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April 2021 new plantings and beds, growing seed from winter root vegetables, bioreactor of woodchip, cold ahead

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

March 29, 2021

Transplanting times are here, but watch out for cold weather too. Plants ready now are frost hardy, such as lettuce, peas, onions and broccoli. I advise to wait until mid April before sowing frost tender cucurbits, even under cover. While beans can wait until May.

My new online course 3 is full of these details. It’s a huge resource with many new Edward videos! Soon we shall release it lesson by lesson, so that you can choose the vegetables you want to know more about.

Long dibber to make lines, then I dib holes at precise spacings — I use the long dibber to draw my lines, it’s quicker than using string, then dib holes at precise spacings

new planting spinach all Medania & fennel — In the new land, this was pasture two months ago, new planting of spinach Medania, and Florence fennel, is now fleeced over

New plantings mid March on trial beds — New transplants for dig/no dig beds – month old spinach, beetroot, lettuce, shallot, onion, peas, radish, turnip and Vivaldi potatoes with coriander and dill interplants

Old and new

There are still plenty of winter vegetables, so we are not yet in the hungry gap. The parsnips I harvested recently will keep for two or three weeks in the shed, where also we have beetroot, carrots and celeriac. In the conservatory are onions, garlic and squash, while outside leeks should continue through April, and grow more.

Plus broccoli is beginning, always an exciting moment. I value it more now, than if it was an early variety in winter.

14 weeks since the carrot harvest — Carrots Oxhella from a sack in the shed, 14 weeks since harvest

Last parsnip harvest — My last parsnip harvest on 18th March, these are F1 Gladiator and are growing quite a bit so they lose goodness, and I wanted to transplant lettuce

broccoli soon ready Claret — This broccoli is soon ready, Claret F1 was sown last June and planted after broad beans

New plantings

Transplants from the mid February sowings come ready to plant out at different times, according to the size of module trays you use, and the quality of compost. My new online course 3 has the range of transplanting dates for 40 main vegetables, and also a harvesting timeline.

So far we have transplanted salad onions, lettuce, spinach, peas for shoots, beetroot and some onions. We are about halfway through this first batch of planting. Usually we do it with two people – I dib the holes and Adam or Briony or Emma pop in the plants. I do not harden off, plants come straight from the unheated greenhouse., this saves much time, and fleece protects them after planting.

1 seedlings not hardened off — 1 New transplants 18th March, before covering with fleece, seedlings not hardened off

2 The following night there was a -2C 28F frost

A week later and the plants are all fine, these are coriander and turnips between potatoes well buried

Root damage from transplanting? The main thing is that the general integrity of each plant’s root system stays intact, while there may be a little damage around the edge, and plants quickly recover from that.

Charles transplants month old spinach, the bed is where I removed sides four months ago, soon the wood will not be needed any more, it’s holding cardboard

I push the root ball firmly down into the hole I made

Bed all planted — bed planted beetroot Boltardy, lettuce LR + AB, spring onion WL Delf, potatto Vivialdi _+ herbs, spinach Missouri, Nantes 2 Milan, radish Rudi,Nairobi pea, fennel

Sowings under cover

There is still time to sow tomatoes undercover. Mine are just appearing from being sown 10 days ago. Early April is a top time for sowing leeks and basil. Around mid April I sow chard, after finding that if sown earlier, some plants tend to bolt during the summer. See my Calendar for more dates.

I am pleased and relieved to notice that the Moorland Gold compost, which started so badly, is now growing very nice plants.

I think it was too fresh at the beginning and this affected the early germination in particular. I have never found it necessary to use a special seed compost but in this case it would have been better.

If your sowing has fallen behind, a great source of transplants is the Delfland Organic Nursery, and here is their newsletter which has detail about vegetables to sow and grow now.

DAMPING OFF is a sudden collapsing of seedlings, soon after germination, caused by too-frequent watering mainly. Also from insufficient ventilation, and trays which have probably too many seedlings. The results of these three things is that leaves stay wet all the time, and fungal parasites can turn them mouldy. Then the seedlings die.

Water less often, give more air, sow trays less thickly.

Sowing tomatoes 16th March, into module trays one seed per cell

Celery and celeriac are germinating, not covered with compost as they need light, glass over and on a house windowsill, no watering for ten days after sowing

Brassica transplants are ready to go out — Brassicas have grown well in the Moorland Gold compost and they are now ready to transplant, broccoli and kohlrabi and cabbage

Two days later 29th March, celery and celeriac germinating in my widowsill

New trays – available in Europe now

I am pleased with this first spring of using my new module trays, and I hope you also are having good results. I find it needs about 2 L of compost to fill them, and you can see the size of plants which grow, which are fine for transplanting outside. They slide out nice and easily, and the trays are firm which makes them easy to hold in one hand, while popping seedlings into holes with the other hand. In the UK, top sellers are The Refill Room.

I was sent photos of broad beans growing in the CD 60, by Jan in Cambridgeshire. She had noticed that I advised against doing this, and her experience shows you can! But let seedlings grow a bit so that all seed energy is used, otherwise rodents may eat the still-emptying seeds after you transplant.

It does work to sow broad bean in the CD60! — It does work to sow broad bean in the CD60 module tray, this photo from Jan in Cambs

After she transplanted the broad beans , safe from rodents eating seeds, at this size

Four week old lettuce seedlings in CD60, Moorland Gold compost

Sowings outside

It’s still early for sowing outside, and the only seeds we have put in direct are carrots and parsnips. We put just a few radish seed in the drills about 5 cm apart, and the sowings are now covered with fleece for warmth.

I draw drills the compost, for sowing carrot seeds

Here I am sowing carrots in a drill made by hand as the compost was so soft

After sowing carrots with a few radish seeds as well, I use a rake to level the surface, then lay fleece over

Cardboard for weed elimination

We have used a lot of cardboard this spring for making new beds. If it were not for taking in new ground, I would not be using any cardboard for beds or paths.

Common questions about using cardboard are how soon after making a new bed with card at the bottom, can you plant. The answer is immediately. As long as it stays damp, cardboard decomposes gradually and within say two months, roots of vegetables from above can pass through into the soil below, while also weeds can push upwards. The effect is temporary and very useful.

Do you have to remove it? No never, it decomposes in situ.

Does it have poisonous chemicals? I cannot find evidence for this and the glues appear to be mostly starch and water. However there apparently are studies in Germany indicating some problems.

Cardboard with compost over — Cardboard on pasture grass and weeds, with digestate on top, am not sure if this is good stuff!

Using cardboard to clean a grassy edge — There was a lot of grass growing along the edge of this new bed, now made tidy

Cardboard decomposing and weeds regrowing, so this needs one more application of card, after removing slugs

New beds creation

We are gradually creating new beds and planting areas on the new land – see my Course book for details. Around 280 m² or 10,000 ft² has been under polythene since January, also with varying amounts of cardboard, soil, and compost.

Some of the pasture growth is dead, most is half dead and needs light exclusion for longer. Plus we need to keep removing some strong regrowth of for example wild chervil and burdock.

Beds are 1.2 m wide and pathways 40 cm wide.

We are about to remove a mulch of 18 year old polythene

With Adam, measuring up for beds and paths

after uncovering and before making bed shapes — After uncovering and before making bed shapes and adding path mulch

Beds have about 10cm/4in mulch of compost, woodchip in paths — Beds have about 10cm/4in mulch mainly of purchased green waste compost, paths have 4cm/1.5in old woodchip

First planting on the new land — 21st March felt a great time for the first planting in the new land, bed number one has peas for shoots

Grow seed

We selected some of the nicest Boltardy beetroot from last December, and transplanted them at 40 cm spacing. All being well they grow strong stems, flower and cross pollinate and we can collect seeds in late summer. I have not done this before so I’m not certain of success!

Likewise we have transplanted 10 onion bulbs, and seven carrots. After doing that I read that 40 carrots is advisable for a good gene pool, and I do not have that many excellent ones. I had not covered the carrots, and rabbits found them! So now they are under mesh.

Ready for beetroot planting to grow seed — Ready for beetroot planting, Boltardy for seed 40cm spacing

Oxhella carrots for seed and ready to plant — Oxhella carrots for seed, ready to plant with a trowel

Small garden

By mid March about 2/3 of the small garden bed space was available for new planting, and we filled it all up at equinox. I find the spring equinox is a nice time for sowing and planting in this climate. You can see progress in the new video, publishing 31st March on You Tube.

Seedlings ready to transplant include lettuce, beetroot, onions, spinach, broccoli

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Beside a new carrot sowing in the small garden — Small garden, I am beside a new carrot sowing, and other beds have transplants

Woodchip

When I started gardening 40 years ago, this resource barely existed. Now it is amazingly common and has so many uses. Its value, clean with no chemical residues, has also been heightened by problems with weedkiller in manure.

I am delighted to have found a source of both old and new woodchip, from the pile of a local tree surgeon. He sells it for £60 plus VAT for around three tons.

Recently delivered and still steaming pile of woodchip, this is mostly ash

A mix of mulches includes a bed covered with old woodchip — A mix of mulches includes old woodchip closest, an experiment

Heap of old woodchip just purchased, about a year old

Bioreactor

The Johnson Su method is getting a little more known now and we just made a proper version of their bioreactor, after my initial rather botched attempt last year. The main difference is that I purchased some proper weld mesh, which I believe is mostly used in making concrete floors. It’s much stronger than shockproof fencing.

Adam filled it with new woodchip, after cutting holes in the pallet which keeps the drainpipes in place. About three days after filling and watering, he pulled out the pipes, which leaves nice air holes right the way from top to bottom. It’s an aerobic way to compost wood chip.