DESPITE the downcast national mood, the sun is shining and the weather is beautiful.
And the good news is conditions this weekend are ideal for doing some spring planting.
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So if you can, get outside into the fresh air and enjoy the lovely spring weather, either in the garden, at the allotment, on a balcony or just through an open window.
If you are at the allotment, don’t just sit there enjoying the birdsong — get cracking.
Even if you do not have a garden, pots on balconies and window boxes can grow tasty aubergines, cucumbers and tomatoes.
And there has never been such a good time to get your children outside, where you can take advantage of having young helpers!
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Usually I garden with hundreds of schoolchildren all year round, and I see the joy it brings as they watch their own handiwork grow.
Schools are out, so use this time for outdoor learning.
Gardening is not only great exercise, it is great for counting, fine motor skills and science.
They can write up what they have done in a journal and, of course, sketch pictures of the results.
But mostly, just let them bask in the fresh air and sunshine, and in their green-fingered achievements.
Children love watering, and the recent fine weather has dried out pots and containers.
If you have an old tea pot — metal kinds are perfect — and a pail full of water they can dip into, delivery from the spout will be more measured.
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Flat pansy and viola flowers press easily — pick fairly young, sturdy flowers, place between layers of newspaper and put a book or something else heavy on them to press.
Change the paper after a day or two so everything is dry — if left wet, the flowers can rot.
Once completely dry and pressed they can be stuck to cardboard for greetings cards.
If you’re OK to walk in woods, bluebells are coming into flower.
Keep an eye out for germinating acorns and tree seedlings.
If children plant them in the garden — if it is big enough — or pot them up, you can take a photograph of this activity and then repeat annually, ideally on each birthday.
The child will grow more quickly than the tree initially, and then the tree will overtake them.
Four easy to do tasks
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HERE are just some things you can do this week.
1) First and foremost, take time to smell the flowers.
Most of the multi-headed narcissus are very fragrant, as are some tulips.
If you have quite a lot of spring-flowering bulbs, cut some and leave a bunch on the doorstep of someone lonely to cheer them up.
It will mean the world to them and really brighten up their day.
2) Spinach is an easy cut-and-come-again vegetable.
Make a fresh sowing every three or four weeks to keep the fresh leaves arriving.
If spinach is not your thing, buy a pack of watercress, put a few of the strongest stems in a glass of water and they will be rooted in a week.
Do this with the kids then pot up the rooted shoots to grow on a light window sill.
You will be able to keep cutting fresh young tips for weeks – just keep the compost wet.
3) Warm weather has brought the bright red lily beetle out of pupation.
You’ll first see this pest on fritillaries – catch them in a cupped hand beneath the leaf holding them and move them.
If left to lay eggs, larvae will eat all the leaves.
4) Break down a wooden pallet and make a raised bed to grow salads and veg.
Up off the ground and filled with good soil, it will warm quickly and sown radish will be ready to pull in weeks.
Top tips
- DON’T mix cut narcissus with other cut flowers – the sap from narcissus can shorten the life of the others.
- WHEN cutting tulips to put in water, leave the large leaf at the base of each stem in place to feed the bulb for next year’s blooming.
- WHEN cutting tulips to put in water, leave the large leaf at the base of each stem in place to feed the bulb for next year’s blooming
Get spuds for free
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WHEN peeling potatoes which are starting to sprout, carefully cut out a few of the “eyes” with surrounding skin and some of the flesh.
Leave them to dry for a day or so, then pot them up, preferably in potting compost, but good soil will work too.
These eyes will fill the pot with roots and have shoots pushing through the surface.
When six inches or so high, they can then be planted, either in the garden or in containers of ten litres or larger in size.
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You still have the original potato to eat and will get lovely new potatoes from the potted eyes in ten to 12 weeks.
You will need some fresh mint to go with them – and shoots of mint root very easily in a glass of water.
Pot these cuttings up to grow on and produce fresh mint for months.
Mint tea made from fresh leaves is very soothing for sore throats – coal miners used to drink a lot in the past and whole nurseries in Gloucestershire once grew mint to meet this demand.
