I've created a monster!

The joys of chitting tatties

Well, it is that time again!

When mid March arrives, and Gardeners’ World starts a new series, when the birds start their morning in a more frantic frame of mind, and the blossom starts to smile with the sun, I get a strong urge to get my seed box out, have a rummage and start planning what I will be sowing for the year.

There are always the same favourites: Aquilegia, Astrantia (never works!), Cosmos, cucumber, tomatoes, and I try out some of the seeds my Gardeners’ World magazine has offered as a freebie for my subscription. I have been an avid Gardener’s World viewer for decades. Geoff Hamilton, Alan Titchmarsh and the current presenter, Monty Don are my particular favourite hosts of the programme.

And so, inspired by these experts’ enthusiasm for trying something new, in addition to my usuals, this year I have decided to do something a little different; I’m going to grow a few plants that I have avoided for the whole of my gardening career, because their fussy habits and messy upkeep have, until now, put me off.

The Potato

I like potatoes, well eating them, but I have never been drawn to growing them. I don’t have a garden big enough to lend some of it over to a vegetable plot so potatoes have to be grown in a bag. These always look ugly and when you finally start to see some of the foliage, you have to put more earth on them. It is what I call a faff! You are not always rewarded with a good yield either so up to now I felt it was easer to buy them.

A friend was waxing lyrical about her amazing crop of potatoes she grew last year so I decided to give it a go. I read the books and set to work. I bought some proper potato bags with handles to carry them over to the compost bales. It has a flap to check if there are any potatoes to harvest without having to bury your hand down amongst the foliage. My gardening books said that the first part of growing potatoes was to chit them.

Who knew the reproduction of the humble potato could be so fascinating? Very quickly, leaving them exposed in egg boxes and seed trays, tiny shoots began to form. The shoots were rather gnarled and monster-like but I am reliably informed that undertaking this process will give them a good start to producing new tubers. I have planted my early crop potatoes now and am keeping my fingers crossed for lovely potatoes by June.

The Dahlia

Another flower I am giving a go is the Dahlia. I have always associated them with earwigs. When I was a child, I saw a bundle of them coming out of a bunch of dahlias my mum had been given from someone’s garden. My sister teased me about the sinister behaviour of an earwig which made my blood run cold.

So it has taken me until now (nearly 60 years on) to be brave enough to grow them. I have chosen an open variety which I will be able to keep my eager eye on. The tubers don’t look very beautiful and I know I will have to lift them at the end of the season due to their delicate nature, but I am looking forward to seeing the blooms and I will be proud of myself putting an old worry to bed.

I am also growing Ranunculus for the first time. I fell in love with the colour, it reminded my of a Peony I had in my front garden as a child and I love the way the papery petals layer themselves onto each other. The bulbs look like little spiders and I think they will be tricky to germinate, having read the do’s and dont’s on the watering front. But, I’m giving them a go and will try my best to help them to flourish.

By the time I had finished with my seeds and bulbs my back was aching from stooping over the garden table I use to rest on, which made me think that my life in the garden would be so much easier if I had a potting shed. I would love a potting shed like Monty Don’s. I believe I have:

Potting shed envy

Picture of Monty’s potting shed taken off Pinterest (photographer unknown)

Monty, though originally a jeweller, is a great influence in my gardening. He writes the most amazing garden books, highlighting gardens and their secrets from all over the world. But on most Friday nights, he brings us into his garden at Longmeadow in Herefordshire, and treats us to his vision and methods for developing his own garden.

He has an amazing potting shed where he often films from and I stare lovingly at the screen with deep envy. He has a perfectly positioned bench to work from. All his pots are easy at hand and his soil is kept beautifully tilled so he just scoops a handful of the deep, dark loam into their growing containers. The pens to write the newly planted seed names onto the labels just at his side are easy to reach. He even has swallows nesting in the corner of the shed during the summer, what a privilege that must be for him.

Greenhouse envy

There are a few in my seed collection I will not be attempting to grow. These particular seeds need a warm, constant temperature to germinate and I do not have the means to do this nor am I able to keep them at a consistent temperature during the early weeks of the seedling stage. This method of temperature control is much easier set up in a greenhouse which made me have a few pangs of greenhouse envy.

Photo by Matthieu Comoy on Unsplash

I have always wanted a greenhouse, one that you could walk into, feel the warmth through the glass, do gardening jobs properly even when it is pouring down outside. I love the idea of staring out of the greenhouse window into what will be the nurtured seedlings’ final planting position, happy in the knowledge that they are in the safest place before the weather warms up.

I love the Victorian style greenhouses with brick at the bottom, French doors in the centre and two wings either side of this door, so you have a choice of going left or right on entering. I have had a greenhouse on my vision board for many years and one day, I know I will get one…one day.

I envy the aforementioned Alan Titchmarsh’s greenhouse. I have watched many an episode, when he hosted Gardeners’ World, where he tended to all the delicate plants on his greenhouse staging with heated mats under them. I think he is particularly proud of his Pelargoniums, though I find these plants rather smelly.

Polytunnel envy

The ultimate propagation temple is a polytunnel. If I ever wanted to go big scale or had a garden big enough to house one, I would love to own one. Making the most of the translucent plastic for the roof and sides the sun is muted but the heat captured and makes inside the polytunnel ideal for protection.

They can be large structures, with staging either side and space to grow more crops down the middle. I find them rather calming, almost spiritual spaces and although they look rather ordinary from the outside, their hidden secrets of growth and nurture inside make them intriguing.

This polytunnel belongs to one of my subscribers Melissa @ Notes from Nature who has kindly given me this photograph of her new polytunnel to show you. Just look at the sunshine reflections - beautiful.

Thank you Melissa, I wish you well in your first growing season inside here. Check out Melissa’s Substack, it is a wonderful place for all things nature, with beautiful dogs as a bonus.

I will, of course, keep you updated on my seedling’s progress. Fingers crossed for a marvelous, successful growing season for all of us.

I am curious:

What are you looking forward to growing this season?

What have you grown in the past that you were particularly proud of?

If you have a potting shed, greenhouse or a polytunnel, feel free to post a picture of it in the comments. A little envy is ok, I’m sure!