Broad Beans

I’ve planted broad beans out into the Biodynamic Garden this week. These have been grown in our polytunnel from seeds I sowed a couple of months ago. The broad bean variety is ‘Express’, and, as the name suggests, it is one of the fastest varieties to mature. It also produces lots of pods on each plant. I can’t wait until the broad beans are ready to harvest, as they’re a delicious and versatile vegetable. They make a great tasting dip with fresh mint. My next jobs for taking care of them will be to stake them when they get taller and to pinch out the tips of their shoots when they start to flower as this discourages black bean aphids. The rest of the vegetable seedlings destined for the Biodynamic garden are also growing well; peas and lettuces should be ready to plant out in the next few weeks.

The Soft Fruit Garden has now transformed from the beds of bare twigs it was over winter into a forest of green. The gooseberries and currants are in full flower and I’ve even spotted a few tiny fruits starting to form. The flower buds of the raspberries will be opening soon, so I’ve hung up raspberry beetle traps this week. The raspberry beetle lays its eggs in raspberry flowers, and the hatching larvae eat the developing fruit. So hopefully the traps will catch beetles before they get a chance to reach the flowers.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time working in the shrub borders over the last month pruning out damage done by the winter frosts. It’s a pleasure to work in there with the colour and fragrance of the blooming shrubs and bulbs.

As the apprenticeship draws to a close there’s still plenty of work to do preparing the gardens for the summer.

Working and Studying

Things are hotting up for us three apprentices at Garden Organic, at least work-wise, if not weather-wise. We all passed the five practical assessments we had last week, but there’s still a lot of work left to do on our diplomas. Work at Ryton Gardens is also in full swing, sowing seeds and preparing beds for the coming year. Thankfully there’s a lot of scope for combining the diploma work and gardening, as a large part of the diploma involves collecting evidence of the work we’re doing in the gardens. So as long as we remember to take photos while we garden, we’re killing two birds with one stone.

Preparing the beds for sowing and planting is a really important task. In organic growing, plant nutrient requirements are generally supplied by the addition of organic matter and by growing green manures. I’ve dug the green manures into the beds in the Biodynamic Garden, which will add organic matter to the soil, and provide nitrogen in the case of plants in the legume (pea and bean) family. I’m also applying garden compost to the beds in my gardens as this contains good levels of nutrients, as well as improving soil structure.

I’m germinating most of my seeds in our glasshouse and polytunnel as it’s more reliable than sowing them directly outdoors. They are sown in individual pots or modular trays to reduce root disturbance during transplantation. However, I’ll be sowing plants that don’t like any root disturbance, such as carrots, parsnips and Florence fennel, as well as quick growing plants, such as radishes, directly into the soil. The month ahead will be full of anticipation as I wait for the little seedlings to emerge.