GROW YOUR OWN
Olga takes delight in sowing funky tomato varieties now, for juicy treats in the summer
April is a wonderful month that is filled with unpredictable weather and sprinkled with the sweet scent of blossoms, promising future harvests and new beginnings. If it were a dish, it would undoubtedly be a delicious appetiser.
I realised some time ago that my favourite gardening seasons are late winter and spring. The reason? I like to be completely overwhelmed, with my gardening list of things to do seemingly never-ending. I love April.
Mornings become enjoyable again and, thanks to the earlier sunrise, I can spend a couple of hours pottering in the greenhouse before work. Birds sing their hearts out, insects make a triumphant return, and everything is green and fresh, signalling that we are truly over the darkest days of winter.
In the greenhouse
I have two freebie rescue greenhouses and I will be sharing my top tips on how to find a great greenhouse bargain next month. Both are unheated, and in winter I insulate them with bubble wrap. Right now, they are full to the brim with seedlings from my March sowings. As soon as they are big enough, I will kick them out and sow more.
Now is a good time to start on tomatoes if you haven’t already. I sow mine on April 1, and to give them a little bit of extra warmth they are placed in plastic boxes until they germinate. Tomato sauce is amust for me, and the best tomato to make sauce from is ‘San Marzano’. For eating, I grow another Italian variety called ‘Costoluto di Parma’ – it’s a chunky and very juicy tomato. My aim is always to make enough tomato sauce to get me through autumn, winter and spring and to be able to eat them off the plant throughout the whole summer.
If you’re unsure about growing tomatoes, let me paint the picture… It’s July, and you’ve just finished working in your garden or on the plot, and it’s lunchtime. It’s a sunny day, and you pick the juiciest tomato you can see. You slice it thickly, and ahhh, it smells like sunshine. You add mozzarella, basil, a sprinkling of sea salt, a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Now you cut a fresh sourdough baguette and marry it all together. It’s asymphony of flavours, the taste of victory and you’re thankful to yourself for sowing the tomatoes in April. Afew funky tomato varieties for you to try include ‘Black Beauty’, ‘Marmande Superprecoce’, ‘Pork Chop’, ‘German Pink’.
Things to see in April
