Grow It Yourself - March

 There’s a wise old GIYer I know who says that the “sap starts to rise” in gardeners in March. It’s an odd expression and I yet I completely get what he means by it. The sap is of course starting to rise in plants, but it feels like something is stirring inside us GIYers too – spring is in the air everywhere we look and the desire to get out there and stick your hands in the soil is palpable.




They say that when soil is broken by a spade or fork it releases endorphins – this might explain why GIYers are such a happy bunch, we’re basically high on soil all the time. True or not, there is something that I’ve noticed over six seasons of GIYing – I have started to be more in tune with the seasons. When you grow your own vegetables you sort of have to be.

Mother Nature has her own pace and it’s a (sometimes maddeningly) slow, methodical, inexorable one – she refuses to be rushed. Every year my excitement gets the better of me and I sow seeds in January and February but it is only now in March that they will germinate and sprout in to action. It’s GIY time folks. The sap is rising!

GIY IrelandGIY Week takes place March 12th to 19th and there will be events happening all over Ireland – for more information visit www.giyireland.com.


Things to do this month

To Do

Continue to prepare ground – there is still time to prepare a plot to grow veg this year. Fork or rake over existing beds, breaking up large clods of earth. Cover new seedlings with fleece if a frost is due. Start your daily slug patrols and lay beer traps. Don’t let new-season weeds take over – get on top of them with weekly hoeing.

Sow

Indoors: lettuce, aubergine, peppers, cucumbers, celery, celeriac, sweet corn, basil, leeks, summer cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, parsley, courgette, French beans.

Sow outdoors or under cover:
 broad beans, red cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, kale, Brussels sprouts, onions, leeks, turnip, peas, radishes, early lettuce, asparagus. Plant your first early seed potatoes, as soon as weather conditions allow.



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