Six-on-Saturday – GrowVeg

9th January 2021.

Having spent a few fortunes buying plants for over thirty years, I added a subscription to Growveg last year. It turned out to be a very worthwhile investment, costing me nineteen euro. So here we go with a six-point review.

Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. Can be anything. This week I’m on the laptop planning my vegetable garden for the year. In fact, I had created this plan last November and I just tweak it whenever I want. You may be wondering if it would be easier to use pen and paper. Each to their own, I say. Yes, I do use a notebook to make notes (of course), yet a plan that can be shaped, adapted or extended is worthwhile. This will help a lot.

I mapped out my vegetable beds in square foot sections and selected the vegetables I want. Miraculously, the next step brought me to an online ordering portal, and having selected the retailer of my choice, my order was processed pronto-like. That’s a thumbs up from me.

Another thumbs up is the built in weather forecast for my location. Sometimes inaccurate though. I find that the best indication of the weather and possibility of getting a few outdoors gardening hours is by looking at the sky. So, perhaps I’ll give it a thumb down after all.

This one is a bit dubious… It’s the estimated first and last frost days for my location. If I select vegetables whose growing conditions conflict with these dates, the laptop screen turns red, gets very hot and starts smoking. Admittedly, it’s a bit over the top, but might be useful at some point. In fact, I discovered that there are several vegetables that will grow away slowly right through the winter. Specifically, several varieties of lettuce are providing tasty lunches since way back in early November, and I’m thrilled also because there’s no bolting.

Here’s a thumbs down. The website provides a free journal, even if you choose not to subscribe to the planner. I could specify what I’ve done every day, and for the purposes of this article, you’ll see above that I’ve planted 36 dahlia seeds, when in fact I have not. I cannot see myself using this any longer. I have a notebook that follows me around the garden and most of what I need to record gets done when I remember to do it.

Also provided free are growing details for all vegetables. Thumbs up again. When combined with a subscription, the details (usually on the packet anyway) are at my fingertips.

I haven’t used this section yet. There are over 700 guides to everything. If I start reading, I’d never get anything done. Not sure yet if it’s thumb up or down.

Credit

For more accounts of New Year garden activity from near and far timpeall an domhan, tap this link to visit The Propagator’s blog or check out @cavershamjj on Twitter. You’ll find plenty writers linking their Six on Saturday garden selection in the comments section.

That’s my lot for this second Saturday in January. Slán go fóill.

Pádraig.

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