What I'm Sowing and Growing in February

[@tafarakhsheikh1943]

I think I had run out of words. I had a lot of peppers. Peppers and aubergines are heavy feeders. I use fish blood and bone in my soil. Aubergines are very easy to grow. You can get a lot of aubergines on a plant. Try it, put some more feed when you get the second lot of flowers, if not they will fall off. Peppers and aubergines don’t need pollinaters

[@johnoneill8211]

Hi Steve, can I recommend Epicure as a first early? It's the traditional Ayrshire early potato. The earlies that are first to market command the best prices. Rocket and Swift were developed as competition to be first to market. They are faster growing so more profitable than Epicure. When you hear people say "new potatoes don't taste like they did when I was a kid" then that's for two reasons 1. They are not Epicures but faster growing less flavoursome varieties like Swift & Rocket. 2. Our taste receptors are not as lively as we get older. IF you can get some seaweed from the Ribble I think that adds to the flavour when added to your pots and drills. I get mines from Seamill beach in Ayrshire Love your videos! When is your book going live?

[@SteveRichards]

It's live now John, but not every section is complete, I'm basically writing a chapter as it becomes relevant to the season www.notion.so/Gardening-Book-6f57489ae10a4721b48b421826203814 I'm just not broadcasting it. We have a lot of people like swift as our early, but we switch to Arran Pilot after he first few batches, for the taste : All the best - Steve

[@thelittlefarmersfarm5706]

Cracking Sow Tips Steve... Also, the database is fantastic mate... Such abundance of variety here pal.. Cheers for sharing with us all brother. ATB ~Guru Murphinda~

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks, I'm very fond of the database, I actually look forward to rainy winter days now that I have something to tinker with : All the best - Steve

[@susancaulton5470]

Thankyou for your hard work putting all this info online. I’m in centre of Derbyshire so don’t start owt till mid Feb in The greenhouse. I may try though.......now I’ve seen yours.......

[@SteveRichards]

As I've mentioned Susan, I start some things early simply because otherwise I run out of window sill space, there's no rush really. I'm a bit further north than you, so our timings should match fairly well : All the best - Steve

[@markshaw5835]

Oh lots of things to grow. Love this time of year. It's all exciting waiting to put seeds in.

[@SteveRichards]

It sure is Mark, this winter has gone by so far for me this year! : All the best - Steve

[@markshaw5835]

@@SteveRichards Yea it sure has. Can't believe where in Feb already.

[@gpete1981]

Anxious to get going on the garden however record rain means too wet. Just have to sow the seeds and pray for less rain

[@SteveRichards]

That must be frustrating Virginia, because my early beds are under cold-frames and low tunnels I don't have that problem : All the best - Steve

[@normamead4511]

Thank you for the great 👍 information 🤗😸

[@philandhannahslittlefarm1464]

Seeing this makes me think we should move to a warmer zone lol. We are in zone 5 (interior of British Colimbia) and dont start sowing till late april.. it is nice to have a bit of a break but at this time of year we always get a little stir crazy lol.

[@SteveRichards27]

Our Journey Back to Basics is that for planting outside? All mine sown now will go under some kind of cover

[@philandhannahslittlefarm1464]

@@SteveRichards27 we have snow till the end of march so you can start things in march in a poly tunnel but can have hard frosts in late April/early may still 🙄

[@SteveRichards27]

​ Our Journey Back to Basics no snow for us most years, but we have the same frosts in early May : All the best - Steve

[@MuddyBootz]

Hello Steve, if you have tried it yet.....I can recommend Organic Red Oakleaf lettuce. I grew it last year and was very slug and bolt resistanct when grown outdoors 👍😀 🌻Nigel.............MuddyBootz Allotment🌻

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Nigel, I've not tried Red Oakleaf variety yet, I normally grow Cantarix and Navara, which both book very simillar, I'm always looking for new varieties to try though so thanks for the tip! : All the best - Steve

[@candiwallace6605]

Happy Friday Steve ❤❤🤗🤗

[@silvertonguedaywalker9116]

Great Vlog. Do you Sow your Veg seeds in Seed compost. What Compost would you Sow your Potatoes in?. Your info page for your fruit and beg is great did you design it yourself? Or are you lookjng at the site you get you seeds from? Thank you for all your harx work.

[@SteveRichards]

Hi, yes I sow in seed compost (I use Levington Advance Seed & Modular F2). I sow my potatoes into a multi-purpose compost, which I then use for tomatoes (assuming no sign of blight) and finally I use it to mulch the raised beds. Yes, I designed it myself, all the data is mine : All the best - Steve

[@DigwellGreenfingers]

Great as always Steve!

[@SteveRichards]

Thanks Steve, sowing my main-crop onions today : All the best - Steve

[@juliehall956]

Hi steve I started some parsnips indoors from seed in seed trays they are about 4 inches tall when should I transplant them to my raised bed or should I have planted them right into the bed once germinated I think I might have grown these wrong please help

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Julie, parsnips don't really transplant very well, you will inevitably damage the tap root. It's best to plant them direct in the soil in spring, you have plenty of time. However you can give it a go, you will probably get very forked roots : All the best - Steve

[@juliehall956]

Thanks a lot I think I will re do them in spring

[@Dormousey]

@@SteveRichards I'm trying 8 seeds in individual loo rolls and planting straight in the bed; can that root reach the bottom before March?!

[@SteveRichards]

The roots grow very quickly, but some people have success with kitchen roll tubes I believe. If you use loo roles I think it's best to plant them in the ground as soon as you see the first sign of life : All the best - Steve

[@bigdfaekillie]

hi Steve i loved your video. i am really impressed with your data base, could you give me some info as to setting one up please

[@SteveRichards]

Hi David, I have two current videos that step you through how to set it up and use it. I have a couple of older ones that might be worth a look too steves.seasidelife.com/2020/01/26/how-to-plan-your-fruit-and-veg-garden-with-my-new-free-tools-demo/ : All the best - Steve

[@gonepottygardening]

some great seeds going already Steve 🙂👍🦋

[@SteveRichards27]

Gone Potty Gardening & Homestead 🏚 thanks, looking forward to planting now, which I much prefer to sowing : all the best - Steve

[@santanodias5180]

how do pollination takes place in greenhouse or polly tunnel

[@SteveRichards]

Insects fly in through the doors : All the best - Steve

[@bakosgaborpal]

Hi Steve I really like your allotment videos. In this video, which software did you use (master planning database)? I looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks a lot.

[@SteveRichards]

All the details in the video description steves.seasidelife.com/2020/01/31/what-im-sowing-and-growing-in-february-2/

[@PantsProjects]

Its called Airtable. Its like Google Sheets.

[@maitegonzalez1261]

Do you have or can you show how you did the daubenton kale cuttings?

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Maite, it would be a very boring video! I've only ever tried it with perennial kale, but basically you snip off a growing tip, remove most of the leaves (maybe leave a three or four, with a total area of 9 square inches) be sure to have a stem of about 3" left and push that into moist compost and leave somewhere in light shade : All the best - Steve

[@maitegonzalez1261]

Steve's Seaside Allotment thank you, I am a new subscriber 😉

[@GardeningWithJohn]

Hi Steve, I've been meaning to ask you what early variety of Strawberry do you have hanging in the Polytunnel? I started a new Strawberry bed last year using a single 'Albion' plant, it sent out 20 runners and still gave me 2 - 3 Strawberries several times through the season. I had some good luck the other day on Twitter I won a bundle of seeds from Mr Fothergill's, I'm looking forward to seeing what they send me. All the best.

[@SteveRichards27]

Gardening with John they are just plain old Elsanta John, I have plenty of Albion outside too. Don’t you just love free seeds! : all the best - Steve

[@Dormousey]

@@SteveRichards27 Not plain old Elsanta to me! We brought some from the supemarket last spring and they were so good, we brought the plants! Sainsburys have never been so badgered all summer about the taste of different varierties of strawberries and stop favouring one farmer who seemed to grow only one bland variety!

[@tunnelvisiongarden.3776]

Hey Steve. Just love your videos. Have you ever grown first early spuds in the tunnel??

[@tunnelvisiongarden.3776]

Say chitting now to plant mid February..

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Chris, I don't plant them in the tunnel beds, I grow them in containers. I have two batches in there right now, growing well kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWTFdHV8frGWrJo kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmq8lHZ6mNqkhtE

[@johnoneill8211]

@@SteveRichards I bought 50 builders buckets from b&q last year and again this year. Two seed potatoes in a bucket delivers enough potatoes for a day or two then the bucket can take leeks or onions. It's like portable square foot gardening. Buckets are not great quality but only cost £0.97p each with free delivery.

[@dianerollston9958]

Steve do you use some form of heat in your poly tunnel

[@SteveRichards]

I don't Diane : All the best - Steve

[@paulasnaith5096]

Hi, with your succession planting, how many seeds /potatoes do you do at a time ... newbie allotmenteer here, and last year started whole seed packets at a time in a greenhouse ... which was obviously too much

[@SteveRichards]

Hi Paula, all the quantities that I sow can be found in the blog post linked in the description of the video. For super early potatoes I'm currently planting a container with two seed potatoes every week, but I will bulk plant 8 containers at the beginning of April. For other veg it's highly variable, lettuces I tend to sow every 2-3 months, radish every two weeks. See this guide for more details steves.seasidelife.com/2020/01/18/all-year-round-vegetable-sowing-planting-guide/ as to quanitiy I recommend sowing 50% more than you will eat and planting 20% more than you will eat : All the best - Steve

[@paulasnaith5096]

Thank you I spotted numbers but wasn’t sure xx have a good day

[@credenza1]

Hi Steve. Are there other brassicas that can be grown from cuttings?

[@SteveRichards]

Possibly, but I don't really worth it as they will probably go to seed, since the perennials don't flower very often they are very useful to take cuttings from : All the best - Steve

[@Dormousey]

Hi credenza1, just checking you do appreciate these are very specific perennial (grow each year) plants aren't you? People don't tend to take cuttings from the ones they grow from seed each year. You'll find the ones Steve mentioned as young plants on ebay, along with other types of perennial brassicas/other vegetables which are fun to grow. HTH :)