This is Dorset -- It is my mission to get people, especially young people interested in gardening and to develop a relationship with their environment and nature. It is not until you actually have contact with the soil and grow something that you really feel the living life force which is nature. You can take a dormant seed now, that looks so small and insignificant, sow it, and later this year it will be a fully grown functioning plant giving you sensual pleasure, even including edible pleasure. I want to show how easy it is and relatively cheap it is to start the process of growing your own flowers, vegetables and fruit. You become much more aware of the climate, the seasons and the insect and animal life which co-exists with it. Gardening is a lifelong passion of mine, but it started because I had a go. I sowed some seeds, they grew and that made me happy, it is as simple as that. It is a basic human need to have contact with the soil, after all, the lives of our ancestors depended on it, and with so much technology dominating modern lives, it can be difficult to make the effort to actually grow something for yourself. But the nurturing process is so satisfying that I would encourage everyone to try it, whatever their age, as it is a bit like having a pet, but it is a lot cheaper, as it does not require food, in fact it makes its own, and can of course feed us. Our climate is changing and is changing rapidly. We see far more extremes of weather now and we have to adapt to these changes. We all know that this winter is especially wet, in fact has been the wettest January ever on record and so far, quite mild. The flooding in the Somerset levels, which is headline news this week as it is so severe, also happened last year, but then we were told that it was a once in a hundred years event, and yet it has happened again this year, and is even worse. I have been gardening for forty years and have never seen so many extremes of weather as we have had in the last ten years, with so many records broken. If our seasons are going to be warmer and wetter, as climate change experts have predicted, that will be great for growing plants, so why not have a go. Maybe at the end of the year people can send in pictures of the plants that they have grown from seed this year, and that may encourage more people to grow some. We can follow the progress of the seeds that I sow throughout the growing season, to see how they grow and develop. There may be some disasters, but that is all part of the learning curve, and I often find that what fails one year, does spectacularly well the following year. This week I am going to focus on two hardy annual seeds which can be sown now to give you a delicious edible crop of versatile beans, and a stunning scented crop of beautiful flowers. Both of these are growing very robustly right now in my un-heated greenhouse, which can be seen in the photographs. Firstly the sweet peas. This time of year there are not many seeds that you can sow, as light levels are still relatively low and most seeds need a longer day length, otherwise if you sow too early, these seedlings will become etiolated or straggly and will never make good bushy plants, which is what you are aiming for. However, there are some plants, such as the sweet pea, a hardy annual, which are adapted for the colder climate and the shorter day length, and will benefit from an earlier sowing as the plants will have a longer season in which to grow and will have developed a good strong root system, so when they are planted into their final positions in March, they will grow a lot faster and be much more vigorous than the spring sown sweet pea. My favourite sweet peas are the ones that have the best scent. The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus is a Sicilian wild flower, the seed of which was sent to Britain in 1699. It is an annual climber, so will require some support later on. A sweet pea I have sown is the bi-colour, magenta and purple sweet pea 'Matucana,' not as showy as the hybrids, but is more like the original wild Italian sweet pea, with subtle charm and the most delicious scent, it is said to be the strongest scented sweet pea in the world. I know the scent is enough to fill the room when you bring it into the house, and another great advantage of it is that you can easily collect and save the seed from year to year. I sowed the seed I collected in the late summer in December and now I have some really robust seedlings, but they can be sown from now until Spring. It is essential to use a sterile seed compost, to prevent bacteria or weeds damaging the seedlings. I have used a John Innes seed compost. At this time of year they will need a bit of heat to get them started, so sow them, following the directions on the seed packet and place them on your window sill or preferably in a heated propagator. Once they have germinated, they do not need the heat and they can be transferred to a cold greenhouse or cool window sill. Always make sure that seedlings do not get too crowded. Some people use a specially designed plastic seed pot called a root trainer because sweet peas , like all legumes (peas and beans) , like growing with a long root run which needs adequate space to develop properly and the root trainer provides that. I do not generally use root trainers myself, as I feel that if you transplant them into a deep enough pot after germination, that will be fine. The second plant I want to talk about is the broad bean, Vicia faba A native of North Africa, that has been grown since ancient times. It was introduced to Britain in the period before AD 1000, quite probably because they are so easy to grow and they have a high plant hardiness being able to withstand harsh and cold climates, so are ideal for winter sowing. They produce lovely creamy tasting large beans which can be used in a many recipes'. I sowed the variety 'Aquadulce Claudia', which has won an RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Award of Garden Merit, on 31st December and it is doing really well. They are treated the same as the sweet pea, as they are hardy annuals. There are many other choices of hardy annuals that you could sow now, such, Centaurea cyanus , the cornflower, kale 'Nero di Toscana', a delicious and nutritious vegetable, Briza maxima , the greater quaking grass, with creamy white spikelets, mizuna, Japanese salad leaves and Eruca sativa, salad rocket, so try something new today. The anticipation of seeing if your seedlings have germinated is a great thrill in the dark, chilly days of January and February and nurturing them through the cold months into the longer, brighter spring days is very satisfying. Have a go, and good luck, remember if you don't sow, it can't grow and you won't know. Christina Angelucci has a Diploma in Plants and Plantsmanship from The English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden. She has gained the General Examination in Horticulture from The Royal Horticultural Society with distinction. Christina has the full City and Guilds Certificate in Gardening including practical modules - and has worked as a volunteer at Kew Gardens and for the BBC at the Chelsea Flower Show, assisting the production teams with the television coverage of the show gardens.
Reported by This is 2 days ago.
This is Dorset -- It is my mission to get people, especially young people interested in gardening and to develop a relationship with their environment and nature. It is not until you actually have contact with the soil and grow something that you really feel the living life force which is nature. You can take a dormant seed now, that looks so small and insignificant, sow it, and later this year it will be a fully grown functioning plant giving you sensual pleasure, even including edible pleasure. I want to show how easy it is and relatively cheap it is to start the process of growing your own flowers, vegetables and fruit. You become much more aware of the climate, the seasons and the insect and animal life which co-exists with it. Gardening is a lifelong passion of mine, but it started because I had a go. I sowed some seeds, they grew and that made me happy, it is as simple as that. It is a basic human need to have contact with the soil, after all, the lives of our ancestors depended on it, and with so much technology dominating modern lives, it can be difficult to make the effort to actually grow something for yourself. But the nurturing process is so satisfying that I would encourage everyone to try it, whatever their age, as it is a bit like having a pet, but it is a lot cheaper, as it does not require food, in fact it makes its own, and can of course feed us. Our climate is changing and is changing rapidly. We see far more extremes of weather now and we have to adapt to these changes. We all know that this winter is especially wet, in fact has been the wettest January ever on record and so far, quite mild. The flooding in the Somerset levels, which is headline news this week as it is so severe, also happened last year, but then we were told that it was a once in a hundred years event, and yet it has happened again this year, and is even worse. I have been gardening for forty years and have never seen so many extremes of weather as we have had in the last ten years, with so many records broken. If our seasons are going to be warmer and wetter, as climate change experts have predicted, that will be great for growing plants, so why not have a go. Maybe at the end of the year people can send in pictures of the plants that they have grown from seed this year, and that may encourage more people to grow some. We can follow the progress of the seeds that I sow throughout the growing season, to see how they grow and develop. There may be some disasters, but that is all part of the learning curve, and I often find that what fails one year, does spectacularly well the following year. This week I am going to focus on two hardy annual seeds which can be sown now to give you a delicious edible crop of versatile beans, and a stunning scented crop of beautiful flowers. Both of these are growing very robustly right now in my un-heated greenhouse, which can be seen in the photographs. Firstly the sweet peas. This time of year there are not many seeds that you can sow, as light levels are still relatively low and most seeds need a longer day length, otherwise if you sow too early, these seedlings will become etiolated or straggly and will never make good bushy plants, which is what you are aiming for. However, there are some plants, such as the sweet pea, a hardy annual, which are adapted for the colder climate and the shorter day length, and will benefit from an earlier sowing as the plants will have a longer season in which to grow and will have developed a good strong root system, so when they are planted into their final positions in March, they will grow a lot faster and be much more vigorous than the spring sown sweet pea. My favourite sweet peas are the ones that have the best scent. The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus is a Sicilian wild flower, the seed of which was sent to Britain in 1699. It is an annual climber, so will require some support later on. A sweet pea I have sown is the bi-colour, magenta and purple sweet pea 'Matucana,' not as showy as the hybrids, but is more like the original wild Italian sweet pea, with subtle charm and the most delicious scent, it is said to be the strongest scented sweet pea in the world. I know the scent is enough to fill the room when you bring it into the house, and another great advantage of it is that you can easily collect and save the seed from year to year. I sowed the seed I collected in the late summer in December and now I have some really robust seedlings, but they can be sown from now until Spring. It is essential to use a sterile seed compost, to prevent bacteria or weeds damaging the seedlings. I have used a John Innes seed compost. At this time of year they will need a bit of heat to get them started, so sow them, following the directions on the seed packet and place them on your window sill or preferably in a heated propagator. Once they have germinated, they do not need the heat and they can be transferred to a cold greenhouse or cool window sill. Always make sure that seedlings do not get too crowded. Some people use a specially designed plastic seed pot called a root trainer because sweet peas , like all legumes (peas and beans) , like growing with a long root run which needs adequate space to develop properly and the root trainer provides that. I do not generally use root trainers myself, as I feel that if you transplant them into a deep enough pot after germination, that will be fine. The second plant I want to talk about is the broad bean, Vicia faba A native of North Africa, that has been grown since ancient times. It was introduced to Britain in the period before AD 1000, quite probably because they are so easy to grow and they have a high plant hardiness being able to withstand harsh and cold climates, so are ideal for winter sowing. They produce lovely creamy tasting large beans which can be used in a many recipes'. I sowed the variety 'Aquadulce Claudia', which has won an RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Award of Garden Merit, on 31st December and it is doing really well. They are treated the same as the sweet pea, as they are hardy annuals. There are many other choices of hardy annuals that you could sow now, such, Centaurea cyanus , the cornflower, kale 'Nero di Toscana', a delicious and nutritious vegetable, Briza maxima , the greater quaking grass, with creamy white spikelets, mizuna, Japanese salad leaves and Eruca sativa, salad rocket, so try something new today. The anticipation of seeing if your seedlings have germinated is a great thrill in the dark, chilly days of January and February and nurturing them through the cold months into the longer, brighter spring days is very satisfying. Have a go, and good luck, remember if you don't sow, it can't grow and you won't know. Christina Angelucci has a Diploma in Plants and Plantsmanship from The English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden. She has gained the General Examination in Horticulture from The Royal Horticultural Society with distinction. Christina has the full City and Guilds Certificate in Gardening including practical modules - and has worked as a volunteer at Kew Gardens and for the BBC at the Chelsea Flower Show, assisting the production teams with the television coverage of the show gardens.
Reported by This is 2 days ago.