Still waiting for the soil to warm up, but I’ve made some newspaper pots and planted some veg inside.

I have a few gardeners to mentor, who are interested in patio gardening, and would like to do more this year.

This is a good time of year to get people started, so I’ll be looking for any local events where we could have a stall.

Anyone interested in joining me, please get in touch! It would be nice to swap ideas.

To continue the discussion visit the Master Gardener’s Forum Pages Here.

More interesting blogs from Master Gardeners can be enjoyed Here.

And don’t forget we’re now recruiting for new North London Master Gardeners for our induction training weekend on 18 and 19 May 2013. More details can be found Here.

Snow. Sunshine. More snow. The 2013 growing season is stylishly late, but sowing can’t wait any longer.

Yes, now is the time to wake up your seeds from their winter snooze.

Fresh from our time with lively Master Gardeners at spring shows and latest training, here’s Garden Organic’s summary of what to plant this spring. The links open PDF files.

So go on, dust of the trowel, hook out a seed tray, and pour on some crumbly organic peat-free compost. Ooooh, lovely.

MARCH – included since our growing season is delayed by cold weather

Plant	Fruit/veg: Asparagus, Aubergine, Broad Beans, Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Bulb Onion, Carrot, Celery, Cauliflower, Cucumber, Globe Artichoke, Jerusalem Artichoke, Lettuce, Leek, Rocket, Pepper, Salads (Oriental), Okra, Parsnip, Pea, Radish, Salad Onion, Spinach, Shallot, Summer/Autumn Cabbage, Turnip, Tomato (Indoor). Flowers: Pot Marigold, Borage, Nasturtium. Herbs: Basil, Chives, Parsley, Fennel, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint, Sage, Sorrel, Tarragon, Thyme.
Grow	Protect spring shoots from slugs. Dig in ‘green manure’ (plants grown for soil protection over-winter). Finish digging over beds, if needed, adding or spreading compost/manure for your most nutrient-hungry crops. Check structural supports of trained fruit, eg ‘cordon’ apples. Boost growth of container plants by replacing top 5cm of soil with compost. Reinvigorate crowded herbs by dividing clumps, eg chives.
Eat	Annual Spinach, Bay, Chicory, Claytonia, Corn Salad, Land Cress, Mizuna, Mustard Spinach, Leek, Rocket, Rosemary, Pak Choi, Parsnip, Sage, Seakale, Spring Cabbage, Sprouting Broccoli, Thyme.

APRIL – time to catch up between the showers

Plant	Sow: Asparagus Pea, Aubergine, Broad Bean, Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Calabrese, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, French Bean, Globe Artichoke, Kale, Kohl Rabi, Leaf Beet, Leek, Lettuce, Parsnip, Pea, Melon, Radish, Rocket, Runner Bean, Salad Onion, Salad (Oriental), Salad (Spring/Summer), Salsify, Scorzonera, Seakale, Spinach, Summer/Autumn Cabbage, Sprouting Broccoli, Sweetcorn, Tomato, Turnip. Flowers: Borage, Pot Marigold, French Marigold, Nasturtium. Herbs: Basil, Chives, Coriander, Dill, Fennel, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Sorrel, Thyme, Tarragon. Plant early and maincrop potatoes after ‘chitting’ indoors in a cool frost-free and light place; rose-end up in boxes or trays. Great for early growth. Read more here.
Grow	Start thinning rows of seedlings when large enough to handle. Move seedlings into larger pots as they grow, eg tomato. Protect fruit blossom from frosts with horticultural fleece.
Eat	Bay, Mint, Rocket, Radish, Rhubarb, Rosemary, Sage, Salad (Oriental), Spring Cabbage, Sprouting Broccoli, Thyme.

MAY – nearly frost free. Full windowsills and glasshouses

Plant	Sow: Asparagus Pea, Beetroot, Carrot, Cauliflower, Chicory, Courgette/Marrow, French Bean, Globe Artichoke, Kale, Kohl Rabi, Leaf Beet, Leek, Lettuce, Parsnip, Pea, Pumpkin, Melon, Radish, Rocket, Runner Bean, Salad Onion, Salad (Oriental), Salad (Spring/Summer), Spinach, Squash, Sprouting Broccoli, Swede, Sweetcorn, Sweet Potato, Turnip, Winter/Savoy Cabbage. Flowers: Borage, Pot Marigold, French Marigold, Nasturtium. Herbs: Bay, Chives, Coriander, Chervil, Basil, Coriander, Dill, Fennel, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Mint, Parsley, Sage, Sorrel, Thyme, Tarragon.
Grow	Pull up soil around potato shoots to increase yield and prevent tubers going green (‘earthing-up’). Conserve soil moisture by laying a 5cm thick compost ‘mulch’ around young trees.
Eat	Asparagus, Bay, Rocket, Garlic, Lettuce, Lemon Balm, Mint, Marjoram, Pea, Radish, Rhubarb, Rosemary, Rhubarb, Sage, Seakale, Spring Cabbage, Spring/Summer Salad, Salad (Oriental), Thyme, Turnip, Tarragon.

Horticultural note:

Seeds are temperamental little chaps, sulking if too cold or too hot. So please vary your timing with local weather – sowing later in spring if growing higher up the UK, or a little earlier if living further south. And earlier if growing in an inner city or sheltered coastal spot.

Garden Organic’s growing resources

• What’s new in the veg world? Click here to discover unusual crops
• Become a member of the UK leading organic growing charity, Garden Organic
• Adopt a Veg!
• Read lively growing blogs by volunteer Master Gardeners:
  Coventry & Warwickshire, North London, South London, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Medway

MG Miranda writes:

Over the next twelve weeks, I shall be supporting a group of residents on the De Beauvoir Estate build their own growing space.

Hackney homes have agreed to set up a water butt for us (with a diverter collecting rain from the estate roof tops). I shall be taking on the residents as their ‘master gardener’, using what I have learnt from the ongoing support and training that I recieve from the experts at Garden Organic Master Gardener programme, supporting their progress with growing their chosen edibles! You can also see more about the project at http://www.growandeat.org

Sunday was the first day with the residents on site who were excited to get stuck in! They planted garlic, asparagus, artichoke and the children took away cress they had sown into pots.

Are you someone with two to many years’ growing experience? Maybe you want to become a Master Gardener like Miranda. Click here for more info.

New recruit Ann told me about her success with elephant garlic in a difficult 2012 growing year. She harvested it in ‘summer’. It’s related to a leek more than garlic and gives huge bulbs.

This year so far it’s too cold, damp and snowy to put in open ground, but she’s shortly to start it off in pots. She’s sent in a photo. She says,

Here’s a picture of the last of my elephant garlic about to be planted. There’s some shop garlic next to it for scale.

Are you into new and unusual crops?  Do you have two or more years’ growing experience? Maybe you can become a Master Gardener (click to find out more).

Maybe you’re looking for support to get growing this year. Find a Master Gardener (click)

What a wonderful day we had on Sunday courtesy of Dr. Anton Rosenfeld and his Exotic Veg. Although I had a lot about some of the veg we discussed Anton helped put ‘a face to the name’ by bringing along lots of specimens and even more slides and pics. As ever with Anton’s events, it was packed full of really practical guidance, delivered in his usual humorous and irreverent style. I shall definitely be having a go at growing mouse melons this year and am trying to source a plant of African Kale. I will also be quizzing my elderly ladies at the Holloway Neighbourhood Group about what they grew back home in the Caribbean.

Thanks to Anton for his truly inspiring session, Fiona for organising a super event and Karen for an oh-so-gorgeous lunch.
Anita

photo shows Dudi, a Bengali summer squash, which is moth pollinated in it’s native land. Here, you need to pollinate the white flowers by the light of the moon – but it’s worth it!

read more and see more pix here (click)

do you know your dudi? Maybe you want to become a Master Gardener (click)

Dudi, lablab, alaloo, haloon, karella, yard long beans, chana, mouse melon or mexican gherkin, cho cho, mooli, oca, West Indian thyme…just some of the tender and exotic crops 26 Master Gardeners learned about on their latest extra training day, 17th February 2013.

Dr Anton Rosenfeld has been working with growers in the Birmingham area to grow on and document a number of saved seed crops. How do you grow crops from countries with a longer growing season, more sunshine, different humidity? What’s the benefit of growing from seed that’s acclimatised here?

On this karella fruit you can see the evidence of a ‘traffic light’ activity – green ‘I know it’, yellow ‘not sure’, red ‘no idea’. Well, we all knew at the end that karella is a cucurbit from the Indian subcontinent best grown under cover, salted to remove bitterness, spiced and baked, and a natural aid against diabetes.

It was a truly inspiring day for the Master Gardeners, all on the same wavelength of loving detail of cultivation knowledge, comparing crops they know and sharing experience. They now are ready to go forth, grow their own and multiply.

Thanks to Anton for excellent training and materials, the MGs for their wonderful contributions, Karen Virtue for ayurvedically spiced delicious catering and the Leonard Cheshire Disability Media Centre in Southwark for a great venue.

Want to get some of this knowledge for yourself? Get a year’s free growing support with our Master Gardeners – click here

And click here for top tips on exotic veg.

Growing callaloo! I’m going to improve on my previous attempts using seeds I collected today.

I will be raiding local Indian and Asian grocers for seed supplies and I really want my own lemongrass plant!

Inspired to experiment with chick peas, turmeric and lemongrass!

Read Gloria’s blog on the day here (click)

Anton and a dudi

Gloria and our lunch

Don’t want to miss a thing

Thoko, Alona and the taste test

Now is the time to celebrate the spud with Garden Organic’s National Potato day on the 26 and 27 January 2013 and other themed events this month around the UK.

Wake up your new seed-potatoes by ‘chitting’. This gives the keenest start.

• Pop your seed-potatoes in a clean egg box ‘rose’ end up – the end with most buds.
• Label the variety. Most spuds look similar to start with!
• Put the egg box in a cool light place for four to six weeks.
• The potatoes will grow sturdy green shoots ready to offer an earlier harvest.

Keen growers choosing choosing their seed potatoes at Ryton Gardens

Chitting tips

• Keep your young spuds out of very bright sunlight – although not too dark, otherwise pale brittle shoots develop that easily break.
• Chit potatoes that are already sprouting straight away. Otherwise leave in a cool, dark place until you are ready to chit them.
• Plant your chitted spuds 15cm deep. Space ‘early’ varieties 30-50cm apart from mid-March for a June-July harvest. Space ‘maincrop’ varieties 35-70cm apart from April for a September-October harvest.

Potato growing advice

	See below for potato growing instructions (scrolling PDF)
	Click here for advice choosing varieties from Master Gardeners (opens webpage)
	Click here to read about growing potatoes in containers (opens PDF)
	Click here to read about growing potatoes no-dig (opens PDF)

Find out about Garden Organic’s National Potato day

Growing instructions for potato

Written by Philip Turvil, Project Manager for Master Gardener Programme

More growing advice

More about Master Gardener programme

By Rubi Ingaglia

With the festive season approaching the thought of snuggling up with a mug of hot chocolate sounds appealing, but the December garden has lots to offer. A cold stint in the allotment won’t seem so painful compared to the tasting of fresh, organic ingredients that will compliment your Christmas roast delightfully.

Here are my favourite crops and growing tips.

	After leaving parsnips to sweeten after frost, it is time to lift their roots in anticipation of your Christmas dinner. For those with a sweet tooth, drizzle with honey and roast, or try coating them in parmesan cheese before roasting for a crispy, savoury alternative.
	Red cabbage is a popular Christmas meal addition, which, along with hearted white varieties, should be cut before the frost. It can be easily prepared in advance, and try adding apples, sultanas, brown sugar and butter when cooking for a gorgeously caramelised dish.
	Brussels Sprouts are perfectly timed for the festive season as they can be harvested as early as mid September, but they can taste better after a frost. To entice those who are perhaps not Brussels sprouts enthusiasts, add bacon or almonds for extra flavour and crunch.
	Seed Sprouts can be sown indoors and harvested all year round. These nutritious fillings are a great addition to those Boxing Day leftover sandwiches.

Also on my menu

	If you’re looking to start your post-Christmas diet early, after being planted in summer, celery and lettuce is ready to be harvested and make crunchy, fresh, low calorie snacks.
	December is the time for planting your gooseberries, pears and rhubarb, but make sure you choose well-drained soil. For summer and autumn harvesting, these fruits will be ideal for scrumptious fillings of those homemade pies.
	As for the herbs, it’s time to pick the leaves of sage, rosemary and thyme. For your plate of Christmas veg, add fresh rosemary to your roasted root vegetables to perfect your plate alongside butternut squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. Use sage for a traditional stuffing, or for a refreshing twist add thyme and lemon instead.

Rubi is a Christmas enthusiast and volunteer at Garden Organic. She’s looking forward to “food and festivities” this December!

Other festive favourites (links open growing cards)
Leek, Radish, Chicory, Cauliflower, Spinach, Swede, Sprouting Broccoli, Winter cabbage

Garden Organic’s growing resources

Click here to discover unusual crops

Become a member of the UK’s leading organic growing charity, Garden Organic

Adopt a Veg – send a festive Christmas present

Read lively growing blogs by volunteer Master Gardeners:
Coventry & Warwickshire, North London, South London, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire

From Master Gardener Elsa

The blueberry muffin recipe: follow up my visit to Centre 404.

“I had taken a blueberry bush as well as muffins and people were very surprised that you can grow blueberries at home.

“The most rewarding aspect of  the day was the conversations with the people who visited my stall, carers of children with severe learning difficulties, mostly autism. Most had little time for themselves or their garden, but had very moving stories about their children.

“Amongst the people I prepared follow up packs for, and in one case some herb plants,  were two groups of friends wanting to make a start using containers. Another wanted advice for her husband on how to grow carrots on London clay (add some sand or try containers, I said). There was a young woman who was moving to a flat and her first garden, and a mother from Africa who told me about her herbalist father and how he had influenced her choice to buy only organic food and seeds.”

Read more Master Gardener blogs

Growing tips

Blog by Fiona Law

This week I’ve been in north London and was fortunate enough to meet Penny, whose growing is supported by MG Rose. Through Rose’s activities Penny opened up her garden to share with the local transition group in Tufnell Park.

The team helped Penny clear the garden last year and now a regular five or six come to the garden weekly. They usually take some produce, but there’s also some for Penny to eat and to give to neighbours.

Penny says it seemed that it had been not such a great year, but they totted up all they had grown, and there were at least ten different crops. Garlic is going in this week and already broad beans and cabbages look great in their rows to overwinter.

Penny says getting involved in with the Master Gardener scheme and her local transition group has been very enjoyable and beneficial. The garden’s had a new lease of life and local people without a garden have had a chance to grow too.

Find your nearest Master Gardener

Read more blogs