There are many tips that help to make growing easier and more successful. It has been amazing to learn how each crop has it’s own preferences for how to sow (eg courgettes are sown using a single seed in a pot but coriander prefers a pinch of seed in a plug tray), how to grow on and when to plant. With a few minutes spare I am hoping to note a few of these on this blog.
Our two tunnels are now jam packed with trays, pots and plants at various stages. Most frustratingly at the moment there are a number of trays of young plants waiting to get into the prepared outdoor beds, but delayed by the wet weather. Growing outdoors in Ireland really is a game for the hardy and very determined… So, my first tip is – get a polytunnel! The range of crops possible is fantastic – from tomatoes to chillis – and the growing season is year round – wtih winter salads in January and early sown potatoes ready in the next 3-4 weeks, as opposed to four weeks later for outdoors. They are available in many sizes – you don’t have to be a commercial grower, and they really make growing much more exciting and varied.
If you are going to grow in outdoor beds – many crops can be planted through ground cover fabric – eg. cabbage, onion sets, courgettes, which minimises the amount of weeding later on, and deters some of the most common pests (eg, cabbage root fly).