The long old winter is starting to close and the site of spring is in the near distance. Bulbs start to appear, and wildlife wakes with the level of light and temperature slowly increasing.
It's not quite here yet, although it's definitely on its way, so what can be done in the garden before it truly arrives?
Top Tip- Start Chitting First Early Potatoes
Is there anything more satisfying than growing your own Vegetables? Apart from saving money, the taste of home grown potatoes is far greater to any available to buy in the shops!
Start by leaving your potatoes in a cool and bright place, so the 'eyes' sprout shoots, a great tip is placing them in egg boxes with the blunt end uppermost. This will usually take around 4-6 weeks, meaning if you start now, they will be ready to plant mid-late March.
Variety recommendations
Arran Pilot- First Early: One of the nations favourite garden-grown variety. Arran piolet has been around since 1930 and has remained popular due to its excellent taste and early boiling ability. This variety produces high yields of white skinned tubers with shallow eyes. The flesh is pure white and is among the best boiling potatoes available.
Pentland Javelin- First Early: Bred by a young Jack Dunnett in 1968. For years they have been considered to be one of the finest first earlies that you can grow. Javelin produces heavy crops of short oval white skinned tubers, with pure white tasty flesh. This variety also has a good all-round disease resistance to common scab and blackleg.
Don't Forget
-Continue to plant your bare root fruit trees, bushes and canes as long as the ground isn't frozen. The sooner you plant, the sooner they establish, the sooner you reap the rewards!
- Prevent slugs and snails from chomping on your shoots of perennials. A thin layer of slug pellets around each plant usually does the trick.
-Enrich your soil that got compact by the winter wet. Folk over the soil, and spread Bone Meal to replace the nutrients that got washed away by the rain.
Holly Taylor