Green Fingers: Is May too late to plant flowers and vegetables?
Swiss chard is just one of many vegetables which are suitable to grow in our climate.
Repeating the words ‘May Day’ will, for many people, mean the international distress call, which originated in 1923 but caught on and was made official in 1948.
May Day in another sense falls this week and we could be forgiven for calling it our distress call as those involved in the land, such as farmers, try to recover from the recent wet winter and spring.
In growing terms we are at least a month behind the normal year. A case in point is the way we enjoy the flowering blackthorn with its starchy white flowers bedecked on bare branches from late February onwards when all about is dull and dark.
This year it has been in full bloom only recently and not quite as attractive as it competes with new unfolding foliage and tough flowers, which have awakened due to the recent warm weather.
At this time we would have sown and planted our crops and be experiencing a lull to take stock before the next step, which is to tackle other jobs on the list. While the more experienced gardener just gets on with it, the intrepid and new gardener is wondering if it is too late to get started. I would say there is plenty of time to grow and plant whatever you wish but do not put it on the long finger. Activate a plan soon.
Unless you are really smart, dedicated, patient and careful, most people plant seeds far too close and when they germinate the plants will choke one another unless thinned out.
Very often you can get three crops in one as you use each stage of growth for additions to eat, such as young leaves for salads, then later again thinnings for salads or stir fries, including roots if applicable, and, finally, leaving the space for the remaining crops to grow to maturity.
Crops which are suitable for this type of culture include - beetroot, carrots, turnips, swedes, salads and Swiss chard.
Following on from the previous paragraph, there is a large range of fun plants that look good and can be further enjoyed by eating them too, with the bonus that they will also grow again after cutting, and so with almost no effort you can have a range of tasty side salads for the summer, which will suit all, including those with little time or patience.
For guidance these plants include amaranth, basil, beetroot, chicory, coriander, chard, corn salad, dandelion (yes the weed), endive, kohl rabi, komatsuma, land cress, leaf celery, lettuce, mizuna, mustard, pak choi, parsley, purslane, radicchio, red kale, rocket, sea kale, sorrel and spinach.
Most of those mentioned are sown from seed as the plants are seldom offered, and some can come in mixed packets, which is a saving. Sow small batches every three weeks from now on until the end of August, unless you have a tunnel or similar and then you can extend the season for another few months.
