SWAN PLOT, TEWKESBURY

WINTER VEGETABLES
Not much happening I here you say, even the Television gives up on the gardeners over the Winter period, but wait a moment, planning next years vegetables comes to mind , sit and have a tea and open up all the tempting seed catalogues, been inspired by all the wonderful pictures, now go out and start getting ready for next year, Digging the ground, preparing new places or renovating the old plot.
Manuring, digging in the compost from your compost heaps, and emptying this ready for the spring.
Even you clearing the ground, will increase the new compost heaps so you will end up back to where you started.
Winter is still sowing and planting, broad beans, early cauliflower, over wintering onions, winter spring onions , garlic, leeks, blunt nosed carrots, lettuce, mizuna, mibuna, rocket, radish, and parsley.
These will all respond to some protection plastic, glass and fleece coverings
Remember to sow thinly in winter periods as when they start their growth, they will be in competition and produce very weak plants.
Planting Asparagus, strawberry beds, all the soft fruit bushes, and fruit trees .
A real treat is sowing cut and come again lettuce, there are winter types (and will contain short daylight varieties)in window boxes, pots etc near the house , so you don’t have to wonder far to get fresh salad, mix up the lettuce seed with other types of lettuce like Lollo Rossa to add colour and also add rocket to this to give you that nice peppery taste. Plant up some small pots with three lettuce plants different types to add interest and bring them inside on your window cill.
Buy Basil , coriander, dill already grown in pots from the supermarket, ideal to grow on the window as well and will last for several weeks, try to keep the clear plastic sleeve around but open the top up and this will protect the plants from drafts. don’t water from above and try not to wet the leaves.

EDIBLE PLANTS IN POTS
Just think growing your own meal from pots, troughs, window boxes and hanging baskets just outside the back door., with this form of growing you can give them the best soil and have complete control over the growing conditions,
Have you yearned to grow Blueberries these require acid soil and you can purchase ericaceous compost from the garden centre, you will get a crop from only one plant, remember to only water with rain water no tap water as this is alkaline this will eventually kill it. Blueberries will also give you some great autumn tints to the leaves fire red and yellows. These will need a large pot 18” across(450mm) is ideal. You could also grow a cranberry as a low plant underneath the blueberry.
Equally growing plants that need lots of moisture tomatoes ,cucumbers, and courgettes wrap the inside wall with plastic when you fill with compost but don’t cover the bottom of the pot, this will keep the moisture in the compost.
Herbs will like it dryer so a more open compost with sand in it, will benefit the herbs, sage, thyme and rosemary. Its best to grow mint in its own pot as it tends to smother other plants if put together.
Group several containers together to create a flexible display. if some need extra space just move them around and apart.