Category: Member Articles

Springtime: Certain Uncertainties

Spring in Milton under Wychwood

I sat down in great anticipation to scribe a few MUWAGA words for the spring edition of The Wychwood, and I reflected, that spring felt early as I wrote. So, a good omen then, and an inspiration for their springtime edition. But in the throes of a Covid-induced haze, I could think only of

Spring has sprung

The grass has riz

I not know who I are

Nor what I iz

There are so many versions of this doggerel.  People say the original comes from Ogden Nash, but this may not be the case. It is sometimes called “The Brooklyn National Anthem” and it dates maybe from 1940.  Who can be certain of the original?  The most famous version highlights the literalist’s confusion over the expression “the birds are on the wing”. Indeed, literalists will point to the unassailable truth – for them – that in fact the wings are very much on the bird!

So, looking for certainties, it is pleasing to reflect that recently the Royal Horticultural Society predicted a glorious blossom season this spring. The combination of the dry, sunny summer last year – perfect for bud formation – and the cold snap at the start of February, which prevented early blossoming, is set to produce a visual feast to raise the spirits. The hope is that any new cold snap will already be too late to deter healthy blossom-buds in the trees.

One thing which is becoming clearer: we now know which plants and shrubs in the garden have succumbed to those spells of cold and sudden thaw of those few months ago.  For sure, we have lost a few plants including a dark red Phormium and one of our passion flowers. But others may yet revive. When the threat of frost has passed, we can cut back the damaged parts – on the Choisya for example. Simple, clean cuts with those duly sharpened secateurs – sharp if we have followed Tony’s advice around winter chores! Meantime, if there are any gaps in the borders, it is a good excuse to go shopping, to make use of those MUWAGA members’ discounts….

Some more certainties were in the air during a recent MUWAGA evening, with our local expert Gerald Stratford who regaled us with his stories of a new-found media career. He had an audience of 50+ members and guests fully engaged with his expert advice on making and sourcing compost, growing and storing a variety of staple vegetables, and answering questions to help us understand better the dos and don’ts of growing our vegetables. Certainties never felt more attainable!

Time to Get Ready – Slowly

Christmas and New Year are a distant memory.   If you’re like me you can barely remember the effort it took to smile, even laugh delightedly when another pack of socks or hankies arrived when Santa’s letter specifically asked for a pruning saw.    Put that behind you, it’s time to look forward not back.

Spring is just around the corner and, hopefully, you’re all fired up, but temper your enthusiasm.  Unless the procession of strange seasons continues the soil will still be wet, perhaps frozen (as it is as I write this) and doing anything to prepare the ground is likely to cause damage to the soil structure and make it harder to work later on.    If there are some weeds, I suggest you leave them.   Weeds can make the garden look untidy but they are protecting the soil structure and our small garden residents need hiding places if they are to be ready to do good work as the season warms up.

That does not mean there is nothing to do.    Now is the time when you can get the tools sorted out.  Check the handles, give them a clean and put sharp edges on hoes, shears, secateurs and so on; it will make for lighter work later.     Go on, spoil yourself and give the lawnmower and strimmer a service as well.    I find if I don’t do it now, it doesn’t get done.    

The other, rather more enjoyable task, for me at least, is to look through the packets of seeds and sort them into some sort of sowing order.   It helps me remember to sow them and avoid overlooking the odd one which I then ‘rediscover’ too late to use them.                                                                         

Spring officially starts in March (according to the Met Office).   Like the dates on seed packets just take it as guidance, particularly now with the seasons becoming more variable.   Seed wants to grow, it is the natural order, but in nature it waits until the conditions are favourable and we must do the same.   

Plants that need a long season like tomatoes you may need to sow indoors with some heat so they are ready by the time the weather is warm enough but for the rest my advice is to be patient, wait for the soil to warm up and sow little and often to hedge your bets and, with luck get a succession of crops.

Coming Up

All our talks are held in Milton Village Hall on the 4th Wednesday of the month and we open at 7 with the talk starting at 7:30pm.  A smorgasbord of talks is scheduled.

On February 22nd we have a Vegetable Growing Workshop and Q&A and on March 22nd it’s all about Planting in Containers.   All are welcome and if you are not a MUWAGA member we would love to see you and all we ask is the princely sum of £1.50.     Why not test the water?  I look forward to seeing you there.

Happy gardening!                                         

Harvest is nigh – and the future is upon us!

The harvest is nigh!

And so with late summer here, and the fruits of the season’s labours can be gathered in! But the heat! In spite of its relentless presence, I hear that  runner beans, tomatoes and onions, as well as root crops all seem to have been doing well this year. But maybe I am not alone  in finding some brassicas have been less successful due to a greater number of aphids earlier in the season. Maybe I was a bit late in taking the advice to spray them early with a soap solution . Something to be aware of next time, I think.

But mid- and late summer is also a time to look forward. Apart from repeat sowings of lettuce, radish, spinach, french beans and beetroot for this year’s cropping, it is time to plan ahead by sowing winter and cabbage, for example. You can also harvest herbs for future use. Mint, thyme, rosemary and sage can all be air-dried by hanging in loose bunches in a warm place. Other herbs such as basil, parsley, coriander and dill can be frozen in bags or in ice after blanching.

Similarly, seed-collection from the flower beds for next season’s use is part of the late summer routine, in tandem with dead-heading for continuity for the season. Meantime, in the fruit garden, after reports of bumper cops of strawberries this year, it is time to transplant those strawberry runners to ensure next years’ increase.

As for such advice and its merits: earlier this summer I heard an edition of Radio 4’s “Start the Week” on “A Revolution in Food and Farming”.  I was reminded as I regularly am, of how much there is to know about this whole gardening and horticultural caper and to be wary of conflicting certainties! George Monbiot (“Regenesis”) and Sarah Langford (“Rooted”) have both published extraordinarily far-reaching studies on the state of global farming and future solutions to feeding the world. In the radio discussion, Monbiot quoted from a particular peer-reviewed study, upon which he had based key elements of his argument. Langford countered that she had also studied this paper, and come to an exact opposite conclusion!

Best, therefore to enjoy the uncertainties! That’s what keeps us talking, we happy and humble gardeners and allotmenteers. MUWAGA evenings offer just such an opportunity, and we are looking forward to our new season of talks starting on September 28th. Details of this and our evolving programme are here. Do please also take a look at the reviews of recent talks to give a flavour of what to expect.

Members meantime are looking forward to meeting on August 20th in the Village Hall garden for a social afternoon to mark the harvest season and enjoy tales of mutual success – and indeed commiserate on mutual failures. Why not become a member and join us – it’s not too late for the coming season!

Fare Forward, Gardeners!

Springtime and Some Plugs for MUWAGA?

Spring is here so we expect sunshine and showers, and to be wary of the frosts, even into May. For the most part we have missed the icy ground and snowfall this year. But the winds! In between storms there was plenty of opportunity to be out on the allotment to tidy up from last years’ endeavours. Not least, to finish spreading the manure, pick the last sprouts and leeks of 2021 before the “hungry gap”, and make ready for the first outdoors planting of the season.

In the garden we expect to see blue tits in our nesting-box again this year. Meantime, a bit of judicious Wisteria pruning in the autumn has hopefully reduced the nesting real-estate for annoying pigeons. Last year in the Clematis next to our front door, a thrush was in a trance-like state on her nest, awaiting the hatching moment. We always slipped by quietly, trying to avoid eye contact. Here also, autumn Clematis pruning made sure that nesting sites – desired ones – were undisturbed in springtime.

March activity in the greenhouse (and windowsills too) usually gives us sturdy plants for the April and May soil. Well-established seedlings in plugs or trays can now be sown outdoors into those (hopefully!) well-prepared, warm-enough beds. For us this includes cabbages, brussels, courgettes, chard and lettuce, even early beet. And tomatoes. These latter we like to spread between selected sunny areas outside (from late May) – and in the greenhouse where we have good control over watering, light and warmth. Always nice to see the differences in quality and numbers between the two approaches.

And why plugs? For us it’s a good discipline: in the deep past we were usually too eager to plant direct in the soil in early spring months. Pests and weather-induced failures would be frequent – even when trying to protect from frosts. To use plugs has twin benefits: controlling the seeds to avoid waste and having the joys of seeing those seedlings grow early in the season, protected and nurtured. Cold frames are always useful for gardeners without a greenhouse. Later in the season, direct planting is fine – but we find, never obligatory – except for root crops such as parsnips and carrots.

Meantime, more plugs ….! Our January Cheese and Wine event was sadly cancelled because of Covid misgivings. But with restrictions lifting, we look forward our April 27th talk, and to cheese and wine a’plenty at our rescheduled June 22nd AGM.

On another note, the pandemic has certainly given us all time to reflect. As a result, several committee members plan to move on, and so for 2022 we are actively asking for new volunteers to join the committee, so that MUWAGA continues to flourish.

Finally, we are delighted that our new website is now up and running. As well as showing MUWAGA events updates, this is an exciting new place for members to contribute their own stories, ideas, experiences and advice. Do please get in touch to see how to contribute.

As the man nearly said: “Let us hoe then, you and I”!

Spring Beckons – Inside and Out

Invited by our esteemed Chairperson to write the MUWAGA column for the February/March edition of The Wychwood, I approached the task with a huge dose of humility. A tough act to follow, Tony! But a pleasure nevertheless, as we look forward to better times, with the joys of spring to help us get busy – and shake off any post-Christmas “dip”.

Spring in Milton

Tony wrote in his December/January article, with ideas around early seed-planting, and judicious planning. And of course, early- and mid-spring can be the busiest of times for gardeners. It is also a time when the eternal uncertainties around weather are at their most intense. February tempts us with longer hours of daylight and some late winter sunshine – but frosts and snow can blight and curtail outdoor activity. March is hardly different in climate variety, but gardening activity really does get us moving in earnest this month. If the birds are singing and busy, then we should copy, rains and winds notwithstanding. And of course, for both months, there is always the greenhouse, or the conservatory, or the windowsill. And indeed, the varying demands of the lawn.

Ah, the lawn! People not keen on lawns see them as deserts of monocultural green – though of course the immaculate lawn is a rarity. Personally, I quite like the look and feel of moss in a lawn, which with daisy-leaf and clover keep the lawn green, fresh and elastic underfoot in summer. A few years ago, one autumn, we planted crocus and snowdrop bulbs in an area of the lawn, and now enjoy a spring showing of vibrant colour. This year we will add fritillaries and aconites. On the other hand, a conventionally acceptable lawn does have its enthusiasts. So, spring is the time to continue the autumn attentions of scarifying and removing layers of moss and thatch. It is also important to spike the lawn uniformly and to add top-dressing to the holes for good drainage, against those inevitable spring rains and April showers.

And so, dodging those showers and those rainy days, we have those aforesaid indoor activities to keep us looking forward to summer. In our house, several windowsills are commandeered for tomato and pepper seeds from late February and into March – taking care not to be too early and thus risking legginess in the tomatoes. Earlier though is good for the slower-to-germinate peppers. Cucumber seeds and courgettes can join them from late March and early April, preparing for the early summer potting routines.

Meantime plans for MUWAGA include a watching brief on the rules around social gatherings. Both February and March speakers are booked to attend in the village hall. In February we have the head gardener from the Cotswold Wildlife Park and March sees a visit by Chris Day from Buckingham Nursery.  The sense is becoming palpable that the alternative Zoom arrangements have lost a little of their attraction. But we must do our best, and certainly we have no shortage of interesting speakers and topics, whichever format we use.

As the man nearly said: “Fare Forward, Gardeners”!

David Betterton

Springtime is Coming

After Christmas it’s Veg all the way now

Santa came and went and a very good time was enjoyed by all. There is always a fly in the ointment and one moaner – me.

My hopes of the yuletide muck delivery came to naught – it didn’t stop raining and Santa could not deliver. Well, that’s life, I am sure I will get it later and will just have to improvise on my ideas for minimal soil cultivation – the closest I can get to being a no-dig allotmenter. I do need to improve my vegetable production and usefully our talk in November (it seems an age ago now) was on vegetable growing and pest control and Roger Umpleby which gave some really good tips which I shall definitely be trying this year – it could be the year I actually produce a usable parsnip!

Now, I don’t know if you noticed but it was a bit wet on the lead up the Christmas. It has been pretty much impossible to get the normal allotment preparation done and I, for one, found the damp dull days a bit wearing. You can only sort your seed packets a limited number of times and as I am not a naturally organised person sorting things has never been a strength of mine. Retirement theoretically should have given me the time to address this shortcoming but it is difficult to change your nature and so, disorganised I remain.

I have plenty of other interests but again Linda (an oracle of logic and reason) pointed out that they are all weather dependant (cycling, paragliding and astronomy) so I have had to resort to writing this article. Spring officially starts in March (according to the Met Office).

I am reliably informed that the weather will be warmer, the sun will shine and work in the garden and allotment can get underway. One of the good bits of advice in that November talk was to ignore the dates on the seed packet, only sow when the soil is warm enough to avoid the seed rotting and also to sow little and often to avoid the customary gluts and famines. Also, just grow what you want to eat.

It is not unusual to see crops remain unused in allotments which is such a waste of effort and resource. Lastly, do try new varieties but don’t forget the old faithfuls – they are still in the seed catalogues for good reason – they usually work and have good flavour.

Happy gardening
Tony Lewis