As I arrived at school this morning the first question I was asked was ‘Can we garden in the snow’? The thought of gardening seems quite ridiculous to many of the staff; the crops we planted last Autumn are still hidden under a thick layer of snow and the ground is still frozen. I however have a few indoor gardening sessions for them to choose from so that children do not miss out on their gardening time.

Potato chitting – This year we will be growing 4 early varieties of potato; Swift, Rocket, Charlotte and Winston. Early potatoes are a good choice for schools as they take 12-18 weeks to harvest so fit nicely within the school calendar and guarantee a harvest before the summer holidays. You might also like to consider planting a heritage potato variety especially if you are linking to any Dig For Victory or historical topics. I encourage pupils to ‘chit’ (sprout) their potatoes before planting. Read More...

I was pleased with myself at the start of December. At my allotment and in the 15 schools I work with in the south of England, I had ensured next year's early harvests by sowing Japanese onion sets ('Senshui Yellow'), peas ('Meteor' and 'Feltham First'), broad beans ('Aquadulce Claudia' and 'The Sutton') and garlic ('Solent Wight' and 'Marco'). I had even taken steps to avoid the mice at my allotment eating the seeds in the ground, as they did last year, by sowing the peas into gutters and the beans into coir pots and keeping them in a cold frame on my patio.  These had grown so strongly in a mild autumn to have been planted out by the end of November

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