The Papa’s got a brand new bag
Dartmouth Gardener
rocket always run to seed in early summer?” The reason is, that when it flowers, as with most of the brassicas family of which it’s a member, the flower stops all useful growth of the vegetable itself. The solution is to sow it in the cooler months – from mid
I By Alex Webster
n conversation the other day, the subject of salad leaves came up. As you might know, I’m a big fan of the myriad of varieties and the question from my friend was, “why does my
August onwards it should be ideal. In his book ‘Salads for All Seasons’, Charles Dowding talks
of sowing rocket and most of the oriental leaves mainly in the first two weeks of August, because as day length reduces so the germination and early growth slows down. They all grow fast and should be cropping within a month of sowing at such a warm time of year. The best time of day to sow is late afternoon or early evening. First rake over the bed that has been cleared of a previous crop, mark out short drills and label each one before you sow. If the day has been hot and dry it’s a good idea to water the drill before sowing as to water after could wash away the tiny seeds.
As to other salad leaves there is still time to sow peas for pea shoots, as well as over wintering spinach. Squirrel spinach is a favourite of mine. It is a good, hardy cropper and the taste when raw is buttery and smooth, in stark contrast to the other fiery leaves in the garden. It’s a good time now to look
around the plot and review what has cropped well and what has not. First of all, take into account the late start to the growing season and the mild, wet winter before. Note what you would like to grow again next year and what to put on a cull list. Remember to write down
GARDENING
what grew where so as to ring the changes next year. Even in a small plot it’s a good idea to rotate roots, brassicas and leaf crops.
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