Clairesallotment's Blog

Now I’m sure you’ve all got your onion sets in the soil by now. But if like me, you’re a bit behind this year because you’ve been building raised beds and having to purchase more tons of top soil that you can think about, well don’t panic, there’s still time. Get them in as soon as you can, and you may not have massive onions this year, but hopefully you’ll get something.

April through to the end of May is the perfect time to sow your corn seeds. Whether you’re growing normal sweet corn, pop corn, or baby corn, they all need to be sown the same. Here’s how I sow mine.

It’s a tricky decision as to when to sow these. Sow them too early and they start twisting around each other, sow them too late, and you won’t get a decent crop.

Over the years I have figured out that the best time to sow them inside is 3-4 weeks before I plan on planting them outside (early to mid June). Remember they’re “tender crops”, which means they don’t like the frost. So figure out when your last frost date is and work back from there.

The end of May is fast approaching, so make sure that what ever varieties of potatoes you are growing this year, that you get them in the soil by the end of May.

Here’s how I’m planting mine…

The garden is slowly taking shape, and now that I have soil in the first of the large raised beds I can start to get some plants in.

I’ve filled one small bed with soil, so I can finally get my garlic planted out in the soil.

With a massive thank you to so many people, my raised beds are finally constructed. We had to buy a much more powerful drill for the job, but after several colourful words, and lots of heavy lifting, deep screwing, and humping from all angles, they are all ready.

The sun is shining, and making all the seedlings grow really well. Now is the time for my brassicas to be pricked out. They’re still fairly small, so I need to make sure I’m very gentle with them.

Here’s how I prick out mine.

Pricking out your seedlings is very important, because they need more room to grow and spread their roots. It can be a little bit daunting because the seedlings are very small and fragile. All you need is the right equipment to remove your seedlings (a pencil is perfect), and it’s important to hold the seedlings correctly as well, otherwise it is very easy to break them. Planting them in their new home is also very important as some plants can be very fussy.

Here is how I prick out my tomato seedlings, I hope I’ve covered all your questions, if not, please ask.