Successes and failures: Spring 2021

The gardening year is not as predictable as it sounds, each year brings it own challenges and unexpected joys. This is the second spring of lockdown, and what a contrast to last year. The fine, dry, sunny spring of 2020 lessened the fear of the pandemic as people retreated to their gardens or green spaces. The spring of 2021 has been long and cold, no severe snow storms, but a persistent cold, with frosty nights up to the end of May in our area.

The potato experiment is finished, the crops of Sharpe’s Express and Red Duke of York were harvested from the large pots on 12 and 17 June. The crops were modest and I wondered about the wisdom of taking up so much room in the glasshouse in the early spring. However, as soon as we tasted them I decided it was very worthwhile, they were delicious: dry and floury as I like them, with pristine skins and flesh. Another year, if the weather is milder, they could be placed outdoors earlier, when the valuable indoor space is needed.

I love to grow courgettes, their delicate flavour, fresh and crisp flesh, make them ideal eaten raw in salads, or baked in a courgette and lemon cake. I rarely cook them, a quick toss in a pan is enough for them. This year’s experiment worked well. Each year I sow the seeds indoors and plant out the small plants when the weather allows, but slugs are a real problem at that stage. This year the seeds of Jaguar (green courgette) and Lemona (yellow) came on well indoors. I then transferred them to individual hanging baskets and placed them outside to harden off. As soon as the leaves were strong and slug resistant and before they outgrew their baskets we transferred them to the vegetable bed where they romped away. We picked the first Lemona on 15 June.

I use hanging baskets as an integral part of growing my young vegetables, it allows them to get acclimatised while protecting them from slugs. I’ve had set backs from time to time, once placing the basket too close to an overhanging plant encouraged the slugs to climb up the plant and drop into my basket. The birds like to perch on them too so salad leaves need to be placed away from the dangers posed by young birds. Once they reach a certain size and toughness I transfer them to the vegetable beds or large pots.

Tomato plants have come on very well, this year I’m growing Sungold, Gardener’s delight, Marmande, Tigerella, Garden pearl and Golden sunrise. I sowed seed at the end of January and more in early February, allowing them to grow large on the window sills before transferring them to the glasshouse. They are now full height in the glasshouse and the first fruits of Garden pearl are beginning to turn red, I picked the first one on 23 June. I love the way that robust side shoots can be used to make new plants. This is great if you want to share them around.

Peas have been a disaster. I’ve grown peas every year since we came to the garden in 2006 and they always do well. This year I sowed Early Onward, my favourite pea, in February on a sunny window sill. They never germinated. The seed was in date, I purchased the package last year and used about half of it with no problems. I sowed another batch a few weeks later: no result. Then I sowed the remaining seeds outdoors in the vegetable bed, one pea plant emerged. A tray of small unnamed pea plants I discovered in the supermarket were being sold off for one euro, they had not been watered and were sitting in relative darkness and in the draft of the front doors. I brought them home and carefully nursed them, about two-thirds of them have come on and are beginning to climb onto the wire trellis. Two new packs of Early Onward and Kelvedon Wonder seeds are showing the true spirit and have germinated happily in hanging baskets outdoors, the first batch are now doing well in the ground, but the first crop will be so late. For fun I had bought a pack of Purple Magnolia peas, they germinated and grew strongly and are now producing lovely two-tone blossoms and purple pods for salads.

The ox-eye daisies have gone rampant and need attention. I sowed them from seed about three years ago, last year they worked very well in the beeline tubs by the vegetable beds, this year they have spread everywhere and have gone too tall and straggly. They are a lovely plant when they are a bit restrained and the bees love them. I have weeded them out of all inappropriate places: gravel, vegetable beds, under apple trees etc. I’ll try to confine them at an early stage of growth in future years and not let them get out of hand.

Gardening without a glasshouse

I have had a dilemma for many years, can I afford to give up space to a glasshouse or polytunnel? I would love the sheltered growing opportunities, but I have so little garden space to work with. The most suitable location would be where the vegetable beds are, outside the kitchen door in a relatively level and sunny situation, while there is a gentle but perceptible slope on the rest of the garden. So far, I have decided to manage without this luxury.

I miss a glasshouse most in the early spring and during the winter months, spring when new seeds are germinating and plants cannot be put outdoors until all threat of frost has passed, and in winter for over-wintering tender plants. I have to come up with alternative solutions for these times.

Tender plants are not an option if they need over-winter shelter, unless they’re privileged enough to be brought into the house. Some plants spend the winter in the garden shed, this works most years but if we get a cold blast it can kill off everything. Tender Fuchsias take refuge in the shed, but some small plants grown from cuttings have taken up residence on the bedroom window.

Springtime is when I need the most innovative solutions as I sow seeds and have small delicate new plants coming up. The shelves of the growhouse can accommodate a lot of plant trays, but it is susceptible to frost and slugs can get in and cause devastation overnight. I use a plastic storage box as a cold frame, but it too is prone to frost and slug attack.

Window sills and a low table in the kitchen remain the best options for lettuce, tomatoes and new seedlings, but these spaces fill up very quickly. I have had to rethink sowing early seed of courgette and runner beans indoors, the plants get very large very quickly and are soft and fragile, they suffer badly when put outdoors. Now I tend to wait until May and sow beans directly into the vegetable bed and try to protect the emerging leaves from predators, and sow courgettes in hanging baskets until they’re big enough to take their chances in the ground.

If we decide to take a break or a holiday in the spring tomato and lettuce plants retire to the bath where they can stay watered, and out of direct sunlight. This allows them to tick over until we return.

This year the window sills are already overflowing and once again I think longingly of a glasshouse.

An abundance of courgettes

Each growing year is different for vegetables, the combination of weather conditions affects the patterns of growth and maturity. This year has been good for courgettes (zucchini) due to the dry sunny weather at the start of their growth, and the wet conditions over the summer months, as they require a lot of water while they’re producing.  A single plant can produce tens of fruits in its lifetime and I find that three or four plants can keep us supplied for the summer.

Seeds germinate easily but the early weeks can be critical. In the Irish climate plants need to be germinated and grown under cover and cannot be put outside until the end of May or even early June, by which time they can be quite large and demanding. Any hint of frost and they melt away. Slugs love the tender baby leaves also and I have lost many plants that I planted out into the vegetable bed too soon, at which point it can be too late to grow new plants from seed. So each year it’s a delicate balance.

I like to pick courgettes when they are quite small and the flavour is best. If I am going away for a few days I pick all good sized fruits before I go as I could have large tough marrows when I return. They do not freeze well, they defrost as a flavourless soggy offering. If I have to freeze them I cook them first and have them mixed with onions and tomatoes so that they can go straight into a casserole or other dish.

The baby courgettes are lovely in salads sliced raw. They are also great baked in the oven, divide them lengthways and place them cut side down on the baking tray. Courgette fritters are nice, made in a flour, milk and egg batter. One of my best loved recipes is a courgette cake. I first sampled this in one of my favourite places in London, the Museum of Garden History in Lambeth (https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/ ), when on a visit to their amazing museum and walled knot garden. I make it to the recipe for carrot cake and put lemon drizzle on top. I have discovered that it’s best to use a small to medium courgette as too much grated courgette gives a soggy result. The cake is fresh and light and for me encapsulates the taste of summer.