Stephanie's Garden Blog

Despite a very wet winter, we have had lovely dry warm weather of late which has dried out the soil. April is a crucial month for garlic as the bulbs are forming ready for harvest in a couple of month?s time.

As we move further into spring it's time to take off the bubble wrap in the greenhouse and give all the glass a good clean, before the plants get too big.

Busy in the greenhouse again this week, lots of seed sowing and potting on, hopefully planting up our wooden manger planters with salads and rocket. Harvesting some early salad leaves this week too.

The warm weather has really started to move things on in the Kitchen Garden. Lots of plans for the week ahead - dividing mint plants, sowing sea kale seeds, harvesting spinach and chard, now that should keep me busy!

Sneeboer make their tools with long handles, not solely for the benefit of six-foot-two blokes. These longer handles alleviate pressure on the spine and create a lot more digging power in the garden by creating a longer lever to work with.

Three of the major pest groups likely to cause havoc in any vegetable garden or allotment are animals, birds and weeds

The Kitchen Garden is really getting into swing now, harvesting, and most importantly eating, the forced rhubarb is a real early season treat!

Here at Stephanie's Kitchen Garden, we will be sowing seed outside this week. In our Superior Raised Beds, we will be sowing 'Amsterdam Forcing', an early variety of carrot. These will be given protection using a PVC cover and Hoops kit to keep them warm and snug whilst they germinate.

A quick snapshot of British vegetable plots, kitchen gardens, allotments and even patios will undoubtedly reveal that potatoes are right up there when it comes to grow your own crops