Muintir na Tire School Garden Competition

  Courgette It would be more difficult to think of reasons why not to grow courgettes. They are easy to grow, incredibly prolific and grow freakishly fast in the summer. Two or three plants will be more than enough. In fact, your only problem will be working out what to do with a glut of courgettes. Courgette bread anyone? SOWING Courgettes like a fertile soil. Add compost and a general fertiliser a week or two before sowing/transplanting. Sow seeds indoors (in a tunnel, glasshouse or a sunny windowsill) in 10cm pots at a depth of 2cm in late April or May. The seeds are large and germinate and grow quickly, so don’t put them in modules or very small pots. Also, don’t sow too early as courgettes are frost sensitive and hate cold weather, so you don’t want them ready for transplanting before May. Seeds can be sown direct into the soil in May, but this tends to be less successful than transplanting. GROWING Courgettes should be ready for transplanting in May. Space plants at least 60-...

  Carrots No veg seems more classic than the carrot. And growing your own means you will be rewarded with a crunchy, sweet and flavoursome crop. Not only are carrots a delicious veg to grow, they also store incredibly well, are highly nutritious, and if you time your sowings right you could be self-sufficient through most of the year with this classic ‘stockpot’ vegetable. The GIYer can also try out lots of different varieties of carrots, which, generally speaking, are not on offer in supermarkets. We generally associate carrots with the colour orange, when in fact you can grow carrots of other colours too, such as purple, yellow and even white. SOWING When it comes to successfully growing carrots good soil is key. Fresh manure is not very suitable for carrots – the high nitrogen content encourages excess leaf growth, and manure can also cause the roots to fork. However, well-rotted compost is fine. Apply a general purpose organic fertiliser (such as chicken manure pellets) about t...

  Cucumber Cucumbers are the quintessential salad addition and once they have started cropping, you know it’s summer. They are very prolific plants – a single plant can produce 30 cucumbers. Nothing makes you feel more like an award-winning GIYer than growing an 45cm cucumber. Are you up for the challenge? SOWING Cucumbers like fertile soil, so add compost and a general fertiliser to the soil a week or two before sowing/transplanting for best results. Cucumbers are usually grown in a polytunnel or glasshouse, though some varieties have been bred that can be grown outdoors. You can start sowing in April if growing in a tunnel or glasshouse or May if growing outdoors. They are a frost sensitive plant that needs high temperatures to grow well, so keep them indoors until the ground warms up. Sow seeds 2cm deep in pots. The seeds are large, and the plants grow quickly, so don’t use modules or very small pots. GROWING Seedlings will be ready to plant out about a month after sowing, but d...

  Broccoli, Sprouting Sprouting broccoli is a different vegetable to the standard broccoli that we get in the shops, which is actually called calabrese. Sprouting broccoli produces small florets in purple or white varieties and is traditionally harvested in winter and spring. It is a fantastic vegetable to grow as it will provide plenty of food at a time when there’s very little else available in the veg patch (from February to April). SOWING Sprouting broccoli should be planted in a soil that has been well-manured the previous autumn. Alternatively, you can add compost or manure and/or a general fertiliser one week before sowing/planting. Do not grow sprouting broccoli anywhere that you have grown any member of the cabbage family the last three years (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, collards and kale). The best way to manage all these veg is to create a crop rotation scheme prior to growing. Sprouting broccoli should be sown in May. It can be sown outsi...

  Beans, Runner Runner beans are incredibly prolific, incredibly attractive looking, and easy to grow. Runner beans plants will grow up to 10ft tall and a row of them growing up a cane wigwam will make a great feature in the summer vegetable patch. The beans themselves are tasty and freeze well. In fact, the only downside to runner beans is that you will have to pick them every other day in the summer months – so don’t be tempted to sow too many of them. A single plant will produce up to a kilo of beans. SOWING Runner beans like a fertile soil, so ideally add compost and a general fertiliser a week or two before sowing/transplanting. Seeds can be sown direct in the soil or in module trays ready for transplanting. Runner beans are frost sensitive and grow poorly in cold weather, so don’t sow indoors until early May. You can sow/tranplant outdoors in late May or early June. Sow 5cm deep in pots or direct – they are big seeds that grow quickly. If sowing direct space plants 30cm apart...