Monthly musings: March

Easter rush

Think of Easter and you think of chocolate eggs, a long weekend off work to spend with the family - and gardening.

Easter has been our big traditional gardening weekend since medieval times, when the only holidays peasants had were the big church festivals. Easter was timed just right for the start of the growing season so, after attending to their spiritual duties, they’d rush home to sow their veg patch. The practice continued right through Georgian and Victorian times amongst farm workers and country cottagers who needed their gardens to support their large families.

Today, Easter weekend is often the first chance busy people have to get out into the garden and start getting to grips with all the work that’s piled up over the winter. It only takes a few spring days and suddenly everything needs doing at once.

There’s grass to cut and lawn edges to trim; beds and borders need clearing of weeds, the patio will be ready for its pre-season going over with a stiff broom or pressure-washer and then containers will need planting with something suitably spring-like.

Primroses and violets are the traditional Easter flowers, though cultivated polyanthus, violas or pots of well-budded spring bulbs are the modern equivalents. A few hardy souls will even crank up the barbecue and get the garden seats out.

But now that growing-your-own has turned fashionable again, the kitchen garden is firmly back at the top of the Easter to-do list again. Once all your soil preparation, fertiliser spreading and raking has been done, the key job to get under your belt is sowing.

Most of the hardy vegetables can be sown now – carrots, parsnips, radishes, lettuces and spring onions, Swiss chard and spinach. I’d delay sowing beetroot for another few weeks since it often bolts if the weather is a tad inclement. And if you want to raise your own young leeks and brassica plants prepare a small area as a seedbed.

Simply work in plenty of old compost, rake the soil extra-finely, then sow short rows. (You can happily sow any of the late summer/autumn varieties of cabbage, cauliflowers, calabrese and Brussels sprouts, but don’t sow late varieties of these or sprouting broccoli till May since they aren’t cropped till late next winter or the following spring). When the seedlings come up, thin them out to an inch or so apart to give them more space, and transplant the young plants to their growing positions later.

It’s still far too soon to start frost-tender veg outside, though it’s just the right time to sow them indoors. I put 2-3 seeds of runner beans, sweetcorn, outdoor cucumbers and courgettes in pots of seed compost on a warm windowsill indoors; they’ll be ready to plant out in six or eight weeks’ time when all risk of late frost is safely passed.

But the one job I’d suggest putting at the top of your list is your spring garden purchases. Easter Weekend is peak season, when all the ‘occasional’ gardeners do their one big annual garden shop, so if you need to stock up on seeds, fertilisers, gardening gloves or you’re thinking of investing in new patio furniture or a state-of-the-art barbecue for the forthcoming summer, I’d do it early to beat the crowds…or simply stay online and let your mouse do it for you.

It’s the way to be sure of a very Happy Easter in the garden.