THERE’S definitely more of a feeling of spring in the air as days stretch out. It may be only the extra bit of sun, or the sound of birds singing, but sap starts to rise as gardeners get the urge to start sowing and growing again.
The main thing is still to get the garden ready for what is to come – clear, tidy, repair, and replace, are top of the list where needed for garden structures.
Preparing beds by edging, weeding and feeding are high up there too.
You may want to add more beds, or grass over ones you no longer want – these are good tasks to get sorted now.
Then there is pruning, cutting back, and dividing and lifting large clumps of plants to fill in empty areas.
You can still buy trees and shrubs to plant, although we are rapidly approaching the point when these should be pot-grown rather than bare-root plants.
And of course you can keep harvesting any over-wintered crops, and start to pick bunches of daffodils or snowdrops to bring into the house.
You can also start getting out propagators, pots and more – February is a short month that flies by so fast and we only have a few weeks before these will be working flat out.
Spinach sown in September is now ready to harvest.
Tasty spinach
Rows of spinach sown in September are now about ready to pick. Don’t let the leaves get too big and nor should you pick out the tiniest ones.
Always harvest while they are young and tender so they can be used in salads as well as in cooked dishes.
Provided you don’t strip them, or break growing points, plants should go on producing until they bolt in late April or May.
I like to grow a red veined variety because the dash of red makes for a nice touch of colour in the salad bowl.
Plain green varieties taste just as good too.
You can sow a row of each now, in a polytunnel, greenhouse or under a cloche, so you have leaves ready to pick when the over-wintered ones are done.
Sweet Peas
I usually sow sweet peas at the end of the month.
A little earlier or later is fine too. If you haven’t bought seed already, then look out for it now.
Good varieties sell out quickly and you want a robust and fully fragrant one.
The important thing is to aim for a cool enough germination temperature of around 12C and try to keep this as constant as you can.
Seeds will rot if they are put into warm soggy compost and I have to say that I’m in two minds about soaking the seeds before I plant them in pots.
I certainly wouldn’t soak seeds for more than 3-4 hours, just enough to soften the seed coat, rather than have the whole seed soak up lots of water.
Sow three seeds per 10cm pot at 15mm deep. Germination takes 10-20 days. Sow more than you think you need in case some seed fails.
Sow your sweet pea seeds in the next few weeks.
Strawberry care
Take a look at your strawberry plants. There will be some discoloured leaves even if you gave the plants a tidy up at the end of last season.
The aim is to keep plants as healthy as you can, so trim off anything that looks discoloured even if this leaves just a small core of green leaves to grow on.
These have plenty of time to grow and fill out before plants start to flower.
If you haven’t fed plants since last summer, then use a liquid feed now – choose one that is high in potash to enhance flower and fruit production.
Variety, variety, variety!
I know I’m probably repeating myself but this bears repeating if you are planning on growing fruit and vegetables.
It takes the same amount of work to grow a poor-cropping plant as to grow one that produces well.
Variety is all important when buying seeds or young plants. Don’t just go for the cheapest or the first one that comes to hand.
Saving a euro or two when buying is nothing compared to a tiny handful of beans, apples or tomatoes, instead of picking basketfuls.
Ask other growers what does well for them, or ask in a garden centre if that’s where you buy your seeds and plants.
Read the packet or label and see if the West Cork climate will agree with the plant’s needs.
Maybe more pest or disease resistance is a bonus and don’t choose greenhouse varieties for growing outdoors.
There’s so much information online that you can easily find out if you are growing a proven success or a variety with no pedigree.
You may not always find the perfect variety the first time around, but do keep trying to find one that rewards all the work you put in.
