The proverbial British weather Part 2.

The weather has, to put it concisely, been mind focusing. On wednesday 2nd February

it was Candlemas day, in the USA it is called Ground Hog Day.  There are numerous sayings regarding Candlemas ; ‘If Candlemas day be fair and bright, Winter will have another fight. If Candlemas day brings cloud and rain, Winter won’t come again.’ and ‘If Candlemas day is bright and clear there will be two winters in the year’.  As you are probably all aware it was bright and clear!!!

Today as I sit here writing this  blog watching the snow flakes silently settle

I am pondering where we are going to put next weeks potting. So all you gardeners, who do not have a glasshouse or warm propagation house,  close up your sheds, put away your hoes, get the gardening books out and wait. Your turn will come in March and then you will be running to make up time.

Despite the weather  it  been full steam ahead  on the herb farm , potting up and sowing seeds .

 All the newly potted stock has been placed under horticultural fleece  to keep it warm.  While we have been doing that Hannah,  Annabel and Graham, our web guru,  have been putting the finishing touches to our new website.

It looks great and I especially like the seed section in the on line shop as Graham and Hannah have magically transferred my information into simple clear graphics, so you can see at a glance when to sow the seed,where to sow, under cover or in the garden, and when to harvest.

So please visit it next week when it should go live!  and do let us know what you think and more importantly if you find any snags.

The proverbial British weather.

I love clear frosty mornings,

not only does the sun lift your spirit, the birds sing, the air is clear and you know that any aphid that is silly enough to have thought spring was on the way has been given a shock.

On the other hand I know that the grey, dank, gloomy days one can get in January and February are, to use a wonderful word, lugubrious .  It is on those days that working in the glasshouse can lift your spirits, as there is nothing more inspiring than seeing seedlings emerging.

Also, when I take a tea break in the afternoon, I top up my good mood with a cup of 3pm tea, the sheer warmth and aroma of the peppermint warms the cockles of one’s heart.

I can hear you all muttering that I am having a senior moment, well may be, but seriously there is nothing more inspiring than raising plants.  So top tip for the next few weeks, prepare some plug trays or a small pot, fill with seed compost, water in well, then sow the herb seeds of your choice, cover with perlite, not vermiculite. For those that don’t know the difference, perlite is the white light product and does not hold water

and vermiculite is the beige product that does hold water.  Only water again if you find that the compost is drying out and, if it is a salad herb, the seed will sprout within a week.  At that point it is crucial not to over water.  So a good tip is to water in the morning before you leave for work, not at night so that the seedlings do not go to bed wet.

Happy sowing.

2012 Happy New Year from Jekka’s Herb Farm

Happy New Year to you all.

A new season has started, the days are getting longer and the seeds are  beginning to germinate. This is the ideal time to start  sowing some varieties of  seed under protection so that  you can get a head start on the year.

The seeds which benefit from an early start include many of the annual herbs which will mean that you can have them flowering as early as possible. Calendula, Borage, Nasturtiums are the prime ones and also the salad herbs such as  Wild Rocket, Parsley and especially Purple Shiso. Not only does the Shiso look great in the garden, it, like the other two salad herbs mentioned, is ideal  to whet the appetite after the glut of  winter root vegetables.

There are two watch points at this time of year, first is watering. Be very careful  not to over water, but also do not stress the young plants by letting them dry out. Check the weight of the container before watering as the surface of the compost can look dry when the root ball is actually wet .

The second major watch point is ventilation. Open up the poly tunnel, glasshouse or window, when ever possible and certainly if the temperature rises to double figures in the day.  Only cover tender young or newly potted plants with horticultural fleece when the night temperature drops below 5C.

Just recently I have been enchanted each morning  by the most delightful Song Thrush, it has the most uplifting song.  I checked, via the RSPB, that my identification was correct and discovered with great sadness that this

 wonderful bird is on the red endangered list.

So please could you add to your new years resolution to be to be more sustainable and organic in the garden, for  the Thrush is a good friend to the gardener eating snails.  Then our grandchildren , in years to come, will also be able to be enchanted by the Song Thrush.

© Jekka McVicar , Jekka’s Herb Farm,  January 2012.

December at Jekka’s Herb Farm

It has been a very busy few weeks putting the herb farm to bed for December.

The weather forecast is apparently going to give us a bit of everything in an over blown way and today has been no exception. We have had hail, rain, gales and now sunshine. However the morning sunrises on many occasions this month have been inspiring, this was one of my favourites.

In the kitchen I have been making Xmas presents for friends and family.  My Mirto, that I started in late October,  is maturing well. The recipe was in our last  News Letter in case you missed it.

I am going to strain it in the next few days, then add the sugar. So it should just be ready to toast in  the New Year.

So may we wish you all a very happy, warm, safe Christmas and a wonderful, peaceful New Year and we look forward to seeing you at  Jekka’s Herb Farm in 2012, our Silver Jubilee year.

Picture of Dipsacus fullonum, Fullers Teasel 

On the Farm in late November

For the last few weeks I have been battling with the propagation schedule for 2012.  When one grows  annuals, perennials, shrub, woody, tender and tropical herbs in a comparatively small propagation area, it is rather like doing one of those impossible jigsaws.

We have just finished all the root cuttings so that the seed sowing schedule  can start next week.  Priority goes to the  Chelsea annuals that have to be in flower for May, what a thought just 24 weeks until we deliver , no pressure! We will do two sowings, one now and one in a month’s time, this second sowing  will catch up, but we need the  insurance so that can  we guarantee, as much as possible, that the plants will be as near perfect  for those unique days in May at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

So the headache is that I need to get x amount of trays through the house in December and  January, when the light levels are low and the day and night time temperatures are erratic so making it nearly impossible to schedule. Where as the April schedule for plants, sellable in July, is much easier  as one can actually forecast  how long a plant will take from seed to sale, which on average is 6 weeks.  So to help me concentrate and to stop me feeling uptight with the computer I am drinking my 3pm tea and when things get really bad, I go and find Hampton, my dog, and walk the farm.

I have made an interesting mistake with my own garden, I

put these pea seeds to dry on the table near my house, before storing, then forgot them, and it rained, they have now germinated .  So I have potted them up and we will shortly be having pea shoots in our salads.

Despite our first frost, of the month, last night it has been incredibly warm.  This I am sure accounts for the infestation of aphids  still being rampant on our outside stock.

These black aphids are making a meal of  garlic chives.  We spray with a soft soap solution, please do not use washing up liquid as this is not suited for use on plants .    This solution is readily available from any good hardware store or garden centre.

So now I have finished the propagation schedule it is off to the seed shed to clean all the seeds we have harvested this year, get them labelled and filed so that we can find them quickly once the season is up and running.  It’s a great job to do and the smell is amazing and, even better, it takes me away from the computer.