We have harvested our first crops of mizuna and rocket for the veg bags this week, not only do they look good they taste fantastic.  Our harvesting for the Eden kitchens and other outlets will also be starting in the near future.

Watering in the greenhouse in this hot weather is being done early morning and late afternoon as the sun is quite hot and the young seedlings need lots of TLC.  We now have over 2,000 – 20 and 35 litre pots, either planted or ready for planting.

The black plastic strips have all been laid in the field now and two full rows of parsnips have been planted.  Our battle now is keeping the rest of the field ‘dock free’.  We now have our very own Dock Busters.

Emma’s tip for this week is: Here at Watering Lane we obviously grow a lot of veg but most seasons we do like to sneak in a few sweet peas too. The scent from these colourful little beauties is heavenly.  They like a deep root run so give their roots plenty of space and try not to disturb the roots too much when transplanting them into their final position in your garden or pots.  Then when they flower just pick, pick, pick! And they will flower, flower, flower!

We were really pleased to hear that Ken Radford, Manager, has been nominated by the Eden Project for the National Trust’s Octavia Hill 2012 Award. 

Ken has worked tirelessly over the last 14 years to make the People and Gardens C.I.C. project what it is today.  His commitment and enthusiasm to all aspects of project can be seen by all who attend, whether they are working with the group or as a visitor to the site.

If you would like to help Ken be recognised for the dedication he has shown to all who attend the project please vote for him at http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/octaviaawards/

He is nominated under the ‘Growing Hero’ category.  Voting closes at midnight on Arpil 9th.

Thank you.

Please ask your friends to vote too.

Emma and some of the guy’s have managed to start laying down rows of black plastic for planting some of the crops, not only does this keep the weeds down but it will also warm up the compost beneath ready for the young seedlings.   We will be planting 2 rows of parsnip seeds today directly into the field.

The rhubard has responded to the couple of days of sunshine and warm weather that Cornwall has had recently and is coming on leaps and bounds.  It looks like we will have a bumper crop this year which will be fantastic for the veg bags.

The greenhouse is becoming filled with young lettuces, mizuna, rocket, parsley, basil and other herbs and is a sensory delight, the smells, colours, textures and taste are wonderful.  Everyone can see the rewards of their seed planting now.

Our volunteers, Jackie Buckingham, Sue Jackman and Jan Coles have been amazing and we would not have been able to have achieved so much without them, so thank you very much ladies, your help is greatly appreciated.

Emma’s tip:  Don’t be fooled by March’s weather, although there may be some bright days, they will be followed by biting winds and frosty nights.  If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse or even a polytunnel you can begin to sow some salad crops, celeriac and early cabbages.  If these spaces aren’t available you can always use your windowsills.

Last Friday we spent a great day at Trevalon Community Farm.  Mark Simon and his team showed us around the farm and provided us with a lovely lunch.  Mark also showed us how to take willow cuttings and replant them alongside one of their walls.  We have invited Mark and his team to come and join us at the Nursey later in the year.

The greenhouse is beginning to be filled with lots of colour from the new plants: four different types of parlsey, mizuna, baby leaf lettuces, rocket, basil and lots of herbs.  Jackie, one of our volunteers, James T and Sean have planted our first lot of spring onions in the polytunnel this week.

Farmer Rob came and prepared the field for us so we have been able to start to lay the black plastic in the field so that it will warm up the compost ready to take the new crops. 

It has been a veg bag week and Emma and James measured and packed the mushrooms and tomatoes this week.  The bag also contained potatoes, leek, onions, carrots, swede, cabbage and a cucumber.  We had to deliver 75 bags this week. 

Emma’s tip of the week:  As the weather warms up, so does the soil.  Time to really get sowing all those vegetable seeds.  It’s the month to plant your onion sets but if you only have a limited space I would recommend planting some shallots.  Their flavour is milder yet finer than the plain white onions and they’re expensive to buy!  “Matador” or “Red Sun” are two recommended varieties.

An incredibly busy week. 75 veg bags packed and delivered without hiccup.

Sean and Darren have been working hard to dig over the rhubarb plot. Everyone else has been sowing seeds, planting and filling pots in block 1. We have sown spring onions, basil and lettuces and planted lettuces and mizuna. 8 tons of compost has been used which is amazing. We’ve also planted and moved outside 8000 tulip bulbs, 6 per 3 litre pot. Our group need to work in a very structured way and it’s humbling to see people work with such determination and then than us for giving them such a good day.

Jan Coles joined us as a volunteer this week and we are very lucky to be able to access her professional expertise. All of our volunteers are incredibly nice people and we are priveleged to have them with us.

Emma’s tip this week is to go home early if you can! She also recommends getting all your seed trays and pots sterilised to prevent dormant diseases from developing.

On Wednesday our new Cold Storage Unit arrived at the Nursery.  It wasn’t an easy task to get the unit into place as we had to dismantle part of a fence so that the lorry could get into the correct position.

Only a couple of hours earlier Sean, Darren and Kenny were busy preparing the area and had to check that the sleepers for the unit was level.

We were all so excited about this as it is the first of the items that we have on our wish list.  It means that we can now harvest our salad crops everyday during the summer as they will be able to be stored at the correct temperature.

We have also cleared and renewed the compost around our rhubarb crowns and finished digging over the squash and gourd beds.

Emma’s tip this week: If you are a fan of runner beans or courgettes start trench composting!  Make a trench under the spot where you want your crops to grow and line it with some cardboard and kitchen vegetable waste.  Top it off with the soil you removed to make the trench and it will soon start to break down.  Don’t forget where it is though.  These crops are extremely hungry and need plenty of feeding.  A great idea is to actually plant a courgette into your compost heap and watch it grow!

To donate to People and Gardens text SPUD16 £5.00 (or your amount) to 70070

Last week started off by us giving our mint plants a good old short back and sides haircut, this has enabled us to fertilise the plants.

We were also asked if we could help harvest some old hop vines.  The guy’s enjoyed doing this especially when they realised that the hops were part of a trial to see if they could make beer out of them, I think some even asked for some samples to take home when it’s been made.

We continued with our seed sowing program.  Last week over 6,000 parsley seeds were planted along side endives, spring onions, mizuna and lettuces seeds.

Our young seedlings, planted only a couple of weeks ago, were ready to be potted on into larger seed trays.  This is quite a skilled job as the young plants are very tender and need gentle handling.  The guy’s have mastered the skill and were potting on the spring onions and baby leaf lettuces in the warm and sunny greenhouse.

Emma’s tip – Here we are into February and now is a good month to start sowing your spring onions for all those lovely salads we are dreaming of in the warmer weather.  The team here at Watering Lane are exceptionally good at growing this versatile little veg, we use a variety called Guardsman, which true to it’s name grows tall and straight.  They are a great staple in our veg bags later in the season. Continue reading →

To donate to People and Gardens text SPUD16 £5.00 (or your amount) to 70070

Due to technical problems at the Nursery this post could not be posted on Friday 27th, hopefully we are all up and running properly now.

Our week started off with the greenhouse being closed due to the roof being cleaned.  The guy’s found it really exciting watching these people work out in the cold, wet and windy conditions with hoses, cleaning out the gullies and the glass.

Due to the weather we have been cleaning off plant labels and seed trays for the Eden green team, but when they could the guy’s completed the digging in one of the large plots up in the field.

It was also a Veg Bag week, so lots of measuring and packing of veggies took place.  Our bags this week contained, potatoes, onions, carrots, swede, cabbage, sprouts, green and red pepper, mushrooms and mixed bean sprouts.

Two of our volunteers, Jackie and Pix managed to pot on mizuna and spring onion seedlings, whilst Bill, James and Nicky J planted 3000 parsley seeds, these will be eventually planted in the field.

Emma’s tip this week – apparently there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!  What a load of tosh.  With all this rain we have been having the People and Gardens team have been unable to get really stuck in and finish our winter digging.  Usually an ideal job to be getting on with in January.  Never mind, February is just around the corner.  Lets hope it dries up.  Instead make use of your time indoors by starting an allotmnent diary so as not to forget what you have grown and even begin chitting some early potatoes.  Stay dry.