"There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments"

Janet Kilburn Phillips

Hold your horses!

Hi Everyone.

A cautionary tale. Several years ago we had a really nice two weeks in the middle of April with lots of sunshine and it very much felt like summer had arrived early. This is what's commonly known as a 'False Spring'. At the end of those two sunny weeks I decided to plant all my Tomato plants and several other tender veg seedlings in an attempt to get a good head start. Unfortunately, the following week the temperature dropped drastically and we had a couple of nights of frost. Needless to say that I lost the majority of my precious plants and since then I've not made that mistake again! Keep your eyes on the weather forecast peeps to save from making the same mistake.

So what have we got in store for you this month?

What to sow and grow in April.

Sweet Potatoes update.

Broccoli and Calabrese - What's the difference?

Save money on your seed compost.

And lastly, Lottie news and members questions.

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What to sow and grow in April.

Last month's seed sowing included Spring Onions, Lettuce, Spinach, early Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Turnip, Florence Fennel, Beetroot, Parsley and Coriander. It's still fine to sow these and you can add Celery, Tomatoes, Peas, early Carrots and Parsnips. Carrots and Parsnips however have to be sown directly into the soil because of their long tap root. Onion sets can also go in and more Broad Beans.

I will be leaving things like Courgettes, Sweetcorn, Cucumbers and a lot of other summer vegetables until the middle of April. You'll be surprised how quickly they will grow and catch up with everything else once the warmth of the summer gets here.

Sweet Potato update.

Not much to show on the Sweet Potato front at the moment, no shoots as such, but there are lots of root buds starting to develop (the little white dots). The two Potatoes I planted in the potting compost have actually got roots growing, but again no shoots to speak of.

So if you started off your Sweet Potatoes at the same time as me and don't have any shoots yet don't worry, it's still early days. In fact if you've not started trying to sprout them, but would like to, there's still time and you might want to refer back to last months 'How to grow Sweet Potatoes - Part 1' by going on the FG4A website and looking at the archived newsletters.

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Broccoli & Calabrese - What's the difference?

We all know that Broccoli is very good for us, but did you know that although Calabrese and Broccoli are from the same family they often get mixed up. The large green heads you see in the supermarkets is actually Calabrese. Whereas the much smaller heads which can be green, purple or white is Broccoli.

Calabrese is milder in flavour compared to sprouting Broccoli. Calabrese has a very tender texture, whereas Broccoli has a tough texture with a mild but bitter taste.

The main difference between Calabrese Broccoli and Sprouting Broccoli is the time of harvest. Sprouting Broccoli is much more tolerant to cold temperatures and crops at the end of winter, March time, whereas Calabrese is a tender crop and is for summer and autumn use and is NOT frost hardy. Broccoli can be grown to harvest at most times of the year because of its frost hardiness. Also Calabrese has a much faster maturing rate and will produce one big head. Whereas Sprouting Broccoli will produce lots of smaller heads over a couple of months.

So what about Broccolini? Broccolini was developed as a hybrid of Broccoli and Chinese Broccoli in Japan. Here in the UK we know it as Tenderstem Broccoli which is a registered trademark.

Save money on your seed compost.

What with the cost of living crisis we all want to find the most cost effective way to get our seedlings started. For successful results we need a good seed compost, but these are quite expensive to buy. I've been experimenting with making my own this year and so far so good.

Seeds don't need nutrients, they come packed with all the nutrients they need to germinate. In fact if you use a compost that is too rich it can burn the delicate roots of the seedling when they are small. It's only when the seedling has developed its true leaves and needs to be potted on will you need a richer mix.

Check out the video below to see what recipe I've been trying out.

Lottie News!

Not much news this time as after predicting a busy month ahead last month, I unfortunately got struck down with a really nasty bout of Covid. I'd not had it before and thought I'd be okay as many friends had said that it's now just like a heavy cold. A heavy cold it was not and I can honestly say that I can't remember being that ill for many, many years. I'm now well and truly on the mend, but not being able to get to the Lottie or even make it to my greenhouse for ten days I'm now very behind schedule with all my potting up and planting.

I was stressing because I didn't think I would have everything ready for the stall I have booked at the Barnes Pond fair on Saturday 1st April with lots of veg seedling, herbs, house plants and home made jam to sell. If you're local and you can make it on Saturday it would be lovely to see you there even if it's just to say hello. I'll be there from 9am until 3.30ish. Feel free to ask any food gardening questions and I'll do my best to give the best advice possible.

Members Questions

"When should I be planting my potatoes?"

Depending on what type of potatoes you have, 1st or 2nd earlies or main crop this is a rough guide.

1st earlies - Mid-late March, so now!

2nd earlies - Early-mid April

Main Crop - Mid-late April

If you have a food gardening question you'd like to ask just pop me an email and I'll see how I can help. I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I will do my best to answer any of your questions.

In the meantime, if you know of anyone who might like to become a FG4A member do feel free to forward them this email and get them to visit the website and sign up, it's free!

Or you can always catch up with what I've been up to on Facebook or instagram.

Keep safe.

Christine x

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