It’s the end of March and all go as spring is the busiest time in the garden.

It’s been a bit of a late start in the midlands as the first two weeks of March were rainy with snow and sleet.

The bad weather left the ground very wet and heavy, add in frost of -3oC at night and you can see why we have only got it tilled.

The Sharpes Express and British Queen early potatoes have been sown as soil needs to be tilled to dry it quicker. It’s far too cold to sow peas or onion sets, they will have to wait until April. By then the soil should have warmed up and growth will hopefully take off.

I never sow my own small seeds outdoors, they are all in small containers in the glass house with Golden Acre, a great summer cabbage that usually lasts right through to the autumn frosts. There are also trays of lettuce – nice summer butterhead which makes a lovely salad with scallions and tomatoes from the garden.

Along with them there is green broccoli, year-round cauliflower and runner beans. The latter are now sprouting in their trays and won’t be planted until the start of May when the risk of frost should have passed.

All these plants will be transplanted out into the garden when they are ready. Slugs will have to be watched or they will devour the tender little plants. I put some coarse fine sand around the slug trails as the slugs will not pass over them. A constant watch for little weeds is needed because they will overcome the newly sown plants.

Some of my new gardeners tell me their gardens are full of weeds after the winter. Weeds are always a pest in springtime, especially when they shoot up among the vegetables, so the hoe along with manual weeding becomes a weekly task.

I received a number of requests on how to make a good compost. I don’t need to make it as there is always plenty of farmyard manure, so my grandson Graeme will help out on this one.

Composting your organic home and garden waste is not only a natural way to feed your soil, it will decrease the level of waste you need to put into a bin. Cooked food and any kind of meat should not be used as it could attract vermin.

If you are using grass cuttings, only put in the appropriate amount depending on the size of your heap or bin as too much will prevent oxygen flow and create a bad smell. Hedge clippings are only useful if they are the present year’s growth, thick woody twigs and branches are not suitable as they will take years to compost – really not worth the work.

Don’t compost weeds as their seeds will germinate, the same comes with composting raw potatoes (bought or homegrown). A healthy raw potato will never compost outdoors. Small amounts of newspaper can be composted e.g. by creating layers. Only newspaper though, not glossy magazines.

Email me at lilysgarden1@gmail.com