Sow it and grow it

Few things satisfy the soul, palate and pocket as much as a basketful of produce that owes its existence to your time and effort. Sure, people have grown their own produce since humans first walked the planet. But in an age where our every whim can be catered for by a visit to the shops there is nothing like taking the situation into our own hands and becoming even just a little bit self-sufficient.

It may be months until harvest but gardeners in the know will have already begun the process. It is not too late to turn a patch of garden into a veritable treasure trove of growing goodies - and here we present some local experts to tell us how it is done.

Allotment holder and member of the West Dorset Organic Gardening Group Nick Cockcroft said that the first thing to do is figure out what soil type you have.

"You can grow most things in most soil types, there are only certain problems that arise with certain soil types. Some things work better on one type of soil than another. It doesn't mean you can't grow it, just that it won't grow as well."

Nick cited carrots as an example. He said that to grow them a 'sandy kind of soil' is needed, as the carrots like to push down into it.

"So if you've got very hard clay soil it's very difficult for the carrots to grow. They just don't grow because the roots can't push down so they end up not very big and an awkward shape.

"You could try growing round carrots instead or could just bang your head against the wall and grow conventional ones."

Finding out the soil type is easy, said Nick. "Sometimes it's obvious if it's solid clay or sandy. If it's not obvious send it off for analysis to Gardening Which? or the Royal Horticultural Society. Or just talk to your neighbours or the other allotment holders. They'll tell you what type of soil it is."

The growth of the organic market is a testament to the popularity of vegetables without the addition of any pesticides or chemicals. Whether or not you choose to garden organically or not is ultimately down to personal choice. As a member of an organic gardening group, it is no surprise that Nick strongly advises against the use of chemicals.

He said that mankind managed for millennia without them and while they may seem to reap benefits in the short term, their long-term effects may not be so welcome.

"Try to avoid using chemicals on anything you grow, particularly because you don't want to eat the chemicals but also because you don't want to kill the friendly insects.

"You can use broken-up eggshells to deter snails and slugs, or if you lay copper around the plant the slugs don't like crawling over it. You can also spray a soap solution on to green and blackfly, but it is worth noting that these methods have not been scientifically approved."

If you choose to use inputs in your garden, former president of the Wyke Regis Horticultural Society Dr Michael Watson suggests doing so sparingly. "Avoid unnecessary chemicals," said Dr Watson, who lives on Buxton Road. The driveway on to his half-acre plot gives way to several raised beds, some still growing vegetables. This method, said Dr Watson, is ideal for 'anyone who doesn't want to, or can't physically, dig'.

Winding through the concrete paths interspersed between the beds, he explained how they worked.

"If you raise the beds six inches and make them four foot and one inch wide, you can reach beyond the middle and do all the gardening standing on the path without having to tread on the soil. If you never tread on the soil it doesn't get compacted and so it never needs to be dug.

"Because they are only six inches high the beds need less watering. These also slope slightly into the sun so that they warm up quicker in the spring."

Dr Watson grows beetroot, celeriac, chard, Swiss chard, fennel, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, carrots, onions, French beans and peas, among others, all without digging.

"It may be lazy digging," he said, "but I like it and it produces real food."

Arthur and Josephine Pearse own Tamarisk Farm in West Bexington.

They were among the first people in the country to be registered by the Soil Association and their patches and polytunnels are crammed with all sorts of flourishing goodies.

Here, Arthur explains what you can do now to prepare your patch of garden for growing vegetables.

"You have to watch the weather and make best use of conditions as they come and anticipate the changing conditions.

"For example, you need to get all the weeding done now in case it rains all through March. Get rid of all the slugs and snails at the same time as they tend to like the long weeds and hiding underneath stones and plastic bags.

"The patch should have been cleared by now and this is the last chance to spread manure on it. What I do is really concentrate on the particular rows I will be planting on, not the whole patch in general.

"This could mean digging a trench and filling it up with manure. Also, dig trenches in preparation for later on.

"Making a seed bed means trying to get fine soil on the surface so when you plant seeds, you don't have to do a lot of digging. Personally, I add sand to the soil. If you don't dig, the very top soil becomes ideal. I don't interfere with soil down below.

"Quite a lot of people have glasshouses or polytunnels and this makes a terrific difference, but beginners aren't likely to. A conservatory is fine, or even a south-facing kitchen windowsill.

"What I recommend is go to a garden centre and buy fleece. It's an artificial product that keeps the frost and birds off but is sufficiently porous for the rains and light to come through. If you went to Cornwall you'd see that all the early potatoes are under fleece.

"It's a good thing to mulch rhubarb. The ideal thing is plenty of straw but anything that can be left on the surface and piled up so the wind doesn't blast the tender shoots off is good.

"If you have a strawberry bed you need to weed, mulch and manure it at this time of year. With asparagus it's terribly important to weed it thoroughly even if it looks like it doesn't need it.

"For beginners I would suggest buying plants instead of seeds as you can buy the right thing at the right time.

"Purple sprouting broccoli should be planted now. Lettuce seeds can be planted now. There are two types. One has a heart and very often it will not come through unless one is fairly lucky or an expert. I would opt for the plants that are just leaves. You can tear leaves off as you need them and keep doing that for four or five weeks.

"Sow the seeds now for calibrese, which is green sprouting broccoli but nothing like the horrible things supermarkets are filled with. You won't get them as big as that and you do not want to.

"If you haven't already, sow the seeds for tomatoes, peppers and aubergines now because they take quite a time. Fennel is something worthwhile growing from seed and can go in now.

"Broad beans can be planted now and it's worth planting some now and some later so that they are staggered. It means that when one lot stops you can start on the next.

"The same with peas. Spinach beet is a good thing. It's not proper spinach but it's been used as it and you can pull leaves off as they're ready. They can keep going for six months or more.

"Parsnips need to go in early because they take a long time to germinate. You need sandy soil otherwise you end up with five or six different roots instead of one nice bit of parsnip. The same applies to carrots and they should be planted soon.

"Courgettes are also pretty easy to plant from seed and you need to do so early. And if you've got children it's nice to plant pumpkins so that they're ready for Hallowe'en and they're easy from seed. You could plant them in a conservatory but I would wait a little longer and plant them outdoors."

Visit: www.tamariskfarm.co.uk