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Gardening tips – growing your own in Bristol with gardener Kim Britland
Bristol gardener Kim Britland gives tips on gardening and growing your own
Typical English weather… unpredictable! Being quite new to the gardening scene has at least taught me there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to growing your own. I think the key this season is patience.
I have been chatting to other keen gardeners and more often than not I am hearing that outdoor sowings haven’t germinated or that indoor sowings that have been hardened off (process of preparing plants to outdoor conditions) have not survived outdoor conditions. I think that with the drought in March and early April then the constant rainfall and occasional late night frosts and now the blazing summer heat, it has meant that neither gardeners nor young plants know whether they are coming or going.
Instinctively I held back and didn’t rush to get everything out, which has paid off a little. In the container garden the potato plants are looking healthy and sturdy. This week I have seen the first formations of strawberries on the window ledge. They loved the recent downpour and the plants are looking luscious and green. The tomato plants, courgettes, peas and beans I am hardening off and I have sown salad leaves in a window box and nasturtiums in containers. Make the use of your window ledges at home guys, it’s amazing what you can grow without needing allot of space.
I am also very lucky to share an allotment with a lovely lady, Nicky. Down there, the onions and shallots have made an appearance and the jumbo peas and broad beans are twisting their way up the cane supports. Potatoes are being earthed up and a few salad leaves have been sown, along with carrot and beetroot. It’s all exciting I can tell you!
Here’s a brief summary of gardening bits and bobs to keep up with over the next week or so:
Watch out for late night frosts.
Earth up potatoes
Lift and divide over crowded clumps of daffodils and other spring bulbs.
Collect rainwater. I have buckets dotted about through the garden, think I might invest in a water butt soon. Makes sense!
Evening slug patrol! I get out there in the garden most nights with a torch and hunt the little pests out!
Harvest Rhubarb. Yummy Rhubarb pie tastes great home baked with a nice dollop of ice cream!
Many veg crops can be sown as seed. Broad Bean, carrots, lettuce, spinach, salad leaves, leeks and chard.
And of course, don’t forget to mow those luscious green lawns!
Kim welcomes your comments and queries. If you have a specific gardening question for Kim, please message her using the enquiry box below.
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