Slumber and Clumber

There's really nothing happening around Smithyveg Manor at the moment. All i'm doing for now is getting home from work and going out walking 3 times a week to get myself fighting fit for the imminent yearly emptying out of the sand barrels ritual. As I get older I dread this essential task more and more. Otherwise it's a case of writing your sowing dates in a diary, cross-referencing against previous years and double checking to make sure all the information is in there to make sure you haven't missed anything. Although I could probably get through a year on memory I still like to refer to my RHS diary on a weekly basis during the main sowing season (February to June), and I religiously note when all crops are sown, potted on and eventually planted out. However, you have to remember that each year is different and what worked last year won't necessarily work this year.




I'm going to be sowing my Vento onions indoors for the 250g class at Malvern this weekend. I won't be posting a photo of this process because quite frankly if you don't know how to do this you shouldn't be allowed out unattended let alone be thinking of growing veg for show. I'm hopeful of much better germination rates than last season now that Medwyn has got his supplier to get rid of those evil seed casings. I shall be glad to get back to growing Vento as I do find it an excellent onion to grow, the foliage growing quite upright meaning that you usually get plenty of uniform round specimens, with the growing point pretty much bang in the centre. I've also found it pretty tolerant of strong winds also, although you should always be prepared to re-upright them (is that a real word?...well it f***ing well is now) by pushing them back if they lean to one side, pushing soil underneath to keep them standing erect. This prevents the bulbs growing to one side and going off-centre. Last year Medwyn sent me some plants in the post to compensate for my germination problems, but those workshy bastards at the Post Office neglected to post a slip through my door telling me they'd tried to deliver them. By the time I realised they had been in the dark for nearly a week and although the plants did eventually get planted and harvested they were pretty pathetic specimens.



Other than that the only other things 'growing' are the potted up shallots although to be honest they are just sat now in freezing compost in an unheated greenhouse. The last few nights have seen temperatures down to -4degC which is much more like it for the time of year. I wonder how many growers were tempted to try a few early sowings in the recent mild weather?

I have a single long carrot down to seed, my best one from last season. I tried seeding one last year but it rotted off by early summer and I never managed to get my own strain of seed going. Hopefully I'll have more luck this time around as the plant certainly looks a lot better than before.

And last Saturday we took Oscar to Clumber Park in Nottingham. Well worth a visit, they have a superb walled garden growing all manner of veg varieties in an organic (yawn) manner. Most interesting is a display of old tools with a museum telling the history of the gardens and the techniques that the Head Gardeners employed. However, take plenty of money as the National Trust sure know how to empty your pockets.