looking through “Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto” by David Tracey in the library and came across an interview with an activist who echoed the same sentiments when it came down to garden design and added “in the meantime when you are information gathering, utilise the space and sow some edibles”. Brilliant. So it’s back growing to veg this year then!