Have a happy Christmas!

New fruit and veg cultivars are on the way, says Peter

- Peter Seabrook

MAY I take this opportunity to wish you a happy Christmas? I hope you have found cultivating plants and gardening a pleasurable escape from worries and confinements of the Covid 19 pandemic. Many has been the occasion this year when I popped out – for example, to pick a few fresh fruits for my cereal – only to find it was nearly lunchtime on my return.

Time just evaporates when we become absorbed in growing things, and every day there is something new to learn and observe. A trip to a vegetable trial last summer taught me forked roots on carrots and parsnips are caused by nematodes (tiny soil-borne creatures) and not by manuring the soil, as many have thought in the past and some continue to believe.

Living alone, I find sowing carrots successionally in several deep pots filled with clean compost is easiest and best for me. A sleeve of Enviromesh pulled up over the pot improves germination, speeds growth and protects your crop from carrot fly.