Know and Grow with Primary Times
The Alnwick Garden has a hidden treasure; a garden full of fruit and Vegetables, many grown by children. Derek Guthrie is The Garden’s vegetable expert and will help you grow your own in the coming months.
I’ve been gardening since I was a child. It’s a good excuse to be outdoors and get dirty, and there’s nothing better than growing things you can eat and share with your family and friends.
Crops grow quickly in the summer with long days and high temperatures, the summer holidays are nearly here so it is a great opportunity to grow some vegetables from start to finish. We are going to look at two different groups of plants and growing times. First are the quickest and easiest cress, mustard and sprouting seeds, normally ready within 14 days the process is simple. Fill a 9cm pot with compost and firm, leaving around 1cm from the top for water. Cut out a piece of kitchen towel to fit inside the top of the pot, place this onto the compost and water. Now all you need to do is sprinkle some seeds onto the kitchen towel and water once more. The seeds should start to germinate within 2 days and will be ready to eat within 14 days. Remember to keep the pot watered but not soaked.
Next up, crops such as radish and beetroot, both of which grow quickly but not as fast as your potted seeds. This time look for a small piece of garden or a large planter in a sunny position. Dig over the soil lightly and add a little organic fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone, which are available from most garden centres. Rake over the soil and firm with your feet and rake once more, the soil is now prepared.
If you are using a large pot or container all you need to do is fill with multipurpose compost, leaving 2-4 cm from the top for water, level and lightly firm with your hands.
Now you are ready to sow the seeds, using a small piece of cane, drill a hole into the soil or compost approx 1cm deep. Open the packet of seeds carefully and using your finger and thumb (the hand that you write with) pinch a few seeds, place your hand over the drill hole and thinly sow the seeds into the hole. Gently cover the seeds and water using a hose or a watering can, keep watered. You can eat the beetroot leaves once they are big enough, so add them to your summer salad,
After 4-6 weeks the radish should be ready to eat and after 8-10 weeks you can enjoy the beetroot.
You can ask me questions in our online forum, Over The Garden Fence. Sign up to the website, visit Know and Grow and then click on Over The Garden Fence, for help with your growing project. We’d love to see pictures of your vegetables growing. Send them to rootsandshoots@alnwickgarden.com along with your name and age, and look out for them on the Know and Grow pages.
In the next issue we’ll look at salad crops. Get your containers or veggie patch ready and visit your local garden centre to buy lettuce seeds. Salad crops are great as they grow fast. Cut-and-come-again lettuces will keep growing after you’ve picked what you need and keep your family in salads all summer. Book a place at our Gardening
For Kids Club on Saturday 27th March, and you’ll meet me and the rest of the team for workshops in the Roots and Shoots Garden.
Happy vegetable growing!
Derek
