Victoria's Green Matters - 6th April 2011

Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury:

How wonderful it was to see the sunshine over these last few days. At last it seems the end of a very long, dark and cold winter. Living here on the south east coast means that we usually have a nip in the air from the east wind, but even that doesn’t seem to matter when the sun is shining. The sunshine prompts us to look to the garden and to planting our vegetables.

Those of you who are expert gardeners and have large plots or allotments will have started planting some time ago. If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse, you will have been able to sow seeds a couple of months ago for planting out when the air and soil get warmer. For those of us with very small gardens or even containers on a patio, the waiting for warmer weather seems never ending. We are keen to plant our seeds straight into where they will grow and stay but know that while there is even the remotest chance of frost we must be patient.

If, like me, you enjoy seeing your seeds spring into life and push their way through the soil, now is a lovely time to contemplate how your garden will look in a few months time. There are things that can be planted out now and some seeds that will germinate even if the air and ground are cool but it is often recommended that seeds are started off inside. You can do this on windowsills and in conservatories if you do not own a greenhouse and you will soon have young plants ready for warmer weather and planting out.

It is worth the wait to have your own vegetables, only minutes from garden to kitchen and to know that you have grown them.