Spring is now well and truly upon us and the TCV Health for Life Team have are well prepared for the new season; we’ve got potatoes chitting in egg boxes and seed trays for all of the sites, the bed have been turned and filled with nutrient rich compost and the first early seedlings have been sown under cover. We’ve got a raft of things coming up 
over the next few weeks including Orchard Days with Helping Britain Blossom and a Plot Preparation and Tree Pruning day at Green Meadow Road! There’s lots to get cracking on this month in the vegetable garden and you’ve just about got time to get some of those winter jobs (turning beds, cleaning the greenhouse etc.) finished!
Planting
March is the month when you can really start to get things going planting wise. First things first, get your onion and garlic sets planted as long as the soil is workable; if it isn’t pop them in big cells or pots to begin with and plant them out later in the season. You can also 
begin to direct sow your carrots and radishes (preferably under cloches to keep them nice and warm!). It’s also time, if you haven’t already, to begin a lot of things in the greenhouse; beans and peas can be sown in deep celled trays as well as certain varieties of lettuce. As we head towards April you can start to plant some of those chitted potatoes in trenches or grow bags; old tyres are also great for planting potatoes, building them up one-by-one as the plant grows!
Jobs
Weeding your bed early is a great way to keep on top of them throughout the season, avoid pesticides as they can damage the quality of your soil, just get your hands in and get the weeds out, root and all. Clear out any guttering leading to waterbutts, ensuring pinch points aren’t getting blocked with leaves or any other bits of rubbish.
That’s it for this month, if you need more hints and tips around what to do in your garden get down to one of our sites and pick up some invaluable skills from the Health for Life team!