Potatoes

The potatoes arrived last month..... So time to get chitting! Already they've developed some nice dark chits, having been kept near a window in a cardboard box, so things are going well. The first will go out in March/April time. Most of them will be in the new bed but I'm also going to put a few in containers so we get as much as possible.

We've got five varieties this year, as follows, although please note that these are not my descriptions:

• Mayan Gold - rich, golden flesh and a "gourmet" award winning potato;
• Rocket - first early, white skins and firm flesh;
• Charlotte - classic salad potato found in the shops with light yellow flesh;
• Mimi - a salad potato suited to container growing, cherry sized and red skinned; and
• Harlequin - a cross between Charlotte and Pink Fir apple potatoes resulting in part reddish skin and pale yellow flesh. "Delectable eating"...!

We've gone for types we wouldn't normally be able to get down the local supermarket although, I have to say, that home grown potatoes always taste miles better than those in the shops. I can't wait to eating the first harvest.

Cloches

Now it's our third year of gardening, so we're thinking "time to get professional". Which is why we've now got cloches. After a bit of research and internet shopping, we've decided to fashion a large one, big enough to cover one of the brassicas bed, out of polythene and water piping plus bamboo for supports. We've chosen the brassica bed because they aren't insect pollinated (so will not mind being covered) and last year they were attached mercilessly by cabbage flies etc etc. The polythene will be replaced with fleece as it warms up and finally with a net cage once we hit summer.

The large cloche was constructed quite quickly - cutting long lengths (approx 2m?) of water piping and pushing into the ground to form hoops at regular intervals. The hoops were secured by linking them with bamboo canes and garden wire then covered with the polythene, which was held in the ground with tent - like pegs. The idea will be that we can then easily roll up the sides when we need access. We didn't secure the cloche to the actually beds as some do, because we want to be able to move it around. Finished product is pictured.

I've also built a tiny cloche in the side bed to house my early red cabbages. This was a much more simpler and smaller affair (about 3ft by 0.75ft wide) and the hoops made of flexible branches off a tree pushed into the ground. As it's only temporary, I'm not too concerned about how sturdy it is although it did survive the snow last month!

February

It's February and the sun is shining outside! I've got soil under my finger nails as I have planted out some fern plug plants (freebies) and covered them with fleece in the vain hope that they will survive the next bout of frost.

It's also a busy month for sowing seeds - so far I've got the red cabbage, peppers, strawberries and foxgloves planted. Unfortunately there isn't quite enough sunshine so the cabbage seedlings have grown too tall and "leggy" - hopefully I can recover them (there are only two as I'm succession sowing this year).

Outside we've got a couple of new additions - cloches. A giant one over one of the main veggie beds and a small one in the side bed (pictured - I'll use it for the red cabbages going out early).

We've also got a fourth veg bed - fashioned out of old book shelves and bits of the defunct garden shed. This year, it'll be hosting the potatoes (more of that later).