Early season jobs
Any plants which have been over wintering might like a little boost of food just now:
If you have any lovely wood ash from a wood burning stove – sprinkle some around your garlic and fork in. Can also be added around leeks and onions as they come along.
No wood ash? No worries garlic, brassicas and fruit bushes will both enjoy some seaweed extract or blood fish and bone.
Those brilliant perennials, Rhubarb, strawberries and fruit bushes would love some mulching with compost or manure
Also good now to start preparing planting areas
Apply fertilisers (e.g fish, blood and bone) and/or compost to improve soil. Also adding some sand to areas where you plan to sow leek, beetroot, carrots or parsnips can help with free flow, especially on the clay soil of Telferton.
Putting some chicken manure into your areas for broad beans about a week before you sow, which can be anytime now up till late April.
If you plan to sow runner beans, digging a trench now and filling with manure, kitchen compost waste, hair (great if you do your own family hairdressing – I have been cutting hair for most of the men in the family for 25 years and it all goes in the compost). Replace the soil and scatter chicken manure over and fork in – this will all settle in and create a lovely rich bed for your beans.
Time to start some sowing and planting
As soon as weather is warmer by early April if possible, is time to get those onion sets out and the first early potatoes at the end of the month or early April
Also time to plant out any lettuce, spinach or rocket you have started off indoors.
