We've finally treated to some significant rainfall in our part of the world. This was a big relief for us gardeners, giving us some respite from the watering can; albeit for only a few days. The garden seemed to sigh with relief too and plants in every part of the garden seemed to shoot up overnight after their welcome drink. Unfortunately, so did the weeds and this week we will be out with our handforks and kneelers to rid the ground of any interlopers before they get a chance to take hold.
The rainfall also means that the soil is now a nice damp environment for our arch enemy – the slug. This week we will be applying a dose of nemaslug to deal with any slimy pests that may have made their way to the surface of the soil and our precious crops. At this time of year, it’s important to keep your eyes peeled for the first signs of pests and diseases appearing in the Kitchen Garden. We’ve put up yellow sticky traps in the greenhouse having spotted a few aphids on our chilli plants.
Also inside the greenhouse, we are continuing to pot on little plants ready to transfer them to the garden once the risk of frosts has gone. We are forecast a cold snap this weekend so our tender crops will remain in the greenhouse for a while yet. In the past few days we took delivery of our sweet potato slips. Sweet potatoes are an amazing crop to grow and are possibly my favourite. They look amazing all summer long and then deliver a lovely crop at the end of the season. The slips were unwrapped and popped into water as soon as they arrived. They are droopy, sorry looking specimens when they come out of the box, but they soon recover. This week they will be potted up and will remain in the greenhouse until late May before they take pride of place in the garden.
