Growing in Capel St. Mary
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One enormous advantage of growing your own fruit and veg is that you harvest and eat it when it is in season - the time when it is at its very best. Cold frames and greenhouses help to stretch that season and protect crops from freak weather conditions.
THE VEG PLOT: - Clear spent crops, canes and perennial weeds. If dry, spray with a suitable weed killer to reduce the sight of freshly germinated weeds the next time you visit. Continue winter digging incorporating Mushroom Compost at £30 a ‘Bucket’ load - (call 01473 310380 to order) or use composted garden waste. Sow peas and broad beans, apply bone-meal. Plant rhubarb, cover with a straw/manure mix. Feed with sulphate of ammonia or blended stable manure and cover crowns to encourage early growth. Sprout potato tubers in a frost free area. If soil dries, consider a sowing of carrot, spring onion, lettuce, beetroot, turnip and parsnip or sow under cloches. Plant onion sets and shallots. Scatter slug pellets but protect birds from indiscriminate use.
LAWNS: - Aerate wet areas and apply sharp sand. Lay turf. Clean equipment. Contact Steve Blake for repairs and service on 07813 814623or TGCGarden Machinery Services Tattingstone for repairs and service plus new equipment at very competitive prices on 01473 327737. CARE: STALE FUEL OVER 4 WEEKS OLD can damage carburettors and cause poor starting and engines to run rough. Use fuel additives to keep fuel fresh.
Apply lawn sand or sulphate of iron to control moss.
FRUIT: - Apply grease bands now. Plant trees and bushes with a dusting of bone meal. Apply a winter tree wash to control insect pests. Cover strawberries with fleece. Prune apples and pears. Cut autumn raspberries to ground level. Protect peaches, nectarines and apricots against leaf curl with a copper spray.
GREENHOUSE: - Empty and wash with Jeyes fluid. Line with bubble plastic. Spray with a whitefly killer. Sow main crop onions, leeks and sweet peas in pots. Check cuttings for mildew and spray with fungus fighter. Begin sowing annuals and tomatoes. Water plants sparingly. Sow peas in guttering and slide into shallow trench when plants are 4cm high. Sow broad beans in plugs and stand outside when 1½” high for a week then plant out. Sow spring onions and beetroot in 10 plug strips, do not thin out. Plant outside in March 10cm apart. Sow lettuce in 10 plug strips, thin to one plant. Plant outside in March 20cm apart or in growbags under glass.
FLOWERS: - Tidy borders, feed with Growmore or 6X and mulch. Ventilate chrysanthemum stools. Start sowing annuals.
SITE VISITS - If any groups would like to visit the site and wild life area, FREE OF CHARGE, email Philippa Brandon on news@capelallotments.co.uk to discuss what is available to you.
MEMBERSHIP is just £5 a year.
THE HUT is open to our members from Saturday 5th February 10 – 12 noon, suitably socially distanced and masked. Look out for the new price list which include details of new and existing product lines. Seed potatoes (first early, second early and maincrop) will be available from the Hut along with a fresh range of vegetable seeds at very competitive prices.
PLOTS - The site is full and we have a waiting list. If you live in Capel and fancy growing your own download a form from our web site and contact Dennis to add your name to the list.
