Time to plant spuds

I aimed to make the most of my limited space says Garry

- Garry Coward-Williams

I had been watching the shoots on my seed potatoes growing longer and longer as they lounged in their cradle-like egg boxes, soaking up the late-March sunshine. The weather had improved so I decided to plant early.

Unlike those gardeners you see on TV who have unlimited space, my situation is more ‘real-world’. I wanted to plant as many rows as I could, but I have a shallow border of just over 4ft (1.2m) deep, which butts up to a confining and moisture-draining hedge. So with a minimum of 2ft (60cm) needed between each row, I can only just manage two parallel trenches. These I dug at just under 1ft (30cms) deep and around 2ft (60cms) apart, which is the accepted minimum distance. I made sure earth was placed to the right of each trench, to make it easier to put back.