A garden is a grand teacher…

The garden this month

As Gertrude Jekyll wisely said “A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.”

March can certainly be a tricky month and it has been so far - with sunny days interjected with frost, snow and wind, it’s made outdoor progress slow. But as the Spring Equinox approaches and days and nights equalise it’s a key point in any Kitchen gardener’s year. Wallowing in the pleasures of extra daylight marks a turn - warmer soils, longer growing days and without doubt a lot to do - it means we can finally get out of the greenhouse and get our hands in the soil.

So I’ve started to clear the decks and add plenty of well rotted manure to my small growing space - this will improve soil structure, add back nutrients and hopefully ( given the weather predictions) enhance the water holding capacity.

Despite the changeable weather I am taking Gertrude Jekyll at her word and trusting that the foundations I lay now will hold the garden in good stead for the growing season ahead.

One of the things I love about gardening are the surprises - such as the opportunistic plants that self seed, like this borage currently flowering in the greenhouse, or the raspberry that made a run from one bed to another to escape a cull I inflicted a few years ago. Just this one bush fruits enough to give me a regular bowlful of bright rosy berries for breakfast, most mornings in the early Autumn. But of course we can’t always rely on these self sufficient plants can we?

Which is why I’ve been busy sowing seeds. I am focusing on the heat loving plants - the ones that love a long season like tomatoes and chillies. Most seeds just need warmth to germinate so even a warm cupboard, by your boiler say, is good enough and then as soon as you see green shoots move them to a draught free, light and warm space. As I write, my tomatoes are sitting on the counter in the kitchen, I’ve chillies by the Aga and Mexican coriander beside them - a herb normally found in the West Indies - it’s my first attempt at growing, it was slow to germinate but is well on its way now. I also like to start my edible flowers off early - these are great additions to salads and make lovely summery garnishes.

If you’re lucky enough to have a peach in your greenhouse then you’ll know March is a critical month. With few pollinating insects the task falls to you - the gardener- to do this essential job, in the Victorian days a rabbit tail on a stick was used to gently tickle each flower now, for me at least, it’s a small artists brush. Best done over a series of days, wait till mid morning when any welcome warmth should encourage the pollen to drop ready to be gently coaxed from one flower to another. I do this daily until the last petals fall.

If you are interested in slightly more unusual herbs I bought my Mexican Coriander seeds from Hetty’s Herbs