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
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.
Meteorological autumn has begun, and summer has returned! So this week it‘s time to water pots and younger plants, ripen fruit and perhaps try a spot of seed saving. Seed saving is on the rise as more folk growing recognise our changing weather patterns and the need for seeds suited to our local climate conditions. Some seeds are easier to save than others, peas and tomatoes are well worth a try from healthy, disease-free plants.
If you still have some fat juicy pods that escaped the pot let a few pods dry on the plant in warm autumn sunshine. Once the pod and pea are brown and dry store peas in an old envelope in a cool, dry, mouse free place. You might still be picking late sowings and if this is the case and the warm weather continues, they’d appreciate a good soak to give you a final flurry of pods.
Remove any remaining flowers and at least half of the leaves to maximise sunshine. Reducing flowers and leaves means you can cut back on the watering too. Do keep an eye out for yellowing leaves, mould on stems and black spots signalling tomato blight. If you have suspected blight don’t leave it to develop further, harvest fruit and try ripening them on a windowsill and dispose of diseased plants in council compost, depot or the bog standard bin. Disease-free tomatoes can be left to ripen in this last blast of summer
Try coaxing late flowering strawberries to swell and ripen. Forming fruit will appreciate a good water every few days to help fruit swell. Autumn raspberries come into their own from now on but they too might appreciate a one-off good soak if the dry spell continues.
Cabbage white butterflies are still laying their eggs on ‘brassicas’ so do keep an eye out for eggs and caterpillars and squish them between your fingers. It’s still worth making sowings of pak choi or winter lettuce on windowsills.
Mint and thymes will still be flowering and providing essential late nectar for bees, so don’t be tempted to go in and ‘tidy’ for autumn too soon. Coriander may also have run to seed or be flowering; you can still use this in the kitchen, and pollinators love the small, delicate white flowers. If you have a warm, sunny windowsill, you might consider splitting one supermarket basil pot into several. Pinching the plant out will keep you in bushy basil plants for weeks. See our socials for ‘pinching out’ clip from Lauriston Farm.
Tubers will have finished all their growing by now, so disease–free tops can be cut at soil levels and composted. Dig tatties over the next few weeks and let them dry in warm sunshine before storing them somewhere cool, dry and mouse free. If any of the stems are mushy, you may have potato blight- remove the tops, don’t compost them and leave the tubers for three weeks undisturbed to prevent blight getting to your tatties.
If you’d like to know more about seed saving, there are some great resources out there:
There’s still plenty going on in growing spaces, sowing on windowsills, harvesting, weeding and getting ready for autumn. Mixed weather, shorter days and cooler nights all mean plant growth is slowing down. Cropping and ripening fruit takes priority, but give some thought to any gaps in the soil and get ready to make the Grow6 seasonal switch.
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Late sowings will just keep on cropping if you keep on picking. Any yellowing pods you might consider leaving on the plant to begin to dry out for saving seed.
Will you be eating homegrown tomatoes or trying green tomato chutney?! To encourage fruits to ripen remove any remaining flowers and all lower leaves to ensure as much light as possible gets to the fruit to encourage ripening. Brown leaves and stems may signal tomato blight. Do keep a careful eye on the fruit and if symptoms spread remove the fruit and try ripening on a windowsill.
Late-flowering strawberries will be flowering and fruiting. Autumn-fruiting raspberries will begin to produce fruit. Watch the bees gorge on late nectar and keep an eye out for birds, here’s hoping for some sunshine to sweeten the fruit.
Young kale plants for winter should be growing away in warm autumn soils. Keep an eye out for cabbage white butterflies and pick them off. Try sowings of mixed winter salad leaves, oriental greens (pak choi, mizuna) or corn salad in soil, troughs or trays on a warm sunny windowsill for planting out in a few week’s time. Where sown outside, cover them with an old sheet of glass or plastic to act as a mini greenhouse.
It’s time to try late sowings of coriander on a sunny windowsill for a few leaves for autumn dishes.
Maincrop tatties will start to signal they are ready for lifting once plants have flowered and leaves begin to yellow. Familiarise yourself with signs of potato blight in case blight strikes, and if in doubt, you can now cut plant tops off and leave the tatties untouched for three weeks before harvesting to stop the blight from spreading into the tubers and turning them to mush.
Large areas of bare ground can also be protected by sowing green manure- seeds that prevent nutrient loss over wet winter months and can be dug in springtime for bulk and nutrient. Read more here
supporting and championing food growing in our communities