Category: Allotment

Tip Number 2: Buying Seeds

Sowing seedsSeeds, every gardener needs them, whether you are planning on growing the best prized pumpkin, a flower display good enough to win at the Chelsea flower show or just want a few tomatoes to add to your salad at the end of the summer, the seed is where it all begins for us all.

At the turn of the year you start to notices the garden centres and supermarkets dusting off their old displays and stocking up for the mad rush of growing enthusiasts storming their shops filling their shopping baskets with every packet going.

What we all should do before we leave the house is have a good check at what you have left over from the year before. We all know that each packet of seeds contains enough to last the busiest gardener at least a couple of growing seasons. Went you have managed to find the ‘seed tin’ hidden at the back of the shed, check the contents (have you enough?), the condition (are they damp) and more importantly are the seeds still in date? Once you know what you have that is suitable for the new growing season the planning can start.

When planning what to grow it’s always best to assess how the previous years worked for you. What variety grew well? What crops failed? What disappointed you? Chances are that you already know what you are happy to try again with this year and what you have given up on, all I will say is learn from you mistakes and maybe read up on different ways of growing them this year.

Make a list of seeds you have and what seeds you need to buy, if you are like me the draw of buying extra seeds when you are in the shop always results in more packets than you actually need, make a list and stick to it!

With your list in hand you are ready to leave the house and buy the seeds that are going to run your life for the next few months, but did you know you don’t even have to leave the house? The internet can help you out in more ways than reading the latest gossip on Facebook. I’ve been using a company for a number of years that you can buy your seeds from your armchair, carefully selecting your seeds and within a couple of days they are delivered to your house.

A new site Direct Seeds have a large selection of Kings Seeds, Vegetables, Flowers and a small selection of herbs, that should cover all the varieties you need – Delivery is free for 5 or more packets.

Our old favourite (Plant Pots Direct) also have Kings Seeds, Delivery is free for seed only orders, but if you are looking to stock up on a few pots it’s an ideal opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

 

Tip Number 1: Growing Carrots

Growing carrots has always been a challenge on my allotment and year after year and ideas after ideas I’ve finally solved my problem.

When growing carrots you have to think about a number of factors before sowing your seeds. Soil, location, drainage, sun and pests.

Carrots like to be well watered but not sat in a lot of water so well drained soil is essential. They do like the sunshine, so an area in your patch that almost always has the sun is also a must. The next top is an absolute must, if the plot next to you is growing carrots try to keep your carrots as far away as possible, this will help with the carrot fly. The carrot fly will try its best to hop from one plot to another, try your best to make it harder for them by keeping a good distance between crops.

From trial and error the best method we have found is to grow your carrots in large tubs, large plant pots, containers or even old dust bins. This gives you an excellent opportunity to control the environment in which you are growing your carrots.

With you starting with an empty pot you can fill it upto half way with good equality compost mixed with sharp sand. The sand will help with the drainage and the new nutrant rich compost will give the carrots plenty of food. As the plant pot is filled to halfway with new compost / sand your carrots won’t fork like the would if they came across a stone in the soil.

Why only fill the pot to half way?
To protect from carrot fly, the sides of the pot are ideal to protect the carrots at the sides, so all we need to do is add something over the top of the pot to ensure the flys can not get to your lovely crop. In the past we’ve used a carrot fly net using a large rubber band to around the pot to hold it in place.

Source: plant pots direct,