This month presents an exciting opportunity to sow a variety of vegetables, especially in milder districts where the soil begins to warm up. Here are the key tasks for March:

Undercover Sowing:  If you have a greenhouse or cold frame, sow early varieties of cauliflower, broccoli, and celery. These plants thrive in controlled conditions, ensuring a successful start to the growing season.

Broad Beans: In milder districts, you can directly sow broad beans in the ground, while in colder areas, it’s best to start them undercover for an early crop.

Onions & Leeks: If you haven’t already sown your onions and leeks, now is the time to get them started. These versatile vegetables are an essential addition to any allotment.

Horseradish & Seakale: March is an excellent time to establish new beds for horseradish and seakale. You can plant new specimens or divide old ones to create new patches for growth.

Spinach: For a spring harvest, sow spinach in a sheltered spot or under cloches to protect it from any lingering cold snaps.

Carrots & Potatoes: Towards the end of the month, sow carrots under cloches, and plant early potatoes under cloches for an early harvest.

Fruit: March is the final window for planting new strawberry beds, so be sure to plant them if you haven’t yet.Keep an eye on any fruit trees, especially peaches, apricots, or nectarines, as early frosts can damage blossoms. When frost is forecast, cover these trees with fleece or a similar protective material, but remember to remove it once the frost has lifted.

Greenhouse Care Tasks: For those with heated greenhouses, March is the perfect time to sow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melons, and aubergines. Keep seedlings close to the glass to prevent legginess, allowing them to grow sturdy and strong as the days grow longer. If your greenhouse is unheated, be cautious with watering. Excess moisture can lead to fungal problems, so it’s best to water sparingly and allow for proper ventilation on warmer days.

To be held on Friday 28th March 2025 7.15PM at Eastleigh Scout Centre, Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh SO50 5JH

All Association Members are warmly invited to the Association’s 115th Annual General Meeting at 7.15pm on Friday 28th March. This is the opportunity for the Officers to update members on what has been achieved during the past year and, more importantly, its plans for the upcoming year.  

This year we have arranged a speaker, Jane Westoby founder of the Hampshire Seed Company based in North Baddesley.  The Hampshire Seed Company provides a diverse selection of seeds sourced from local growers across Hampshire and the UK.  Jane has kindly agreed to come along and share some of her experiences and knowledge in a 30 minute slot. 

As per usual we have our raffle, so please remember to bring some cash; proceeds will go to a nominated charity.

One of the key parts of the evening will be the opportunity to vote for Committee Members and Executive Committee Members for the coming year.  The existing Committee have agreed to stand for another year and have put their names forward on behalf of their site. 

Chair: David Kindon	Publicity/Web Secretary: Alison Mears
Treasurer: Karen Springham	General Secretary: Gill Stock
Trading Secretary: Gill Stock	Membership Secretary: Alison Mears

A copy of the EDACA Committee Member role is attached to the link below and it goes without saying that EDACA needs volunteers; we wish to recruit more volunteers during this coming year.    

EDACA Committee Member Role

If you are interested in standing for ANY position, Committee Member or Executive Committee Member, please forward confirmation of which post you wish to stand for to EDACAgen.secretary@hotmail.com by Monday 17th March 2025.

This is also the deadline for emailing in AOB and confirming your attendance for catering purposes, as tea and coffee will be provided. 

Gill Stock
General Secretary, EDACA 

If you’ve still got unfinished tasks from January, now’s the time to catch up. Even in the cold, you can still take action, especially if you have access to a heated greenhouse, polytunnel, or sunny windowsill for early sowings. If not, don’t worry – slightly later sowings will catch up. 

Broad Beans : In mild, well-drained soils, sow broad beans directly under cloches. In wetter areas, sow under cover to avoid leggy growth.
Early Cauliflowers: Start sowing early cauliflowers undercover. These can be a bit tricky in cold months, but with a bit of care, you’ll have healthy seedlings ready for the spring.
Jerusalem Artichokes : Time to plant Jerusalem artichokes in well-prepared soil. They’re hardy and will thrive with a little early attention.

Lift Root Vegetables : If you haven’t already, lift parsnips, swedes, and other root vegetables from last year. This frees up space for the new crops coming in.
Early Potatoes : In colder regions, start early potatoes in pots. In milder climates, plant them under cloches outside to give them a head start.
Tomato Sowing : If conditions are right (i.e., warm and bright enough), now’s a good time to sow early tomato seeds, so they have a head start when spring arrives.
Weed Control : Keep on top of weeds around onions, garlic, and early cabbage. These will thrive better with minimal competition for resources.

Fruit Tree Planting: If you have new fruit trees, bushes, or canes, finish planting them now. This is the best time to get them established.
Prune Raspberries: This is the last chance to prune autumn-fruiting raspberries. Cut back any canes that fruited last year to ground level, then mulch and fertilise to encourage fresh growth.
Strawberry Cloches: If you grow early fruiting strawberries, consider covering them with cloches to speed up the growing process and enjoy an early harvest.

Fruit Tree Planting: If you have new fruit trees, bushes, or canes, finish planting them now. This is the best time to get them established.
Prune Raspberries: This is the last chance to prune autumn-fruiting raspberries. Cut back any canes that fruited last year to ground level, then mulch and fertilise to encourage fresh growth.
Strawberry Cloches: If you grow early fruiting strawberries, consider covering them with cloches to speed up the growing process and enjoy an early harvest.

We are pleased to let you know that pre-ordered seed potatoes will be available to collect, upon payment of the balance on top of the 25p per pound deposit, as follows:

Boyatt Wood plot holders: Boyatt Wood trading shed from 10:30 – 11:30 Sunday 9 February

Broomhill, Burns Close, Chestnut Avenue, Eagle Close, Lincoln’s Rise, Monks Way, Ramalley and Tennyson Road plot holders, plus Trading Members: from Lakeside trading shed (see below)

Jockey Lane plot holders: from Underwood Road trading shed (see below)

Lakeside plot holders plus those listed above: Lakeside trading shed from 09:00 – 12:00 Sunday 9 February

Underwood Road and Jockey Lane plot holders: Underwood Road trading shed from 11:00 – 12:30 Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 February

Woodside plot holders: Woodside trading shed from 10:00 – 12:00 Sunday 9 February

Please make sure that you collect your order as soon as possible so that your potatoes start chitting with you, rather than us!

The merry band of EDACA volunteers who man our four Trading sheds have had some well deserved time off over Christmas and the New Year. Normal service resumes from Saturday 25 January as follows:

* Boyatt Wood Sunday 10:30-11:30

* Lakeside Sunday 9-12

* Underwood Road Saturday and Sunday 11-12:30

* Woodside Sunday 10-12

A free Community Garden Day is being hosted by The Blackbird Cafe at The Pavilion on the Park on Saturday 22 February 2025.

There will be a seed and plant swap taking place between 11:00-14:00, running alongside a Repair Cafe: Garden Special from 13:00-16:00.

January is an ideal time to prepare for your vegetable patch. Some crops can even be started indoors or under cover:

• Onions & Leeks: Sow seeds in trays or pots under cover to give them a head start. Varieties like ‘Globo’ for onions or ‘Pandora’ for leeks are ideal for early sowing.
• Early Potatoes: If you have space, plant a few seed potatoes in large pots in a greenhouse or polytunnel for an early crop. Alternatively, start chitting seed potatoes in egg cartons on a bright, frost-free windowsill.
• Asparagus Beds: Feed and mulch asparagus crowns if you missed this task in autumn. Use well-rotted manure or a balanced fertilizer to encourage vigorous spring growth.
• Dwarf French Beans: If you have a slightly heated greenhouse, sow beans in pots now for an early crop. Varieties like ‘Adoration’ or ‘Tender Green’ work well for quick germination.
• Broad Beans: In milder climates, sow broad bean seeds like ‘Super Aquadulce’ in pots or directly into well-drained soil for a robust spring harvest.
• Stored Crops: Check stored vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and onions to ensure they remain in good condition. Remove any that show signs of rot to prevent it spreading.
• Forced Vegetables: Start forcing chicory and seakale by covering crowns with pots or buckets and surrounding them with manure for warmth. This will produce tender, blanched shoots for early harvests.
• Carrots: In a cold frame or polytunnel, sow early varieties such as ‘Nelson, Nantes or Adelaide’ for a spring crop. Use cloches to keep soil temperatures consistent.
• Spinach & Salad Leaves: Sow hardy spinach, winter lettuce, or salad mixes under cover for fresh greens during the cold months. Varieties like ‘Winter Density or Winter King’ lettuce and ‘Perpetual Spinach’ perform well in cooler weather.
• Tool Care: Sharpen, clean, and oil cutting tools like secateurs and shears. Give spades, forks, and hoes a thorough clean, and treat wooden handles with linseed oil to extend their lifespan.
• Greenhouse & Cold Frame Maintenance: Clean glass, plastic panels, and frames to allow better light penetration and remove pests or fungi. Wash all pots and trays in preparation for early sowing.
• Shed Organisation: Take stock of your gardening supplies. Repair or replace broken canes, nets, and other essentials. A thorough tidy-up might even reveal lost treasures!
• Plan Ahead: Use gloomy days to browse seed catalogues and create a list of seeds, bulbs, and tubers for the year ahead. Now is also a great time to restock on labels and compost.

Vegetables

• Regularly check all stored crops and remove any that show signs of decay.
• If seakale is grown, clear around the crowns of debris and lightly prick over the soil in readiness for forcing.
• If chicory is grown, lift some roots and take into a warm dark place for forcing.
• Check over tall growing brassicas, such as Brussels sprouts, kale and sprouting broccoli, they may require staking if you not already done so.
• Whenever the soil is dry enough carefully hoe through rows of over-wintering veg like onions, garlic, and spring cabbage.

Fruit

• Clear any debris from rhubarb beds, and source some fresh manure for forcing early next month. Keep turning the fresh manure for a few weeks.
• Continue to prune fruit trees, especially apples and pears.
• Outdoor figs may require some protection in the form of fleece or straw screening to protect the young growth and immature figs. 

Greenhouse

• Keep an eye on plants that are being overwintered in greenhouses, vent the house carefully on days where the sun shines, never too much that the temperature drops drastically, but just to allow for the air to circulate and rid the inside atmosphere of excess moisture.
• Check over overwintering plants often, removing dead material to prevent fungal problems.
• This is a great time to thoroughly clean greenhouses, polytunnels and cold frames with warm soapy water and a little disinfectant.
• If grapes are grown, they can now be pruned, reducing all fruiting laterals to two or three buds from the main rod. 

Vegetables

• Start to harvest winter cabbage, Brussels sprouts, leeks and parsnips, wait until after a frost for the parsnips because the chilling effect turns the starches into sugars, and this gives them their natural sweetness.
• Pick the Brussels sprouts working from the bottom of the stalk upwards to make sure that all the sprouts get a chance to swell. At the same time snap off any yellowing leaves at their base to ensure that there is good air circulation around the plants. It also makes the sprouts easier to pick on cold, wet and frosty days, brrrr!
• Clear the ground of any remaining vulnerable crops such as celeriac, carrots, Florence fennel and put them into store before any hard frosts are forecast.

Fruit

• Now is a good time to plant new fruit trees and bushes. Soft fruit bushes can also be moved now if needed as well.
• Autumn-fruiting raspberries bear fruit on new wood, so cut down all of the old canes to the ground once they have finished fruiting, between November and March.
• Take hardwood cuttings from fruit bushes. It is very easy to do, and will give you a decent-sized plant in a few years.

Greenhouse

• Sow a crop of your favourite variety round seeded hardy peas in 3” to 3”/9 cm pot and transplanted later when the roots have reached the bottom of the pot.
• Transplant any pot raised broad beans sown earlier somewhere sheltered and protected from cold, icy blasts. It not too late to take a chance on a sowing of broad beans if it is done early in the month.
• Transplant October sown lettuces to grow on under cloches or frames space them 6”.15cms square.

Bishopstoke Garden Club invite you to an evening with Richard from The Veg Grower Podcast, including a talk “Turn Your Garden into a Lean, Mean Food Producing Machine” and a chance to ask Richard some of your veg growing questions.

Friday 22 November at 7pm. Bishopstoke Community Association, Sydney Road, Bishopstoke, SO50 6DJ

£3 (cash only) on the door, includes refreshments – full details on the event link below.

https://facebook.com/events/s/talk-by-richard-from-the-veg-g/1117795579780243/