Time to rise and shine
By: Web Editor
After a long time spent daydreaming about moving from the armchair and doing some ‘proper’ gardening, it’s finally time to get out there and to get our hands dirty. I for one can’t wait and I’m sure you will all feel the same; I can hear the collective sigh of relief from here.
Steve Ott, Editor
While it may not quite be time to rip open the seed packets for outdoor sowings in many areas, if you are lucky enough to own a polytunnel or greenhouse, there are plenty of seeds that can be sown (as confirmed by Sue Stickland’s Undercover Cropping feature starting on page 12 and by head gardener Jane Moore on page 66). But if not, you will still need to make final preparations for sowing – raking seed beds to achieve that elusive ‘fine tilth’ and, if you are like me and thoroughly disorganised, panic buying those last few items for sowing and planting. (If you do still need to top up your stores, do be sure to turn to page 90 where we have some tempting offers to help you save some cash as well as fill your plot.)
KG regular Toby Buckland has been doing some daydreaming of his own; aspirations to launch the South West’s, if not the county’s, biggest tomato festival saw him filling a very big greenhouse to bursting point with tomato plants last year. The festival didn’t happen, but happily for us it did inspire this month’s feature in which he explains how to grow your tastiest ever toms. See page 58 for the details.
Knowing that many of you won’t be able to wait to get started and in preparation for sowing through March and April, we have included a special four-page guide to sowing in this issue. Pull out the chart from the centre of the mag and pin it on your shed wall for future reference. If you are a complete novice we think you’ll find it useful, but if you are an expert veg grower already it should act as a useful memory jogger.
To further help get your sowing season off to a great start you’ll also find two packets of FREE seeds on the front of your copy this month and we hope you will enjoy growing (and eating) them. More info to help you get the best from them can be found on page 8 and also in the features on cabbages and beetroot on pages 16 and 42 respectively.
Happy plotting,
Steve Ott
Editor
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