Bursting out all over

Latest post from MARKSVEGPLOT – a blog about food and gardening in England”

Not me, the plants! The warmer weather over the Easter weekend has certainly kicked the plants into life.

I planted my shallots on 25th March and until this week none of them had shown any signs of life. Now little green shoots are showing on every one of them.

The Beetroot seeds I sowed into small pots have also popped up now.

I sowed two seed clusters in each of those pots, and most of them have produced three or four seedlings. I’ll be planting them out as clumps rather than separating them and planting them individually.

My first Radishes are up too – this is one of the fastest vegetables to germinate. I have half a row of “Cherry Belle” and half a row of “Malaga Violet”.

One of the Radish seedlings is markedly different to its siblings. If this is “Malaga Violet”, why are the other ones green???

The Asparagus is shooting up quickly, but it too is much more purple than it usually is. This is ”Gijnlim”, which is normally green, with just a little purple at the tips. Maybe it was just too cold?

These is one of my only Maincrop potato plants, which are a pair of “Highland Burgundy Red”.

Although they have only just shown through the soil, you can already see that the leaves have a reddish-purple tinge, indicative of the red tubers that the plants will hopefully go on to produce.

Last year my Blueberries were almost a complete washout. The number of berries was so small that I didn’t even think it was worth netting the plants! This year there is a sensible amount of blossom on the plants, so hopefully I’ll get a better crop:

The weather forecast for the next 10 days predicts cooler days (more typical of late April) but also warmer nights – which the plants will enjoy, I think.

To read more articles like this, on Gardening and Gastronomy, please visit * http://marksvegplot.blogspot.com/ *