You can sow virtually anything now and it will grow, just make sure that the seed has enough moisture to keep it growing after the seed has actually germinated. Don’t drown it but keep it moist. Some crops, and flowers, need longer than others to reach maturity so do read the seed packet to avoid wasting your energy on things that will never work.

Always time to sow salad and other leafy vegetables including spinach and so many exotic leafy crops that make exciting salads. It is not impossible but it is rare for there to be night frost in May in this part of the world so French beans, runner beans, peas, sweet corn should all be sown or planted out now. Courgettes should also be safe although young plants always need protection from cold winds. Either a covering or a windbreak constructed from the white horticultural fleece is ideal. Leeks and winter brassicas should be transplanted.

Potatoes should be growing away well now. Last year was one of the most difficult for this important crop; prolonged wet weather allowed blight to get a hold. It is best if plants have space between them to allow the air to carry disease spores away, and that if you do water then do so early in the day rather than leave wet leaves overnight. That applies to pretty well most plants you might grow.

Disease control is limited to a preventative copper spray that prevents the blight spores from getting into the leaves, or removing any diseased leaves as soon as you see them. I do think it is worth persevering with potatoes; prices have gone through the roof this year and that effect will probably be felt for quite a while.
All food prices are rising and grow your own, although by no means easy, makes so much good sense, whether it is in a small raised bed or huge allotment.

Flower gardens bring pleasure to all of us and are relatively easy to create.

There is still time to plant out dahlias. They do best with a decent helping of compost and will flower until the frosts come in late autumn.

The lawn should have had an all over weed, feed and moss treatment to get it into shape. I try to avoid mowing to tight as that is the single most likely way of getting a mossy lawn rather than a nice green grassy one! If you have killed the moss and raked it out, then over sow with a general purpose grass seed mix to thicken the remaining lawn.
Finally in the fruit garden, protect pear blossom if we do get a sudden frost (use fleece again) and prepare protection for bush and soft fruit from bird damage.

Keep a hoe near the back door so whenever you walk round the veg or flower garden you can hoe a bit a t a time- really makes a difference to keeping the weeds under control.

Hope you make it through the month!

I am writing this without knowing exactly what the weather will be like when you read so please forgive me if nothing matches up with reality, but that’s the way it goes. I have a day in the garden today and there is very little growing yet. The soil is more or less ready to sow and I ‘m dodging in and out between some really heavy rain showers which is not unusual for this time of year. All in all nature which catch up and bring everything into line at some point; day length is absolutely fixed and there’s no way of fooling the earth in its orbit to get extra days of summer.

New shoots have developed, and the spring flowering Daphne, Forsythia, prunus and Viburnums have done their bit. The earlier cold prolonged their display to some extent. The same is true for many spring bulbs which has compensated for some of the long cold spell.
Weeds are still growing; some real deep rooted perennials which must be dug out as well as annual seedlings that can be easily hoed off. I want to garden as ethically as I can with lots of organic matter and the minimum of artificial fertilisers or sprays being used. I do keep a spray bottle of Roundup handy so that I can zap the hard to reach and difficult weeds.

While thinking about chemicals I have looked at the situation regarding Nicotinoids and the harmful effect that they have on bees. Gardeners have less chemicals at their disposal each year but to be honest they don’t need too many. Good gardening practices should mean that the soil is kept in good heart and the plants are grown as well as they can be.

We struggle with sudden invasions of pests and diseases although it would not be noticed if we weren’t trying to work in a relatively confined space. So we do need help from time to time. Insecticides are bound to be a problem for all insects whether they are beneficial or not.

The important thing is how they are used. All garden chemical packs carry detailed information as to how and when they should be used. The obvious rule is not to spray any plant when it is flower as you will surely kill the insects that are visiting to pollinate your plant or just feed for their own benefit. Some of the things we use now will be withdrawn in time and better ones will come in their place. This will benefit both the gardener and the environment.

In the right conditions, Lavender is considered to be a tough plant and is drought resistant once established. It makes an excellent edging plant alongside roses, or as an informal hedge and is relatively trouble free. I would add some coarse grit to the soil alongside the organic matter to help the roots establish. It doesn’t need much in the way of feed if planted in reasonable soil, but will require regular pruning after flowering. If you want to dry the flowers then harvest these in late summer and give the plant a harder trim in March to retain its shape. Be wary of cutting back too hard as it does not grow again from old wood.  Grow Lavender on its own or with many other plant groups like roses and herbaceous perennials such as Rubeckia, Echinacea, Phlox, Helianthus, Monarda and summer flowering bulbs like Galtonia. It is the mainstay of the sensory garden and chalky soils will enhance the lavenders fragrance further; traditionally can be used for oils and many scented perfumes. The flower heads can also be dried and used in dried arrangements.

Take it a step further and you will find that lavender has a list of other attributes from being used to help anxiety, depression, mental exhaustion, insomnia, scrapes and wounds, digestive problems, headaches, skin problems, exhaustion, fevers, aches and pains, It can also be used as a disinfectant and insect repellent. Lavender is also an antiseptic, natural antibiotic, sedative, and detoxifier. Generally worth growing!  Each year we see new cultivars (varieties) including white flowered and mauve Lavender and some that can also be grown successfully in containers providing the potting soil is open and well drained..

Jobs for the Month

With all the new growth now coming through, feeding and mulching climbers, roses and other shrubs and perennial plants is vital if you want them to perform well this year. Roses may be showing early signs of black spot and the fungicide treatments now could help. Rose Clear or Fungus Fighter should do it. The best techniques will also include good hygiene, removing diseased leaves, and keeping the soil well mulched and fed which in turn creates the great growing conditions. If you are growing roses in pots, don’t let them become stressed through lack of water or feed but avoid watering plants at the end of the day when their leaves will stay wet through the night and give plants enough space to let the air move around their leaves and flowers. Herbaceous borders will be showing growth, so make sure that you have plant supports ready for taller growing varieties. Grow-through supports such as the large metal circles or cut hazel twigs, need to be in place before the plant grows through! Other systems such as the curved wire frames, link stakes, or canes can be used as needed.

It is more than likely another big slug year; they will soon be out and about and your precious seedlings could disappear overnight. The choice is slug traps filled with beer [what a way to go!] barriers that dissuade slugs from approaching or slug killers that will solve the problem on a more permanent basis. Traditional blue slug pellets should be used sparingly. The blue colour dissuades birds and wildlife from picking them up, but you really don’t need many of them to do the job. The “safe” slug killers containing ferric phosphate work well and are more weather resistant than they used to be. The pellets swell up when they come into contact with the moist soils and contain a bait to attract the slugs. The slugs eat the poison; stop eating and crawl away to expire. That works for me!

Even better could be a new product this year called ‘Slug Gone’ from Vitax,; these are wool pellets derived from sheep clipping and will not only discourage slugs but add to soil fetilitiy.

First early, second early and maincrop spuds should all be in or going in. Tomato, pepper and aubergine plants sown earlier must be kept growing; if you don’t pot them or they will get set back and struggle to make a size big enough to produce a decent crop. With tomatoes I like to sow some early and some late to give a decent spread of crop. Peppers you really only have one shot at as they need a good long period to mature in our climate.
Then all the legumes, the peas and the beans [dwarf French climbing French and runner] should be sown in pots ready to plant out when the risk of frost is passed. Same for courgettes. Sweet corn usually does best sown direct but is often eaten off by slugs as the first leaves break through the soil. That is always a frustration; you time your seed sowing to match the crop, shoots emerge then disappear down the throat of a hungry slug, mouse or bird! Sometimes it is better to start in pots of some sort [Root Trainers are brilliant, so are fibre Grow Tubes] then the plants are big enough to stand a chance.

With the soil warming up, seeds of hardy annuals such as marigold, cosmos, love-in-a-mist, poppy, godetia, statice and scabious can be sown direct in beds and borders throughout the garden. Just a few packets of seeds could easily fill a complete garden with blooms.
Plant up dahlia tubers in individual pots and keep in a frost-free place while they put on fresh new growth. You will then have strong new plants ready to plant out into patio pots or garden borders towards the end of May.
For a great summer lawn cut your grass frequently, but not too short. A weekly trim now, gradually reducing the height of cut in May so that it gets down to it’s minimum length of 2cm (1in) for summer parties. Thin bare patches and yellowing grass are a cry for help. A simple all-in-one lawn treatment such as Evergreen Complete is well worth the cost.

Fruit trees and bushes will be in blossom – and vulnerable to late frost – if they are small enough to cover with fleece then it could make the difference between crop and no crop.
Enjoy!

Talking to a farmer friend of mine I was surprised to hear that they are finding their arable land to be quite dry a foot below the surface. I had thought with all the rain we have had that the soils will be saturated however the heavy rain on cultivated ground creates a pan, a dense compacted layer of soil which the rain just runs off. Grassland should be better where the grass helps the moisture to penetrate the ground. I feel this is worth mentioning for two reasons: firstly the more you add organic matter to the soil then the better the soil’s structure and the greater the soil’s ability to hold the moisture that we need. Secondly, recently planted plants could well need a bit of extra water as the spring develops as it would be too much of a gamble to rely on just the moist soil from the winter.

Last growing season was not the best, but I am not down hearted. I still plan to eat this year and if I’m eating then I’m growing as well. Shopping bills rarely decrease so the contribution from the veg garden is always helpful not to mention the pleasure derived from eating good fresh food. I need early salad production so I have sown in modules and pots to get plants large enough that when they do go out they will have a chance of survival. Tunnels, cloches, greenhouses all make life easier in a year when spring seems reluctant to get going. The tunnel has been really useful through the winter and we have been cropping purple sprouting and curly kale for several weeks. I have the same crops outside but decimated by bad weather and pigeons! Similarly, salad rocket and parsley have overwintered nicely. Food has been a hot topic over the past couple of months and if you care about what you eat, be it animal or vegetable, then you need to know its provenance. I will always prefer a grubby carrot straight from the garden over a neatly washed, trimmed, graded supermarket product in a plastic bag from somewhere far off.

Richard Cumming
Managing Director
Orchard Park

200g chocolate (milk or dark)
50g butter
3tbsp golden syrup – gently warmed
100g rice crispies or cornflakes
You will need approx 3 chocolate mini eggs for each nest

Method

• Melt the chocolate and butter together
• Add the warmed golden syrup and stir well
• Add the rice crispies and gently stir making sure  all the crispies are coated in chocolate
• Divide mix into 12 cup cakes and place the mini eggs in the centre of each one
• Leave to set

Ingredients

24oz diced venison from Lagan Farm Shop
3oz diced streaky bacon
1 bay leaf
2 juniper berries
1small carrot, onion, leek
2 tbsp olive oil
1tsp redcurrant jelly
2 stalks celery
1 beef stock cube
1 tbsp tomato puree
20z frozen redcurrants
1 glass red wine
2oz dark bitter chocolate
Dusting of flour for venison

Method

• Peel and roughly chop onion, carrot and celery
• Add tsp olive oil to pan and sweat chopped vegetables off gently until soft
• Place veg in casserole dish and set aside
• In same pan as veg softened add another tsp of olive oil and diced venison and brown off
• Once brown add the flour to the venison and stir through
• Place the venison on top of the veg in the casserole dish and place on low heat on hob
• Add the red wine and slowly reduce down
• Once all above cooked through add tomato puree, stock cube, bay leaf, thyme, redcurrant jelly and juniper berries
• Place in oven at 150c for 2 hrs
• 15mins before end of cooking time add the chocolate and the frozen redcurrants
• Season to taste and serve with celeriac mash and roasted root vegetables

Rice Pudding (serves 8)

Ingredients

2 cups of rice (Basmati or brown)
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup milk
¼ cup double cream
3 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 ¼  tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup raisins
¾ cup currants
Cinnamon sticks for garnish

Method

• Steam the rice and once cooked set aside
• Pre-heat oven at 18c
• Put raisins and currants into a small saucepan and cover with hot water and bring gently to the boil, remove from heat and allow fruit to soak and plump up
• Stir butter into cooked rice – leave to stand
• In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, cream, eggs yolks, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg
• Pour mixture into rice and stir through
• Drain raisins and currants and fold into rice mixture
• Grease 9” x 9” baking dish with butter and add rice mix
• Place in oven for 45 minutes, uncovered
• Serve garnished with a cinnamon stick and serve warm

With the shortage of potatoes having driven the prices up in the shops, it makes sense to grow a few spuds yourself this year!  They are easy and rewarding to grow and it’s good exercise too!  Here are a few tips to getting started;

• Choosing seed potatoes from the garden centre (on sale now!)  These are certified as being pest and disease free which is key to getting a good healthy crop.  The seed potatoes are clearly marked on the packs:
• First early – choose these varieties if you want new potatoes early in the season.  Plant mid to end of March to crop mid to late June
• Second early – plant these varieties early to mid April to crop late July to early August
• Maincrop – Plant mid April to crop early – mid August.  These can also be stored fro autumn and winter use.
• Chitting – Just means encouraging the seed potatoes to produce sturdy green shoots before planting.  Place in trays or egg boxes with the end with most buds uppermost somewhere light and cool (and frost free) until you’re ready to plant.
• Soil – Potatoes love an enriched soil – lots of home made compost or bagged rotted manure or similar.  A general fertilizer is a good idea too but avoid using lime with potatoes.

Our full range of seed potatoes are now here and we have many varieties to choose from!

Amongst our ‘first early’ crop we have;

• Arran Pilot
• Pentland Javelin
• Epicure
• Vales Emrald
• Swift
• Sharpes express
• Foremost
• Accord

We also have a selection of Second early & Main crop.  All come in 2.5 kg bags at £3.99

• 1 1/3 cups ricotta cheese
• ¾ cup milk
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 50g butter

For the honeycomb butter;

• 250g unsalted, softened butter
• 100g sugar honeycomb (crushed)
• 2 tbsp honey

Method;

• Combine Ricotta, milk and egg yolks
• Sift flour, salt & baking powder – add to Ricotta mixture
• Whisk egg white and fold through the batter – do this slowly a little at a time
• To make the honeycomb butter place all ingredients into a bowl and mix well – put to one side until pancakes cooked
• Heat large frying pan using a little of the butter (do not leave pan unattended)
• Using a small ladle (remember these need to be small pancakes that stack) put mixture into pan  and cook on low to medium heat for 2 minutes
• Using a palate knife to loosen the edges of the pancake and gently toss the pancake into the air so it comes down onto the pan on the uncooked side – cook for further 2 minutes.
• When evenly browned remove from pan and place on plate and cover with foil
• Cook the next pancake using the same method

To serve;

Put a layer of sliced banana on the first pancake, top with 2nd pancake and top that with dollop of the butter and decorate with a little icing sugar.

With the shortage of potatoes having driven the prices up in the shops, it makes sense to grow a few spuds yourself this year!  They are easy and rewarding to grow and it’s good exercise too!  Here are a few tips to getting started;

• Choosing seed potatoes from the garden centre (on sale now!)  These are certified as being pest and disease free which is key to getting a good healthy crop.  The seed potatoes are clearly marked on the packs:
• First early - choose these varieties if you want new potatoes early in the season.  Plant mid to end of March to crop mid to late June
• Second early - plant these varieties early to mid April to crop late July to early August
• Maincrop - Plant mid April to crop early – mid August.  These can also be stored for autumn and winter use.
• Chitting - Just means encouraging the seed potatoes to produce sturdy green shoots before planting.  Place in trays or egg boxes with the end with the most buds uppermost somewhere light and cool (and frost free) until you’re ready to plant.
• Soil - Potatoes love an enriched soil – lots of home made compost or bagged rotted manure or similar.  A general fertilizer is a good idea too but avoid using lime with potatoes.

Our full range of seed potatoes are now here and we have many varieties to choose from!

Amongst our ‘first early’ crop we have;

• Arran Pilot
• Pentland Javelin
• Epicure
• Vales Emerald
• Swift
• Sharpes express
• Foremost
• Accord

We also have a selection of Second early & Main crop.  All come in 2.5 kg bags at £3.99