Vegetables for the Polytunnel and Greenhouse

For Irish gardeners, most gardening books are 'optimistic' in their sowing dates, based as they usually are on the warmer and drier UK climate. At last a tried and tested polytunnel vegetable book has arrived from expert Leitrim gardener Klaus Laitenberger.

Klaus's new book, "Vegetables for the Polytunnel and Greenhouse" compliments his excellent earlier book "Vegetables for the Irish Garden" This fresh release is specifically aimed at growing vegetables under cover (and in the idiosyncratic Irish climate)

Click the link below to buy both books direct from Klaus's website:

http://www.milkwoodfarm.com/buy-the-books.html

     

GARDENING Comfrey – the plant that keeps on giving

GARDENING Comfrey – the plant that keeps on giving

I finally got some comfrey plants from a Dutch plant-seller in Kilkenny Market (he's there every Thurs).
It will make natural fertiliser once it gets going. Prince Charles uses it at Highrove I heard. I has to be propagated by taking root cuttings and has been developed for organic gardening. See link above for more info on this excellent plant. This link is for propagating comfrey (YouTube)

Herbs & Salad in the polytunnel

I've overwintered some herbs in pots and re potted them as they have outgrown their containers. Also shown is newly sown salad (with sand to deter any rogue slugs that might have got in). The advantage of growing in containers is that they can be moved out the damn way when the tomatoes, peppers and chillis go in later.

 

I have a nice old book by Percy Thrower where he wages chemical warfare on a variety of pests. Never without a shirt & tie, Percy gave a certain gentlemanly air to gardening. I remember him on Gardener's World when I was a kid, my parents being big fans.

Tea Up!

My daughter & helper Roisin had a great idea the other day in the poly. Why not bring the camping stove & kettle into the poly for a nice cup of tea? We duly did so and the tea tasted great! Although we didn't get to go camping last year we can at least enjoy the best part of it - tea under cover! Does it get any better than this? I don't think so..

Polytunnel runner beans

I use toilet roll inners to start off my beans, peas, sweet peas, carrots etc. They make transplanting easy as the pots decompose in the ground. You can split them with a knife to hasten the process. Here are my runners as of today in the polytunnel.

Toilet Roll inners

Ever since my (veteran gardener) mother told me about this method, I have used toilet roll inners as biodegradable pots for vegetable seeds. They work well for peas, beans, carrots and even sweet peas. My mother uses them for everything, including flower seeds. For vegetables, once the roots appear below the pots, sink them in the soil at the same level. They rot away. Some organic purists don't like the glue used on the cardboard but once you go down that road you'll end up beating your unworthy self with thorn branches..

Chitting potatoes

Time to start the new early potatoes 'chitting' or developing shoots prior to planting out. Our old shed comes in handy for this, being colder than the polytunnel. I'm only doing new potatoes this year. They'll be ready before the blight strikes and maincrop spuds are so cheap in season that it's not worth the space to grow them.

Frogs spawning in pond.

Several large frogs and a quantity of spawn have appeared in the wildlife pond. They are earlier than last year (3rd March 2011) but it's a good sign that Spring is approaching. I will listen out tonight for their eerie croaking which drives our dogs mad.