Dear Fellow Gardeners,
March is really the beginning of the gardening year but please don’t be impatient. I suppose the weather this March isn’t conducive to gardening yet. Let’s hope there is some change on the way. It’s actually wetter now than it was throughout the winter.
There is still plenty of time to sow your crops. In this newsletter you’ll find a detailed guide on what to do in your garden and polytunnel in March.
First here are a few dates for your diary:
Sun. 12th March 2017 Potato Day at the Organic Centre in Leitrim –
There will be an update on our potato breeding experiment and potato seedlings of NEW varieties will be available.
Mon. 20th March 2017 Film: “Symphony of the Soil” and Discussion
This is an amazing and fascinating documentary about soils – its wonders as well as the dangers that it faces. I will give a short introduction and we’ll hopefully get quite a few people to sign the People4Soil petition.
Entrance is free-
Start 6.30pm.
More information on http://dublin.anglican.org/news/events/2017/02/Christ-Church-Cathedral-Environmental-Film-Series–Symphony-of-the-Soil-
Sat. 25th March 2017 Talk in Dublin – Belgrove Boys School Hall, Seafield Rd, Clontarf
I’m giving a talk for the local GIY group and school, but the talk is open to everyone.
“Growing your own food is a fun, educational and healthy activity for all. Learn an appreciation of nature, the magic of soil and the skills of being productive in even the smallest spaces. This talk is suitable for those new to growing as well as those with more experience who want to learn more from an expert in the field..
Places are limited so if you wish to attend you must register in advance by emailing: giyclontarf@gmail.com – Cost: €5
Sat. 8th April 2017 Talk in Ardcarne Garden Centres in Boyle and Roscommon
More details to follow in the next newsletter.
Onion Sets available now:
We now have maincrop onion sets available in stock. It’s a fabulous variety (Stur BC 20) which is very disease resistant and produces wonderful round onions that dry and store extremely well.
If you had problems growing and storing onions before – try these ones. Stock is limited.
March – what to do in the garden?
Don’t be misled by the nice spells of weather we often get in March. Apart from the few vegetables listed below there is nothing you can sow or plant outdoors. Continue preparing beds if there is a dry spell. Rake over the beds you have prepared last month to get rid of weed seedlings. You should also check your stored vegetables for any signs of rot.
Sowing
Around the middle of the month you can plant your early potatoes, onion and shallot sets. To protect your onion and shallot sets from birds you can cover them with bird netting over wire hoops or alternatively cover with a cloche covered in bionet. Sow indoors in a tunnel or windowsill: leeks, early cabbage, scallions, celery and celeriac. If you haven’t sown broad beans yet there is still time. Jerusalem artichokes and garlic can also still be planted.
Harvesting
Harvest outdoors: Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, leeks, kale and possibly perpetual spinach which is re-sprouting again. All these crops are slowly coming to an end now so you should use them up quickly if you have many of them left. You will soon get your first picking of purple sprouting broccoli this month. Use stored vegetables: potatoes, beetroot, Dutch cabbage, carrots, onions, shallots and swedes.
March – What to do in your polytunnel or greenhouse?
You will really feel the warmth in your greenhouse or polytunnel now and so do your plants. They start to grow quite rapidly now but be aware that the nights are still quite cold and there is still a high risk of frost. Many garden centres will try and sell you tomato plants from the end of March onwards. Don’t let them tempt you until May.
Sowing
Direct sowing into beds:
In March you can still sow the following vegetables directly into the soil. Beetroot (Pablo F1), Carrots (Rocket F1) French beans (dwarf and climbing types) Peas, Mangetout (Sweet Horizon) Radish (Cherry Belle) – small amounts at regular intervals Turnips (Milan Purple Top) – small amounts at regular intervals
However, if you sow carrots, beetroot and peas now they will only be ready in mid June which is far too late to plant your tomatoes or peppers.
Planting into beds
You can now plant out the seedlings you raised earlier on your heating bench: lettuce, scallions, dill, coriander, chervil, early cabbage, calabrese, mini-cauliflowers, early leeks, perpetual spinach, Swiss chard, salad rocket and all other oriental salads. Most seedlings take about 4-5 weeks from sowing until they are ready to plant.
Sowing into modules/pots (18-20˚C)
Do not let your heating bench clutter up too much. Most vegetables only require some warmth for germination and in March the seedlings are better off if placed on a non-heated bench in the tunnel or greenhouse. Only your tomatoes, peppers, chillies, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, celery, celeriac and basil should remain on the heating bench until they are planted in May. Really all other vegetables should be moved off the heating bench about a week after they have germinated. In March you can sow the following vegetables into modular trays and place them in your propagator or warm, south-facing windowsill in the house:
Aubergine (Black Beauty F1) – 5 seeds per 7cm pot, for pricking out
Basil (Sweet Genovese) – 4 seeds per cell (only late in the month)
Calabrese (Chevalier F1) – 1 seed per cell
Cauliflower (for mini cauliflowers) – 1 seed per cell
Celery (Victoria F1) – broadcast in a tray for pricking out later
Chilli peppers (Ring of Fire) – 5 seeds per 7cm pot – early in the month
Courgette (Defender F1 and Parador F1 – yellow) – 1 seed per 7cm pot
Coriander, Dill and Chervil – 5 seeds per cell
French beans (climbing and dwarf) – 5 seeds per 9cm pot
Kohlrabi (Azur Star) – 1 seed per cell
Lettuce (various types) – 1 to 3 seeds per cell
Oriental salads (mizuna, rocket, tatsoi, etc.) – 5 seeds per cell
Pepper (Roberta F1, Bell Boy F1) – 5 seeds per 7cm pot, for pricking out
Scallions (Ishikura Bunching) – 5 to 10 seeds per cell,
Tomato (Sungold F1 & others) – 5 seeds per 7cm pot, for pricking out.
Do not sow your cucumbers and melons yet. You’ll get much better results if you wait until April to sow them.
For planting outside
You can also raise the following vegetables indoors for planting out into your vegetable garden later.
Cabbage (early varieties) – 1 seed per cell
Calabrese (Chevalier F1) – 1 seed per cell
Celery (Victoria F1) – broadcast in a tray for pricking out later
Celeriac (Giant Prague) – broadcast in a tray for pricking out later
Kohlrabi (Azur Star) – 1 seed per cell Leeks (Hannibal) – 2 seeds per cell
Lettuce (various) – 1 to 3 cells per cell
Onions (Golden Bear F1) – 4 seeds per cell
Scallions (Ishikura Bunching) – 10 seeds per cell
Harvesting
Salad rocket, wild rocket, various mustard leaves (Green Wave, Green in the snow, Red Frills, Green Frills), tatsoi, pak choi, corn salad, winter purslane, cress, mizuna, mibuna, komatsuna, texel greens, baby spinach, beet leaves (Bulls Blood) and possibly even some lettuce leaves. You can still harvest the overwintered Swiss chard and perpetual spinach and towards the end of the month you should get your first radishes and baby turnips.
Protect our soils – People 4 Soil
Update of People 4 Soil Campaign: We have reached 17% of required signatures for Ireland. The information on the link is from the European organisers of the campaign to protect our soils. May I ask you all again – please sign this very important petition and share it with friends and on social media. Without soils there will be no life on Earth as we know it.
| Please support the People4Soil Campaign:
If you would like more information and be part of the campaign, please contact the Environmental Pillar on: soils@environmentalpillar.ie
|
Happy Gardening,
Klaus Laitenberger