Last call for tattie planting! With a very mixed spring across the country, tattie prices will undoubtedly rise, so why not try growing a few of your own? Tubers are still available in garden centres and some shops. You don’t need a garden, peat free compost in a bucket or bag will do! See the Grow6 tattie guide and get growing.
Tatties
Tomato time! If you fancy trying to grow tomatoes this year you still can! Infact now is the perfect time to choose healthy young plants from the shops or better still support your local community garden or allotment. You can grow tomatoes both inside and out but whatever you decide the smaller fruting ones provide the sweetest fruit in our unpredictable weather.
Read the Grow6 tomato guide here
At last temperatures are inching up slowly, what a difference some sunshine can make to our mood and seeds needing warmer soils to germinate.
It’s time to start taking young plants on windowsills outside to adjust to cooler temperatures, this process of ‘hardening off’ gets plants used to being outdoors. Repeat for 3 or 4 days before planting into open soil or pots. Replace the windowsill space with another sowing of peas, greens or herbs. Another late season means any warm growing space out of the wind is a good thing!
Want to learn more about growing your own food? Look for your nearest community growing space and practice new skills in the company of others.
https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/your-area/scotland
With lots of weather but more sunshine forecast, the windowsill juggle continues! What a difference some sunshine out of the wind and rain makes, keep up the indoor sowings.
Outdoors, watch out for slugs. Look under pots, bags of compost, logs, or other dark, damp places, and combine their removal from your patch with a long walk! It’s also time to start collecting materials to prevent the slugs from munching young plants and seedlings when it is warm enough to plant outdoors in the next couple of months—ground eggshells, pet hair, and coffee grounds are a few firm favourites.
Tatties
Earlies can be planted in pots, bags or open ground from now on, in frosty spots it might be advisable to hold off until the end of the month.
Peas
Best sown in regular batches into deep pots onto warm, sunny windowsills. Young plants, like those pictured, can be (hardened off) placed outside during the day and brought back in overnight to acclimatize before planting out next week. This helps develop sturdy young plants rather than spindly, weak ones.
Berries
Still time to glean strawberry runners from neighbours and get plants established in the soil or pots.
Greens
Spinach, mixed leaves, lettuce, parsely and coriander are best started off indoors on warm windowsills for growing into young plants and transplanting outdoors in a few weeks time.
If bringing pots or compost in from a garden space do check for small slugs sneaking in under the edge of pots or in your soil they will munch new seedlings over night.
Finally
Where you have the space do remember to plant for pollinators; pot marigold, poached egg flowers, sunflowers are all firm favourites and whilst they grow on to provide nectar from midsummer onwards let the dandelions and pollinators flourish!
The weather is certainly keeping us on our toes- don’t be dismayed by this seasonal juggle; some later sowings will catch up. It’s time to sow a few crops indoors to catch any warm sunshine that will help seeds to germinate chosse your sunniest sills to catch any rays going.
Outdoors, you can start warming (where possible) any outdoor soil (in pots or in the ground) from the persistent rain so it can warm up before we start sowing and planting outdoors in a few weeks. Anything that lets light through will see off the slugs and make soils much more welcoming for seeds or young plants in a few weeks’ time.
Tatties
In between showers, earlylies can be planted out into open soil, plastic bags, buckets or other containers! One Seed Forward has a great ‘how-to guide. ‘ Maincrop tubers should be kept chitting. Unsure what you have? Plant them from mid-April onwards just to be on the safe side.
Tomatoes
If you have seed, you can try sowing it into a pot or tray on a warm, sunny windowsill or buy a few young plants from a garden centre or supermarket in the next few weeks.
Peas
Keep sowing in deep pots or toilet rolls on warm sunny windowsills. If you sow a handful of seeds every couple of weeks you can ensure a steady supply of peas each week (all being well) from late June. Compost should be damp, not wet, or you risk simply rotting off seeds before they germinate. Be patient; germination will take time on many dull grey days.
Greens
Keep sowing lettuce, spinach and now basil into trays with holes or yoghurt pots into damp compost onto warm sunny windowsills.
Strawberries
Young, healthy-looking strawberry plants or their runners (small offshoots) can be planted into slightly warmer, damp soils. If the plant doesn’t have lots of roots check the roots for vine weevil grubs- these are small creamy grubs with little brown heads.
Outdoors, in between showers, it is worth getting on top of young weeds that will be responding to longer daylight hours. If they don’t have a seed head on them you can just pull them up and leave them on your soil to break back down.
Every growing season is unpredictable, making home growing both frustrating and fun. It’s an amazing reminder of how precarious our food supply is. If you’d like to learn and practice your growing skills to grow more food successfully, why not join others?
https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/your-area/scotland#Map
Temperatures are rising and daylight hours are lengthening. It’s now or never! It’s time to get sowing… indoors.
Peas and beans!
In pots or empty toilet rolls you can sow peas and broad beans. These ‘legumes’ have long roots so they do need depth in their pot. Place them on a warm sunny windowsill with extra protection of a clear plastic container and hope for a few days of continuous sunshine! The soil should be damp to the touch to enable germination; some people soak broad bean, pea and sweet pea seeds overnight to soften them before sowing.
If you have space in garden soil or large pots, you might think about sowing ‘successionally’ sow some seeds indoors now and save some seeds to sow again directly into warmer soils at the end of April or the start of May. This ensures you crop peas and beans over a longer period.
Greens:
Smaller seeds like lettuce, parsely or spinach will be happy in shallower pots. Yoghurt pots with a hole in the bottom will do, or old 9cm plant pots. Sprinkle seeds, like you might black pepper onto your food, into warm, damp compost. Again, if you can, cover newly sown seeds with a clear plastic top and wait to see how long they take to germinate.
It’s worth taking note of the date, at this time of year and depending on the temperatures where you are things can take anything from 5-10 days to show signs of life.
Tomatoes:
If you have seed try sowing a few the same as your greens or in the next couple of weeks pick a young plant up from a garden centre or supermarket. and save on the windowsill space!
Tatties:
There’s still time to find seed potatoes and chit them, but it’s too cold to plant them just yet.
Spring has sprung! There are now more daylight hours than dark. However, seed-sowing success depends on rising temperatures and bright windowsill days. If you are brand new to growing, don’t be tempted to sow tiny seeds inside or outside just yet; without a few days of consistent heat, they will simply rot off, or they might germinate and become pale, stretched and thin with overcast days. Instead, get ready by clearing sunny windowsills and sourcing peat-free compost and trays or containers to sow into; small yoghurt pots, toilet rolls, and plastic cartons will do.
Tatties:
You can still buy seed potatoes and chit yer tatties. Tattie chitting is the process of developing strong shoots on your tubers before you plant into warmer soils from the end of April. Tubers can be placed in egg cartons or trays somewhere cool but bright and left to develop sprouts.
Want to learn and grow with others?
Up and down the country, community growing spaces are gearing up for another growing season, and folk always need an extra hand. They will almost likely have spare pots for you to sow into too! So have a look on these maps here:
If you don’t find a group on the map near you or want to start a group in your local area get in touch we are here and happy to help.
Meterological spring but don’t be caught out by fluctuating temperatures and cold soils by sowing small precious seeds too soon. Now is the time to warm the soil with a sheet of old black plastic or pane of glass, chit tatties, and think about water catchment (hard to believe), clear sunny windowsills and growing spaces to start sowing from mid to late March.
If you want to try onion sets, garlic or broad beans, you can plant these really hardy crops now.
Garlic
Plant garlic now into sunny, free-draining soil or pots for a summer harvest. For disease-free, big, fat, juicy bulbs, buy garlic specially bred for growing in a garden centre, online, or perhaps from a friend who grows their own. You are effectively cloning your garlic bulb, so choose the biggest, healthiest cloves to plant and keep the biggest bulbs from your summer harvest for your next sowing.
Broad Beans
Broad beans are also tolerant of cool spring soils. You can start beans off on a light windowsill and plant young plants out towards the end of March; this reduces the risk of the seed rotting off or perhaps being nibbled by mice.
Tatties
Tattie Days are taking place up and down the country; if you can find one near you, GO, you won’t be disappointed, though you might be overwhelmed by the sheer quantities of tatties to choose from! It’s a whole other world, and there are always experts on hand; it’s a fantastic day out! Seed tatties- can be ‘chitted’ in a cool, light place. ‘Chitting’ is the process of encouraging early shoots to develop before planting in spring. If you don’t have open ground, you can grow tatties in any deep container– 2 tatties planted in an old compost or a big long-life shopping bag can give you a couple of kilos.
Berries
One of the lowest maintenance food types we can grow, every growing space needs berries, and Scotland is the best place to grow them! You can pick and scoff with no soil to wash off. So, approach neighbours for spare strawberry plants or last-minute rooting of blackcurrants (pencil thickness and length) half covered in water or soil. If you want to plant a few different types to give you fruit all summer, it’s the last call to buy bare root plants online for spring planting. These plants come in the post with no soil, pot or leaf and are the cheapest way to buy a few different fruit plants.
Finally, If you are lucky enough to have a compost heap- turn it! If you haven’t a heap, consider building one, your soil and plants will love it. See our Soil page for more info.
As the days shorten, daily tasks slowdown in growing spaces BUT there is still plenty to keep us out, active and growing.
If you don’t have a growing space why not join one? Community gardens always need an extra pair of hands and never more so in the winter months. Look at these maps, to see if you have a growing space near you.
If you don’t find a group on the map near you or want to start a group in your local area get in touch we are here and happy to help.
Bag leaves to make amazing peat-free material to sow and grow into. Leaves break down differently to a ‘normal’ compost heap, taking longer (2 years) to decompose. The resulting product is- not rich in nutrients but great for adding bulk and structure to any soil and a brilliant peat-free substitute when mixed with homemade compost for peat-free seed sowing and growing in pots
As the leaves fall bag and stash them to make amazing peat-free material to sow and grow into. Leaves break down differently to a ‘normal’ compost heap, taking longer (2 years) to decompose. The resulting product is- not rich in nutrients but great for adding bulk and structure to any soil and a brilliant peat-free substitute when mixed with homemade compost for peat-free seed sowing and growing in pots.
One of the best garden jobs ever whatever the month, in all weathers, and one of the most significant for its positive environmental benefits, if you have a heap, turn it, and if you haven’t a heap build one! Our Soil pages can help
There’s plenty still to do in growing spaces as the harvest continues, but temperatures are dropping, the soil is cooling, and the nights are drawing in. Stay tuned as we make the seasonal switch from the end of this week.
If you had a late crop of peas the pods will be coming to an end. Peas and beans are great plants for soil conditioning- cut stems above the ground off at soil level leaving the nitrogen-fixing roots in the soil. Spent pea plants make amazing compost. Chop them up where possible with shears or secateurs to speed up the process and mix them with other garden greens, toilet rolls, old egg boxes etc.
Indoors tomatoes will slowly continue to ripen, if you have quite a few, green tomatoes can be turned into salsa or chutney. Outdoor tomato plants can now be composted.
Late summer berries keep on giving but as any sunshine loses its power, the fruits become less sweet. Autumn berries can be great for jam or crumbles, so keep up the harvest and check your local hedgerow for blackberries too.
Kale plants come into their own now as other tender greens slow down. The good news is the cooler temperatures mean no more cabbage white butterfly caterpillars munching your greens, but beware of the pigeon!
Any late-flowering herbs offer essential late nectar for bees. Basil, parsley and coriander continue to grow indoors and out. Outdoor plants will benefit from some protection as the temperature drops- an old plastic juice bottle or glass fridge door will do!
Lift tatties on dry days for storing. Store any surplus tatties carefully, checking for blemishes, fork holes or squidgy bits. One rotting tattie can soon become many. Tatties need stored somewhere cool and dark. The advantage to lifting and storing indoors is that you can sow broad beans or garlic in empty soil from next month.
If you’ve loved growing more of what you eat and eating more of what you grow this season, you might consider becoming more self-sufficient through seed saving next year! A couple of great resources can help introduce you to the wonderful world of seeds.
supporting and championing food growing in our communities