Notes from the Nursery - March
As the days lengthen and the soil begins to dry out after the winter rain, March is an ideal time to get growing. There’s lots to sow and plant now, and plenty you can prepare for later in the year.
Below are just a small range of vegetables that are easy to grow and provide wonderful, tasty crops. Vegetable plants of all types are now flooding into the nursery, so pop along and see what tempts you.
Beetroot Boltardy
Classic red beetroot which is happy staying in the ground until your ready to eat it and as the name suggests is less likely to ‘bolt’.
Tomato Sungold
This golden orange cherry tomato is famous for its sweet, intense flavour.
Carrot Flyaway
As the name suggests this variety has a resistance to carrot root fly which can damage other cultivars by making unsightly holes in the carrot itself.
Sweetcorn
Well known by gardeners as easy to grow and produces tasty cobs. These are wind pollinated plants so need to be planted in blocks rather than in a row to ensure a good crop.
Lettuce
So many varieties are available now but loose-leaf types such as ‘Salad Bowl’ are easy to grow and the type which you can cut and more will spring again from the same plant.
Potatoes
This must be up there with one of the most popular veg to grow due to its versatility. The ‘Charlotte’ variety could well be the most popular due to its delicious flavour and resistance to pests and disease. It's waxy in texture it makes a great salad potato.
Runner Bean
Another really popular vegetable and a variety called ‘White Lady’ is popular due to it producing tender beans and produces lovely white flowers prior to this.
Jobs for March in the Vegetable Garden
- Dig out any perennial weed roots such as nettles, ground elder and bindweed as you prepare beds for planting.
- Spread garden compost, rotted farmyard manure or soil conditioner over any bare patches of soil.
Select and start to sow any seeds you want to grow for the year ahead.
- If you're going to invest in one, now is the time to install a water butt so it has time to fill before you need that water in the summer.
- Plant out potatoes that have already been ‘chitted’ towards the end of the month and right into April, depending on the weather (see our previous blog post on growing potatoes).
- Onions and shallots can be purchased now as ‘sets’, which simply means small bulbs. Plant them into well prepared soil from late March to mid-April. It's worth covering them over with some netting to start with to stop the Blackbirds from pulling them out of the ground.
- Plant fruit bushes and strawberry plants. It's probably getting a little late to plant bare root trees now, but various pot grown varieties are freely available here.
- A great selection of herbs are now in stock and these can be planted out now. They also make a great display in pots, and if kept near the house are useful pickings when cooking.
