Tomatoes, Ice Baths and Hotbeds | Huw's Garden Journal #11
Plus what to focus on (and sow) this week, Dyfi Plants update, and embracing livestreams.
Well it has been a chilly few weeks! The easterly winds have reinforced why planting a thick shelterbelt on the east side of the site was a much needed thing to do - it just needs to hurry up and grow now!
I’ve been finding refuge in the polytunnels whenever possible, enjoying the summer-like temperatures whenever the sun makes an appearance, only to walk out the door and get blasted by wind chill. Gardeners don’t need a sauna and ice bath, we have our own version - plus we get tomatoes!
On the subject of tomatoes, I will start these in early to mid March, but there are plenty of other things to sow and focus on at the moment! I hope you enjoy this week’s little journal.
Want the coolest collection of tomato varieties? Check this place out.
What to prioritise in the garden
With March just around the corner it is easy to start feeling a little overwhelmed with what to focus on! Whilst I don’t know your setup, I do hope that by sharing my priorities list will spark a few ideas or suggestions on what to prioritise.
Essential tasks for the next 1-2 weeks:
Set up a hotbed. It will involve some trips to the local horse centre, but is worth every second of it!
Mulch polytunnel beds with compost. I want to get these beds prepped and pristine for a productive year!
Sow the last of the Aubergines and Peppers before it gets too late.
Plant as many bare root plants as possible (soft fruit, fruit trees etc). Bare root are much more affordable to buy than potted plants when going online.
Take stock of my vegetable seeds and top up any gaps in my box.
Mulch shrubs with manure/compost/seaweed to provide slow release fertility over the growing season.
Flowers. I have a lot of flower seeds so I need to organise my sowing calendar for those!
By the way, now is a great time to sow Agastache (aka Korean Mint, pictured above) undercover in modules. This incredible hardy perennial herb is a wonderful flower for the garden, and I am slightly obsessed with it!
This week’s sowing list
Based on last week, if I was to only sow 3 things this week it would be:
Aubergines (Aka eggplants) - Real Seeds have a wonderful selection
Peas (for growing an early in a polytunnel or cold frame like this variety)
More fava beans! I am going to be growing a lot of them amongst my perennial polycultures.
For this weeks full sowing list, click the button or head to sow.today in your URL search bar:
Dyfi Plants YouTube Channel
If you’re interested in following the progress of our Dyfi Plants Nursery, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel, which will be a hive of activity featuring videos from me and the team on propagation, crop trials, variety testing, running the nursery, and more!
The hope is that we might inspire a few more nurseries focusing on resilient edible plants to pop up as there is a definite need for more in the UK. You can watch the introduction video below:
If you are in the UK and want to be the first in the know when we have new stock on the website, then you can sign up for the Dyfi Plants newsletter which will announce new stock 24 hours before any of us share on social media. Also our limited edition run of 40 mashua tuber packs will only be available through this due to the crazy demand!
Today (Tuesday) we are planting up more tree seedling, and planting out more mother stock plants for propagation and trails including Saskatoons and more of the Hinnonmaki gooseberry collection.
This Week’s YouTube Video
One of my livestream viewers last week asked if I could also share on my journal whenever I have a new video on YouTube as they often miss it! Well what a lovely idea, so here is this week’s video of the lovely market garden at Knepp Estate which grows an incredible amount of food and is organic certified.
More Livestreams!
I thoroughly enjoyed Friday’s live chat! What a fantastic collection of questions, so much so that the next free livestream will be Thursday 27th Feb at 8pm UK Time! You can catch up on last week’s here.
Tonight’s Livestream at 8pm UK time is for my Substack paid supporters. It’s a behind-the-scenes chat about the nursery, underrated perennial plants I’m growing this year, and a chance to answer more questions. If you would like to support the work I do then do consider becoming a supporter which help so many projects happen on the site!
Back out to the cold I go, coffee flask in one hand, and a pack of seeds in the other. I look forwards to catching up with some of you later today.
Best wishes, Huw
What kind of containers do you use when you go to the horse center to get manure to bring home to your garden?
#3 under essential tasks is missing some words at the end