Eat the Seasons

food & drink seasons eat the

Keeping you in the know as to what is coming into season each month is NEIL MORTIMER from Lovejoys Wholesale...

January and February are out of the way and the weather has been kind so far this year. Hopefully this will last through to the spring, but no doubt we will see some rain and frost even if we do not see snow. Let’s hope for good spring weather to get all of the early crops planted. In saying that, our potato grower told me that one of his highest yields were from a very late planting. I suppose it is all about timing and the right soil conditions.

Most vegetable seeds won’t germinate below a soil temperature of 7°C so it is pointless getting in a hurry until the soil has reached this temperature. If you are the impatient type one way to speed this up is to warm the soil by putting cloches, clear plastic sheeting or even bottomless plastic bottles over the soil a few weeks before sowing or planting. Keep the protection in place for a few weeks or until the weather warms up. Otherwise the sudden shock of lower temperatures can seriously affect their growth. Last month we looked forward to the forced rhubarb season, this month we are looking forward to the start of the asparagus season. It is one of the few UK crops to be strictly seasonal. Traditionally the UK season runs from St George’s

Day on 23 April right through to the summer solstice on 21 June. With climate change though the crop is being harvested a little earlier, sometimes even in late March. The season ends sharply though so that it does not starve the plants of energy so they have a good crop the following year. Thank goodness we have the lovely asparagus to look forward to, plus the emergence of wild garlic which always excites our chefs! April and May are quiet months for local produce as winter crops are finishing and spring crops are still maturing.

As always you can email me with any of your ‘growing’ questions, I promise

to reply to all. Look out for our competition next month too!

“Most vegetable seeds won’t germinate below a soil temperature of 7°C so it is pointless getting in a hurry until the soil has reached this temperature.”

Neil neil@lovejoyswholesale.com

@lovejoysuk @lovejoysuk

• lovejoyswholesale.com