On the third Saturday of each month I now run a course on growing your own for people with high aims but little experience. I run it for members of Fenland Smallholders Club.Last month I showed them how to plant garlic cloves - one didn't even realise that a clove of garlic would grow into a bulb, so there will be lots of magical revelations through the year.
I planted the cloves into undug ground covered with a good layer of compost, according to my new no-dig regime. I then netted them before the ducks could snozzle them up again.
The group are over here next in a week's time so today I thought I had better check on the progress of the garlic. I am very pleased to report that it has taken well and is growing fast. Garlic is remarkably hardy and actually needs a period of cold to ensure that the clove splits to make a bulb.
Meanwhile in the polytunnel I am waiting for the mangetout Oregon Sugar Pod to get going. Germination has been slower so I decided to cover the seed modules with fleece to help things along. Mangetout should be my first crop of the year.
 |
| Mangetout just poking its head above the surface. |
