Planning for the season ahead
EMMA HAMS
It’s early in the new year but that means in the garden we are slowly starting up. Today we had our first sowing which are the sweet peas. Also, the first salad sowing will happen this week, so our propagation tunnel is slowly filling up. For everyone that wants to experience a bit of spring, have a look around in two weeks and lots of little plants will start showing themselves in the propagation tunnel.
Over the last few weeks, I have made a plan where the whole season is written down and I can see when to sow what. We do this with the help of notes that we made throughout the last season alongside the Maria Thun Biodynamic sowing calendar. This planning will help us make sure we sow the crops at the right time on the right day. The Biodynamic sowing calendar is based on the moon which takes 27.5 days to travel through the zodiac signs, and there are 4 different types of sign: leaf, flower, fruit and root.
This means we only have a few options every few weeks to sow leaves, for example, at the right moment.
Making this plan for the year gives me a lot of fresh energy to think about all the beautiful things that we will be growing in the coming season. I am already dreaming of a full garden with a lot of variety and hoping for the best conditions for the crops to grow in.
There will be a gap between the veggies that we are still growing and the new harvest, known as the hungry gap. Hopefully during this time we will be able to keep harvesting chards, purslane and spring greens until they begin to be replaced with lettuces, salad greens and spring onions.
Lots to look forward to!
