A NEW Kitchen garden!

It's time for sowing and planting in the new garden and while Martin is busy with that, Jill is making a tasty asparagus soup

- Martin

The new raised beds are now finished and full of soil, so at last I can start to sow and plant our vegetables for the season. One final thing to do before I start is to apply a light dressing of blood, fish and bone to the bed to supply nutrients through the summer.

Although I'm starting my seed sowing a few weeks later than normal, I know that everything will catch up, especially now the soil is a few degrees warmer. Seeds that are being sown directly into the raised beds include carrots, parsnips, beetroot, chard, dwarf peas, spinach and salad crops. I find sowing seeds very satisfying and can't wait to see seedlings starting to push through the soil in a few weeks' time.

Early potatoes were also planted out into the garden. These of course had been chitting in the greenhouse for several weeks to produce strong new shoots. Again, in the warm soil the potatoes will soon root and send up shoots.

A LATE START

Because I knew we'd be sowing later than normal I started several types of veg off in cell trays. Summer cabbages and kale were all sown in the greenhouse along with broad beans, runner beans and dwarf French beans in cell trays so that, come May, I'd have plants ready to plant outside. This produces strong plants and you can grow the exact number needed. Once planted, brassicas need protecting from pigeons, which are a problem around us. I do this by pushing canes in the soil around the plants, pop a plant pot on top of each one and then drape the bird netting over it to create a cage. The sides are held down with tent pegs and there you have it: a simple and effective way to protect your plants.