My Garden

For a potato grower that is the question! I've always chitted my seed potatoes, but recent research suggests it's not really worthwhile. Well I say pah to the research, I'm going to carry on.

The reason for chitting (getting the tubers to shoot before planting) is to produce earlier and heavier crops. The other reason I chit is because I always like to buy my seed tubers early - so I get the best choice - and if I plant in late March/April what do I do with them for two months? Rather than have them sitting around in the shed waiting for planting day I think it's better to have them doing something

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Unfortunately, due to other commitments (I'm writing a book and deadlines are approaching!) and the fact that the soil hadn't warmed up as much as I'd hoped, I didn't get around to any direct seed sowing outside this weekend.

The broad beans sowed a week or so ago inside have germinated, so these will get a bit of hardening off and then go under the frame next weekend I hope

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I’ve just checked the weather forecast and it all looks good for a few hours in the garden this weekend.

Providing the garden frame has done it’s thing and the soil underneath feels warm enough – good old black fen soil warms up so quickly, especially under cover in raised beds – I’m going to make a start on some outdoor sowings under the frame. And if the broad beans have germinated they’ll go out too

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Snow! At least it only lasted a day and didn’t set me back at all in my fevered excitement to get started. And it’s often that excitement that puts the kybosh on early veg growers’ plans.

If, like me, you get sweaty palms waiting for the seed-sowing season to start in earnest, you need to make some contingency plans. To get off to the earliest possible start I always warm up the soil in the raised beds. I either use clear polythene, cloches or growing frames. If you sow seeds too early when the soil temperature is too low (most won’t germinate below 7C) they’ll rot and so you’ve wasted the time and effort put into it. All three have their benefits, but the frame (pictured) is especially great as it provides lots of space, and it’s easy to get at the crops by just sliding the doors open

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Being the Online Editor you might think I'm a bit of a techie with no interest in gardening. On the contrary, my background is horticulture and I've been growing veg since I ripped up the garden at home at the age of 14 and put in veg beds.

I now grow the majority of my veg in raised beds in the back garden, although my lovely girlfriend Clare has an allotment - which I sometimes get roped into helping on! The beds are 1.2m (4ft) wide, 4.8m (16ft) long and 20cm (8in) high. We use them for growing a good range of crops, especially salads and things that need more attention than we can give to those on the allotment. In the autumn and winter they’re used for overwintering crops; this year we’ve got perpetual spinach, chard, leeks, purple-sprouting broccoli and spring cabbages – not much I know but we didn’t have much time in the autumn to start a lot of things. The attached image shows my overwintered purple-sprouting broccoli

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