Too early to mention Christmas? - not for columnist Jamie Marsh

In his weekly column, Gayton-based gardener Jamie Marsh looks ahead to a home-grown Christmas dinner…

Well, it’s finally happened, we’ve had some rain.

I know I start my column talking about the weather quite regularly and why not? I’m a gardener, it’s all we ever talk about but this week, I feel it’s especially important to mention the rain we’ve had over the last few days.

I’ve spoken in past columns about the recent heatwaves and, more importantly, the lack of rain, and what it’s done (or not done to be more precise). The lawns are brown and crispy, the flower beds are underperforming and the veg plot is well behind where it was this time last year.

All because we’ve not had any proper rain. And now that we have had some, everything’s going to bounce back - isn’t it?

Unfortunately not. Even though there’s been a fair bit of rain it’s still nowhere near enough to get us back on track. Because it’s been so dry for so long, the soil is just like a dust bath. Things might perk up temporarily as the leaves catch water and funnel it to where the plant needs it, but once that’s taken up, we’re almost back to square one because the soil itself is still bone dry.

I did a little experiment the other day and dug a test hole in the garden to see how deep the moisture had gone. I was shocked, barely two inches down and it was dusty again.

So, I guess what I’m saying is just because we’ve had a half-decent bit of rain, don’t stop watering yet. It looks like there’s more rain on the way, so hopefully things will start to sort themselves out soon.

Another thing I wanted to mention is what I did at the weekend. I know it’s a bit early to be talking about Christmas but it’s been on my mind. More specifically Christmas dinner and how brilliant it would be to grow it myself.

Obviously not the turkey I mean the vegetables, the trimmings, as we call them. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts etc

Wouldn’t it be great to sit down with friends and family on the big day and say: “I grew those?” Well, you can, or at least some of it.

Let’s start with potatoes. I picked up some seed potatoes from a garden centre labelled plant now for new potatoes at Christmas. I popped four or five into a large pot, planted about three-quarters of the way down, covered them and gave them a good soak. They’ll be up in no time. Doing them in a pot means I can move them into the greenhouse when the colder weather arrives, potatoes aren’t frost-hardy, after all.

Next, I sowed some more carrots and parsnips, they will probably be a bit smaller than we are used to. I’ll probably still have some left in the ground from earlier sowings but I wanted to do this as a bit of a test.

Two other things I love with my festive lunch are sprouts and braised red cabbage. It’s too late to grow these from seed now, they need a long growing season, so I picked up some plug plants instead.

Hopefully, with a bit of a head start, they’ll be ready. But just in case they don’t form nice, tight hearts in time, I’ve also bought plug plants of cavolo nero, a type of kale that can be picked at any stage. I’ve also sown some Swiss chard, which is absolutely delicious wilted down with butter and garlic.

Maybe you would like to join in with me and grow your own Christmas dinner? At least the potatoes - they are so easy and taste amazing.

Let’s hope the weather gives us all a hand in the coming weeks and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be plating up home-grown veg come Christmas!

Let me know if you are going to try growing your own Christmas dinner, also what you’ve been up to in the garden.

You can email me at: Jamieslittleallotment@gmail.com