I planted my Cauliflowers today. I sowed them with the tomatoes back in March and now they are about 10cm high. Because we have a walled garden the temperature is a little higher inside than outside so it’s totally safe to plant out Cauliflowers.
I watched a show once where they suggested mixing lime with potting compost. The idea was to dig a big hole for each Cauliflower and put the lime mixture in the hole before planting. Lime helps combat Club Root which, if you have it in your soil, can ruin your chances of growing Cauliflowers or other Brassicas for a good few years to come. So needless to say I’m taking every precaution to avoid that.
Despite taking these precautions, Cauliflowers are still difficult to grow well. If the club root doesn’t get at them then the Cabbage White butterflies will, and if their caterpillars don’t munch through the whole lot then Cabbage Root fly will make the leaves wilt and die. The reality is that Cauliflowers will probably take up a lot of your time and attention - probably more time and attention than is really worth it if we’re being honest.
Honestly, I haven’t had that much success with Parsnips in the past. I have either sown them too early (no germination) or too late (very small Parsnips). Or slugs have eaten them, or they have just plain failed. This year I’m trying again and hoping that now my garden is literally on my doorstep that I can tend them sufficiently well to produce something edible.
I’ve read several tips on how to grow them successfully. The first is to use fresh seed. Apparently, Parsnip seed is notoriously flaky when it comes to germination and if the seed isn’t fresh then you run the risk of very patchy growth after weeks of waiting. So, I bought some seed of the Tender & True variety and cracked it open.
The second piece of advice I found was to sow the seed in a hole made with a dibber and filled with seed compost. It seems that Parsnips (like Carrots) have a hard time breaking through tough soil and so like to be sown in a bed of nice soft compost.
The third piece of advice is to wait, wait, go and make a cup of tea and wait some more. Parsnips are not exactly early starters so expect to wait some weeks before you even see a glimmer of germination. Some people even say you can sow a catch crop (a faster growing crop) of radish along side in the time it will take the Parsnips to show.
Just to be on the safe side I have done all of the above. Here’s hoping we will be enjoying some roasted Parsnip later in the year.
Now that the tulips are in full swing here’s 10 other things you can be getting on with this month.
- Start sowing in earnest with Kale, Parsnip, Carrots and Broadbeans directly into the ground
- Finish planting new fruit bushes
- Put up your bean poles
- Transplant tomato seedlings to individual pots. Still keep them inside
- Plant out Peas grown in guttering, sow more as you do and draw soil up around them as they grow
- Harden off Sweet Peas
- Sow successional crops such as lettuce, radish, rocket, spring onions, peas etc, every two weeks
- Sow some winter green such as Winter Cabbage and Sprouting Broccoli
- Clean up the strawberry bed; remove any dead or dying leaves
- Plant Brussels Sprouts and Spring Cabbage and Asparagus Crowns
If you have any more suggestions for April jobs, add them to the list.
It’s time to replant the Tomato seedlings that I put in the heated propagator a few weeks ago.
I’m growing two cherry tomatoes (Sub Arctic, and Gardeners Delight) and one standard variety (Robin). I may also buy some yellow variety tomato plants later on from the garden centre. I always end up with more tomatoes than planned.
Usual rules apply; always handle seedlings by the leaves rather than the stalk, take as much soil with each one as possible etc. Special rules with tomatoes include: plant them a little deeper in their new pot than in the seedling tray and water with tepid water so as not to shock them. Then cross your fingers.
If, like me, you sowed some peas in guttering in the cold frame then now’s the time to put them in the ground. They’re pretty frost hardy and so should be able to cope with just about anything (even snow in April!).
Don’t forget to water them before you attempt to slide out the seedlings to enable them to come out in one piece. You don’t want to disturb that lovely root system as peas hate that and will respond by checking their growth for a few days.
It was quite a nice day on Sunday, sun was shining, the air was warm, I had plans to put some lettuce seeds in and maybe plant my nice new Blackberry bush. You know, as you do. But then this happened and well, I didn’t have time to do the Blackberry bush but I did manage to get some lettuce in :)
