Dig for victory

Establishing a bumper crop of your own food can be simple… if you put in a little bit of hard work first

IT DOESN’T matter whether you’re planning on raising your own food for the first time or can sow a row of seeds with your eyes closed, this is the crucial time for all would-be growers of edibles to get ready for the season ahead. A little bit of groundwork now will pay dividends, ensuring you can look forward to bumper crops of tasty things.

Late winter is a good time for weeding, cultivating the soil and applying garden lime, if necessary, and for building, filling and preparing raised beds.

Also take some time inside to order the veg and herb seeds you like, along with fruit trees, bushes and plants.

The first job, though, is to remove weeds from the area where you intend to grow crops. Hairy bittercress, groundsel and a host of other fast-growing annuals will have germinated during mild spells and often leave the ground looking like a green carpet.

Fortunately, it’s easy to dispatch these shallow-rooted plants by running a hoe over the surface.

If you’ve taken on an allotment plot that’s overrun with brambles and other perennial weeds, take back control by chopping tall top growth with a brush cutter and then dig them out, roots and all. Don’t just turn over weed-infested ground as you’ll soon find that some will regrow from the tiniest bit of chopped-up root.

Next, grab your spade and go to one end of the patch of soil. Excavate a trench to the depth of the spade’s blade and transport the soil you’ve taken out to the other end in a wheelbarrow. Dig out a trench parallel to the first, dropping the soil into the first and breaking it up a little. Continue like this to the end, filling the final trench with the first mound of soil you moved.

Preparing the soil this way allows frost and rain to break down clods, making it easier for plants to take root while exposing pests such as slugs and wireworms to birds. It also improves drainage and helps to aerate the ground, encouraging healthy growth.

Cauliflowers, sprouts and other members of the cabbage family are vulnerable to club root, a fungal disease that’s prevalent in acidic soil and causes stunted growth and wilting. So if you intend to grow any susceptible crops, increase your soil alkalinity by applying garden lime before digging – wear gloves and goggles, and follow instructions on the packet.

A few weeks before sowing anything you’ll need to turn a patch of cultivated soil into a seed bed. To do this, rake the soil vigorously in one direction, and then again 90 degrees to the first. The soil is ready once the surface is level and the top 2in-3in has the texture of coarse breadcrumbs.

Another option is to grow crops in a raised bed – a frame-like structure that’s ideal for those with poor soil or have restricted mobility that prevents easy bending.

Raised bed kits are widely available but it’s easy to make your own from lengths of treated timber screwed to corner posts made from pieces of 2in x 2in timber. Beds measuring 8ft x 4ft, and 12in deep, are perfect for most crops. Fill the frame with moisture-retentive, free-draining growing media, such as a 50:50 mixture of topsoil and garden compost.

By far the most enjoyable aspect of preparing for the oncoming growing season is deciding what to grow. Spend an hour or so making a list of vegetable and herbs that you fancy raising from seeds, not forgetting to add some fruit plants to expand the range of edibles.

My advice to fledging gardeners is to stick to easy-to-grow crops.

Chives, mint and thyme are foolproof herbs, while beetroot, courgettes, French beans, peas, radishes and spring onions are undemanding veg. Mixed salad leaves are a must-grow, providing pickings within 21 days of sowing.

In the fruit camp, try strawberries and raspberries.

Lastly, avoid growing the same veggies in the same place each year by putting together a crop rotation plan – this helps to reduce the risk of pests and diseases specific to a certain crop from establishing in the soil and allows plants with similar feeding or watering needs to be treated together.

An easy way of doing this is to divide veggies into three main groups – cabbages and other brassicas; root vegetables and salads; peas, beans and fruiting crops.

Set each in a separate bed or area this spring. Next year, move each group to a different spot and rotate them again in year three.

By year four, the crops will be back in their original positions.